Panel of the Week - Scarlet Goes Ape!

Apes and comics go together like damsels and distress, and this panel from 1941 is an example of both. Scarlet's sudden encounter with "Ping Bong" was obviously inspired by the 1933 film King Kong, but gorillas would always be a popular attraction to lure readers. In an interview with DC executive Irwin Donenfeld in Comic Book Artist # 5, he was of the firm belief that by "placing a gorilla on a comic book cover, regardless of the context or relevance, would automatically correspond with an increase in sales for that title." Thus, Stamm's aggressive ape was just one of the first in a long line of comic book primate characters - Beppo, BrainiApe, the Gibbon, Gleek, Gorilla Man, Grease Monkey, Sam Simeon, Konga, Mojo Jojo, Sky Ape, and Titano to name but a few. For more monkey madness, check out Comics Gone Ape from Twomorrows publishing and the Gorilla Age of Comics website.