Friday, January 26, 2018

Planet Of The Apes and SpongeBob Squarepants



Way, way back in 1968 when I was 15 years old my friends and I went to watch the first Planet Of The Apes movie starring Charlton Heston.


We knew we were in for a treat when the first scene played where three Earth astronauts crash into an ‘alien’ planet lake.  As the astronauts struggle to escape they watch as their spaceship sinks beneath the waves.



Marooned on an alien planet they decide to take stock of their surrounding and meet up with a band of primitive humans.  Suddenly chaos breaks out as the humans are herded and captured by—intelligent apes!  Wow!



From that point on I was hooked on the Apes movies-all five in the first wave.  Later Tim Burton would offer his own interpretation and eventually a new series of computer generated apes would star in a reboot of the original series.



Abrams ComicArts presents its Planet Of The Apes The Original Tops Trading Card Series book that beautifully recreates the classic series of Apes trading cards from the original first movie of the series of five films, the TV show and Tim Burton’s version.



After an interesting introduction and history lesson about the cards pages recreates each card in all the series including autograph cards, special inserts and book art.  You’ll go ‘Ape’ over it.



Who loves Spongebob Squarepants?  I know I do and so do millions of other fans of the quirky animated series starring a sponge, a starfish, a crab and other undersea citizens.



Spongebob is so popular that an entire merchandise Mecca has been created, including comic books.



The Spongebob Comics Treasure Chest by Stephen Hillenburg includes a select collection of some of the best Spongebob comic book adventures.



What makes the Spongebob comic book stories so unique is each and every one looks different than the other. 



An impressive studio of artists draws Spongeboob’s adventures in a variety of styles using different story structures and perspectives.



Every conceivable art style is used from fine line illustrations to outrageous abstract images.



Regardless of the techniques used each story is hilarious and chock full of fun.



It’s a veritable underwater wonderland of whimsy, wit and wry humor.  I still don’t understand how they can light fires underwater.



The deluxe hardbound book comes in a custom die-cut slipcase that is sure to make it a treasured addition to anyone’s comic book collection.