Tarzan: The Complete Russ Manning Newspaper Strips Volume 4 (1974-1979)

With the turn of page 294 in this beautiful, full color art book from IDW Publishing, a nearly lifelong dream has been fulfilled for this comic art fan: a high quality collection of the majestic artistic work of Russ Manning's "Tarzan." Volume 4 of "Tarzan: The Complete Russ Manning Newspaper Strips (1974-1979)" brings this comic master's rendition of Edgar Rice Burroughs' legendary character to a dramatic conclusion with 9 amazing adventures that take the Lord of the Jungle across the breath of a mythic and mysterious Africa, as well as beneath the Earth itself. Within this book, the reader will discover the following dramatic tales: "Tarzan Returns to Sanguinarius:" (March 24-November 3, 1974); in which "Tarzan" once again enters a lost city suspended in time, the last remnant of the ancient Roman Empire, a place he first discovered in the Burroughs' 1929 novel, "Tarzan and the Lost Empire." "Tarzan and the Valley of Mist:" (November 10, 1974-February 9, 1975); "Tarzan," accompanied by his monkey friend Nkima, seeks to answer the mystery of strange acting jungle animals and finds a seemingly blissful environment unlike any he's encountered in Africa. "Korak and the Amazons of the Elephants' Graveyard:" (February 16-August 10, 1975); follows "Tarzan's teen-aged son Korak on a solo adventure involving lost legends and war within a lost civilization. "Tarzan and the Giant Insects of Opar:" (August 17, 175-August 22, 1976); the Jungle Lord returns to Opar, the last outpost of ancient Atlantis, and again encounters the alluring Queen La (Oh my, La!), the savage beastmen and worse multi-legged dangers. "Tarzan and the Emigrants:" (August 29-December 26, 1976); "Tarzan" comes into conflict with a family of white settlers, whose desire to build a farmland disrupts the natural order of the jungle. "Tarzan and the Jungle Revolution:" (January 2-August 21, 1977); together with his beloved wife Jane, "Tarzan" battles a ruthless army general seeking to bring war to the cherished home of the Lord of the Jungle. "Korak and the Sacred Lake of Krackao:" (August 28, 1977-January 29, 1978); Korak loses his heart to an enchanting priestess of a mysterious culture tied to primal and primitive forces. "Tarzan and the Dead Moon of Pellucidar:" (February 5, 1978-February 3, 1979); "Tarzan" returns "to one of the strangest...most imaginative...and deadliest...of all the lands created by the master of adventure (Edgar Rice Burroughs)"...the underground world beneath the Earth..."savage Pellucidar!" "Tarzan and the Games of Ibizzia:" (February 4-June 24, 1979); the family of "Tarzan" are reunited as they try to stop the power mad General Mwalafeo from going through with a athletic competition that threatens the lives of its participants, including Korak. These tales are from the final Sunday newspaper continuities and showcase the truly great, imaginative storytelling skills of Russ Manning. They vary in tone and technique but remain at their heart, breathless adventure stories. Mr. Manning revels in depicting the characters and lost civilizations first created by Edgar Rice Burroughs, and imagines a few of his own that add to the mystique of this Africa that never was. A strong subtext to many of the stories is the corrupting and destructive influence of civilization on the jungle world of "Tarzan." The older or lost civilizations are shown as decadent in their decline. For example, Saguinarius, the former city-state of ancient Rome, is a place of greed and ambition, while the lost city of Opar's denizens, the bloated, bearded beastmen, seem more brutal and animalistic than the Great Apes, the furry creatures who raised "Tarzan" to become the Lord of the Jungle. At the same time, other environments, like Pellucidar, are tainted by the fury of the primeval, their inhabitants caught up in the constant struggle for survival. In contrast, Mr. Manning illustrates "Tarzan's" jungle home as almost tranquil in comparison, a garden of Eden; rich in natural wonder and resources, it is no wonder "Tarzan" loves and constantly strives to protect it. At the center of these stories is Mr. Manning's noble, charismatic Lord of the Jungle. His "Tarzan" is a brave warrior, an inspiring leader, an iconic heroic figure. As written and drawn by this master of the comic medium, Edgar Rice Burroughs' most famous creation is fully and beautifully realized. In the book's richly illustrated introduction written by Henry G. Franke III, the author describes how the creators' of the comic book versions of "Tarzan" hoped to expand the character's comic adventures with Mr. Manning playing a central role in these artistic ambitions. This volume provides a historical and biographical narrative on Mr. Manning's last contributions to the legend of "Tarzan." With the release of this final volume of Russ Manning's newspaper tales of "Tarzan," IDW Publishing has given comic art lovers everywhere a 4 book appreciation of a great fictional character and a great comic artist. This entire series collection serves as a long deserved tribute to the work of a man who contributed a classic legacy to the genre of comic art. This very special book comes with my very highest recommendation.

