Despite the headline, these new movies have never been literal prequels to the original movie. There are plenty of homages and Easter eggs that echo the original films, but the origin of the apes (and Caesar) in the two cycles are pretty much incompatible.

The new movies are more reboots than prequels, not that…

I would sooo read that.

She looks a lot like Daisy on AGENTS OF SHIELD?

I’ve been hooked since Season One. Glad to hear I’m not the only one.

I’ve really been enjoying this crossover . . . .

This is all the more impressive when you consider that TNG ran four seasons longer than TOS.

No wonder they needed TWO posters this time!

Let’s not forget the OTHER story in the issue. The backup story, which is done in a more cartoony style, is laugh-out loud funny.

That’s in the backup feature. Really.

It was interesting to write a book with so little spoken dialogue, but I didn’t go crazy trying to render their thought processes in some sort of ape-ish syntax, aside from avoiding any jarring idioms or turns of phrase. Hard to cite examples without giving away any scenes, though . . . . .

I should mention that there’s also a prequel novel by Greg Keyes:

To be clear, I’m not complaining. I’m looking forward to seeing the movie on July 14th like everyone else. (I DID get to attend the red-carpet premiere of UNDERWORLD many years ago; that was fun and cool.)

And, yes, there are always going to be deviations between the novelization and the movie because, chances are,…

Exactly. You’re usually working from an early version of the script and whatever stills and pre-production art is available, and, to be clear, this has been standard operating procedure for as long as I’ve been in the business, which has been a long time now . . . .

If you’re interested, io9 has done some Q&A’s with me…

The worst part is when Spidey’s spider sense alerts him to major plot twists in advance . . . and he can’t resist spoiling them.

“Ooh. My spidey-sense is tingling. The boyfriend is really the killer!”

Because you want the book to land when everyone is excited about the new movie, not when it’s old news.

“Based on that hit movie you saw six months ago!”

Back in the day, it was not uncommon for the novelization to come out weeks or even months before the movie hit, as with the original 1977 novelization of STAR WARS…

Not yet!

I wrote the book last fall, based on the script, which is how it always works. I was writing the book at the same time that they were making the movie, so the book and the movie could hit at the same time.

This is the third film in the trilogy.

The new movies are very good, and the original 1968 movie is quite possibly my very favorite sf movie.

Can’t wait to see it!

And did I mention that there’s a novelization? :)

Michael Jackson’s “Ben” is the sweetest ballad ever written about a man-eating, super-intelligent rat. AND it got an Oscar nomination for Best Song.

(Alas, it lost out to “The Morning After” from THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE.)

Why “oh no” at the prospect of taking Dracula out of the 19th century “where he belongs”? Pretty sure I recall people reacting the same way to the idea of modernizing Sherlock Holmes . . . .