The Unauthorized Tarzan - Ace Books!

The Frank Frazetta cover above for Tarzan and the Lost Empire is my all-time favorite image of ERB's famous King of the Jungle. Frazetta has captured the very essence of what makes a Tarzan novel magnetic, the supreme physicality of the hero, his unique relationship to animals and the natural world and the allure of splendid hidden territories. We are privileged to see the Tarzan's world from over his shoulder, we share his viewpoint perched atop a cliff dangling with assurance by a single arm and considering the lost city in the misty distance. I also love that Nikima is clutching onto Tarzan as Tarzan is to the twisted root which is all that keeps him from certain death. 

I found this ACE papeback in my local library when I was but a lad and it was one of my first Tarzan novels. I knew the character from television and had read at least one Whtiman book featuring him, but this novel and more importantly this image by Frazetta projected me into Tarzan's world as nothing else had, and in some ways I've never returned. 

The ACE paperbacks were produced when the publisher (like some others such as Charlton Comics) thought that some of the Ape Man's adventures had fallen into public domain. ACE produced many Tarzan novels and many other ERB books in the Pellucidar and Mars series among others. But the folks who tended to ERB's properties cracked the whip and so these errant publications were halted abruptly. Below are the Tarzan novels ACE was able to get to the newsstands before the hammer fell. The cover art is by Frazetta and Roy Krenkel. 

 

And that my friends pretty much wraps up my looks at all things Tarzan and Edgar Rice Burroughs, a journey that has occupied much of 2022. Tomorrow the widow strikes. 

Rip Off

Magnus - The Tarzan Of The Future!

One of the greatest comic series of all time is Russ Manning's stunning Magnus Robot Fighter comics from Gold Key. Manning had been like most the capable staff at Gold Key a reliable and sturdy artist, first on Brothers of the Spear in the back pages of Tarzan and later on Korak Son of Tarzan and the lead Tarzan feature itself. In between these gigs he produced one of the most striking and memorable comics of the sizzling 60's. Magnus was an adventure comic in the spirit of the times, forward looking but blended with skepticism about the nature of mainstream society. He took the notion of Tarzan, a man raised by apes and so at once an ally of civilized man and a creature of the jungle as well. Magnus was raised by a robot and is gifted with physical gifts that allow him to combat the unique menace to mankind two millennia from now. 

Magnus appears from nowhere (a problem for him in later stories when the authorities seek to restrict his behavior), the prodigal son of A-1, a benign robot who sees that mankind has become too dependent on the robots who serve their every need and whim. Magnus is given training specially designed to allow him to demolish his potential metal opponents and the ability to understand the subtle electronic communications between robots. This hidden talent is most useful to him and the one secret he guards most zealously, even from his paramour the gorgeous Leeja Clane. Magnus saves North Am, the immense sprawling city-state which occupies all of what is the current United States and more. From the tallest most sleek towers to the darkest alleys in the depths of the society he finds enemies and allies and most importantly adventure, lots and lots of adventure.

Magnus battles aliens from the depths of space, troglodytes from the depths of the Earth, and depraved and sometimes insane men from the bowels of the society of 4000 A.D. The most frequent foe is Xyrkol, a maniac who hatches several schemes to take control of North Am, but he is always stopped by Magnus, though he always seems to turn up again. Also, there's Dr.Laszlo Noel who hates robots and their influence on society even more than Magnus and takes extreme steps to eradicate the problem. Mekman shows up a few times, a deranged but dangerous fellow who imagines himself to be a robot. There are treacherous alien threats from Sirius and even a remote robot planet called Malev-6.

Magnus fights giant robots, tiny robots, indestructible robots, police robots, criminal robots, homemade robots, handsome robots, ugly robots, and even magical robots. Always Magnus with help of Leeja and his sometimes helpers The Outsiders wins the day.

