recent reads; Enter the ERB Universe

Edgar Rice Burroughs Inc., if you haven't heard, undertook the launch of two big projects this year.

First off, they are committing to a full collectible hardcover reprint line of *all* of ERB's original books, all with new commissioned cover art by Joe Jusko. I believe the total will be *84* books by the time they are done.

They've started with the TARZAN series.

That takes care of the past, but what about the future?

The future lies within the EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS UNIVERSE. New tales, new characters, old characters, and more.

Author Christopher Paul Carey joined the ERB Inc team, and is the creative director of the project. After some years of sporadic pastiche releases, ERB Inc now has a definitive vision of bringing the ERB canon into the 21st century. (Books which might be non-canon, are lumped under the WILD ADVENTURES OF EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS banner.)

Which brings us to the recent reads. CARSON OF VENUS: THE EDGE OF ALL WORLDS by Matt Betts and TARZAN: BATTLE FOR PELLUCIDAR by Win Scott Eckert are the first two novels in the "Swords of Eternity" super-arc.

I will confess upfront that I've only read the first original Carson novel, and the character didn't stick with me as much as Tarzan or John Carter. All the same, Betts delivers a good story that touches on of the Venus (Amtor) trappings. Betts wisely sets a up a central mystery that pulls the reader along with the headlong sword-&-planet action.

Win Scott Eckert's TARZAN: BATTLE FOR PELLUCIDAR is everything you could want. A new tale with an old friend. New characters. Dinosaurs, hollow Earth, monsters, and mysteries. Perhaps it was the various character reunions, but this story felt like an even stronger launch into the framework of the new ERB Universe. The best way I can describe it is that the tale is true to the ERB characters but with a new tone. That makes sense--only ERB wrote like ERB. I felt like this was akin to reading, say, a John Gardner James Bond novel after reading the original Ian Fleming novels. (that is *not* a negative criticism. I've enjoyed the few Gardner 007 stories I've read.)

I am looking forward to more ERB Universe stories.

Back to the Valley of Gold

TARZAN AND THE VALLEY OF GOLD

Publicity still. (the movie is in color.)

I've been revisiting the late 1950s through 1960s TARZAN movies with my son. Yesterday we watched TARZAN AND THE VALLEY OF GOLD. (which I've touched on before)

It's a crazy mix of modern world Tarzan, James Bond pastiche, Tarzan pastiche. On the 007 side, the main baddie is pure Bond villain. Tarzan first appears in a suit, fighting assassins in Mexico City. The jazzy soundtrack. For Tarzan moments, we see Tarzan suiting 'down' to the loincloth and requesting a knife and a length of rope. His use of the animals (leopard as tracker, chimpanzee as scout, lion as his army) has echoes of original Tarzan novels (Beasts of Tarzan, Tarzan the Untamed.)

The sum of the parts never really adds up. The story's scope & vision far exceed its budget. The climax drags on too long.

But it's a favorite. Maybe because Mike Henry is a physical cast perfect for Tarzan--and Nancy Kovack is quite fetching. Or maybe I just enjoy the audacity of what they were trying to pull off.

I think it's a fun way to spend a ninety-minute weekend matinee.

The Fritz Leiber novelization was recently re-released. It takes the story where it could have gone and adds a lot to it. Maybe not worth the current collectible hardcover price for casual fans but when it comes out in paperback or ebook, you might give it a read, if you're a pulp / action adventure fan.

recent read; HIGH ADVENTURE #86

HIGH ADVENTURE #86

Keeping with my resolution for more 'zines in my reading mix...

I swung back into the jungle pulp, following up last year's Ki-Gor read with two more of the better Ki-Gor tales, "The Devil's Death Trap" and "Blood Priestess of Vig N'Ga." Luckily, both stories are included in this single volume.

"The Devil's Death Trap" finds Ki-Gor and his stalwart companions trapped in a lost city of intelligent gorillas (shades of DC Comics' Gorilla City!) "Blood Priestess of Vig N'Ga" also features a hidden city--this one more of a classic Middle Eastern flare. While the former story had echoes of Edgar Rice Burroughs, the later tale had echoes of Robert E. Howard.

Both delivered on pulp fun and adventure.

