Surveying the Gen X landscape and the origins of geek
Planet of the Apes (1968) fans may find these Alex Schomburg illustrations interesting. One of the most unforgettable images in cinema had been employed in various media since the early 1900s. (Pierre Boulle’s original novel, 1963’s La Planète des Singes, makes no mention of the Statue of Liberty.) There’s an excellent history of the trope at Patrick Peccatte’s Déjà vu. It’s in French, but you’ll be able to follow.
Many of Earl Norem’s original pencils and paintings, from the ’60s through the ’90s, are popping up on eBay. (The original pencils for Planet of the Apes #28 went for over $1000.) A lot of it is in pretty rough shape—multiple folds, tattering, yellowing. Illustration was a tough gig, and artists had to crank out page after page of quality work to make a living. Even for Norem, who was well established by this point, there was no time for sentimentality. It was all business.
The more I see from Norem, the more I realize how much he contributed to the vision of almost every major kid’s property from the late ’70s through the late ’80s, including Conan, The Six Million Dollar Man, Indiana Jones, Planet of the Apes, Buck Rogers, Masters of the Universe, D&D, Marvel Comics (superhero and horror), G.I. Joe, and the Transformers.
The amount of detail he squeezes into his cover paintings is staggering. See the control panels in #28, the chimp’s hair in #22, and the dense, layered colors he uses to fill the big spaces in #8.
The first four images are from the 1969 set. All others are from the 1975 set that came out with the release of the Planet of the Apes TV series—actually, the cards debuted after the short-lived show was cancelled (in December of 1974). Both sets were released by Topps.
My strongest memory of the Planet of the Apes movies is watching them in after-school daycare. All the kids (and a teacher or two) would huddle around the tiny TV, totally mesmerized. I would keep looking for my mom out of the corner of my eye so that when she showed up I could beg her to let me stay. The movies would play in the same slot, consecutively, throughout the week.
I’m not sure there was a greater influence on a kid’s world than syndication and having to choose between 13 channels.
Loew’s Capitol Theater, New York City, 1968
Hoyts Regent Theatre, Sydney, Australia, 1968
Warfield Theatre, San Francisco, 1973
(Photos via William Burge via Cinema Retro)
2 Warps to Neptune 