Gold Key was a great place to work in comics at the time as they not only supplied a salary and health insurance to many of their talents, but also had a royalty program. Russ Manning was the kind of artist who did well in such a program. After many years in the trenches at Dell and Gold Key Comics, Russ Manning had made his reputation within the company as an artist of immense style who was able to hit the deadlines. He'd shown his potential on Brothers of the Spear and later proven his worth on Korak Son of Tarzan, so it was only logical that he would take on Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan of the Apes. When he did it was with a renewed cohesion to the original ERB stories. Dell had recognized the books but had designed the series around the movie franchise, but Gold Key went back to basics and offered up legit adaptations of the novels. It all began with Tarzan of the Apes.
Compressed to a mere twenty-four pages the original ERB novel Tarzan of the Apes is adapted only in part by writer Gaylord Dubois and artists Russ Manning with assists by Mike Royer in Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan of the Apes #55. The common element to the Gold Key adaptations is the keep Tarzan in the jungle as much as possible and focus on those elements of ERB's novels. Here we meet his parents, follow their plight briefly and then see Tarzan grow up among the apes, eventually becoming their king. We then meet Jane and the cadre of castaways who Tarzan helps in several ways. He rescues Jane but as the story ends and she sails away she still doesn't know that "Tarzan" and the man who saved her are one and the same. George Wilson supplied the action filled cover for this issue based on a Manning drawing. Wilson will be the cover artist for all the issues in this run.
I would like to note that I first ran across this story when it was reprinted by Gold Key in 1968. It was among my first encounters with Tarzan and my first experience enjoying the sleek artwork of Russ Manning.
The very next issue adapts The Return of Tarzan but again begins just before Tarzan returns to the jungle. We do get a brief synopsis of what happened after the end of the previous adventure, so we know that Tarzan went after Jane and then to spare her denied his identity. (I'm a bit disappointed we didn't get some more of his Paris adventure as Tarzan kicking ass among civilized folk is some of my favorite stuff.) We follow him as he once again asserts himself in the jungle and then finds himself seeking out the lost city of Opar for the first time and we see how he discovers the wealth that will make his future life as both Tarzan and Lord Greystoke possible. Later we follow him when goes to rescue Jane when she is captured by the bestial men of that land. We encounter La for the first time and see how her passions for Tarzan are quickened. This time the story ends much like the novel with Tarzan and Jane being married.
The Beasts of Tarzan is adapted in the next issue and once again the story is condensed in such as way as to keep the jungle adventures front and center. This novel is an especially convoluted one and the adaptation by Dubois and Manning does its best to keep things trim and coherent. Jane is at the center of much of the action in this adventure as she is forced by circumstances to defend herself and for a time the baby she thinks is her own. There is considerable death in this story, something Gold Key might've been reluctant about but it was necessary to remain true to ERB's yarn. Manning does a great job of showcasing Tarzan's gang of animals who help him save his beloved.
It's a challenge for Dubois and Manning to get as much of ERB's The Son of Tarzan as they do into the spare twenty-four page limit. But they do a pretty good job and we meet Tarzan's progeny who rescues Tarzan's old friend Akut and helps to get him back to the jungle and freedom. There he becomes Korak and meets the love of his life Meriem, a slave he rescues. They are happy for many years, but things get convoluted when Tarzan rescues Meriem but has no knowledge of his son's whereabouts. By the end though we get a happy ending.
With the next adaptation of an original Tarzan novel, Dubois and Manning get the nod to expand beyond the constraints of a single twenty-four page comic. This is a mixed blessing actually as the novel Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar is one of ERB's most elaborate plots with lots of coincidences to keep it humming. Those twists and turns are evident here as Jane is kidnapped by Arab raiders while Tarzan and the Waziri go to Opar to get another batch of gold. Tarzan finds some splendid jewels just before he is hit on the head and loses his memory. Thus begins a wild succession of events which see Tarzan find and lose his jewels time and again as they pass among many hands. For much of the adventure and all of the second part Tarzan is not himself. I hate to say it, but two issues would've been ideal for this story and allowed the team to eliminate some of the needless complications before arriving at its rather clever ending.
Tarzan the Untamed is next. Dubois and Manning simplify the plot somewhat and focus on Tarzan's efforts to assist his British countrymen in their WWI era battles in Africa against the Germans. He is a ferocious warrior but after a time seeks to return home. (In the novel Jane is kidnapped and Tarzan thinks she is dead for a time. That detail is missing here but will be picked up later.) Tarzan becomes involved with a woman he believes to be a German spy and a British flyer as the trio have to try and survive the wild population of Xjua. The Xujans worship lions and might be a bit mad though Dubois does little with the ERB concept. After considerable derring-do all three escape the city and Tarzan learns the truth about his colleagues.
Tarzan the Terrible was originally a sequel to the previous tale. As it opens Tarzan is now looking for Jane for two months. No mention is made of when and how she was captured by the Germans. In his search he arrives in the land of Pal-Ul-Don for the first time. It's a land of dinosaurs and warring tribes of primitive peoples who are distinguished by the facts they are furry and have tales. Tarzan stands out needless to say but his bravery in battle soon earns him the title of "Tarzan-Jad-Guru" which translates to "Tarzan the Terrible". Once again in these two issues we have a very convoluted tale which eventually reunites Tarzan with Jane just in time for both of them to be captured and put on a sacrificial altar. Only the timely arrival of Korak (who had been fighting in the Argonne) saves the day. The family is finally reunited as the story closes.
This wraps up this first volume of Tarzan comics by Russ Manning. Manning was not alone in drawing Tarzan at this time. Doug Wildey also drew the Ape Man as well as Alberto Giolitti. But Manning did adapt three more Tarzan novels in partnership with Dubois.
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