Why Do Gorillas Sell Comic Books?

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Gorillas on comic book covers. It's an actual comic trope. Today we look at when and why this became popular with the history of gorillas on and in comics. There are plenty of them out there to talk about including Gorilla Grodd, Titano, Monsieur Mallah, the Ultra-Humanite and many more. Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash and various sci-fi comics all feature some bonkers gorilla covers so let's take a look.

[@DCMarvelMultiverse]

I showed several old comics to the kids I used to work with. It was part of a comic creation class. The kids saw the chimps, monkeys, and gorillas and said, "Monkey!" Apparently, it works. No other animal attracted so many kids.

[@primax5503]

Interesting. I thought cats and dogs sell more than other animals lmaooo

[@damianmonke3922]

Uh oh... MONKE?!

[@jonathand.t.5051]

MONKE MONKE OOOHHHHHHHHH YES CHIMP OOH OHH In seriousness though monkeys are always good setup for comedic or absurd situations and I dont know why

[@isaacargesmith8217]

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

[@TheCow-j1l]

@@primax5503 I think cat and dog are like, too normal, apes are more unusual

[@nilus2k]

I love how crazy Grant Morrison got with Doom Patrol. It was also highly transgressive to the norms of the early 90s in an amazing way. Because the fact that a brain in a jar and a French speaking intelligent Gorilla were gay was the least “taboo”(again by early 90s comic book standards) part of their relationship.

[@4-a-e]

According to Morrison everything with the lodestone, alien inter-galatic planetary war and the giant Zardos heads was written on drugs. Empire of chairs might be one of the best endings to a series in anything ever.

[@exceedcharge1]

I loved them in my adventures with superman

[@andrewanastasovski1609]

I can't tell you all the gorilla encounters I've had in my life. The worst are the ones who think they're people, but are actually just super-intelligent gorillas.

[@zulium]

"Wonder Woman teaching a gorilla to play baseball" is a sentence that can only exist in comics and I love it.

[@nubworthycigars6682]

Wait.. this isn’t a comic tho?.. you’re endangering the space time continuum by taking a grade that can only be in comics and reproducing it in a different medium! Jokes aside it is a wondrous format for story telling! Cheers friend!

[@Eisenwulf666]

i bet that if i knew something about baseball there would be a joke i could make here about a real life team, but alas i don't..

[@pentelegomenon1175]

And "Marvel doesn't actually have that many gorilla characters" seems like a sentence that can only exist in this show.

[@dylanmahaffey8920]

I'm not sure, I could see this happening in the next Wonder Woman movie.

[@Cdr2002]

Where is THIS baseball movie????

[@hamzadawud]

I dunno how I never noticed that this was a common thing, but good call, Chris. You could do a video on the trope of disembodied brains in comics too, there are so many instances of it.

[@danmccoy82]

Great idea!

[@pious83]

Only in comics can you survive as a brain in a jar.

[@Madbmberwhatbmbsatmidnight]

Brainiape hits both these tropes.

[@hamzadawud]

@@Madbmberwhatbmbsatmidnight Yeah, Chris mentioned him in the video. That's what made me think of it.

[@Madbmberwhatbmbsatmidnight]

@@hamzadawud when? I just watched it a second time and didn’t hear him mention Brainiape. He mentioned the trope of brain swap in ape stories. That’s all I saw.

[@simonbarnett8668]

I was a little surprised you didn't mention 'Angel and the Ape' from DC...although to be fair you really did pack a huge amount information into a short amount time, while entertaining at the same time.

[@kid_eh]

I'm a huge Nick Cardy fan. He got in on DC's silver and bronze monkey craze big time. Please consider a Cardy spotlight. He is an unsung comics hero. I wish the stories inside lived up to the fantastic covers...

[@simonbarnett8668]

Seconded Chris! Nick Cardy is an oft forgotten great of DC comics!

[@genegreigh8913]

Rightio! And pay especial attention to Nick's work on the Teen Titan's and most particularly Princess Ponytail!

[@Steve_Vendetta]

. . . And of course, in the early 2000s, a small group of DC alumni helped establish *GORILLA COMICS* as a short-lived IMAGE imprint. It oversaw the publication of CRIMSON PLAGUE (George Perez), EMPIRE (Mark Waid & Barry Kitson), SECTION ZERO (Karl Kesel & Tom Grummet), and SHOCKROCKETS (Kurt Busiek & Stuart Immonen). It also demonstrated that you could free the creator from the Densely Congested "gorilla sanctuary," but not the gorilla from the creator's imagination. Or something like that. ;)

[@kennethjimenez5185]

Chris, how could you forget The Red Ghost’s gorilla?!?