This final installment of comic strips by Russ Manning is different from the other three volumes in the series--this one is fully in color. There are no more daily Tarzan strips at this point, so the book is entirely devoted to the color Sunday pages. As in the previous volumes, the artwork is sumptuous and lavish. The characters are lively and compelling. My only quibble is that I wish Tarzan, Jane, and Korak had shared more adventures instead of almost always going their separate ways. It's a little frustrating each time they get reunited that they get separated again so soon. It's great to see Korak as a teen in these adventures, and he comes in for his share of the excitement, so that part is good. The stories are epic in scope and magnificently illustrated, so the book is a visual treat throughout. Fans of Tarzan will savor this collection. Korak fans will also find much to appreciate. Russ Manning is simply one of the best all-time Tarzan artist/writers.

Great quality and great stories

BEST OF ALL - SHOULD BE AVAILABLE FOR AMAZON E-BOOKS

Easily the best comic strip of the 70's. Head and shoulders above everything else that was being done in America. Moebius and Charlier were doing Blueberry over in France, but that's another story... Kind of tragic that Russ Manning basically worked himself to death on these comic strips... it would have been really nice to have had him around for another couple of decades... Enjoy this book... the presentation, the biographical information, and the reproduction are of the highest order, and are done with great respect for this fine artist... a truly great contribution to American comic book culture.

In 1970s the Bengali children's magazine Anandamela published these Tarzan strips from Manning. Not knowing the original author, I had been searching for these a long time without luck. Tarzan strips had been drawn by many artists over the years. Finally I stumbled on this book. Brings back old memories. This 4th volume captures all the strips that Anandamela published though the other three volumes are very good too. The first three volumes each have some strips in color and some black and white. The fourth volume is in full color.

IDW pays serious and much deserved homage to Russ Manning's Tarzan works. I have all 4 books, and IDW did a tremendous job at reproducing the old classic newspapers comic strip and making them up-to-date solid reprints, bigger and better than the day they rolled out. It seems Titan books is not doing such great reproductions of Hogarth's Tarzan work, if any of the bad reviews are true. I hope IDW reprints the 70's Manning Tarzan European graphic novels.

Russ Manning was a first-class storyteller, an outstanding artist and true to the original work. What more do you want?

