Ape #1 (2026)
NEW RELEASE
$7.80
$7.80
Condition
Description
Rich Tommaso spent over six years--going from his work on a variety of Black Phoenix projects and returning every so often, to this special one, to slowly craft a panel here and a page there, little by little. All in an effort to sharply hone his skills in order to produce a comics art work reminiscent of the early 1952-1956 Mad magazines! Studying (and deeply admiring) the “Mad” works of Will Elder, Wally Wood, Jack Davis and of course, the Mad creator himself, Harvey Kurtzman, by 2026, after five months of uninterrupted work, Rich has finally finished this long-awaited project. In this one-shot comic book, APE No. 1, you’ll read about mad scientists, strange visitors from outer space, horny bald men in newspaper offices, gun crazy cowboys, junkies, flunkies, businessmen, husbands, wives, lovers, haters and angst-ridden teenagers!,,,Everything you’d expect to find in an old, mid-20th-century issue of Mad!
Release Date: 2026
THE HIGH GRADES (Investment Quality)
- 9.9 – 10.0 MINT: Near perfect. No discernible defects.
- 9.8 NM/MT: High-end; negligible stress or bindery tears.
- 9.6 NM+: Nearly perfect; very minor surface wear.
- 9.4 NM: Standard high-grade; minor corner blunting.
- 9.2 NM-: Excellent; small stress lines (no color break).
- 9.0 VF/NM: Great eye appeal; minor spine stress.
THE MID GRADES (Collector Quality)
- 8.5 VF+: Clean copy; small amount of wear/creasing.
- 8.0 VF: Very attractive; minor surface wear or foxing.
- 7.5 VF-: Slight accumulation of defects; minor blunting.
- 7.0 FN/VF: Solid copy; minor creases or color breaks.
- 6.0 FN: Average mid-grade; small spine splits or tears.
- 5.0 VG/FN: Significant wear; small pieces may be missing.
THE LOW GRADES (Reader Quality)
- 4.0 VG: Average used copy; heavy creasing or scuffing.
- 3.0 GD/VG: Heavily read; major creases or staple rust.
- 2.0 GD: Well-worn; covers may be detached but present.
- 1.0 FR: Heavily damaged; large chunks missing.
- 0.5 PR: Fragile; missing pages or severe degradation.
Our raw grading is an opinion based on 30+ years of experience. We do not guarantee a specific numeric grade from 3rd party services (CGC/CBCS) but strive for maximum accuracy.
