Why Do Gorillas Sell Comic Books?

[@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

[@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????

[@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]

😂

[@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

[@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.

[@needfoolthings]

"Titano tries to shave Jimmy Olsen with a helicopter." - DC Comics, ca. Silver Age

[@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.

[@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.

[@DocReasonable]

'Why Do Gorillas Sell Comic Books?' That's a heckuva way to talk about my LCS owner, but I can't disagree.

[@El_Keck]

At last, the return of the famed Gorilla Mask. That's what I call a Throwback.

[@hydrolito]

I have a gorilla mask and horse mask for Halloween.

[@nightmarehound]

Looking into american comics as a kid, and seeing constantly gorillas, this really boggled me. It still does. Because though my experience is limited, I do not recall many italian/belgian/french/uk/japanese/etc comics where a big point of them would have been that there's an ape (maybe Cromartie High), while it's something that still seems to happen in american comics.

[@WeyounSix]

Holy shit somebody else knows about cromartie high lmaoo

[@maspesasmasperras5554]

We love our gorillas

[@hydrolito]

Tarzan was popular and raised by apes in the story how popular was he in Italy, France, Belgium and Japan?

[@ginogatash4030]

@@hydrolito he's well known as any other fairy tale and similar characters are, but I don't know if I'd attribute all the gorillas in american comics to Tarzan, tho it's possible that there was maybe a movie adaptation that made everyone insert apes in other media, I dunno.

[@medes5597]

UK strip "our sheriffs an ape", about an ape called Charlie who was the sheriff of a wild west town. Ran in Valiant and Hotspur. He invented lacrosse at one point. That's all I can think of off hand though.

[@VivisPal]

I've really missed the "Oh, hi! You caught me..." openings, so it was great to see you pull it back out for this episode!

[@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.

[@scottpickering2382]

Six Gun Gorilla is a forgotten public domain Wild West comic where the O’Neil (that’s the gorilla’s name) hunts down the Strawhan gang who shot the prospector who taught him how to use guns and raised him like a son. The Eponymous Ape has been popping up in popularity lately in the indie comics radar.

[@lo1bo2]

If you didn't know, there was a Six Gun Gorilla 2013 6-issue mini from Boom. I bought it as it came out since it seemed so wacky and fun.

[@Udgrasil13]

I totally get it. Gorillas are awesome XD But my favorite has to be Mike from "Motor Girl" drawn and written by Terry Moore. If you want a comic about a female Veteran, who lives on a junkyard with a talking Gorilla, dealing with Aliens and PTSD, that is funny, clever and heartbreaking (and so beautiful), this is the comic for you. Afterwards, you will love Mike as much as I do. Promise.

[@RarebitFiends]

Terry Moore is such a fantastic writer/artist. I can second the Motor Girl recommendation.

[@equinox6690]

@@RarebitFiends I can third it

[@joshuablaze9810]

YES! I searched the comments hoping someone would mention this book. #1 must-read gorilla comic! It is such a good story.

[@ElijahW2003]

...The Brain in a robot body asking Monsieur Mallah to kiss him wasn't something I was mentally prepared for.

[@richardrosenthal9552]

The Congorilla was the best use of a gorilla in a comic with Grodd coming second. They were fun to read about. As a kid fun was what I wanted and these two gorillas gave that.

[@PaulSaether]

Remember how Congo Bill used to change places with that golden gorilla? Whilst Bill was off doing whatever he did in the super strong gorilla's body he would lock his own body (With the gorilla's mind) in a cave so no harm came to Bill's body. But if the gorilla shat itself Bill would have had one heck of a problem when they reverted back, eh?

[@markshulusky6680]

It's like how zombies are popular now. There was a similar gorilla craze in the early days of film: Bela Lugosi and Raymond Burr turned into them, endless movies featured gorillas as the (not much of a) surprise "villain" at the end.

[@zakazany1945]

Funny that after I remembered Marvel Apes, right after came to mind Marvel Zombies. Gorillas and zombies are both fascinating because they are similar to us, but at the same time it's clearly different, although by very different reasons

[@brianshawkey2910]

Congorilla was my favorite. Congo Bill switched bodies with the big golden gorilla! Great stuff! Thanks for posting!

