Tarzan -Thrilling Tales of Jungle Life!

These are two small black and white Tarzan comics I purchased: they are Pocket Picture Library size similar to UK monthly war comic picture libraries  -just under 4" (12 cms) wide and 7" tall (17.5 cms).

This is the size compared to a US comic size.

The date on the last page is in Roman numerals MCMLVIII -which converts to 1958. Big Problem in that the cover Tarzan is quite obviously TVs Tarzan -Ron Ely.  That series ran 1966-1968 so how did they know he was going to be taking on the role in 1958?

In fact there were supposed to be 4 of these but from what I could find out over the years no. 4 never appeared -so many people were trying to get the rights and publishing Tarzan that my guess is that World Distributors might have tread on other publishers toes. There were supposed to be three issues all published in 1967 -bang smack in the middle of Ely's huge Tarzan success and most anything to do with Tarzan at the time featured an Ely look-a-like!

Also, these were printed over 50 years ago and printing was done as cheap as possible in the UK. This means browning of pages is far too common.

The story behind the 1958 date is simple: this was all inventory material published in the 1950s.  Tarzan -Men of the Deep and Tarzan and Toto from No. 1 has been printed, including in colour, several times in the UK. The stories from No. 2 -Shifta's Captive and The Fire Mountain have also been published several times.

I have to mention another problem. I took photos of these because I cannot open them so that they can go flat on a scanner.  It feels like there may be staples but the main thing holding the covers on is glue.  As I have pointed out regarding Alan Class comics the glue used was a mix that either solidified or crystalised with age.  with the first if you try to open the comic flat you will hear a loud crack or see your pages tear or, at least, fall apart.  

Crystalising means you can get powdery, crystal 'crumbs' but, again, can lead to damaging the comic.

Be warned!

The reason I bought these was that I just wanted an example for what would have been a book on UK Tarzan comics but despite the numbers viewing the posts such as those below, the total lack of comments made me reconsider the idea...

Or is it? The Best Of Tarzan's Jungle Adventures! And A Bit More About UK Tarzan

http://hoopercomicart.blogspot.co.uk/2017/07/or-is-it-best-of-tarzans-jungle.html

Titan Books: Tarzan and the Lost Tribe
http://hoopercomicart.blogspot.co.uk/2017/04/titan-books-tarzan-and-lost-tribes-vol-4.html

The above post includes links to the previous Tarzan books from Titan I have reviewed.

Guide To Collecting UK Tarzan Comics
http://hoopercomicart.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/a-rough-guide-to-collecting-uk-tarzan.html

Tarzan On Film Book review

http://hoopercomicart.blogspot.co.uk/2016/08/titan-books-tarzan-of-film-do-not-be.html

According to the ERBZine online http://www.erbzine.com/mag45/4522.html:

"The rare Tarzan comics from World Adventure Library UK.  Four of these were published between May 1967 and August 1967. The first Tarzan comic published by World Adventure Library seems to be a reprint of Dell Tarzan of the Apes issue 109 with a Gordon Scott cover and a Jesse Marsh interior art".

Well it is definitely Jesse Marsh art but that cover image is Ely and looks nothing like Gordon Scott! 

I have said and written this so many times so regulars may be a bit bored by it but if you are looking at comics for "investment" then the UK editions are not going to make back what some sellers are selling copies for.  Reprint after reprint in black and white and colour and varying degrees in print/paper quality make these interesting for someone just into UK comics for nostalgia or whatever.  However, even the UK editions are frowned upon by some because they carry a UK cover price and collectors prefer editions with US cover prices. 

 Also, the UK covers seem to  be cropped in some cases and as the series progressed the art style changed.  The US editions all have beautiful painted covers and those are the books the collector wants.

I would like to get copies of Tarzan comics from other countries -I have a Finnish edition of a Korak comic thanks to Pekka Manninen in Finland. Pipe dreams!