Remembering Writer Edgar Rice Burroughs

Remembering writer Edgar Rice Burroughs on his birthday (September 1, 1875 - March 19, 1950) with a series featuring two of his most famous characters...Tarzan and John Carter of Mars.

The series by Dark Horse Comics had the two meet on Mars...although not until the third issue (as Tarzan wandered Mars).  Series with painted covers by Bret Blevins.

Tarzan/John Carter Warlords Of Mars #1 and #2 (January and April, 1996)

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Tarzan/John Carter Warlords Of Mars #3 and #4 (May and June, 1996)

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Celebrating Edgar Rice Burroughs And Joe Jusko With Tarzan

Celebrating adventure, science fiction and fantasy writer Edgar Rice Burroughs and adventure, science fiction and fantasy artist Joe Jusko on their shared birthday of September 1 (Burroughs born in 1875, Jusko in 1959).

These two men intersected (though never met) as Joe Jusko supplied the art for the 20 authorized versions of Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan novels, examples of which are provided below, and you can purchase them (as well as Joe Jusko's Art Of Edgar Rice Burroughs) at ERB's website, where awaits adventures in the jungle, and beyond!

Tarzan Book 1 and 2

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Tarzan Book 3 and 4

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Tarzan Book Five and Six

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Tarzan Book Seven and Eight

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Tarzan Book Nine and Ten

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Tarzan Book Eleven and Twelve

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Tarzan Book Thirteen and Fourteen

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Tarzan Book Fifteen and Sixteen

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Tarzan Book Seventeen and Eighteen

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Tarzan Book Nineteen and Twenty

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A Big Tarzan Adventure

When Tarzan came to DC, it was a big thing...made that much bigger when the origin of Tarzan by Joe Kubert (adapting the work of Edgar Rice Burroughs) was reprinted in the larger than life Limited Collectors' Edition #C-22 (Fall, 1973).

Sadly, the treasury collection did have to edit pages for space (but did include a crossword puzzle, word search a "learn to draw" feature by Kubert and and a photo and biography of Joe Kubert), but here, we summarize what was contained in that oversized volume!

Tarzan #207 (April, 1972)

"The Origin Of The Ape-Man" began with Tarzan's parents, the Lord and Lady Greystoke, who were marooned in Africa by pirates.  

Making the best of it, John Clayton Sr. fashioned a home for himself and his wife, Alice, who gave birth to their son, John Jr.  Alice perished from a rare virus, and then John Sr. was killed by the great ape, Kerchak.  

Kala, a female gorilla, who had lost her own child, took John Jr. to raise as her own (with the young John later to be known as Tarzan). 

This issue also contains "Tarzan's First Christmas" which is reprinted from the newspaper series, and a John Carter Of Mars feature, "Arrival".

Tarzan #208 (May, 1972)

"A Son's Vengeance" is the next part of the Tarzan origin story.  

Tarzan grows amongst the apes, but also finds a knife which he takes as a weapon.  

He also learns to read and write from his parents journals, learning he is different from the apes.  

Tarzan's adoptive mother, Kala, is killed by Kulonga, a chief of a local tribe.  Tarzan then enacts vengeance and kills Kulonga.

This issue also contains "The Baby Of The Apes" which is reprinted from the newspaper series, and a John Carter Of Mars feature, "Prisoner Of The Tharks".

Tarzan #209 (June, 1972)

"A Mate For The Ape-Man" introduces Jane Porter to the series.  

More pirates put Jane and her father's party a shore.  Tarzan battles this ape rival, Terkoz, banishing him from his tribe.  

Tarzan protects the Porter party from the jungle threats, meeting William Clayton, and slowly falling in love with Jane.  

Terkoz observes this, and takes Jane to humiliate Tarzan, with Tarzan chasing after, killing Terkoz to save Jane.

This issue also contains "Fight For Life" which is reprinted from the newspaper series, and a John Carter Of Mars feature, "A Fair Captive From The Sky".

Tarzan #210 (July, 1972)

"Civilization" concludes the adaptation of Burroughs' original Tarzan novel with a full length feature, with Jane, her father and William Clayton being marooned on the African coast to be rescued by Tarzan.  Eventually, the lot heads to America, with Tarzan learning French from Lt. Paul D'Arnot, who also finds Tarzan's parents' journals.  Tarzan heads to Baltimore to reunite with Jane, but learns she is engaged to Clayton.  D'Arnot uses the journals to find out Tarzan's history, and telegrams him this (learning that Clayton is Tarzan's cousin), but Tarzan keeps this to himself to insure Jane's happiness.

DC also had a second Edition of Tarzan, reprinting more of Kubert's work, as well as 52 issues of the lord of the jungle.

Tarzan's DC 100 Pagers

Over the decades, Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan has worked at many comic book companies like Dell, Gold Key, Marvel, Dark Horse....but some of the greatest were at DC Comics.