Unfortunately, this issue (or my copy, anyway) has a glaring misprint in "Blood Priestess of Vig N'Ga" that repeats a page and left out a piece of the story. Fortunately, there is an archive available here. I need to check this out and fill in the gap.

recent read; Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar

Over the past few years, I've been adding the original TARZAN novels by Edgar Rice Burroughs to my reading diet. TARZAN AND THE JEWELS OF OPAR was next on my list;

Albert Werper is a murderer and deserter of the Belgian army in the Congo. Fleeing into the jungle, he is captured by gang of slavers led by the Arab Achmet Zek. Werper convinces Zek of his fugitive status, and joins the troop of cutthroats. Tarzan has been running afoul of Zek, ruining his slave trade. Zek and Werper hatch a plan to kidnap Tarzan's wife, Jane (of course,) and hold her for ransom. Werper decides to pose as a lost French gentleman, separated from his safari, to gain access to the Greystoke compound and home.

Tarzan - John Clayton, Lord Greystoke - has a reversal of fortune before the kidnapper can strike. Suspected unscrupulous business dealings have wiped out Greystoke's capital back in England. But the loss doesn't cause Clayton too much concern. He will return to the lost city of Opar. (His first visit was during THE RETURN OF TARZAN.) He knows where the city's great treasure room is hidden. Even the degenerated descendants of Opar who still stalk the stone corridors don't know that. He assures Jane he will be safe and vows to return with gold.

Werper has eavesdropped on their conversation. Realizing there is no ransom to be had from a destitute man, Werper takes his leave and stalks Tarzan's safari through the jungle to trail him to the treasure and steal his own portion.

While both men are in Opar, an earthquake traps them. Clayton takes a hard blow on the head. He awakens an amnesiac. He can only remember his primitive existence as the ape-man. Eventually, he learns his name is Tarzan, but his more recent memories refuse to return. Manipulated by Werper, Tarzan helps him to escape from Opar, and Tarzan acquires a pouch of "pretty pebbles" from another treasure room - the Jewels of Opar.

The avaricious Werper has designs on the jewels, and Tarzan feels the pull of the jungle, unaware that Achmet Zek and his bloodthirsty horde are descending on the Greystoke bungalow...

Adventure and action follow in large doses. Combat, death, lions, apes, Queen La and her subhuman worshipers. Escapes and recaptures, reversals of fortune, double-crosses. The list goes on - in a good, adventurous way.

I enjoyed this story, a lot.

Right out of the gate, Burroughs drops a "civilization vs. barbarism" quote that surely must have caught the attention of Robert E. Howard.

To Tarzan of the Apes the expedition was in the nature of a holiday outing. His civilization was at best but an outward veneer which he gladly peeled off with his uncomfortable European clothes whenever any reasonable pretext presented itself. It was a woman's love which kept Tarzan even to the semblance of civilization—a condition for which familiarity had bred contempt. He hated the shams and the hypocrisies of it and with the clear vision of an unspoiled mind he had penetrated to the rotten core of the heart of the thing—the cowardly greed for peace and ease and the safe-guarding of property rights. That the fine things of life—art, music and literature—had thriven upon such enervating ideals he strenuously denied, insisting, rather, that they had endured in spite of civilization.

Forgetting his existence as John Clayton, Tarzan is feral, unpredictable, and dangerous. He is - perhaps - more of the barbaric savage than he has been since the first half of TARZAN OF THE APES.

The only plot points I had an issue with were the overuse of lion attacks. While it wouldn't have changed the story a whit, I think exchanging at least one of the attacks for a leopard attack would have been welcome change up.

Despite the plot cliche of "the hero has amnesia," I enjoyed TARZAN AND THE JEWELS OF OPAR. I think it is my favorite of the series so far.

recent reads; The Pulp Feast of Philip Jose Farmer

Well, I went there. Yes, I did. I'd heard and read all the warnings about the graphic content, and that the sequel novels were more pulp action and probably more to my liking. But, I felt I needed to start at the start. Yes, I read Philip Jose Farmer's A Feast Unknown.

Lord Grandrith (Farmer's Tarzan pastiche with extra bits added) faces off against Doc Caliban (Farmer's Doc Savage pastiche with extra bits added) as they battle across Africa. It turns out these men are immortal, servants of "the Nine" - a world-ruling cabal. Eventually the two men learn the Nine have been orchestrating most of their lives, including the setup to kill each other.

