Written by Tom Sniegoski, Jeannine Acheson
Art by Craig Rousseau, Tom Gaadt
Published by Papercutz
If, like me, you’ve been around forever, you might remember DC Comics’ famous Silver Age theory that any cover with an ape on it sells!
Thus, you had Titano the Super-Ape, Batman fighting Gorilla Boss, the evolved M. Mallah in Doom Patrol, Hawkman fighting winged gorillas, Angel & the Ape, and scores of other simian characters!
The creators of the new Papercutz graphic novel, Nothing Can Stop…the Ape! seem to have been familiar with this concept as well as a huge closeup of their title ape monopolizes the cover!
Nothing Can Stop…the Ape! is a rousing, safe for all ages adventure.
The back cover and publicity material compare it to 1960s Hanna-Barbera cartoons, particularly Jonny Quest. I’m not really seeing that at all.
I mean, yes, you have a courageous 12-year-old boy and his dog, and the boy is the son of an absent-minded—and also just plain absent from his son’s day-to-day life—professor, but that’s where the parallels end. Maxwell Morgan lives with his mother, an archaeologist who takes him with her on digs, while her ex-husband tinkers in his government laboratory.
It’s Mom who discovers the remnants of a previously unknown civilization and unwittingly returns to life an ancient goddess who possesses her as a new host body. Unlike her, readers already know who the goddess is as the story opens with the epic final struggle between order and chaos, between the beautiful goddess and the monstrous ape who represent those two sides. The ape was imprisoned in a magical jewel, but unfortunately, that very act caused the essential destruction of that entire earlier civilization. Now the goddess has returned, and her quest to make the even more chaotic earth disciplined and perfect has returned with her. Civilization’s only hope to stop her is to find and revive her brutish ancient enemy, the ape. Oh, and Maxwell Morgan wants his mom back, too.
There isn’t a huge amount of substance to the story, although one could make the argument that it proves that perfection is impossible and that chaos is inevitable on the Earth. One could say it shows that love conquers all—always a good message, and that one should never give up when the stakes are high. One could also say it shows you can’t tell what someone is like by how they look. Sometimes the pretty one is the monster and the gruff one smarter than you thought.
Yeah, you could make all of those arguments and maybe a few more, besides, but to me, it’s just a fun, quick read. Kids will enjoy it because it’s colorful, exciting, sometimes funny, and has the determined, relatable young hero and his cute pup.
I suppose some particularly religious parents might complain about the concept of gods and goddesses herein but they’re basically employed here as just your typical mega-powered superheroes and supervillains.
Written by Thomas E. Sniegoski and Jeanine Acheson, the story is perfectly paced for children to read themselves but also suited for parental reading in sections. The dialogue is sharp and sometimes witty, and the characterizations just deep enough for the targeted age group.
Artwork is by Craig Rousseau with color by Tom Gaadt. These two work together well, with this being another of those books where the chosen colors clearly enhance the already-impressive artwork and storytelling.
In the end, Nothing Can Stop…the Ape! was just a clever read for me as a grown-up, and its reasonably satisfying ending sets up an inevitable sequel. (No one writes just “a book” anymore.) If I were younger—much younger—this book could well become an absolute favorite!
Booksteve recommends.
