That's mostly because, in the 1960s, I was more into superheroes, and was only familiar with the Tarzan as he appeared in the movies and on TV (which was mostly the "Me Tarzan, You Jane" version).
So yeah, I was an idiot.
In the late '60s / early '70s I picked up paperback editions of the original Edgar Rice Burroughs stories and became a big fan - but I didn't buy Tarzan's comics until DC took over the franchise and put Joe Kubert in control.
Which meant I missed years of great stories like the one in this issue. It's the first part of an adaptation of the novel Tarzan and the Ant Men, which pits the jungle hero against brutal cavewomen and a vast army of tiny warriors.
But best of all, the art was by one of my all-time favorites, Russ Manning! He seems an odd fit for Tarzan, since his style is more on the sleek and sophisticated side, but I don't think there's anything he couldn't draw extremely well.
I became a fan of his heroic art when he worked on Magnus, Robot Fighter (also for Gold Key), and if I'd known about his work on this title, I'd have bought it, too.
But in those days, promotion was virtually non-existent, so I was oblivious to all these wonderful stories.
Thankfully, many of these stories are now being collected in reprints (further proof that we're in the Golden Age of comic reprints.
Which is nice, because life doesn't always give you a chance to make up for past stupidity.
Grade: A-
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1 comment:
I also like Korak quite a bit.
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