Admittedly, predictably not my cup of tea. The sexual graphic stuff I was all right with. Other stuff I could do without. Some of it borders on "body horror" when you think about it. I felt the tone shifted from weird to snide to outright farce by the end. Pretty much rated X, for real.

Titan edition

I enjoyed Lord of the Trees more, as Farmer gave us more of a straight forward pastiche of Tarzan with his Lord Grandrith character. Seeking revenge on the Nine, Grandrith again fights his way across Africa. In some ways it felt like a re-tread of the first portion of A Feast Unknown, with the graphic content dropped. Much more of a PG-13 tone. Or even PG.

I did feel the action was repetitive, though, in and of itself. It felt like one of those novellas stretched to a short novel. I probably won't give it a re-read. I have too many original ERB Tarzan stories to read, and perhaps even Farmer's authorized pastiches of Tarzan.

Original ACE Double cover, backed with THE MAD GOBLIN

The Mad Goblin follows along the same lines. The action takes place in a German castle and village. The action occurs simultaneously with the events of Lord of the Trees, as Doc Caliban hunts down one of the Nine who has defected and is at war with both the Nine and Doc Caliban & Lord Grandrith.

The action felt more varied, here, though it also felt a touch repetitive and stretched beyond its natural length.

Original ACE Double cover

I've not read much Doc Savage, so I didn't bring any baggage to The Mad Goblin. Maybe that's why I enjoyed it the most of the three novels.

Titan reprint

Like Tarzan, I am far behind on reading original Doc Savage stories. I'd prefer that to re-reading The Mad Goblin

You could probably read Lord of the Trees & The Mad Goblin without first reading A Feast Unknown. You might be missing the backstory but that wouldn't take away from the adventure.

more comic collecting; Marvel's TARZAN

This weekend, I scoured the 50 cent bins at a local comic shop. I am now two issues away from owning a complete set of Roy Thomas's & Ernie Colon's ARAK, Son of Thunder. I don't have a lot in mint, but they are all serviceable.

I've been reading the Marvel omnibus of the 1970s run of JOHN CARTER, Warlord of Mars. At the same time that was happening, Roy Thomas was working on Marvel's TARZAN, Lord of the Jungle. There were only 29 issues and 3 annuals, and they have yet to be collected in trades or an omnibus.

I picked up Annual #2 and Annual #3 this weekend. They were enough fun that I think I might just aim to collect the Marvel TARZAN run, too. Hopefully I can find them in the cheap bins, too.

REH comic gold vein, plus others

Popped into a local comic store for a 25% off sale and got lucky. These are complete sets. Even cheaper than finding a graphic novel trade collection!

I don't know if they are good or faithful, but they were worth the price to check out. With Roy Thomas attached, they should be alright, at least. I need to look up how many of these Dark Horse did.

Aside from Robert E. Howard adaptations, I grabbed these as well. I could have grabbed many more.

Seriously - Tarzan at the Earth's Core & a Predator! Who could resist?!

Reminds me to put Tarzan at the Earth's Core on my shortlist for next year's reading.

I need a comic reading binge week!

More loot

I received a pile of loot that I had ordered from Amazon.

Scouring Amazon for various Mammoth titles, I came across The Mammoth Book of Sword and Honor. It occurred to me that aside from Ambrose Bierce's (American) Civil War Stories, I don't think I've really read historical/historical-military fiction in the short form. I was intrigued. I was extra intrigued because The Mammoth Book of Sword and Honor was in the Amazon Bargain Books, and they claimed to only have a few copies left.

So, we came blame most of this on that. ;) I didn't want to pay double the price just to ship it, so I piled on the other stuff to get free shipping.

At first, I wasn't sure about The Mammoth Book of Dracula. I have other vampire anthologies and Mammoth books and wasn't sure about an entire Mammoth book of stories directly related to Dracula. But, the authors in the table-of-contents finally swayed me to put the book on my wishlist. Amazon were down to their last copy, so I added it to my order.

Psycho Mania is a new book and according to the copyright page, not a reissue. But, for all intents & purposes, it is a Mammoth book.  It is edited by Stephen Jones and the layout is the same as a Mammoth tome.  If it had been published ten years ago or earlier, it would have been titled, The Mammoth Book of Psychos.

