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| TARZAN copyright The Estate of EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS |
Remember when DC COMICS took over the TARZAN comicbook franchise from GOLD KEY in the early '70s? Drawn by JOE KUBERT, it seemed that no other contemporary artist of the time was more suited to the legendary ape-man than the renowned illustrator of TOR and HAWKMAN (and loads of other characters too, of course).
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However, there was one other who was equally equipped for the task, and that was JOHN BUSCEMA, who freelanced for DC's main rival, the MARVEL COMICS GROUP. When Marvel acquired the rights to produce Tarzan comics in 1977, it was to Big John that the pencilling chores (and, initially, the inking too) were entrusted.
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Buscema wanted to draw Tarzan more along the lines of CONAN; that is, a beefy, brawny battler with a wild mane of hair, as opposed to the lean, wasp-waisted, follicly-groomed HAL FOSTER or BURNE HOGARTH version that most readers were familiar with. However, the estate of ERB had final say on how the lord of the jungle was depicted, so Big John had to adhere to the established comicbook look of the character.
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I don't have too many Marvel Tarzan mags in my collection, only what you see here, but I'm sure you'll enjoy these few examples all the same.
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9 comments:
Big John was ideal for the assignment, especially when he was able to ink himself, rare since he cost too much relatively speaking. The ERB folks took issue with the Thomas accusing him of plagarism and he left the book and Buscema followed soon after. It's a pity Big John didn't have a more thorough run on the title.
Rip Off
I think that all Roy was trying to do was to keep as much of the flavour of ERB in the mag as possible, hence his including quite a bit of original text from the stories he was adapting. For the ERB estate to accuse him of plagiarism on an actual adaptation is, quite frankly, madness. You'd think they'd be pleased to see such a respect for the great man's words. Thanks Rip.
I remember buying a copy of Tarzan in August 1979 in WH Smith's and I went to pay for it along with two other comics (John Carter was one of them) and the woman didn't seem to notice I had three comics, charging me only for two - of course these days I'd point out her error but back then I said nothing and got a free comic. Talking of WH Smith's I was shocked to learn my local branch is closing permanently and the nearest one is about ten miles away. It opened in June 1978 when I was twelve and I'm really sad to see it go :(
THIEF! I've alerted the police to your shocking act, Col, and they'll be around shortly to arrest you. Best just sit where you are - there's no point in trying to flee the country.
Yup, it's always sad to see a favourite and familiar place from childhood disappear. Never mind, you wouldn't be shopping there anyway after you get a 20 year prison sentence for your shocking act of dishonesty. See? There's always a bright side.
Do you know who used to advertise Tarzan on the cover as " THE GREATEST SUPERHERO EVER"? I know it was either DC or Marvel. Anyway , that was the only bronze age Tarzan I tried and I wasn't impressed by the story enough to buy any more.
I've seen him advertised as the greatest fantasy hero and the like, but not a superhero, JP, so I'm not sure which company did that.
I remember having a Tarzan poster bought from a UK Woolworths sometime in the mid or late 1970s that bore a similarity to the cover of Marvel Tarzan #1 - Tarzan fighting a lion. I’ve struggled to find a picture of the poster on Google. Are you familiar with it, Kid?
Can't remember seeing the poster, but it might've been of the dustjacket of one of the Tarzan books. I seem to recall reading somewhere that Marvel based their cover on a dustjacket illustration. Try Googling 'Tarzan posters' and seeing what that brings you. I just did and there were a few on display.
Also Google 'Tarzan fighting lion' - that'll give you a few more.
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