Friday, March 13, 2009

Hidden Gems: Tarzan #238

Sadly, the era of the 100 Pagers had ended by this point. Those are a lot of fun, but they can also be a bit pricey. In 1975, however, DC introduced the 50 Cent Giant in some of its titles. This size and price point only lasted for one issue in Tarzan, but what an issue! This is a 48-page collection of the daily United Features strip written and drawn by Russ Manning. As I understand, this is a re-working (color added, panels removed and some new dialogue) of approximately 6 months' worth of daily strips. Being derived from the daily format, the "Return to Pellucidar" story has a different feel and pacing than we'd seen from the DC adaptations to this point. It's really refreshing to see the Manning version again, and it recalls back to those glory days at Gold Key. This issue can be found for much less than the 100-Pagers and has a more bang for your buck than its 25 cent contemporaries. As a curiosity piece alone, this one is worth hunting down.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I love Tarzan. Honestly, I've never read a Burroughs story in prose form, but when I was a kid, I loved the Weismueller movies and the Ron Ely TV show. Therefore, when I saw Tarzan comics, I scooped them up. The DC Tarzan run was greatness. I have enjoyed Tarzan published by all companies, but DC and Dark Horse's versions really stand out to me. I lost most of the DC Tarzan's to foolish youth, and am currently working on reacquiring them along with Warlords, Kamandi's and Conan's. It's a scantily clad male hero phase I'm going through.

BTW, love this blog and all the memories it conjures in me.