From the JLApe debacle to Gorilla Grodd on Justice League, DC seems to really like their gorillas.
WHY?
Why not?
I asked you first 
Monkeys are funny.
EVenso, technicall speaking, gorillas are not monkies, so–
Eewww! Stop throwing that!
I apologize for the above errors.
My gorilla is still learning to type.
The short answer: Gorillas are cool. And anyone who thinks otherwise is wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong.
The long answer: Mort Weisinger (sp) at the height of Superman’s popularity (mid’ 50s to mid '60s) would often discuss upcoming Superman stories with the kids in his neighborhood (he knew the key to success was staying in touch with his audience). They wanted Myxztplk(sp) to turn a nuclear sub into a giant bananna and Superman had to save the day? Guess what would happen 4 or 5 issues later? They wanted Superman’s head to get turned into a giant ant’s head? Superman meets President Lincoln? He gave the kids what they wanted. And Gorillas kept coming up, hence “King Krypton”(maybe…he may have preceeded Mort) and slightly later, Titano, the Super Ape (who was a gorilla, regardless of the name or his original species) the giant beast with kryptonite vision. And Red Kryptonite encounters to turn Supes into a gorilla and Jimmy Olsen gets captured by gorillas, and Beppo the Super-Monkey and…etc. Superman has rarely been better and NEVER been more surreal than when Mort Weisinger was at the helm. Superman also outsold any other comic books (except the Disney books, possibly) during Mort’s reign)
Anyway, allegedly, every time a gorilla appeared on the cover of Superman, sales jumped by a significant percentage (5%? 10%?)
Other editors wanted a piece of that market share: (not in any order): Msr. Mallah from Doom Patrol, The Gorilla Crime Boss (name mangled) from Batman, Gorilla Grodd from Flash, Congo Bill got his amazing Congorilla with whom he swapped minds) , um…probably NOT Giganta from Wonder Woman (a gorilla-chick evolved into a woman. I think she preceeded all this and she wasn’t really a gorilla anyway) and I’m sure there’s more that I’m not thinking of right now.
Hell, even Stan Lee gave it a shot: The Red Ghost and His Super Apes were right during this period.
Anyway, that’s the reason: for some reason, between say, 1954ish and 1964ish, Gorillas were hot with the prepubesent set.
Fenris The Super-Ape
Boy, Fenris, if it weren’t for a certain saucy tone that’s consistent through your posts, I would freakin’ swear that you were a committee of polymaths who will be taking over the world in their own sweet time but want to have some fun on the boards first. I mean, sheesh, where do you find the time to know all this stuff?
After all, when a person gets down to Congorilla, they’re demonstrating a depth of knowledge that’s stunning. Next thing you know, you’ll be talking about Adam Strange or Space Cabbie.
We are not worthy, etc.
In humble awe,
Hometownboy
Someone, Julius Schwartz, I believe, once said that covers with gorillas, fire, or the color purple cosistently sold more than other books, so if you wanted to have the best selling comic of all time, have a Purple Gorillia on Fire on the cover.
Grape Ape! Grape Ape!
HoometownBoy:
And what’s wrong with talking about Space Cabby? 
(Just to make the point, since it’s not very clear from the incomplete web page - I created that page.)
Nothing wrong with Space Cabby! He showed up in Starman sometimes…
Heck, even the Space Patrol Canine Agency has had a few appearances, in both Animal Man and Legion.
The thing is, if you start talking about Paste-Eater Pete, you have a problem.
Now, to drag this back on topic, this very reasoning gave us the imprint of Gorilla Comics, which included Kurt Busiek’s amazing Shockrockets, as well as several other very good titles. It was short-lived, but the mascot was, indeed, a purple gorilla on fire.
< condescending ‘Comic Book Guy’ voice >
ExcUSE me? I BEG your pardon?
The character’s name is Paste-POT Pete.
Sheesh.
</ condescending ‘Comic Book Guy’ voice >
And thanks, Hometownboy!
But if we wanna talk trivia, Space Cabbie isn’t all that much of a stumper. Dr Strange (Iron Man bad-guy), Black Zero (or Black Circle…can’t remember which), The Scarlett Beetle, The Living Eraser, Thomas Wayne, Maaaad Dr. Doom (no relation) and Chester, Baron Von Grabbe, the almost Earth-3? THESE are obscure characters.
Space Cabbie? Not so much.
Fenris
Sorry to argue with a comics maven, Fenris, but Thomas Wayne and Chester are not obscure characters.
Thomas Wayne is the father of Bruce Wayne who is Batman.
Chester was the hippy who befriended Swamp Thing and Abigail Arcane.
Incidentally, do any of your remember that Swamp Thing annual where Rick Vietch used every damn gorilla character in DC comics history? I didn’t care much for it, but some of you might go ape over it.
GOTCHA YA!
Should have looked a bit closer.
Paste-Eater Pete is a member of the Legion of Galactic Guardians.
What? It’s from Spider-Boy!
All right, I know Amalgam is cheating. Paste-Eater Pete is a merger of Paste-Pot Pete (The Trapster), and Matter-Eater Lad.
And what’s obscure about Bruce’s Dad? He showed up in Earth 2 recently. The Black Circle is a Legion Villian Group, Black Zero is from the recent Superboy Hypertime adventure.
I know of the rest, but can’t recall them offhand, I keep thinking of the Scarlet Centurion and that fat Doom Patrol villian.
A) Not THAT Thomas Wayne. (I think. Now I’m unsure about the name…Damn.)
B) Not that Chester. I’m talking about Maaaad Dr. Doom (no relation) and Chester.
Fenris
A) Fair enough on the Paste-Eater Pete thing. Ya got me!
B) I wasn’t talking about Bruce’s Dad. But now I’m wondering if I got the name wrong. Hmmm…
C) You’re thinking of the Dark Circle.
D) The original Black Zero (and his horribly devistating continuity problems on Earth 1
E) The fat Doom Patrol bad guy is Garguax. Scarlet Beetle has nothing to do with the Scarlet Centurion.
Fenris
I haven’t heard of either of those characters you mentioned, Fenris.
Jesus Christ, dude, what have you done: memorize the 70-year output of every comics company? I am in awe.
Perhaps people are thinking of Thomas Wayne Jr., Bruce’s older brother?
Thanks for the input, guys and gals(?). To me, monkeys (and other primates) are things that SEEM like they would be funny, but IRL are not.