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Terry Hooper-Scharf

Tuesday 7 April 2015

Titan Books: Tarzan Versus The Barbarians

 
Burne Hogarth with Don Garden
Dimensions: 324 x 246mm
Hardback
192pp 
Full Colour
 ISBN: 9781781163184
UK £29.99
Publication date: 27 March 2015

The second of four exclusive volumes, authorized by the Edgar Rice Burroughs estate, collecting the entire run of the legendary Tarzan comic strip by one of the most influential artists of the 20th Century, Burne Hogarth (with Don Garden)

My review of the previous book, Tarzan - In The City of Gold, can be found here:
http://hoopercomicart.blogspot.co.uk/search?q=titan+books+tarzan

To someone of my generation, in fact to anyone professing to be a comicker, you hear the name Burne Hogarth and the first word pops up in the mind is "Tarzan".  Or say "Tarzan" and you think of Burne Hogarth.  After that come the 1960s Dell Tarzan comics and the Joe Kubert Tarzan books.

Imagine being in a big room with lots of people selling their comics and not a single one knows who Kirby, Ditko or Lee are.  Seriously -real comickers know who you mean.  So imagine the blank look on faces if I mention Burne Hogarth....imagine my sputtering brain!

Hogarth was so influential not just as far as US comic creators were concerned but even in the UK. In fact, anywhere in the world where there are true comickers the name Hogarth is legend.

This latest Titan book covers the newspaper strips from May 1940 to October 1943 and the stories Tarzan and the Peoples of the Sea and the Fire, Tarzan Against Dagga Ramba, Tarzan and the Fatal Mountain  and, of course, Tarzan Versus The Barbarians.  The reproduction, as with all these Titan books, is wonderful and a masterwork in itself. 

If you are a comic fan interested in the history of the art form, is it worth the cover price? Yes!  If you just enjoy comics and prefer trades and graphic novels because they are easier to store on shelves then, again, you will love this because it also shows anyone you really are into the art form.

But there is another angle.  Hogarth is also famous for his books on how to draw and, boy, when you see this collection you'll understand why he was qualified to produce those books.  The dynamism, the sheer luscious skill involved and any wannabe artist can learn a great deal from this book -it's taken me a good while to write this review because the art keeps distracting me!

I do not exaggerate at all when I write that this should be a must buy for the comicker. A beautiful package and if you can find volume 1 get it -Amazon is an option!

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