doug moench with
Conducted via email on October 16, 2006
SPOTTED AMONG THE APES IN: Planet of the Apes (Marvel, 1970s), Detective Comics #562, Batman #535
OTHER CAREER HIGHLIGHTS: “Weirdworld” (Marvel), Master of Kung Fu, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Werewolf by Night, Moon Knight, Batman (monthly, Detective, and various miniseries), Aztec Ace, Six from Sirius, The Spectre, James Bond: Serpent’s Tooth
Gerry Conway was originally intended to be Marvel’s Planet of the Apes writer. How did you end up with the assignment? Roy Thomas called me into his office and offered it. Why me, I don’t really know, since I was still new. You’d have to ask Roy. Marv Wolfman knew me from Warren [Publishing] and was instrumental in my hire, so maybe Roy was operating on Marv’s further recommendation. Or maybe Roy just liked the other stuff I’d begun writing for Marvel. Anyway, Gerry had written a paragraph or two broadly outlining his Apes intentions before realizing his schedule was already on overload. Something had to give, so he gave up the assignment not yet really begun. At the time, he lived on West End Avenue just two corners around from my Riverside Drive apartment on the same block, so it was easy to stop off that evening on the way home from Marvel. But rather than offering further input, liberated Gerry generously said: “It’s yours, have fun, go for it.” So we began our friendship discussing other things, after which I went ape going for it. Is it true you wrote some of the Apes film adaptations without having seen the movies? True, although the choice was before-the-fact and could not, in those days, be undone. I’d seen the first two movies upon release in Chicago theaters long before moving to New York, meaning long before I knew I’d ever write for Marvel, let alone adapt all five movies into comics form. Although I’d loved the first movie and enjoyed the second, lukewarm-to-bad reviews led me to skip the final three.
Detail from Doug Moench’s “Ogre and the Ape” tale in Batman #535 (Oct. 1996). Art by Kelley Jones. © 2007 DC Comics.