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| Characters copyright The Estate of EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS |
I remember it was raining. I also remember buying this comic in a local R.S. McCOLL's before wandering into another shop, W.&R. HOLMES. "Better get back to school" I eventually thought, having taken an extended lunch break and missed a couple of lessons. I remember taking my seat in English class and then furtively browsing through KORAK #1, secure in the knowledge that I was out of the teacher's immediate sight just so long as she stayed seated at her desk. I remained alert though, ready to put the mag back into my schoolbag at the first sign of 'teach' standing up and going for a wander 'round the classroom.
And, contents aside, that's all I remember about this comic from the early '70s - shops, school and schoolbag (which I still have), and the fact that it was raining when I purchased it and as I made my way back to school. Hardly a riveting reminiscence by any means, but I find myself smiling at the memory of a vanished period of my youth whenever I gaze upon the cover and internal pages of one of my favourite comics of the past. (Especially as the original school buildings were demolished in 2007/8 after a new one had been built nearby.)
"Good for you," you say, "but what's in this for us?" Ah, for you, the pulsating pleasure of perusing some pleasant pictures, and maybe even recalling your own memories associated with this terrific treasure from yesteryear. Perhaps it was raining then, too, or did the sun beat down relentlessly upon you? Can you remember? Then share it with the rest of us in the comments section. It's what it was invented for.
6 comments:
I like those little memories as we have all had them . I remember reading ( well taking a peek at ) a few comics secretly in class and desperately wanting the bell to ring so I could head home to read it properly. I never had any Korak comics ( and only about 2 Tarzan comics) as they just never intrigued me despite some excellent artists.
I'm not quite sure what attracted my attention to the mag (well, aside from being a first issue), McS, as I wasn't particularly a Tarzan fan. I enjoyed the movies with Johnny Weissmuller which were usually shown on Saturday mornings (if I recall rightly - maybe it was Sundays), but a comic book version isn't quite the same thing. Having said that, I'd purchased a couple of Dell or Gold Key* issues (*delete as applicable), and I did buy the first 3 DC Tarzan mags, but didn't stick with it. I suppose there wasn't much else on the spinner-racks that I hadn't already bought at the time, and money always burnt a hole in my pocket when it came to comics back then.
I read the David Innes story in a reprint just yesterday morning. That Korak cover is wonderful and a trove of great ERB stuff. If the material had stayed in and not been broken out because the twenty-five centers ended, maybe it would've flourished. Maybe not, but perhaps.
Ah, what might have been, eh? I often find myself thinking along those lines, RJ.
I do have this particular comic, but only acquired it in the past couple of years, and have yet to read it. I did get a few of the DC Tarzan comics at the time, though. I see that the Korak comic has a John Carter story drawn by Mike Kaluta, so I will search it out of one of the long boxes and give it a read. I was never an ERB fan, but now have an interest to read some of the early Tarzan stories which were published as paperbacks in the late 70s, sporting Neal Adams covers.
I know I read the first Tarzan novel back in the early '70s, but can't recall whether I ever read any others or not, though I'd think it likely. In the very first printing, ERB has Tarzan fighting a tiger, which was changed to a lion in later editions, as tigers are indigenous to India, not Africa. One day, I'll maybe take a stab at one of his John Carter novels, though I'm assuming he wrote more than just one.
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