BOOM! Studios and Twentieth Century Fox Consumer Products have just announced their new comic book series, War for the Planet of the Apes. Led by writer David F. Walker (Power Man and Iron Fist) and artist Jonas Scharf (Warlords of Appalachia), the series is meant to serve as a prequel to the upcoming film. The series will debut on July 12, 2017, as a four-issue monthly limited series, while the highly anticipated film opens on July 14.

“I'm a huge fan of the original Planet of the Apes films, and I really love what they've done with the new series. Working on War for the Planet of the Apes not only means that I get to play around in my favorite film franchise, it means I get to contribute to what may ultimately be the best Apes film since the first one in 1968,” said Walker.

“It's going to be both fun and challenging to work on such a well-established franchise. Rise of the Planet of the Apes and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes were both fantastic movies that had some really beautiful visuals and great character development. Playing around with more realistic likenesses and locations from the movies and a more stylized approach in the context of the medium of comics is also going to be interesting. And let's be honest here, drawing apes is also just a ton of fun,” added Scharf.

The War for the Planet of the Apes series picks up where Dawn of the Planet of the Apes film left off, serving as a bridge to the upcoming new movie. Spanning the course of a year, this limited series focuses on various groups of characters throughout the United States, giving readers a look into this mysterious world. War for the Planet of the Apes #1 also features covers by Mikhail Borulko and Jay Shaw (Evil Empire).

“The story I've written for War for the Planet of the Apes takes place between the Dawn and War films, as Caesar prepares the apes for the threat he knows they are about to face from the human military. At the same time, we explore what is happening in other parts of the country, and how apes and humans struggle for dominance in the aftermath of the Simian Virus,” Walker shared.

Print copies of War for the Planet of the Apes #1 will be available for sale at local comic book shops or at the BOOM! webstore. While digital copies will be available for purchase on ComiXology and the BOOM! Studios app.

War for the Planet of the Apes is the latest release from BOOM! Studios’ eponymous imprint, joining Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, WWE, Big Trouble in Little China, Victor LaValle’s Destroyer, Godshaper, Grass Kings, and Klaus.

For more news on War for the Planet of the Apes, stay tuned to www.boom-studios.com and follow @boomstudios on Twitter.