[@samslash9]

This is one of my favorite things in comics history. The idea that gorillas being so prominant that there was a whole movement. Being a reader of DC you get so used to the idea of intellegent gorillas just existing, you forget how absurd it is.

[@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!

[@saiberunato]

"DC went crazy with their gorilla covers." Darn, ya missed the perfect opportunity to say "DC went APE with their gorilla covers." 😆 Cool presentation BTW. Funny how we sometimes don't notice the obvious until it is pointed out to us.

[@canislupus3655]

He actually did take the shot at 1:43, lmao

[@jimschleich8753]

"It's not rocket surgery!" Chris, I have to say, there's no greater joy than when someone who's creative work you appreciate can surprise you with an unexpected move to an even higher level of entertainment. I would say this line pleased me in a way similar to when Kurt Busiak revealed [SPOILER] that Hank Pym had anguished for years with the shame that he had used his own brain patterns to create Ultron. Well done sir!!

[@brandonmedina4471]

I heard Julius Schwartz had a strict 1 gorilla cover per month rule. This was a limit not a requirement. Gorilla covers sold so well every DC title would have had one for every issue. Nothing but gorilla covers from DC, except Schwartz didn’t want to kill it with overexposure. Creative teams would beg him to give them the gorilla that month and he would refuse, only allowing it for whichever ever titles turn it was.

[@julesjay747]

Seriously I’ve been asking This question for the past 6 years, like I’ve always wondered why there are so many gorilla characters in the comic industry, especially DC

[@hydrolito]

The Fantastic Four battled the soviet super villain The red ghost with the power to become intangible and can pass through solid objects he had 3 super apes a gorilla with super strength, a orangutan with magnetic powers which can make guns and other metal objects float into the air, and a shape shifting baboon all of which were highly intelligent.

[@simonKagree]

Ape on!

[@karabearcomics]

Of course, there's also the things like Marvel Apes and JLApes. And of course there's the Golden Age characters, which are mainly one-off enemies, but you occasionally get characters like Six-Gun Gorilla, a protagonist gorilla who carries a revolver.

[@justinsheppherd1806]

Lovely work, Chris. Really takes me back, and reminds me of why I was a DC kid all those years ago. So nice to see M. Mallah getting some recognition, and The Ultra-Humanite, who I hadn't thought about in decades.

[@brianthomas2434]

The first time the Ultra Humanite changed bodies was in his LAST golden age appearance. He transferred his brain to a Hollywood actress....

[@simonbarnett8668]

@@brianthomas2434 He was in the All-star Squadron comic of the Eighties by Roy & Thomas, drawn by Rich Buckler and Jerry Ordway for a time and was one of my favourite books until they changed it because of Crisis, then relaunched as Young All-Stars. He appeared in many other JSA related books over the decades since, so no, Deloris Winters was not his final body-swap.

[@brianthomas2434]

@@simonbarnett8668 you apparently didn't spot that I said last GOLDEN AGE appearance. UH probably had more appearances AFTER 1939 (the only times he showed up in the Golden Age; after 1940 Luthor served as Superman's go-to mad scientist). E. Nelson Bridwell, I believe, was the first to bring him back, still in the actress body in the seventies. Then Thomas (no relation!) in ASS, then the "Golden Age" miniseries and stuff I've forgotten or never knew about, as I stopped being a regular reader of comics in 1990.

[@kbar4462]

LMAO I can't overstate how much I enjoy your intros in every video

[@Butterball503]

I screamed when you said "It's not rocket surgery," Thought I was the only person who used that phrase. Also, I know it's not comics, but my favorite talking gorilla is King Gorilla from Venture Bros. "They wanted the Surreal Life, KG gave em the surreal life!"

[@nickangelo116]

I say rocket science or brain surgery.

[@jamesduncan6729]

You didn't scream. You at most passed some air through your nose.

[@hydrolito]

Tarzan was popular both in comics and movies and he was raised by an ape. They often had reruns of his movies mostly with Johnny Weissmuller and had a TV series Starring Ron Ely when I was a child.

[@knyght27]

Yes! I love this topic. I've always noticed how gorillas tend to be over-represented in pulp magazines and old comics and movies

[@Norvo82]

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

[@MadisonCarter]

There was an issue of DC's series SECRET ORIGINS, issue #40, that handled this trope. The cover for that issue featured a number of apes, dinosaurs, motorcycles, the color purple and a fire in the background - an interior essay discussed how in the "old days" all of these things were stuff editors wanted on covers because it sold better.