Tarzan had issues at DC Comics from April, 1972 to February, 1977 (issues of Tarzan #207 to #258, continuing the numbering from the Gold Key/Western series), many of them with covers by comic book legend, Joe Kubert.  A few of the more highly looked for were a run from Tarzan #230 (April-May, 1974) to Tarzan #235 (February-March, 1975), with stories of Tarzan and more, all collected in 100 pages square bound specials!

Let's take a look at them!

Tarzan #230

April-May, 1974 brought us a 6 page Joe Kubert Tarzan story later titled "The Rescue Of The Fawn", a Korak (son of Tarzan) story by Robert Kanigher and Joe Kubert with inks by Russ Heath entitled "Leap Into Death", an article from the Washington Post about Edgar Rice Burroughs and "How I Wrote Tarzan Books", a run of panels from the Tarzan newspaper strips by Russ Manning, a reprint of Bomba the Jungle Boy #4 (March-April, 1968) by George Kashdan and Jack Sparling (with the title hero renamed Simba for the story), a Congo Bill story from Action Comics #145 (June, 1950) entitled "Mystery Of The Stolen Bell" by George Kashdan and Ed Smalle, the introduction of Bobo from Adventures Of Rex The Wonder Dog #4 (July-August, 1952) with "Meet Detective Chimp" by John Broome, Carmine Infantino and Sy Barry, and a new Carson of Venus story by Mike Kaluta called "Into The Noobolian Valley" to round out the issue.

Tarzan #231

The cover date of June-July, 1974 saw Joe Kubert start the adaptation of Burroughs' "Tarzan and The Lion Man", Congo Bill faces "Safaris For Sale" reprinted from Action Comics #174 (November, 1952) by Jack Miller and Ed Smalle, Russ Manning newspaper reprints with Tarzan facing "The Deadly Dangers Of Pal-Ul-Don", another reprint from Bomba the Jungle Boy #3 (January-February, 1968) by George Kashdan and Jack Sparling entitled "My Enemy, The Jungle" with Bomba as Simba again, "The Return Of The Detective Chimp" from Adventures Of Rex The Wonder Dog #6 (November-December, 1952) with another adventure of Bobo by John Broome, Carmine Infantino and Joe Giella, and Korak in a new story called "The Ancient Awakes" by Robert Kanigher and Alex Nino.

Tarzan #232

August-September, 1974 sees the second part of adaptation of "Tarzan and The Lion Man" by Joe Kubert, a two page article about "Manimals" by Allan Asherman, another Congo Bill story featuring "The Man Who Wanted To Die A Hero" from Action Comics #190 (March, 1954) by Ed Smalle, another run of Russ Manning newspaper stories with "Tarzan and the Monkey Men" (with Jane renamed Gail...), Tarzan's Animal Facts about dinosaurs, Tarzan's Animal Encyclopedia and "Life Spans About Animals", Detective Chimp dealing with "The Case Of The Runaway Ostrich" from Adventures Of Rex The Wonder Dog #13 (January-February, 1954) by John Broome, Carmine Infantino and Sy Barry, Tarzan's Animal Facts with Hungary as a Bear, Tarzan's Jungle Album, Rex the Wonder Dog in "African Man Hunt" from Adventures Of Rex The Wonder Dog #13 (January-February, 1954) by Robert Kanigher, Gil Kane and Sy Barry, a Tarzan's Animal Encyclopedia about woodchucks, Tarzan drawn by Philipino Artists of Alex Nino, Nestor Redondo and Alfredo Alcala, and a new Korak story with "The Pit Of Darkness" by Robert Kanigher and Alex Nino.

Tarzan #233

The third part of "Tarzan and the Lion Man" adaptation by Joe Kubert leads of October-November, 1974 issue of DC's Tarzan.  Tarzan's Animal Facts let you know which animal has the loudest voice, Tarzan faces "The Land Time Forgot" by Russ Manning from newspaper Tarzan strips, with Jane being called Gail in these stories, Tarzan's Jungle Album has a photo of Tarzan actor Johnny Weismuller (from 1932), a reprint of "I Tracked The Beast Of Montrouge Forest" by Leonard Starr from My Greatest Adventure #2 (March-April, 1955), Rex learns "The Secret Of The Golden Crocodile" in this reprint from Adventures Of Rex The Wonder Dog #34 (July-August, 1957) by Bob Haney, Gil Kane and Bernard Sachs, Tarzan's Animal Facts focus on the American lion, "Detective Bobo, Chimp-Napped" spells trouble for the Detective Chimp in this reprint from Adventures Of Rex The Wonder Dog #20 (March-April, 1955) by John Broome, Carmine Infantino and Sy Barry, Congo Bill deals with "The School For Hunters" from Action Comics #199 (December, 1954) by Jack Miller and Ed Smalle, and Korak faces "The Star Of Death" by Robert Kanigher and Alex Nino.  

