There is a legend among DC Comics fans, one that is based on factual events. It’s simply this — “apes sell comics”. Say this phrase to any DC fan and a wistful smile will come over their face. Once upon a time, DC editor extraordinaire Julie Schwartz noticed that issues of comics with apes on the cover sold more. Schwartz, known for being something of an editorial taskmaster, gave a decree — every book had to have a ape on the cover when the sales dipped a bit. That brings us to Detective Chimp, last seen helping Wonder Woman figure out the secret of the Sovereign. Detective Chimp’s origins stretch back to the Golden Age, to another time when a talking ape was just another gimmick to sell a comic.
It’s not exactly true to call Detective Chimp DC’s most underappreciated hero, because there are a lot of fans who love Detective Chimp. It’s more accurate to say that people don’t really know enough about him to like him. Detective Chimp has grown into one of the most interesting characters in the current day DC Multiverse, and his appearance in Wonder Woman was a great showcase for him, as it’s one of DC’s bestselling books without “Absolute” in the title. It’s time for more Detective Chimp. DC has been preparing Detective Chimp for the A-list for decades and it’s time to cash that check.
Detective Chimp debuted in 1952’s Adventures of Ace the Wonder Dog #4, an inauspicious debut if there were any. While Detective Chimp is often thought of as a Silver Age character, he’s technically Golden Age but the ’50s all sort of blend together with DC books of the time as they all have the same weird sci-fi feel. Bobo the chimp was a trained chimp in a detective act and helped solve the murder of his owner. Ace the Wonder Dog took him to the Fountain of Youth, where he gained the ability to speak to all animals, including humans. His intellect was also raised to genius levels and he had other adventures over the years, before ending up in Gorilla City, where he would be during Crisis on Infinite Earths. Bobo didn’t do much post-Crisis, mostly working with the Bureau of Amplified Animals and opening his own detective agency, Chimpanzee Investigations. He’d also end up joining a group of the best detectives, like Martian Manhunter and Ralph Dibney.
However, for most fans, Detective Chimp wouldn’t become more than a curiosity of DC’s long and strange history until the run-up to Infinite Crisis. He was a star of the book Day of Vengeance, helping a group of magic users stop Eclipso and the Spectre from destroying all the sources of magic. Detective Chimp was the brains of the team, having studied magical history, and was also a great character to read, a smoking, drinking, sarcastic chimp. Fans loved him, and the rest of the cast of Day of Vengeance, and they’d return in their own book, called Shadowpact. Detective Chimp was on the cusp of stardom, but the end of Shadowpact saw him lose prominence again. The New 52 came and went and there was no Detective Chimp until after Dark Knights: Metal, when he’d get roped into the drama of DC’s greatest team, the Justice League. Detective Chimp would become a member of the cast of Justice League Dark, working with Wonder Woman, Zatanna, John Constantine, Swamp Thing, and Man-Bat. Since then, Detective Chimp has been something of a background character; technically the Justice League Dark still exists, but they don’t have their own book any more.
Detective Chimp has everything that DC fans love. He has a long history in the stranger side of the DC Multiverse, he’s a top flight detective who is a contemporary of Batman, Martian Manhunter, Elongated Man, and the best detectives, and he’s a big part of the magical hero community. On top of that, he’s never anything less than entertaining. Some of comics’ greatest writers have worked on him — Grant Morrison, James Tynion IV, Joshua Williamson, Tom King, Ram V, and that’s just since 2018 — and the character has a multitude of uses. Need someone to hang out with Batman and solve crimes in Gotham? You can call on Detective Chimp. Need someone to figure out how to stop an ancient evil from a magical dimension? Detective Chimp is right there. Plus, since he’s a chimp, he’s already faster and stronger than a human.
He’s the owner of the Oblivion Bar, the magical bar that exists outside of normal space and time, which gives him a base of operations unlike any other. However, and most importantly, he’s a beloved characters that you could only get form DC. Marvel has its own talking apes and monkeys, but they don’t really have anything like Detective Chimp. Detective Chimp is a uniquely DC character, and he can work in a variety of situations.
Way back in the ’90s, no one would have figured that Harley Quinn would have become one of DC’s most popular characters, but here we are. Now, that’s not to say that Detective Chimp has the kind of crossover appeal of Harley Quinn, but there’s just something about a super smart chimp who likes to drink, smoke, and is super smart. There’s a lot of potential for the character, both in the comics and in outside media. Let’s be real — if there’s anyone who can make Detective Chimp work in live action, it’s James Gunn.
Detective Chimp in Wonder Woman #16 was an awesome Columbo-type detective, always showing up knowing way more than he let on, and putting the screws to the Sovereign. It was just one of the many ways the character could be used, which is why bringing him back more would be a recipe for success. The sooner DC exposes Detective Chimp to the world, the sooner he’ll be a star.
There is a legend among DC Comics fans, one that is based on factual events. It’s simply this — “apes sell comics”. Say this phrase to any DC fan and a wistful smile will come over their face. Once upon a time, DC editor extraordinaire Julie Schwartz noticed that issues of comics with apes on Read More