[@s.craigzahler8670]

DC should give hire you to collect these issues in a trade and write the intros. my guess is no small number of comictropes fans would buy it and spread the word. your humor is great and matched by your enthusiasm. keep it up!

[@danyergert8122]

"You think of speed's natural enemy: gorillas." lol

[@bumbleguppy]

Oh! That reminds me! I forgot to turn off my evolution ray in the other room! Thanks, Chris!

[@Weasel_Patrol]

Imagine if all those obscure gorillas became citizens of Gorilla City

[@ChannelOfTheWriter]

7:47 Oh, that's the Gorilla from Peacemaker.

[@ComicTropes]

Possibly.

[@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. ;)

[@MariaVosa]

Never thought this would be a Comic Tropes topic for a video - and I love it!

[@matheusemanueldossantos6759]

Greetings from Brazil! 🇧🇷 We have a strong tradition of national comics, but we had a lot of influence from American hero comics, which, to this day, are one of the most popular genres around here. It's always a joy to discuss the follies of the Silver Age. What a beautiful channel! Congratulations!

[@phillipjohnson8903]

I never noticed how gorillas were a specific DC trope. Someone went through a "monkee is gud" phase

[@pious83]

Immediately Gorilla Grodd came to mind. Completely forgot about Monsieur Mallah though. That whole scene in Doom Patrol was so ..surreal and very Morrison. It's weird I remember watching the Justice League cartoon as a kid thinking Grodd and Ultra Humanite were the same character, due to that similarity.

[@TheDropOfTheDay]

I really appreciate how high quality your content is.

[@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! 👍🏼

[@DIEGhostfish]

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

[@johnathancopson9328]

I guess you could say they were going apeshit for Gorillas in the silver age(pelted with tomatoes).

[@Olympics2048]

Awesome video! Was kinda hoping you’d touch on DC’s Angel and the Ape, though! Maybe next time

[@tonymiles273]

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

[@dlee827]

The selfie-taking, drumming gorilla on issues #23 and #24 of Astro City vol#3 was a recent classic of the trope.

[@shaunieinthewrasslin2877]

Sleeper episode, didn’t know what to expect but I really enjoyed this one, great job!!!

[@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 👍

[@samu_menko4393]

Couldn't stop thinking about more modern Marvel's Agents of Atlas's Gorilla-man and Hit-monkey. Well also the first gorilla in comics I have encountered was CY-gor...

[@apenasmaisumdiogo.7115]

What a great video! You really made a documentary!

[@leetri]

I wonder if this is related to how in a lot of vintage sci-fi and horror movies the monster is someone wearing a gorilla suit.

[@reprintranch]

I was thinking the same thing. Apart from gorillas, there aren't many large, dangerous animals that can be portrayed halfway credibly by a man in a suit (mountain lion? crocodile? ostrich?) and there must be 1,001 old feature films, shorts and television episodes that involve a "gorilla at large."

[@nshaw2311]

I always question whether the gorilla thing was a real trend, or just something the higher ups assumed was the common thread that increased sales. Then again, I do immediately watch any comic book video I see that's about gorillas.

[@bengordon2330]

Thanks!

[@russellharrell2747]

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

[@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

[@tonybaggett1984]

Amazing how you can keep coming up with such high quality content. Love seeing new videos each week just don’t know how you do it.

[@simonbarnett8668]

Thanks so much for this one! I love hearing the background to the zany stories of the past explored!

[@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.

[@halnorman6270]

Why do gorilla's sell comic books? Well how else are they supposed to make a living?

[@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.

[@michaelturner2806]

Enjoying this gem again and sharing with friends. Halfway through a rewatch and it feels like the word "gorilla" has ceased to be a word and now registers in my brain as nonsense sounds lol

[@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.

[@euansmith3699]

That cover to Smash Comics #1 (2:17) has got it all!

[@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).

[@grkpektis]

When this poped up in my YT feed I thought "eh i don't care about this subject but I'll watch it because this channel is great". I am really glad I watched this because this was hilarious i love this video

[@RighteousBrother]

the greatest ape story of all time is, Monkey Business in the Charles Darwin Block, a Judge Dredd story and is well worth checking out!

