A while back I managed to find the Dark Horse Reprint Tarzan the Untamed (containing Manning's adaptations of the title piece as well as Tarzan the Terrible). Since then I've been keeping an eye out for the other three Dark Horse reprints of Manning's Tarzan work: Tarzan of the Apes, The Jewels of Opar and Land Out of Time, though so far without much luck.

Still, that's somewhat beside my main point, which is this, even if I did manage to get my hands on those three reprint editions, I cannot help but wonder why this material isn't  1) readily available in stores,  and 2)  in a larger format which would do Manning's art justice?

Sometimes the world makes no sense...  I guess I should snag the HC editions of his Magnus the Robot Fighter work sometime soon before they too go the way of the dodo.

Better grab those HC Kubert Tarzans too...I keep hoping to find them "cheap" of course.

I actually saw two of the Manning Tarzan books recently, but I didn't pick them up from the Con. It was a money thing, mostly.

Russ Manning work is so damn slick. I never knew how great the man's work was until recent times.

Chad wrote:
"Better grab those HC Kubert Tarzans too...I keep hoping to find them 'cheap' of course."

Indeed. You are very right on that account. Manning, Kubert... and Neal Adams (let's not forget his amazing book covers) really knew how to draw Tarzan.  I certainly wouldn't mind seeing JB's take on the character.

Chad also wrote:
"I actually saw two of the Manning Tarzan books recently, but I didn't pick them up from the Con. It was a money thing, mostly."

Yeah, I know that money thing all too intimately.

More Chad:
"Russ Manning work is so damn slick. I never knew how great the man's work was until recent times."

Well, I realised recently that I'd obviously read and enjoyed quite a bit of his work as a kid. I believe my dad's uncle had some fine editions with Manning's Tarzan in Swedish, and the one Manning volume I managed to track down in English contains the story which was my favourite, i.e. Tarzan the Terrible, where Tarzan visits Pal-Ul-Don with its various tailed denizens. Seeing the images brought back a lot of my childhood I have to say.

Robert wrote:
"Although two artists I very much admire, Joe Kubert and John Buscema, each
produced excellent versions of Tarzan, I think the most successful adaptations and original material was Manning's."

Not sure I've seen Buscema's Tarzan, well, I probably have in my youth but without making the connection as such. Kubert's Tarzan I, as mentioned above, really need to pick up, but I agree with you, Robert. Manning's Tarzan just is Tarzan, somehow.

More Robert:
"The Magnus books are very much recommended, but be warned that the reproduction doesn't quite do the original work justice."

Ok, thanks for the recommendation (and the warning).

Better grab those HC Kubert Tarzans too...I keep hoping to find them "cheap" of course.

*****

Chad,  I just got a nearly complete set of the Kubert DC Tarzans as part of a big high grade lot of 70s "2nd / 3rd tier" DCs and Marvels on eBay... They ran about $0.75 a pop!   I really didn't have a lot of other experience with Kubert other than random DC titles and some old Hawkmans so I've been really checking out the art here... he did a lot of nice work on the title.

Perhaps one of the first images in comic book form I saw of Tarzan...used to see this as an ad for the Tarzan comic in other 1970s Marvel books.

John Buscema

And hunting around, ran across a surprise: Gray Morrow's "Tarzan vs the Ant Men"

Chad wrote:
"Perhaps one of the first images in comic book form I saw of Tarzan...used to see this as an ad for the Tarzan comic in other 1970s Marvel books."

Well, those images certainly gives me pings of recognition, so I'm pretty sure I've enjoyed Buscema's Tarzan as well.  Has any of his Tarzan stuff been collected?

Didn't know this was around:

http://www.comics.com/comics/tarzan/index.html

Daily Tarzan strips!

Following along those lines, some Nick Cardy Tarzan:

Boy, that's an "Oh sh*t!" moment right there.