Well, this is it.  The end of another amazing comic book series, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, giving us an in-depth look into the lives of Malcolm and his son before the time in which the respective film takes place. 

SPOILERS BELOW

If one can recall from Dawn of the Plane of the Apes #5, Malcolm and Rita do whatever it takes to get their son back by secretly raiding the ship he was being held prisoner on.  Meanwhile, Koba and Pope were about to begin an epic ape battle for the ages, officially making the slogan “ape not hurt ape” ancient history.

In Dawn of the Plant of the Apes #6, however, all things come to a conclusion, teaching us that we must “build on harmony.  Not war.”  Koba is forced to kill Pope, but at this point, he understands it was the wrong thing to do.  And, while Rita tells her son the truth about contracting the simian flu, she, too, understands what needs to be done—leave her family.

I imagine that if I had the opportunity to meet author Michael Moreci, I’m pretty sure I would bow down in his presence.  If not, I would surely thank him for writing one of the most thought-provoking comic book series I’ve ever read!  You can tell that each and every issue has been written with purpose and intellect.  And, of course, Dan McDaid’s illustrations made this entire series more worth reading with the simple flip of every page.  Each panel was well constructed, yet also dark and deep at the same time.  Every set of eyes, whether they be human or ape, told a story and held subtext, something that often gets missed in comic books.  The Planet of the Apes franchise really couldn’t have asked for a better team to tell such a troubled story.

If I could take away anything from this comic book series, however, it would have to be from the wise teachings of our favorite orangutang, Maurice: [We] “must sacrifice to survive. Put others before ourselves . . . Before what we want . . . Hope for something good . . . ” because when we lose hope, we lose our sense of humanity . . .

#BeKindToOneAnother!