[@TitularHeroine]

Ape-X of the Squadron Supreme too.

[@daviddalrymple2284]

Probably because the Red Ghost's gorilla was never on the cover of his early Fantastic Four appearances. But he did appear on the cover in some of his later appearances (like 1970s Invincible Iron-Man and 1980s Amazing Spider-Man).

[@pentelegomenon1175]

Stan Lee mentioned a few times that DC would often copy things Marvel did, like for example if lots of Marvel covers had red backgrounds then all of a sudden DC covers would get red backgrounds, and he would even use this fact to mess with them sometimes. So it seems like Silver Age DC had no idea what they were doing, and none of the sources really suggest that there was more than one gorilla cover comic that sold, it just seems like that experiment with the parrot who gets food at totally random times, and then one time it coincidentally gets food while shaking its head, so now it can't stop shaking its head over and over.

[@MrBallofa]

I feel like a lot of 90s and early 2000s cartoon animators we're inspired by this Gorilla crazy with a lot of characters lol, Mojo Jojo is obvious but i swear there was like a few scenes in spongebob, deksters labs, and many others that feel referential to these comics lol

[@Norvo82]

That opening will haunt my dreams for weeks to come... Excellent work.

[@DIEGhostfish]

1:56 "Helped create" is a very VERY generous way of putting it.

[@Ian64]

This is the first video you’ve made that i watched, and that intro is so impressive I already like your vids man keel it up 👍

[@darriendastar3941]

As ever, that was superb. There's actually a hell of a lot of other cultural concepts that arise from this episode. I don't understand them, yet, but there was some kind of thing going on in the West generally that moved children's attention from gorillas in the '60s towards dinosaurs in the '80s. Sorry for appearing patronising, but you've *really* earned the 'tropes' aspects of the channel's name with this vid. You've identified a trope I've not understood before. And now I want to know why it exists! Man, you're a master of your craft. Thank you.

[@reprintranch]

The folks over at EC Comics, always happy to borrow ideas, published a story called "Gorilla My Dreams!" in The Haunt of Fear issue 17, cover-dated February 1953. In it, a surgeon transplants a man's brain into a gorilla's body, with tragic results. At Marvel, Rawhide Kid faced off against a gorilla known as "The Ape" in issue 39, cover-dated April 1964. Also, regarding the comment at 17:57 about the Marvel story "I Am the Gorilla-Man" from Tales to Astonish issue 28 (Feb. 1962 cover date), the phrase "one-off sci-fi story" made me chuckle because the Gorilla-Man was actually one of the few Marvel monsters that made a second appearance in those pre-hero days. :) In this case it was just two issues later with the imaginatively titled "Return of the Gorilla-Man" in TTA #30 (cover-dated April '62) -- coming back "by popular demand," or so the cover says. Both stories were reprinted in issue 5 of the Marvel giant-size monster book Fear, cover-dated November 1971, offering a relatively low-cost way to enjoy these Kirby/Ayers classics.

[@hydrolito]

Superboy also had a pet monkey named Beepo, and Blackhawks had pet hawk and a pet monkey in some stories after they were acquired by DC comics.

[@edpirrie5139]

There was also a comic adaption of the B-movie Konga which is notable for being drawn by Steve Ditko (who also did a run based on Gorgo, too).

[@davidmcmahon4633]

Some Good Guy gorillas from DC are: 1. Sam, from Angel and the Ape. He's an artist while working for Angel's detective agency. Later retconned to be Gorilla Grodd's grandson. 2. The other is the ape who gives B'wana Beast his helmet. 3. And of course, Detective Chimp. 4. Beppo the Super monkey. Marvel had the Ani-Men which originally were crooks in powered up animal costumes and one of them was Ape-Man. I think in some later versions of the team, they were actually transformed into human versions of their animal characters.

[@MrCeratix]

I hope Benny gets his royalty check for that cameo

[@paullewis69]

Great topic! Let’s not forget Ape X from Squadron Supreme Ltd series donned the cover of #6 & 9, although not predominantly.. Great job & love the off the beaten path topics! 👍🏼

[@tonymiles273]

A great episode about a fun topic! It's clear you really enjoyed do this one!

[@meltdownremix1996]

Just the day before this video came out I read Titano's debut issue, purely mystified by the cover, and then you upload this!

[@russellharrell2747]

This episode was very fun, and a nice return to analyzing tropes.

