Planet Of The Apes: The Lexicon

One of the many things that I love is Planet of the Apes. I’m not OCD about it and I don’t get bent out of shape when other creative people take the project and run with it. I just enjoy the idea of a planet where Apes have replaced people as the ruling elite and the Apes have all the advantages.

Ever since I first saw Charlton Heston running through a cornfield, pursued by Gorillas on horseback with guns, I’m been nuts for the Apes. Think about that for a second: Gorillas on horseback with guns. How can anyone not love that?

Here are my four favorite Apes-based projects:

(1) Planet of the Apes: The original and still the best. Heston found the perfect role for his Shakespearean-tragedy scenery chewing, some of the moments are truly horrifying, and Jerry Goldsmith’s score is haunting. I can’t wait for my own kids to be old enough to appreciate it.

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R.I.P. Mike Valerio

I met Mike Valerio at a pre-convention party on the upper east side of New York City. He was funny, caustic, opinionated. He made me laugh right away and we became instant friends, bonding through sarcasm. Over the course of the long con weekend, we bumped into each other regularly, scouted out the dealer’s room together, and dropped in on a few panels. Towards the end of the con, at lunch, he asked me what else I’d done while I was in New York. When he found out I’d done nothing, he said, “You can’t go back to your hillbilly hometown and tell them all you saw in the big city was a bunch of comic books and Jim Steranko’s girlfriend.” He led the way out of the con and within minutes we were atop the Empire State Building. Thus began a friendship that would span many years and several states.

We stayed friends over the years and eventually and without planning it, we both ended up in Los Angeles about a year apart. He came west for a career as a writer/producer in film and television while I turned my attention to the comic book industry before jumping into television as well. A lifelong comic book fan, he was a regular at Golden Apple on Melrose Avenue and then Earth II on Ventura Blvd.

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