Boy was I tickled when I received Gridley Wave #92 and learned that Edgar Rice Burroughs Inc. had signed a contract with SEMIC for a new Tarzan comic. SEMIC is to produce and publish worldwide a monthly Tarzan strip beginning January of 1991.
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| The Gridley Wave |
The head of the project is Henning Kure and he promises to establish the "Tarzan Universe" in a prestige format miniseries. I guess we'll just have to wait and see. If anyone would like to contact Mr. Kure he can be reached through SEMIC, Box 11, DK-2880, Bagsvaerd, Denmark.
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| Thomas Yeates |
To me, the best thing about the project, besides Tarzan coming back to life, is the artist which is Tom Yeates. For any of you who do not know, Tom is a true honest-to-goodness hardcore Tarzan fan. His illustrations have appeared in ERB-dom, The Jasoomian, Burroughs Bulletin, Gridley Wave, Jungle Of Dreams The Tarzan Mythos Of ERB, ERB News Dateline, and the list goes on and on.
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| Thomas Yeates |
Fortunately for me, I had the very good pleasure of meeting Tom at Edgar Rice Burroughs Chain Of Friendship 1989. He instantly made a fan out of me. His Tarzan lore is exceptionally accurate and SEMIC could not have gotten a better artist.
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| Thomas Yeates |
I must admit that Russ Manning has always been my favorite Tarzan comic artist. I am sure it was because of supervisor decisions, but Russ' art wasn't always the ERB story description correct. He drew John Clayton with a mustache even though ERB plainly states Tarzan's father was clean-shaven. Mr. Manning also drew Clayton's jungle home as a log cabin with a thatched roof. According to ERB's story description, Clayton's home was completely covered with mud. Russ also drew Tarzan clothed in time periods when he was not supposed to be. I am sure this was the supervisor's decision, however. Worst of all Russ Manning drew Tarzan as a vine swinger, and we all know that is not true. Despite all of the small errors Russ Manning has still been the most accurate Tarzan illustrator. His Mangani were apelike, but they were neither chimpanzees nor gorillas.
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| Thomas Yeates |
Just for fun, I quizzed Tom about mistakes that past Tarzan artists has made. Unbelievably this guy passed every curve I could through, and I can through a curve. Believe me, when it comes to the Tarzan stories I'll match wits with anybody. Respectfully speaking, I don't care if it is even greats like Phillip Jose Farmer or my good friend and colleague, Alan Hanson. I must proudly admit, though, that Tom Yeates knows his stuff.
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| Thomas Yeates |
How much freedom Kure and SEMIC comics will give Tom is a big question. I know when it comes to artistic ability and Tarzan lore I have all the faith in the world in Tom Yeates. When it comes to big companies and editors I have no faith. Look how Marvel started out and look how they ended up. Maybe this time, however, it may be different.
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| Thomas Yeates |
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
James Michael Moody is a lifelong fan and collector of Edger Rice Burroughs. Over the past forty-five years, Moody has contributed over two hundred articles to various ERB-related fanzines. He also manages an unauthorized Tarzan blog titled Greystoke Chronologist: James Michael Moody. There, the researcher chronologies the Tarzan books starting in May 1872 (known as the pushback theory) instead of the more accepted date, May 1888.
James Michael Moody also authorizes the action-packed Sci-Fi fantasy adventure Unium series. Pioneers On Unium, published December 31, 2019, Exiled On Unium, published August 25, 2022, and Swordsman On Unium, published on July 15, 2024.
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