Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Tarzan: The Russ Manning Years Volume One Review: For Historic Reasons Only

Edgar Rice Burroughs was one of the forerunners of sci-fi back in his day. It’s too bad that today he is mostly forgotten and his stories have become obscure. One of his creations was Tarzan, a human who was raised by apes and gets into all sorts of exciting adventures involving African wildlife and other humans.

As was the norm back then his stories were made into comics and enjoyed many. Today, these comics are making a comeback and are being collected into collector editions. One of these is “Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Tarzan: The Russ Manning Years” and the first volume is a classic comic collector’s dream come true.

Collected here are eleven comics based on Burroughs’ stories and adapted by Russ Manning. These are not just about Tarzan, but we also see stories of Tarzan’s son Jack and even Jane. They are all told using Burroughs’ classic narrative style with little dialogue that should be familiar to fans. These are all classic 1920s/1930s “Johnny Quest” adventure style stories that were prevalent in that era and they do hold up today.

The only problem that may arise from modern readers is the portrayal of women and other minorities. Considering the era these stories were written this was the norm back then as there was no women’s liberation yet and integrating of races was unheard of.

The art should also put a smile on a collector’s face as it is that classic comic style from the 1960s. Manning’s art takes Burroughs’ stories and, at the time, brings them to life in what was some of the best art. He knew how to bring a scene to life and make one exciting action scene.

One feature that’ll make any collector salivate is the inclusion of the original covers right before each comic. As with the stories, they are products of their time and will bring back nostalgia for anybody. These comics will make you want to go back to a time when comics only cost twelve cents.

“Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Tarzan: The Russ Manning Years Volume One” is a must for any comic reader or even a scifi fan for many reasons. It’s classic adventure with old school artwork based off of stories by a forgotten master. Read them if not for the nostalgic factor but for the historic significance.