[@dvepps6780]

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

[@keithpl5438]

"...You think of speed's natural enemy -- the gorilla!"😂😂

[@matthewjones6786]

It was the Marvel movies that got me looking at comics for the first time. Gotta say, I love this “anything goes” era!

[@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!

[@damianmonke3922]

As a primate myself this episode got me really hyped!

[@danielcanedo4625]

What an episode!!! Thats why I love Comic Tropes, serious research on crazy subjects! Thank you Chris, amazing job as always!!!

[@dcamaag709]

What's the coolest species on Earth? Gorillaz Nuff said!

[@jakobstisen6366]

The Ultra humanite from Justice League 2001 is one of my favorite Gorillas/Human I gess.

[@MrCeratix]

I hope Benny gets his royalty check for that cameo

[@Kevin_Street]

Thank you so much for this wonderful video! I really enjoyed it. Few things in life are perfect, but comic books with gorilla covers are about as close as we've ever come.

[@allantidgwell5624]

You missed the great pulp character Six-gun Gorilla. Which had a small revival with Six-Gun Gorilla: Long Days of Vengeance, as well as a 6 issue run at BOOM! Studios This demonstrates a third common trope regarding apes; which has been seen through this video as well; teaching a normal gorilla to act like a human

[@brewmaster2912]

Reject humanity, return to monke

[@knilla2k]

14:35 that’s such a good sound bite drop and I know exactly where it’s from. A French guy hit his nuts on the Slalom (I think) and the commentator was going in on him 😂

[@josephsdsu1]

Surprised you didn't mention Alan Moore's Promethea and his Weeping Gorilla Comix, which combines the gorilla trope with the color purple, also a sales trigger.

[@BanazirGalpsi1968]

Love seeing the u caught me intro is back.

[@pipedreamer9781]

Why gorillas? Cause, I mean, just lookit them monkeys! I wanna pick up every single comic with an ape. I don't care, they just bring me joy.

[@macsnafu]

DC also did a fair amount of reprints in the 1970s, including DC Special #16, Super-Heroes Battle Super-Gorillas. It reprints gorilla stories against Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and The Flash.

[@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).

[@OkMakuTree]

Thank you for covering this topic! I’ve been curious for a while why old school DC seemed to like slapping gorillas on comic covers so much.

[@simonKagree]

Why were obviously fake gorillas so popular in B-movies and TV shows in the 40s, 50s and 60s? Who knows?! Maybe it was fallout from the growing popular recognition that Darwin was right. I was born in the month that the Silver Age Flash Showcase first appeared on the stands, so I grew up with a lot of this nonsense. My personal hero is Detective Chimp. Long live Detective Chimp!

[@Pegwarmers]

Fun topics! I love seeing these true Tropes topics.

[@Kooljupiter]

This is crazy!! You would think it would be dinosaurs.. or tigers!?

[@scottguerin5741]

I think I had that Strange Adventures with the lie detector cover when I was a kid. My grandfather stored a couple of stacks of my comics in a work storage place that he allowed a tenant that ran a thrift store to have access to. A lot of stuff ended up missing, including my comics. This crook ended up going to jail for molesting a little girl, so stealing comics was the least of his crimes.

[@DforDembol]

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

[@thomaskelly5309]

I would love you to do a video on the history of Beano and Dandy. Great video as per.

[@markhutchins7808]

When I was a kid, a couple friends of mine and I wrote in to Marvel Team Up to try to get them to use the Red Ghost and his Super Apes. We wanted Spider Man and apes

[@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!

[@NatetheNerdy]

My comic book guy loves Julius Schwartz, and once told me that he had a list of 7 things DC found could be put on a cover to make that book sell better. They were gorillas, fire, dinosaurs, motorcycles, a hero crying, the color purple, and a question being asked. This leads to my favorite comic cover ever, Secret Origins #40, which features all 7 and yet sold horribly.

[@milliondollarmistake]

I wonder how popular characters like Detective Chimp and Hit Monkey were back in the day. It might even be the thinking behind the Wonder Twins' monkey pet thing.

[@needfoolthings]

Not ALL gorillas sell comic books though. Some sit around scratching their balls all day. Wait! That's a comic store clerk, too.