Tarzan #234

The end of the "Tarzan and the Lion Man" adaptation by Joe Kubert is the first story in Tarzan's December-January, 1974/1975 issue.  Detective Chimp starts off the reprints with "A Whistle For Bobo" from Adventures of Rex The Wonder Dog #27 (May-June, 1956) by John Broome and Carmine Infantino, Congo Bill facing "The Man-Eater Of Mandalo" from Action Comics #176 (January, 1953) by Jon Smalle, "I Was A Jungle Ringmaster" from My Greatest Adventure #5 (September-October, 1955) by John Prentice, a Russ Manning newspaper strip run featuring the "Thunder Lizard" and Jane being renamed Trudy and turned into a brunette, "I Was A Prisoner In A Human Zoo" from My Greatest Adventure #14 (March-April, 1957) by Ruben Moreira, and Korak facing "White Death" by Robert Kanigher and Alex Nino.

Tarzan #235

Joe Kubert gives us the story of "The Magic Herb" to lead off Tarzan's February-March, 1975 collection.  A photo of Maureen O'Sullivan - "the most famous Jane of all" as Tarzan's movie mate, Congo Bill deals with "The Mail Order Hunter" from Action Comics #189 (February, 1954) by Jon Smalle, "Bobo's New York Adventure" is the Detective Chimp feature from Adventures of Rex The Wonder Dog #35 (September-October, 1957) by John Broome and Carmine Infantino, "I Shoot With A Camera" from My Greatest Adventure #4 (July-August, 1955), a run of Russ Manning newspaper strips featuring "The Mahagga", and the first photo of Johnny Weismuller as Tarzan rounds out this last 100 page Tarzan.

After this, Tarzan went back to a regular sized comic in April, 1975, with an extra large Tarzan #238 in June, 1975.....

.....and, Tarzan is still swinging after all these years!

Best of all, you can find the Joe Kubert stories of the issues above in Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan The Joe Kubert Years #3 from June, 2006 by Dark Horse (volume contains the Joe Kubert stories from Tarzan #225 to #235).  Would that DC would reprint Congo Bill and Detective Chimp! 

World's Finest Tarzan Team-Ups

Odd to think of it, but Tarzan predates both Superman and Batman, with his first appearance in magazines back in 1912, thanks to creator Edgar Rice Burroughs.

One would think that the man born John Clayton, living in the lush jungles of Africa, with the woman he loves, Jane Porter (later, Jane Clayton, his wife), would be content there, and not run into aliens from another world, or avenging knights from an urban jungle.....

....but one would be wrong.  Here's a look at a few comic books that brought some fantastic elements to the lord of the jungle.

Claws Of The Catwoman

Batman, that urban hunter of criminal prey orphaned by criminals, found his way to the jungles of Africa, and brought Tarzan (an orphan raised by the jungle) to the city that is more dangerous than any jungle, Gotham, in the four issue mini-series of Batman/Tarzan: Claws of the Catwoman from September to December, 1999, by Dark Horse and DC Comics, written by Ron Marz, drawn by Igor Kordey and covers by Dave Dorman. 

Set in the 1930s, Bruce Wayne's alter ego teams up with the Lord of Greystoke to save priceless African Cat-Cult treasures from Finnegan Dent (which the archaeologist had brought to Gotham without getting permission of their owners in Africa, sending John Clayton there to meet with Bruce Wayne).  Tarzan and Batman then followed Finnegan Dent back to Africa, where half his face was clawed by a lion...and the two heroes were able to stop him.

An odd pairing to say the least, but it also pointed out how different the two heroes were, even though both came into money, and worked to be prime examples of  humans, they also had differences, like Batman's unwillingness to kill, and Tarzan's anything for a goal attitude.  Better still, each man could respect the other for what they were. 

Sons Of The Jungle

Superman and Tarzan seem an unlikely pairing...but in a way, it also seems a natural, both being orphans of their culture, raised by the natives of where they were to possess the values the locals had, and becoming a symbol beyond what they were if they had remained in their homes.

Odder still, the team-up given us by DC Comics and Dark Horse from October, 2001 to May, 2002 (distance of release dates due to the last issue coming in late) in the three issue mini-series, Superman/Tarzan: Sons Of The Jungle by writer Chuck Dixon, artist Carlos Meglia and covers by Humberto Ramos.  Taking an idea of Elseworlds (where familiar things happen in different ways, giving a look at heroes on alternate Earths), these tales look at a world where young Kal-El's rocket ended up in early 20th Century Africa, making him the Lord of the Jungle, and unintentionally saving John Greystoke's parents from being killed, allowing him to go back to England and grow up to be an adventurer.  The two eventually meet up as Greystoke journeys to Africa with female reporter Lois Lane (and meeting Jane Porter), dealing with being a stranger in a strange land, and then reverse roles, with the Kryptonian ending up in the city, and the Nobleman finding himself in the jungle.

In a way, these stories show the timelessness of these classic heroes....as well as how they find their way back to themselves, despite the changes the times put on them.