[@andrewandrew4568]

The Batman album that came with Neal Adams art had a Gorilla Grodd story that I found scary as a youth. It was probably Power Records but it might have been Peter Pan that put it out. I think people have uploaded the audio to those on KZbin.

[@mikesary6468]

You totally forgot the short-lived 60's DC comic Angel and the Ape!

[@DforDembol]

A very entertaining video. Gorillas are magnificent creatures. I think you may've missed Kamandi, which had a bunch of talking gorillas.

[@deeebeee1758]

Awesome episode! I have a subsection in my comic collection, outside of title, date and creator, just for go-go checks and purple apes. Marvel did have the PoTA license in the 70s., and those magazines had some pretty great covers and ape-forward stories by Alfredo Alcala and Mike Ploog.

[@ezarhon1002]

This is ludicrous, I have never been sold a comic by a gorilla in my life!

[@cthulhupthagn5771]

Out of all of them, my personal favorite is probably the TV adaptation of Gorilla Grodd. The comic book is fine, if a little cheesy in his Origins. But I've become a little disenchanted with his comic book version because they've just made him really violent and brutal. I think the lowest point was in Flashpoint when it's revealed that he has murdered and eaten a vast majority of villains and heroes alike. On the other hand, the TV show gives him a more grounded origin story as well as perhaps granting a bit of a nod to those old bad Evolution concepts, with him being Genetically Enhanced and being smart but not like his comic book counterpart. I hear they got a little silly with him in the time-travel franchise, what with him apparently going back in time to attack college-age Obama, but compared to how he is almost an Omega Level villain for the flash, it still makes him a little more grounded

[@hydrolito]

Red Ghost in Fantastic Four stories has 3 super apes as his assistants a super strong gorilla, an orangutan with magnetic powers, and a shape shifting monkey as i recall, it has been awhile since I read the stories. Monkey sometimes also carries a machine gun. Also there was a group of villains in animals costumes that gave them powers one wore a gorilla costume, another frog costumes with springs to jump long distances, another in cat costume and another in bird costume that could fly and later they were joined by a woman with some kind of insect powers and wings.

[@dwaynehendrickson8854]

Angel and the Ape is another DC book with an ongoing gorilla character. I know you couldn’t cover all if them but wanted to toss that out there for the completionists

[@Weasel_Patrol]

Imagine if all those obscure gorillas became citizens of Gorilla City

[@dvepps6780]

Love it, Chris. Your personality is so strong & your work so thorough that I could listen to you about any subject. Thank you!

[@Dougeb7]

Fun!!! Let's face it, most of the gorilla stories you highlighted are predicated on silly premises. But I love the way you could throw absurd things out there in the older comics and no one took it too seriously. There is still some of that around, but today's readers are less forgiving of unrealistic explanations of story elements. The audience expectation forces more creativity from creators, since they need to come up with plausible explanations for story elements. But it also inhibits creativity in a way, because it tends to discourage absurd plot points, which can also make for an enjoyable experience when viewed in an appreciative light.

[@therealmikey]

In Justice League Unlimited (Animated), Gorilla Grodd had a plan to turn all humans into Gorillas. After succeeding Lex Luthor shoots him. Hilarious!

[@Bazoinkerz]

Love this subject so much, it perfectly exemplifies the best aspect of comic book storytelling; that pulpy fun that I feel so many adaptions kinda miss!

[@GameMusic4All]

If I had the money I'd be scooping up every Gorilla cover comic from DC. DC Headquarters: "Hey boss! It's happening again!"

[@matthewbrunell413]

Angel and the Ape was also a DC title that got vertigoized later.

[@zestycomicsbytomsteele2411]

I know another DC Comics gorilla worth mentioning. Does anyone know about the giant white ape that appeared once or twice in the war that time forgot, who heroically sacrificed himself to save a pt-boat crew from evil dinosaurs?

[@jean-pierrevidrine4097]

For a lighter use of the trope, check out Angel and the Ape and issue no. 42 of Scooby-Doo Team-Up.

[@purple_menace6604]

Honestly what I love most about this video are the slightly uncanny Gorillas that are either too human looking or too animalistic.

[@juanoliva9084]

hey chris will you ever take a look at monkeyman & O'brien? It's a pretty neat read, the art is superb, and there's the hellboy connection. Legend press in general, quite interesting!

[@sputnixy]

The only other gorilla/gorilla themed characters from Marvel I can think of are headman & M'baku as Man-Ape

[@skabcat242]

That blew my mind Giganta was once a gorilla.

