Public Domain Super Heroes
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King Maytus of the Beasts
Maytus

Real Name

Maytus

First Appearance

Prize Comics #5 (July 1940)

Original Publisher

Prize

Created by

Dick Sprang?

Origin[]

Maytus was king of the planet Ato, an Earth-like planet where intelligent apes were the dominant species and humans were kept as zoo animals and beasts of burden. On this planet, most humans had been domesticated, and wild humans were rare. Maytus was the king of the intelligent apes and also of an army of elephants that knew how to fight. The Earth hero, Power Nelson, came to free the humans on this planet, but was briefly imprisoned in a zoo, along with the human nurse, Zora Doone. Nelson managed to escape and confronted Maytus. King Maytus attacked Nelson, but was knocked out by the hero's superhuman punching power. After that, Nelson forced Maytus to sign a treaty stating that humans on the planet would be left alone by the apes.

Public Domain Appearances[]

  • Prize Comics #5

Notes[]

  • There are some surprising similarities between this story and the story in The Planet of the Apes however, this story was published more than 20 years before The Planet of the Apes. There is also an episode in L. Frank Baum's The Magical Monarch of Mo that explores a similar role-reversal theme.
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