Number 2483: Tarzan bundolo!

 

Tarzan hops onto Argus, his giant eagle, for a flight to the city of Cathne. There he encounters some belligerent Bolgani, who are bent on making Tarzan bund. Yep, there are ape-words in this story. Bolgani is gorilla, bund is dead. The creatures, as well as Tarzan, are wont to holler out "Bundolo!" which means kill. Tarzan is a bloodthirsty type, having named his own son Korak,* which in the ape language means killer. (Note: after this appeared reader Dwight Harvey wrote to remind me that Korak's real name is John.)

That aside, this is yet another story where Tarzan helps with the fighting in a city hidden in the African jungle, injecting him into their wars. It was written by Gaylord Dubois and drawn by Jesse Marsh. It appeared as the lead story in Tarzan Jungle Annual #4 (1955).

It is the end of the year. I’ll wish you Happy New Year, because 2020 has been a terrible year. We’ll hope for better in 2021. 

*In the Dell version of Tarzan’s parenting, his son is called “Boy,” which is what they named him in the old Tarzan movies, and was carried over into the comic books. It was apparently because the movie Tarzan and Jane were not married, and after they found the baby, decided to set up treetop housekeeping. Don’t ask me the circumstances. It has been at least 50 years since I saw that particular movie in the Tarzan series. For a time in the early 1960s there was interest in the Tarzan of the screen, and they were shown on a local TV channel on Saturday afternoons. I remember having an attitude about the movies, since I was a member of the Burroughs Bibliophiles, and was actively reading the original novels. I thought that made me an expert. When I once tried to explain the differences of the movie Tarzan and novel Tarzan to some classmates they looked as if they would rather grab a vine and swing away through the trees, somewhere far from me. 

In retrospect, who could blame them?
 

Number 2452: Hey, Tarzan, your wife wonders where you are

Jane and Boy are suddenly without a husband and dad when Tarzan mounts the giant eagle, Argus, and takes off for Pal-Ul-Don, another lost kingdom in Tarzan’s fantasy Africa.

Jane looks like she dressed for the occasion, perfect hair and makeup, looking plenty sexy. Tarzan appears unaware of her charms. The red bra top and slit-up-the-side sarong are indications she is aiming for his more primitive instincts.

I have been married for over 50 years. What would Mrs Pappy do if I suddenly got on the back of an eagle and flew off? Well, I’d know there would be hell to pay when I got back. I keep Mrs P apprised of my plans well in advance, and she returns the courtesy. Not so Tarzan, who is a guy with muscles and brains, but lacking in simple courtesy. My advice to you or to a guy like Tarzan: you can get away without too many brains and no muscles, just let your significant other know where you are going and when you plan to be back.

Oh, and Tarzan must have gotten the tourist map from the Pal-Ul-Don Chamber of Commerce.

Story by Gaylord Du Bois, artwork by Jesse Marsh. From Tarzan’s Jungle Annual #1, 1952.

Number 2325: Tarzan in the Ivory City...with The Strangler!

Going through my archives, I see I have posted Tarzan stories on 25 occasions. I enjoy the Tarzan comics, as I did the original novels and even an occasional movie.

The Tarzan novels featured several hidden civilizations in the jungle, and those cities figured into a lot of stories for the comics, also. In this story, Tarzan tracks his son who has been taken by slavers to the Ivory City. Tarzan doesn’t get a chance to save the lad before being himself thrown into a life-and-death fight with a gigantic, boastful gladiator called the Strangler. I particularly like this part of the story because it has a sense of humor. Strangler asks Tarzan which he would like pulled off first, an arm or a leg, and Tarzan just replies, “Take your choice.”  It is probably not a spoiler to reveal that Tarzan prevails, mainly because he is practiced in jungle judo.

The story is written by regular scripter Gaylord Dubois, and drawn by Jesse Marsh. It was published in Tarzan #19 (1951).

I showed the other Tarzan story from this issue a few years ago, which has Tarzan with dinosaurs. Along with lost cities, Tarzan was often involved with creatures and people from the lost land of Pal-Ul-Don. Just click on the thumbnail.