[@josephkoziel2406]

Marvel did do a Planet Of The Apes mag, that had gorillas on the covers at times.

[@theajshow]

Wow, that opening was ape-$&## crazy, ha! That might be one of your best openings yet, and that's saying something. Great episode, Chris. I truly went bananas for it!

[@omegadeadpool2947]

Coz Reject Humanity Return to Monke

[@miguelalvarado5580]

Gorillas are fun! I missed Cy-Gor from Image Really good channel 👍🏼👍🏼

[@rogergoza3180]

Just a terrific premise for a video

[@wildmooseking]

My new working theory for Donkey Kong Country’s success is that it had a gorilla on the box art. I will accept no other answers.

[@powergannon]

Thinking about how the one and only Simpsons comic I bought was based on seeing it had gorillas in it, and yeah, this checks out I guess.

[@fusionspace175]

While she didn't get a cover to herself, in Mark Gruenwald's Squadron Supreme from 1985, the villainous Ape X (a super intelligent orangutan with a tank for a lower half) becomes Behavior Modded to be a good guy and then falls in love with Tom Thumb, on the Marvel side.

[@wesyahola2009]

Haven't read all the comments, but has anyone mentioned Angel and the Ape, featuring the sister of Dumb Bunny from the Inferior Five?

[@Sammmmmmmm617]

It's kinda funny because people STILL love monkeys today. I'm surprised there aren't many super hero monkeys 🤔

[@astrocitizen]

My favorite forgotten gorilla villain is Dr. Allirog* from the classic Captain marvel comics by Fawcett. Try to follow this: a muscleman and pro boxer who wants to take over the country (think an evil Doc Savage) uses his winnings to fund a mad science experiment that programs a gorilla with a mass of scientific knowledge to serve as his second-in-command. The story ends in a sized down homage to KING KONG< with Allirog climbing to the top of the Washington Monument before being shot down. Of all the obscure Fawcett era villains to be adapted, this one made the grade for the animated SHAZAM series of the '70s, where he's basically a renamed Gorilla Grodd. *Hmm, now what could that be spelled backwards?

[@spaaaceman1939]

Gorilla covers might just be the 1950s equivalent of click bait

[@AABB-bm9kk]

Expecting mention of Gorilla Grodd 😀✌️

[@robshimer]

"Why do gorillas sell comic books?" Because they can't be trusted to work in produce stands. Why did it matter what color hair the gorilla had when she changed into a woman?

[@richmcgee434]

I know Superdickery is pretty much dead these days, but go over there and look at the posts tagged with "Everything's Better With Monkeys" and you'll see more examples of this trope than any vid can manage.

[@shirleydowning9383]

Hey! EYE was born in 1951 and it HAS been an strange adventure. Especially these days. 😃

[@maxschreck4095]

I think there was one Marvel Gorilla villain you missed...don´t know his name I am afraid. But he fought Spider-Man on at least one ocassion and has mind control powers if I remember correctly. I believe he also showed up in Earth Mightiest Heroes (the animated show).

[@edwardhock6940]

Can't forget the Weeping Gorilla from Promethea!

[@dawg065]

Don Simpson's Bizzare Heroes has ca character called Cowboy Gorilla.

[@thomasnowatkowski9178]

I always wondered why there were so many gorillas in comics and now I have an answer.

[@MelodyTCG]

Gotta love the iconic dc supervillain hyper intelligent gorilla The ultra humanite I mean monsieur malla I mean grod I mean

[@richardjohann552]

What about The Red Ghost and his Super Apes? One of them was a gorilla.

[@wakaluli]

Gorillas sell mangas too, I'm looking at you sorachi/cyborg sorachi

[@Darkzeid925]

Marvel’s Red Ghost has three hench-primates. One of them is a gorilla.

[@madtendo6482]

Hey , just out of my curiosity..... will you do a video bout the humor comics we have over in jolly old britian?

[@Bruno-wx2yb]

In One Punch Man, a manga that parodies american super hero comics and shonen manga in general, there are also two gorilla characters: Armored Gorilla and Marshall Gorilla. Probably to make fun of that trope too xD PS: sorry for the rough english, it's not my first language.

[@andrewgrant6516]

JLApe featuring Chimpulse!

[@krispeekreem730]

the teddy fresh shirt is too drippy

[@trublgrl]

Why do gorillas sell comic books? Same reason ducks bake vanilla wafers. Everybody's gotta eat, son!

[@timefluidscribbler]

I was not ready for the Android x Gorilla love story, made my night LOL!