The Outsiders are a gang of boys who want to emulate Magnus and figure in several of the stories. Another recurring item are the neo-animals. These are hyper-intelligent creatures (dogs, apes, raccoons, etc.) created by a lovely woman named Danae. One of these critters even gets the power to speak thanks to some special technology. Then there are the Gophs (as in "gophers"), the people who live in the remote depths of North Am and who challenge the rule of the "Cloud-Cloddies" of the upper reaches. This fracture in North Am society is not much developed in these original Manning stories, but does form a potent angle for Jim Shooter's Valiant revival.

Manning's artwork is uniformly superb throughout the series, his sleek and modern style ideal for this futuristic "Tarzan". Even the fact Magnus wears a tunic with fabulously white boots somehow works.

The saga of Magnus is not some sprawling extended story in the modern sense. Each issue is self-contained, each story has a distinct beginning, middle and end. But the stories do have memory and in the later installments there's an increased sense of a connected quality. Each installment takes you to another part of North Am, spreading the story from coast to coast. It's hard to remember that these stories of a largely contented populace is the dream of society. But there's always the threat to individuality and the interconnected nature of the society often makes it vulnerable to sabotage.

As I was reading, I kept thinking how the world of North Am echoes our own modern world. While the robots which serve us are in the form of handheld communicators and even the desktop wizardry which allows me to type these words, among other things, the sense that society has fallen victim to its own success is familiar. Magnus would see many aspects of North Am in modern America, a shallow population increasingly reliant on technology to live what is deemed a civilized life. Threats to communication, food production, and even our own reproductive capacities are changing as man's ability to use technology gives opportunity and forces decisions. Magnus Robot Fighter is not primarily a cautionary tale for our times, but it is certainly that too.

Here are the covers for Russ Manning's outstanding run by Manning and painters George Wilson and Vic Prezio. 

Russ Manning and George Wilson

George Wilson

Russ Manning

George Wilson

Russ Manning

Russ Manning

George Wilson

George Wilson

George Wilson

George Wilson

George Wilson

George Wilson

George Wilson

Vic Prezio

Vic Prezio

Vic Prezio

Vic Prezio

Vic Prezio

Vic Prezio

George Wilson

Vic Prezio

But it turns out that even after Russ Manning's untimely death and even the collapse of the Gold Key brand Magnus the Robot Fighter was not done. That is all due to a gent named Jim Shooter who once upon a time was editor as Marvel Comics. In 1991 he along with some partners created Valiant Comics and to help cement the new company they leased the rights to Gold Key's vintage heroes, Magnus first and foremost among them. 

The future world of North Am is a bit more complex in this Valiant version. In those halcyon Gold Key days Magnus was an unalloyed hero and when he was suspect it was usually cleared up by the end of the story. Not the case here as the robots rebel and Magnus thinks just maybe a more subtle approach should be taken to the problem. This puts him at odds with the society which just wants its mechnical slaves back online. His relationship with Leeja is put into question as well, though I think Shooter is a bit unfair to Ms. Clane. It's a complex world, but sad to say not as a compelling one as first imagined by Russ Manning. Tarzan of the future is a grand high concept and alas the Valiant version loses some of that glamour. 

Rip Off

Tarzan In The Land That Time Forgot!

Many consider Caspak to be the greatest science fiction concoction by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Certainly, it's the story that has the feel of science fiction as opposed to his normal science fantasy so wonderfully wrought in Princess of Mars and such books. ERB presents this land in three linked novels (which some think are really just one broken up into three slim volumes) titled The Land that Time Forgot, The People that Time Forgot and Out of Time's Abyss. It's a weird isolated an uncharted land surrounded by steep cliffs and inside the whole of evolution works itself out in a single generation. The concept of Recapitulation is what ERB picked up on and he uses it with fine imagination to create a land in which man and dinosaurs live together if not in harmony. 

 

The old Amicus movie outfit made a flick of the story back in the 70's starring Doug McClure and a bunch of Brits pretending to be Germans. The screenplay by Michael Moorcock and James Cawthorn for The Land that Time Forgot has a German submarine find its way into Caspak and then the survivors try desperately to find a way home. It's an above average effort for the time and for Amicus. I always loved the cover artist Nick Cardy knocked out for the Marvel Comics adaptation. There is one direct sequel titled The People that Time Forgot which is a strange entertainment indeed, made when Amicus could not get the rights to the John Carter material. 