As a matter of personal taste, I am not one for slasher/demented-murderer horror. There is too much of that in the real world. I prefer my horror to have some supernatural element. But, the cover claims some of these tales do have a supernatural element. It contains the Bloch classic, "Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper" which I have never read and I have wanted to read for a long time. That is the main reason I bought the book.

Charles Rutledge was kind enough to send me some wilder, early 1960s Sexton Blake stories. (which I sheepishly admit I still need to read.) I thought I should educate myself on some classic Sexton Blake tales. I was surprised how thick this book is! Most of the other Wordsworth Tales of Mystery and the Supernatural are half this thick.

Finally, I wanted to complete my mini Tarzan movie collection with Tarzan the Magnificent. It features Gordon Scott's last outing as the Lord of the Jungle, and his second outing as an articulate, modern Tarzan. Looking forward to watching it soon.

Tarzan Movies

As I am reading the original Tarzan of the Apes, I also continue to explore some recommended movies.  I had bought this DVD set featuring movies from the 1960s, where Tarzan is played closer to the literary character - articulate and able to adapt and to transition smoothly from civilization to the wild jungle.

Tarzan Goes to India

Tarzan in India, trying to save a herd of elephants from being destroyed when dam engineers flood their valley.  Jock Mahoney's first outing, taking over for Gordon Scott.  Stronger film than its follow-up, and Mahoney looked a lot better than he did in the follow-up - though, he still seemed lanky and he had an awkward gait which did not create a very convincing Tarzan.  It had an enjoyable story, though, with an interesting supporting cast of characters.

Tarzan's Three Challenges (already discussed at this post.)

Tarzan and the Valley of Gold

Tarzan continues his globetrotting, finding himself in Mexico for this adventure.  The producers really upped the ante on this film.  Not only was a younger actor chosen to play Tarzan, they jumped on the James Bond bandwagon, too.  This movie comes complete with a maniacal villain who likes to dispatch people with clever little bombs inside jewelry gifts.  The budget shows, though, when a crashing helicopter hides behind a bush before it explodes, and the villain's private army has only two vehicles.

Not only was Henry a younger actor who looked the part, he also came from professional football.  It might seem an odd thing to note, but compare his Tarzan's motion when running with Jock Mahoney's gait - there is no awkwardness in Henry's dash and speed.

Also, it is worth reading Ryan Harvey's excellent Black Gate posts concerning both the movie and the novelization by Fritz Leiber.

Tarzan and the Great River

Tarzan in Brazil, this time.  He must help a doctor bring medicine upriver while also investigating and halting a violent jungle cult.  This movie suffered from "stock footage"-itis the most.  The mixing of African flora and fauna is one thing.  But, here we see hippos and other African stock footage animals in Brazil.  Worse than that, though, was the extremely lazy use of footage of Africans setting fire to an African village, in the middle of a Mesoamerican attack on a Mesoamerican village.  (All 3rd world people were the same to 1960s Hollywood, I guess?)  It turns out the village footage wasn't stock, but was part of the story in the next movie.  Because they were both filmed back to back in Brazil, actors, sets and footage were reused.

The villain of the piece and Tarzan only meet at the very end, so there is an extreme lack of tension built.  Overall, I found this to be the weakest movie of the set.

Tarzan and the Jungle Boy

Promising first act, second act sag, strong finish.  I think I enjoyed this Henry movie the most.  The James Bond hyperbole of Valley of Gold is gone.  We have a very straight-forward tale of Tarzan and company being swept up in a tribal leadership conflict between two brothers (played by real life brothers.)  Set in Africa (though filmed in Brazil) - the stock footage finally makes things more convincing rather than less convincing.  Tarzan is reflected in the young boy - also a jungle orphan - which is a nice touch.

Overall, I really enjoyed Henry's performances.  Without a doubt, Mike Henry looks the part of Tarzan more than anyone who has undertaken the role.

His acting was a little stiff but not horribly so.  I think the biggest weakness was that sometimes he sounded more like a cinematic cowboy than the king of the jungle.  It's too bad he bowed out before the television series started (which went to Ron Ely, instead.)

The movies are all fun viewing for a rainy Saturday home matinee, if nothing else.

Tarzan's Three Challenges

Trying to add to my Tarzan experiences, I watched Jock Mahoney's second and final outing as the lord of the jungle in Tarzan's Three Challenges (1963).