[@carterevanroust]

Six Gun Gorilla from Wizard magazine!

[@trublgrl]

Comic Tropes guy goes into actual fridge, pulls out fake banana. Because who keeps real bananas in the fridge?

[@solonsaturngaming3727]

i forgot what video i was watching and they did bring this up in a small snippet and i died when he said "And then Dc had Freaking Nazi Gorillas!" and since then i was wondering if CT would touch on it and glad he did.

[@cumswag1222]

I've had ideological differences with you in the past, but I love your channel. Hope it continues to do well.

[@steakcrust558]

Hey @ComicTropes, do you think you will ever cover The Simpson's Comics?

[@DocReasonable]

It's interesting that none of the gorillas in GA/SA comics look anything like an actual gorilla.

[@smacksalad]

BECAUSE WE ROCK, HARD! Also, that Gorilla face opening, very offensive to me :)

[@TheDecatonkeil]

I thought this was going to be a jab at talentless hack writers.

[@FlamingoKicker]

Dont forget that Marvel had they share of apes (good and bad) from the Red Ghost and his 3 Super Apes or Gorilla Man from Agents of ATLAS. Wow. I stand corrected DC left Marvel in the dust with all this ... ahem... monkey business.

[@4-a-e]

Simon Spurrier studies during six gun gorilla revealex to him that publishers found that by putting a talking gorilla on the front cover of a comic book would increase said comicbook sells which is why there was a prevalence of talking gorilla during the silver age. I myself am a victim of this. What is the comicbooky allure of our ape cousins? The only reason I picked up REX MANTOOTH is because it had badass cool AF gorilla in a tux on the front cover and this was before Fraction was even a name.

[@NeoGMan64]

No comment on Six-Gun Gorilla?

[@shoddyworkmanship4934]

I love the bizarre, nonsensical stories of the silver age. And I love the art even more! Is my brain defective?

[@ardathbey4150]

A very cool post... thanks

[@priyajoselin7758]

Hey did you mention six gone gorilla in your video

[@grantwinter-helms5410]

15:28 And then they exploded. Don't worry they got better. Because comics.

[@BonJoviBeatlesLedZep]

Why do Gorillas sell comic books, but not souvlakis?: An Anthropological Analysis.

[@RoyalKnightVIII]

This is what the next justice league movie should be about

[@MADVILLAIN669]

No mention of red ghost from marvel?

[@haruruben]

I heard about this but I thought it was an urban legend

[@Nikke283]

I love gorillas...and comics...so the trope is made for me ^^

[@darthknight1]

The thing is, Gorillas on covers don't sell comics anymore. Maybe back when comics were primarily sold to children.

[@royeverson7015]

Why Do Gorillas Sell Comic Books? Because that's the only jobs in retail they can get. Seriously, kids have genetic memory and look favorably at the animals in their distant past. Thanks for an under-explored issue and thanks for the straight line.

[@sparklestonebro]

Does he ever answer the title question in the video? Feels like a better title would be "Gorillas sell comics"

[@DS-pe2zc]

“Crisis on Infinite Earths” only sold because Solovar the sapient gorilla guest starred. Without Solovar, all the subsequent Crisis knockoffs were bombs. Just sayin’.

[@gezeo750]

It all makes sense!

[@gezin82]

Gorillas are racist tropes, like King Kong stealing a white woman to have his way with her, per Hollywood. Like tropes of savage blacks in concrete jungle playing knockout game for sport, hunting nieve innocent whites and killing them with one punch 👊 Comics are just a different media pushing same stereotypes. The thumbnail says it all.

[@PepeCoinMania]

😂

[@LSZambie]

Not gonna lie, the Giganta thing makes a lot of things click for me. Like how in the Justice League cartoon, Giganta had a thing for Grodd. Always found that odd but now it actually makes a bit of sense

[@pious83]

Bruce Timm did love to throw in little subtle nods to the comics.

[@RednekGamurz]

I forgot which episode it is, but they do explain that Grodd was the one who changed her to be human in that continuity.

[@ViktorKruger99]

@@RednekGamurz it's from justice league unlimited season 3 grodd tries to convince clayface to join the legion of doom and points out he can cure him because he transformed giganta from a gorilla to a regular human being

[@gedeonnunes5626]

@@ViktorKruger99 you sure about that? I think it's before Unlimited, when she is first introduced in the two-parter where the League breaks appart. One of the male characters (maybe Shade?) hits on her or something, then Grodd either implies or straight up tells that she was a former gorilla

[@theajshow]

Whoa, I can never unsee that now.