Coming up with a great name for a new indie comic, can be quite the task, but with Apes n Capes writer Grainne McEntee and Matthew Rooke look set to join Kate Ashwin’s Widdershins and Ryan Jenkyns Whiskers McFadden on our ‘awesome names list’ – but can this ape-filled adventure live up to it’s epic name?!

Publisher: Bounce Comics
Writer: Grainne McEntee
Artist: Matthew Rooke
Price: £3.95 from the Bounce Comics Store

Our rating: [star rating=”4″]

In a business meeting run by bears, a mysterious caped orangutang bursts through the ceiling and gives an ominous message to those in charge – “I’m back”. It’s a pretty dramatic start for this brilliantly bizarre tale and sets the tone for a beautifully realised, sometimes confusing series, that is set in a truly unique world.

Despite sounding like it should be an ape-based superhero tale, Apes n Capes is more like Planet of the Apes: The Office Years, as the world sees bears and apes become the dominant species and engage in business meetings, sinister experiments and corporate espionage. Mixing science-faction with action-adventure and an environmental subtext, it’s a book with some really strong hidden depths that stands out from the herd of indie comics, thanks to it’s inventive concept.

The enigmatic caped ape who makes the smashing entrance is the focus of the story and his encounters with a variety of characters helps to build the story of the series via a number of short almost chapter-like tales. One thing we really liked is that rather than getting bogged down in world-building exposition, writer Grainne McEntee throws you straight into the deep end, which is refreshing as it saves a lot of unnecessary flashback or origin tales at this point – although it can also be a bit frustrating as it is often unclear why things are happening or what this world is all about (but we hope that will come in time).

This uniqueness and enigmatic charm certainly helps develop your interest in what’s going on, and is definitely helped by Matthew Rooke’s visuals. Scenes like the epic tree-top residence of Pak George in issue 1, or the bears in a hot tub at the beginning of issue 2 are ones you don’t quickly forget. Rooke does a brilliant job of bringing the animals to life, as well as creating a stunning natural environment for them to live in and it reminded us of Matthew Petz’ War of the Woods in terms of the style and finish.

As we saw with War of the Woods, creating a book with anthropomorphic animals that are not cartoons is a tough task, and requires stronger art skills than if they were actual real people as getting emotion and character into animals without Disney-fying them is not easy. Fortunately Rooke does a very good job at this, and although some of the characterisation may not always be perfect, (and the inking style is a bit erratic at times) there is a very high level of finish that means you are never taken out of the moment, which is key to the book’s success.