Gorillas in Comics - Silver Age

Silver Age

Gorillas were frequently used as a gimmick to increase sales for comic books during the Silver Age of Comic Books; this was most frequently seen in DC Comics. A common criticism of the comic covers of the Silver Age in general was that the covers would rarely correspond with the actual plotline in the comic book, as they were usually just created to snag interest from casual browsers. The gorilla covers were no exception, as many of the books featured only a panel or two with the actual gorilla plotline. These plotlines tended to be extremely contrived, characterized by an abundance of King Kong pastiches and human-gorilla brain transplants. Though these plotlines are now viewed as ridiculous, especially at a time when comic books are ostensibly becoming a more respectable art form, these classic covers have gained considerable collector's value.

There are several rumors surrounding the wide use of gorillas in comic books at the time:

1. Publishers believed that placing a gorilla on a comic book cover, regardless of the context or relevance, would automatically correspond with an increase in sales for that title; Irwin Donenfeld was the first to notice this trend. The claim eventually became self-fulfilling as certain comic book collectors with an eye for "oddball" comics, would single out these issues, and purchase them for their collections.
2. Due to the first rumor, it is also reported that DC Comics was worried about abusing the winning formula, so had an unwritten rule that there could be no more than one gorilla cover per month across all of its titles (except, of course, during the occasional "gorilla month").}