Russ Manning is considered by some the definitive Tarzan artist. I give the nod slightly to Joe Kubert, but there's little to choose between them as different as their incarnations of the Ape Man are. At the height of his powers before his untimely death, Manning produced four albums starring Tarzan for the overseas markets. Stunningly they were never published in the United States until Dark Horse brought out two of them under the title of Tarzan in The Land that Time Forgot and The Pool of Time. These are stunning examples of Manning's artwork and the story ain't half bad neither. 

Tarzan is contacted by a young man who wants to rescue his love who has entered Caspak to solve the mystery of her birth. They do so and immediately Tarzan is battling not only dinosaurs but also the brutish men who reside in the bowels of the land. They are menaced in particular by primitive man named Gash-Hak who seems unable like nearly all his kind to evolve into a more refined "New Man". The story takes a twist when sailors from the ship that brought them to Caspak also go into the territory and then Tarzan must discover the secret of the Pool of Time which seems to rest at the heart of Capak's many mysteries and he battles the strange flying creatures called Weiroos. The Pool of Time seems to be a window not only to other eras but to the soul of the watcher as well. It's smashing stuff and moves at a breakneck pace. Why these were presented into the American market I'll never know. But I'm glad they were eventually. Now we must see about those other two Manning epics. 

Rip Off

George Of The Jungle!

George of the Jungle from 1967 is by Jay Ward and Bill Scott, the masterminds behind the amazing Rocky and Bullwinkle shows. They tried to capture that zany irreverent magic again with George of the Jungle and in my opinion they caught it. The show has a slightly more glitzy look since it was animated in these United States by Hollywood talents, but that doesn't hurt it at all, since the creators don't let the slightly more sophisticated animation hurt the pacing or the quality the scripts.

Each episode feature one George of the Jungle cartoon. George of course is a spoof of the immediately recognizable Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs and it's a parlay on the films which makes many of the gags work. I did catch at least one giant gorilla called Kerchak though, so there is some recognition of the novels. George is assisted by is girlfriend Ursula who he cannot seem to pay enough attention to even remember her name or her gender. He' likewise confused by his elephant companion Shep who George insists is a dog -- Shep seems also to be confused on this issue.

And then there's my favorite George character known merely as Ape, an urbane highly intelligent gorilla who sounds just like Ronald Coleman. I didn't even know who Ronald Coleman was when I was a kid, but I always loved Ape's ironic comment son George's stupidity. When I finally got to see Coleman, I immediately thought of Ape.

Some research tells me George was based, at least in part, on George Eiferman, a bodybuilder with small renown. A picture does show a remarkable kinship between the two Georges.

Each show featured a Super Chicken cartoon. This is a terrific send up of the superhero shtick with the wildly rich Henry Cabot Henhouse III becoming Super Chicken with the help of his musketeer costume and a "super sauce" brewed by his assistant Fred who serves it to him often in a martini glass. The duo keep a wonderful patter going as they confront an array of villains like the Zipper, the Geezer, the Oyster, Merlin Brando, a giant living Toupee, and even my fave, a dope called Salavador Rag Dolly.

Also on display each episode is a race by Tom Slick, an all-American hero in the mold of the classic ultimate Mountie Dudley Do-Right. Tom races around the globe converting his car the "Thunderbolt Greaseslapper" for all sorts of events (cars, trains, planes, boats, submarines, skateboards, and even blimps) and often battling  the nefarious Baron Otto Matic and his hapless henchman Clutcher. Tom is adored by Marigold who will literally do anything for him and often scolded by Gertie Growler, his mechanic and just about the only character in the cartoon who sees the absurdity of the situations.

All of these features were put into comic book form by the folks at Gold Key. I think I owned at least one of these at one time, but I don't have them now. A nifty reprint would likely not be cost effective, but there's always hope.

The George of the Jungle cartoons were gathered up several years ago in very colorful package. The gags hold up very well and the cartoons are breezy and brisk entertainments which are ideal for a gloomy day. You can't watch these and not feel better -- they're too much fun.

Rip Off