Angel and the Ape

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Angel and the Ape (German Angel and the Ape , abbreviated AatA) is the title of several humorous comic series that the US publisher DC Comics published between 1968 and 2001.

action

The series is about the attractive private detective Angel O'Day , who runs a fairly well functioning law firm (O'Day and Simeon). O'Day's partner is Sam Simeon , a huge gorilla who is able to behave like a human, to speak like a human, to gesticulate and in general has a human-like intelligence and uses human-like ways of thinking. Together the two solve various crazy cases. Sam, who comes from Gorilla City in the African jungle and exclusively inhabited by intelligent monkeys, hides his gorilla identity through special telepathic powers that he has and that enable him to pretend to people that he looks like a normal man .

The name Sam Simeon is alluding in two senses. The first name of the criminalist monkey alludes to the fictional private detective Sam Spade , the hero of a series of detective novels from the pen of Dashiell Hammett , some of which were also filmed with Humphrey Bogart in the lead role. The last name Simeon is in turn a homage to the Belgian Georges Simenon , one of the most successful crime writers of the 20th century. The name Simeon can also be seen as a play on words, as it sounds to Americans similar to the English adjective simian , which means something like "ape" or "concerning the monkey".

Release history

Angel and the Ape, 1st series (1967–1968)

The first series, which appeared under the title Angel and the Ape , comprised seven issues that were published between November / December 1968 and November / December 1969 every two months. The series was preceded by a "test" story that appeared in issue # 77 (September 1968) of the experimental anthology series Showcase , in which constantly changing concepts were tested for their suitability for their own series. Although the showcase booklet met with a positive response, Angel and the Ape was not a success. After weak sales, the title was changed to Meet Angel after issue # 6 and the series was completely discontinued with issue # 7 from December 1969. There is much to suggest that the publisher had planned in the last phase of the series to gradually write the Ape character out of the series (for example, his name was gradually printed smaller and smaller on the title of the series and completely omitted with number # 7) and Angel to make the sole main character . These plans - if they existed - but shattered with the discontinuation of the series.

All of these editions were written by the author E. Nelson Bridwell . As a draftsman, Bob Oksner figured , who was supported by the Indian ink artist Wally Wood.

Angel and the Ape, 2nd series (1991)

Another AatA series appeared between March and June 1991 , designed as a four-part mini-series. The series written by the author Phil Foglio was received favorably by critics and readers, but was not continued for reasons of publishing policy, as the management of DC wanted to ban humorous series from the publishing program at that time.

Angel and the Ape, 2nd series (2001-2002)

Another AatA series followed in 2001/2002 , which appeared in the DC imprint Vertigo , which was specifically aimed at adult readers . A miniseries was released between October 2001 and January 2002, which was planned as the starting point for an ongoing series that did not materialize due to modest sales.

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