Ty Templeton on the Planet of the Apes

I’ve got piles stuff on the drawing board to work on, and OH, so little time to play Art-Land this week  –  but I cannot let this moment go un-blogged!

I’ve been made into a character in the Planet of the Apes.

Look! It's like photoshop, only crappy!

I’ve been a Planet of the Apes fanatic since birth.  The first film I ever saw in a real theater was Beneath the Planet of the Apes, and the poster hung on my bedroom wall for my entire childhood – the first image I awoke to every morning:

Good morning, Ty. The world is filled with armed gorillas, and perhaps, a half-naked girlfriend.

After that, I could go deal with school.

I was lucky enough to work on an Apes comic a few years back –  writing/editing a six issue mini series called Revolution on the Planet of the Apes.

 

The original, unseen cover for Revolution #1, rejected because Fox didn't want a burning American flag anywhere near their properties and logos in 2007. Painted by Dennis Rodier.

As a result of my participation in Apes comic book, I got to know Rich Handley, our planet’s No.#1 expert on the Apes’ Planet, and Rich has recently written a delightful Apes book called:

Available from Hasslein Books (www.hassleinbooks.com)

It’s an exhaustive and very entertaining encyclopedia of EVERY character, location, institution, and scroll ever mentioned in a movie, comic, novel, or back of a toy box.  Apes fans must own it.

I was surprised to see a listing for Templeton on page 319, because the book only lists the fictional stuff, not the writers, actors, artists and such…

Apparently , Templeton is the name of the narrator of the ANSA Space Program promotional film included in the recent Blu-Ray versions of the original movie.  It’s a DVD extra, and a minor one at that, but the character shares my name.  How cute.   BUT WAIT…!

He’s going to be in an upcoming Planet of the Apes novel, and his name isn’t a co-incidence.  He’s named after me!

Now, I know, this is a teeny nothing of a throwaway character, not even a trivia question in the Apes World –  but if I could go back in time to the the thirteen year old kid who woke up every morning to a Planet of the Apes poster and told him that one day he’d be a teeny nothing throwaway character in that world, he’d have fallen over dead.

If you at all care, you can see the ANSA film here on Youtube.

Sometimes, it all works out in this grown up fanboy’s life.

Ty the Guy OUT!

Here now, your comic book Planet of the Apes moment of Zen:

Why was this my favorite Kirby comic ever?

 

This is The End

…of the five part interview of Ty, by Michel Fiffe. Ty discusses Howard the Duck, Mr. Comics and Hoverboy. Check it out over at The Comics Journal.

Ad for Revolution on the Planet of the Apes, from Mr. Comics

Keiren

Piles of Paper

Ty is going through piles of pages, sorting through his career.  Quite the retrospective.  He’s trying to decide what stuff to scan for this site.

Every now and then, one of us will check eBay to see if any of Ty’s stuff is on.  Sometimes, we’ll see a bunch of pages Ty’s inked over a particular penciller.  About eighteen months ago, someone was trying to sell a bunch of Jim Mooney pages, as Jim needed the money for medical/living expenses (he died early last year). Ty had inked Jim on Superboy pages.

It took Ty aback a moment as he tried to remember the issues:  as I’ve mentioned before, with such a wide and varied career it can be hard for Ty to remember what work he’s done, let alone who he’s inked over, or who has inked him. It can be easier to remember the big ones (Ty inked Curt Swan), and/or a tragic story (Ty drew two issues of Batman Adventures, when Mike Parobeck was unable to finish them not long before his death).  Sometimes, Ty will talk to a penciller or inker, through email or facebook, and will be confused when the other artist refers to their mutual work.  This sends Ty off through his pile of pages (or off to the Grand Comic Book Database!).

And, of course, even though Ty has been doing a lot of work on his own in recent years (pencilling and inking Simpsons’ stories which he has written), he’s still busy collaborating.  He was immensely pleased to work with Stephen Molnar on Revolution on the Planet of the Apes, and on Hoverboy, having first seen Stephen’s work in a portfolio review at a local convention.  And the artist for Moonstone’s upcoming Johnny Canuck and the Guardians of the North is David J. Cutler.  David was in Ty’s classes when Ty taught at Max the Mutt Animation School in Toronto.

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A page from Superboy #6 (1990) Jim Mooney pencils, Ty Templeton inks