Line #10 Comicbook/AngelAndTheApe


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3	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/angel_and_the_ape_2046.jpg]]
4	[[caption-width-right:350:He taught Tarzan how to swing.]]
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6	Spinning off from ''Showcase'' #77 (September, 1968), ''Angel and the Ape'' was a goofy humor series published by Creator/DCComics for six issues in UsefulNotes/{{the Silver Age\|of Comic Books}}. Starring Angel O'Day, a gorgeous super-sleuth who speaks thirteen languages and knows karate, and Sam Simeon, a comic book artist who happens to be a talking gorilla, the title featured wacky mysteries in the vein of ''Franchise/ScoobyDoo''. The fact that Sam was a talking ape was played completely deadpan. After their cancellation, the duo spent the next couple decades in comic book limbo, save for a few cameos (including Rick Veitch's ''ComicBook/SwampThing'').
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8	More memorable is the four-issue limited series from 1991 that brought the pair back into Franchise/TheDCU. Written and illustrated by master humorist Creator/PhilFoglio, the miniseries revealed that Sam was actually from Gorilla City, which explained his ability to talk, and that he was the grandson of none other than [[Characters/TheFlashRoguesGallery Gorilla Grodd]], nemesis of ComicBook/TheFlash, from whom he inherited low-level psychic abilities that make him appear as a normal human to onlookers. This revival also brought back the ComicBook/InferiorFive, another 60s humor comic; member Dumb Bunny turned out to be Angel's half-sister.
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10	In 2001, Creator/VertigoComics released another four-issue miniseries by Creator/HowardChaykin. Though extremely risqué, it maintained the same kind of humor. Their first appearance in the 2010s were in the book ''ComicBook/ScoobyDooTeamUp'', where they teamed up with Scooby Doo and co, whom they were created in vein of.
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12	Never the most popular characters, ''Angel and the Ape'' remain noteworthy for the sheer silliness of the premise.
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14	!!''Angel and the Ape'' provides examples of the following tropes:
15	%%* TheAce: Angel.
16	%%* ActionGirl: Angel.
17	* AlwaysSecondBest: In the Foglio miniseries, living with a [[SuperStrength super-strong]] stepmother and half-sister motivated Angel to become a BadassNormal.
18	* BadBoss: Stan Bragg, Sam's egomaniacal editor.
19	%%* BeastAndBeauty
20	* BigApplesauce: Though originally called "[[NoCommunitiesWereHarmed Fun City]]", the city where the comic is set is soon officially identified as New York.
21	* BitingTheHandHumor: After he quits Stan Bragg, Sam goes to work for "[[Creator/DCComics DZ Comics]]" working for "Morton I. Stoops", a stand-in for DC editor Mort Weisinger who looks like an ape himself.
22	* BruiserWithASoftCenter: Sam, who fits the "sensitive artist" mold to a T, except for being, y'know, a 500 pound gorilla.
23	%%* CallingTheOldManOut: When Sam takes on Grodd.
24	* ContinuityNod: The Green Glob (which played a major role in the Phil Foglio miniseries) was a running feature in DC's ''Tales of the Unexpected'' back in the 1960s. Really!
25	* CoversAlwaysLie: The last three issues of the first series featured Literature/{{Dracula}} and [[Franchise/{{Frankenstein}} Frankenstein's Monster]], neither of whom ever appeared in the comics.
26	* DarkerAndEdgier: The Chaykin series. Well, not darker, but far edgier. [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] when Sam is assigned to work on DarkerAndEdgier versions of ''ComicBook/StanleyAndHisMonster'' (which had also been revamped by Phil Foglio in the early '90s) and ''Sugar And Spike''.
27	* DumbBlonde: Dumb Bunny. Averted with Angel, who is a bona fide genius.
28	* TheEveryman: Sam, aside from being a gorilla.
29	%%* EvilOldFolks: Grodd.
30	* HairOfGoldHeartOfGold: Dumb Bunny. Also Angel in the Chaykin miniseries.
31	* InterspeciesRomance: Sam and Dumb Bunny.