Following Tarzan Goes to India, this installment again takes Tarzan out of Africa.  This time, Tarzan goes to an unnamed Asian country (portrayed by Thailand.)  There, he must escort a child "chosen one" to safety for his installment as new leader of the nation.  But the current ruler's brother, Khan, is a jealous type.  Tarzan's road will be beset by villains.  But first, he must prove he is Tarzan and worthy to protect the child, and he undergoes three challenges of dexterity, strength and wisdom.

This movie was mostly enjoyable, a few moments over the top and some lingering shots of the exquisite locales of Thailand.  It is good rainy Saturday afternoon adventure matinee fair, if nothing else.

My favorite moment was Tarzan's third challenge; the challenge of wisdom.  I am not sure which martial philosophy it was taken from, but it is a nice little gem.  (Paraphrasing, because I can't find the exact quote online;)

Monk: After a march of a thousand miles, you will face your enemy in the morning.  What is the first thing that you make certain?

Tarzan: I make certain that it is my enemy, not me, who makes the thousand mile march!

The only drawback was, unfortunately, Jock Mahoney's portrayal.  The acting wasn't bad, but the physique and athleticism were wrong.  He was lanky, thin and seemed to have awkward and stiff body motion.

It turns out, that was with reason.  Mahoney contracted fever, dysentery and pneumonia nearly as soon as the production started on location in Thailand.  Co-star Woody Strode attributed the illness to Mahoney's own braggadocio of swimming across the largest river in Thailand - which was also the most polluted.  Mahoney was also, at that time, the oldest man to play Tarzan.  Mahoney lost 45 pounds during the movie, and it shows.

Though eventually he recovered, Mahoney was never quite the same and he was done with Tarzan and many other physical action roles he would have taken in the past.

I acquired this movie through the Warner Brothers Archive collection - on-demand printed DVDs of many movies that weren't available before.  A set of 5 Tarzan movies (2 starring Jock Mahoney and 3 starring Mike Henry) was released earlier this year.  Two weeks ago the price plummeted 45% on Amazon, so I finally grabbed them.  (It is currently still down 40%.)

I look forward to revisiting Mahoney in his first outing, and watching the other Tarzan movies in the near future.

Tarzan's Greatest Adventure

I'm not very versed in Tarzan.  I've seen a few movies, and I've read the first novel.  Recently, two strong recommendations for this movie appeared in my web-crawling circle.  Noted by both Charles R. Rutledge and Ryan Harvey, I knew I needed to give this one a viewing.

When greedy diamond prospectors steal dynamite from an African village and murder his friend, Tarzan picks up their trail to exact vengeance.  Along the way, he picks up a feisty blonde companion, Angie.  Jungle dangers abound as Tarzan comes closer to his prey, and the psychological pressure on the villainous band soon has them tearing each other apart, even as they battle against Tarzan.

Don't let the black-&-white stills fool you, this movie is in color.  As noted by others, it was filmed on location in Africa, getting away from the stagnant movie sets of the past.  Gordon Scott's Tarzan is no longer monosyllabic, but neither does he speak eloquently as an English Greystoke might.  While Scott might not have been the best deliverer of a line, as Tarzan his delivery works very well.

One drawback; there is a notable absence of Tarzan through the fourth fifth of the movie.  Wounded and out of commission, Tarzan mostly falls off-screen while the focus shifts to the heroine and the villains.  I was enjoying Scott's Tarzan portrayal enough that I found the absence distracting.

As someone who did not grow up with jungle adventures, I did have a little bit of disconnect when the movie went into "stock footage" mode - mixing terrain and animals that would never be found that close together.  (e.g.; From the heart of a thick jungle, Tarzan and his companion observe a lion hunt & kill on the veldt!)

But, this isn't about accuracy, it's about having a grand adventure on the Dark Continent.  As a fun throwback to Saturday matinee adventure films, Tarzan's Greatest Adventure hits its mark and does so strongly.

Superfight; Conan vs. Tarzan

I am usually not one for "my favorite fictional hero/villain can beat your favorite fictional hero/villain".

However, I stumbled on this essay this morning, and I think it is really well done. (missed it when originally posted)

Fantasy superfight; Conan vs. Tarzan

Charles Saunders, in addition to Imaro and other "sword & soul" work, also enjoys writing about boxing, so this essay has a definite veracity to it - even though it is, in the end, fiction and therefore never truly decided.

I need to read some more Tarzan titles. I've only read the first novel.