Cet ouvrage apporte un point final à la première entreprise d'édition complète des strips quotidiens et planches du dimanche confectionnées par l'auteur-dessinateur Russ Manning (1929-1981) et son équipe (Mike Royer, Bill Stout, Dave Stevens...) pour Edgar Rice Burroughs Inc. (ERB Inc.), commencée il y a près de deux ans par la remarquable maison IDW. Pour cette période, qui couvre plus de six années de parutions, il ne s'agit plus que de "sunday pages", en couleurs d'époque, scannées en s'aidant des meilleures sources d'origine, sachant que les techniques d'impression étaient alors meilleures. Cette période représente neuf récits concaténés, deux d'entre eux mettant en avant Korak, le fils de Tarzan. A ce stade du "run" de Russ Manning, l'activité reste forte en qui concerne le personnage de Tarzan, avec d'abord des albums réalisés pour le marché européen (tandis que DC Comics a récupéré le marché des comic books de Tarzan aux USA) en parallèle des planches du dimanche pour la presse aux USA puis le comic book consacré au film 'Star Wars'. Très impliqué dans la vie locale, Manning connaît en outre vers la fin du "run" dominical le commencement de problèmes de santé dont il ne se remettra pas. Comme pour les tomes précédents, les premières pages sont consacrées à la présentation de l'envers du décor, avec force illustrations et témoignages. On prend ainsi conscience qu'avec Mark Evanier et Mike Royer, Manning partageait avec Jack Kirby des collaborateurs de premier plan. La présentation de différents textes de Dave Stevens montre que Manning a d'abord renâclé à employer ce teenager comme encreur et assistant, sur la foi de son travail (excellent) d'encrage de planches de Kirby (non publiés jusqu'à il y a peu) considéré comme trop "slick" (?!?). A nouveau, même s'il est réalisé sous le contrôle de l'ERB Inc., ce travail historico-critique est remarquable. Les aventures proposées par Manning sont très variées, tout en revenant à plusieurs reprises en terrain connu (Opar, Pal-Ul-Don, Pellucidar), avec cette permanence amusantes de mondes soit totalement masculins, avec à leur tête une cheffe qui s'intéresse à Tarzan, soit totalement féminins avec une concurrence pour intéresser Tarzan. Egalement, même si le continent garde aujourd'hui des secrets mis au jour par le National Geographic et autres institutions, les mondes et vallées perdues que découvre Tarzan ont de moins en moins à voir avec l'Afrique et de plus en plus avec une inspiration qui confine au psychédélisme ! Même dans le contexte d'une équipe de plus en plus étendue, Manning a gardé un intérêt personnel fort pour ces planches du dimanche, qu'il a écrites et en très grande partie dessinées. D'où une qualité graphique généralement très haute de ces oeuvres tardives. Certains visages, notamment féminins, montrent néanmoins d'inhabituelles faiblesses : cf. panel 6 de la planche #2256 et surtout panel 7 de la planche #2291 avec un visage à la Picasso. Pour les dernières planches du "run", publiées au premier semestre 1979, Manning co-signe son travail avec le dessinateur-encreur Mike Royer, mais certains planches sont probablement presque entièrement dues à ce dernier. De fait, il faut signaler ça et là dans cet ouvrage des bizarreries avec un Tarzan au buste énorme (cf. panel 2 planche #2379) ou aux jambes rachitiques (cf. panel 1, planche #2515)... Je découvre avec cet ouvrage ces récits plutôt destinés à de jeunes enfants (Tarzan ne tue plus les animaux, les méchants ouvrent le feu avec des armes redoutables mais personne ou presque ne meurt) d'il y a 35-40 ans, qui pouvaient encore croire au fait que de larges parties de notre Terre restaient à découvrir et que l'absence de préjugés montrée par Tarzan pouvaient éclairer. Comme Manning en 1979, le monde d'aujourd'hui est-il "Tarzaned-out" ou bien les valeurs de droiture (mis à part le pillage petit à petit du trésor caché d'Opar !) et de respect de la personne, humaine ou humanoïde, ainsi que des animaux (même s'il ne se fait pas faute de rappeler lui-même sa condition de roi des animaux...) sont-elles encore d'actualité ? Last but not least, avec le personnage de Nettle, Manning invente Zahia Dehar (cf. planche #2351) après avoir inventé Adriana Sklenaříková, ex Karembeu, néo Ohanian que l'on voit d'ailleurs en couverture ! Avec les quatre volumes de cette collection (et ceux, à venir des fameux albums européens ?), c'est un voeu du regretté Manning qui est excaucé de voir son oeuvre publiée dans un bel ouvrage. Mais les fans du Tarzan de Manning ne peuvent qu'être enchantés et ravis aussi !

Magnífica recopilación de la última etapa de las planchas dominicales de Russ Manning. Buena encuadernación con sobrecubierta y reproducción de las planchas a un formato más reducido que las ediciones de los 70'de Novaro o la italiana de Cenici. Para mi gusto han saturado un poco los colores en la restauración de las planchas pero aún así merece la pena.

I love the art of Russ Manning, since he properly brought Tarzan to life. These books were not available in India before Amazon brought them here.These spectacular adventures remind us of the sizzling Sixties and Seventies when Television was not the primary medium of entertainment for Indian Children. Tarzan remains our favourite, right since childhood, specially in the North Eastrn part of India whee Tarzan and Jane found immense popularity.

great book

eine perfekte Buchserie in 4 Bänden von einem der besten Tarzan Zeichner. Komplettiert mit den Tagesstreifen und den Sonntagsseiten. Besser ist es nicht zu bekommen. Danke für diese Veröffentlichung