32	* JokerImmunity: Justified when King Solovar of Gorilla City takes Grodd in yet again at the end of Foglio's miniseries. Sam asks for a ''real'' explanation why Grodd's still around; Solovar replies that, if he can't find a way for humanity and Gorilla City to live in peace, he'll have Grodd around to lead them to war instead.)
33	* MoneyDearBoy: InUniverse, why Sam does schlocky comic books instead of the more refined art he wants to do.
34	* MostWritersAreWriters: Sam is a beleaguered comic book artist, which allowed for some [[BitingTheHandHumor satire about the industry]].
35	* MsFanservice: Angel and Bunny.
36	* NeckSnap: Grodd does this to Bunny in the Foglio miniseries, but it paralyzes rather than kills her, and Sam talks a [[RealityWarper reality-warping]] piece of alien technology into fixing her up.
37	* NewAgeRetroHippie: In his spare time, Sam enjoys meditating and playing the sitar.
38	* NiceGuy: Sam.
39	* NoOntologicalInertia: Discussed. In Foglio's miniseries, Grodd's plan revolved around the "Green Glob", a {{Reality Warp\|er}}ing artifact that only made temporary changes. Sam defeats Grodd by getting a temporary power boost and using it to make a more permanent change to Grodd's mind. ("What happens to my powers now is irrelevant. If I hit you with a hammer which then disappears, you've still been hit with a hammer.") Later, Sam manages to [[LogicBomb talk the artifact]] into permanently healing a paralyzed Dumb Bunny. (It immediately [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence Ascends To A Higher Plane Of Existence]] after going beyond its programming.)
40	* OnlySaneMan: In the Chaykin miniseries, Sam is the only character who isn't an oversexed idiot. (Well, Angel's not an idiot, but she's still oversexed.)
41	* PlatonicLifePartners: Sam and Angel. (Foglio's series teases a RelationshipUpgrade, but they decide that even with a species change for Sam, they're BetterAsFriends.)
42	* PrivateDetective: Angel.
43	* PsychicPowers: Sam in the Foglio miniseries.
44	* PunnyName: A hallmark of the Vertigo series; the central plot is about the death of a model called Bambi Dextrous (a stage name but even so), and the duo are assisted by a cop named Det. Komicz.
45	* SequentialArtist: Sam.
46	* ShowWithinAShow: The comics Sam draws, including "Jungle Girl", "Real Ape", "Atilla Gorilla", "Deus Ex Machina Man" (a reference to Creator/PhilFoglio's strip "What's New?"), and "Hey Boy and Miss Thing".
47	* TheSpeechless: Sam is unable to speak in the Chaykin miniseries.
48	* TakeThat: Sam's boss is a nutso comic book editor named "[[Creator/StanLee Stan Bragg]]".
49	* TalkingAnimal: Sam.
50	* TheUnintelligible: Sam in UsefulNotes/{{the Silver Age\|of Comic Books}} comics; he could only talk in growls and snarls ("Urgle, gleek, glug, raack, meerk, blip brack!") that only Angel could understand. Translations were usually provided that showed he was actually quite erudite, and most of the time he only "spoke" through thought balloons anyway. The Foglio revamp just had him speaking normally.
51	* UnusuallyUninterestingSight: In UsefulNotes/{{the Silver Age\|of Comic Books}} comics, nobody seems to care that Sam is a gorilla. (The psychic powers from Foglio's miniseries were a CerebusRetcon of this; Sam's ''just'' powerful enough to keep passerby from realizing that the big, hairy guy's a gorilla -- unless he's distracted. Then the screaming starts.)
52	* VulgarHumor: The Chaykin miniseries is pretty much non-stop sex jokes, stopping just short of full frontal.
53	* WeaksauceWeakness: Sam gives [[spoiler: Grodd]] one at the end of the foglio series by giving him an [[spoiler: irresistible craving for junk food. Since only humans make junk food, Grodd can't wipe out humanity.]]
54	* WeirdnessCensor: Sam's low level psychic powers in the Foglio miniseries keep people from noticing he's a gorilla. Most of the time.
55	* WunzaPlot: She's a gorgeous [[GreatDetective super-sleuth]] who speaks thirteen languages [[ActionGirl and knows karate]]. He's a comic book artist who happens to be a talking gorilla. Together they fight crime.

Context Comicbook / AngelAndTheApe