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Friday, November 07, 2014

Number 1654: Tarzan and the too-tall Vikings

Tarzan and his friend Raoul end up with yet another lost civilization in Africa. A Viking colony, whose members have grown to an incredible 8 feet tall, lives in a part of Africa where it snows. Tarzan originally met these Vikings in a story in Tarzan’s Jungle Annual #5 (1956), but this story of a search for the missing Paul D’Arnot is from Dell Giant Tarzan King of the Jungle #37 (1960), written by Gaylord Dubois and drawn by Jesse Marsh.

When I encountered the phrase used by Yarl Hrolf a couple of times, “black skirlings,” I reached for my dictionary. “Skirling” is the sound that bagpipes make, so either the Vikings’ neighbors are of Scottish origin or they are Africans who make a ululating vocal sound. I opt for the latter.









6 comments:

Anonymous said...

"The jungle holds many surprises that the outside world would not believe!" —an understatement, regarding the generic comic book jungle, of epic proportions. In the Dell Tarzan comics alone, there were more lost valleys, lost cities, lost worlds and lost counties than a mind could keep track of. I never saw this story as my older brother did not start buying the Dell Tarzans until a couple of years later. When Korak, Son of Tarzan came out my older brother decided he did not like the earlier artist (Gaylord Dubois) anymore in favor of the new guy (Russ Manning). Manning did wonderful stuff, absolutely. Seeing this Dubois after so many years brings not only nostalgia, but a genuine appreciation for the artwork. Again, sincere thanks!

Odyzeus! said...

More Marsh!! Excellent!

Thanks, Pappy! Love his Vikings and snow. He seems to be having a lot of fun here with the art.

Pappy said...

7f7, I have said before that Tarzan's Africa (especially the comics Tarzan) was one unending string of lost valleys with dinosaurs, and lost civilizations. The world is a much smaller place nowadays than it was in Edgar Rice Burroughs' time, and the fantasy has been replaced by reality, thanks to modern technology.

A correction: Gaylord Dubois was the longtime scripter; Jesse Marsh was the artist. If you go to the search engine in the upper left corner and put in his name you will see I have shown a lot of his work.

Pappy said...

Thanks, Odyzeus! Marsh went from the snow to a placid ride down a jungle river in this story. It is a fun story, tucked away toward the back of the book in a Jungle Annual.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the correction (Dubois=writer; Marsh=artist —I had learned that this past couple of years but mussed up here, too early in the morn) and for reminding me of your Search window. Looking back at other Marsh efforts warms the heart. Then there's the links you've included to all that other stuff on the net like Alex Toth's article on Jesse Marsh. You have put the time in and to really appreciate it, I would have to be retired, too. Someday —it could happen. May you quite enjoy doing the good work you do, Pappy —we do enjoy it.

Pappy said...

7f7, keep up the clean living :) and you will surely get to retire someday.

When asked what I "do" nowadays I tell people I am a professional layabout. I am paid by my government to sit around, watch TV, fiddle with my computer, and loaf.