Tarzan: The Joe Kubert Years Volume 1 (v. 1) [Hardcover]

Joe Kubert (Author, Artist)

Book Description

Series: Tarzan: The Joe Kubert Years | Publication Date: November 29, 2005

Few artists can capture visceral action sequences and the dynamic human form like Joe Kubert, and his expressive talents are fully realized in his 1970s Tarzan comics. This beautiful archive collection - with an introduction by Kubert and color restoration based off of Tatjana Wood's original colors - is a must-have for fans of timeless adventure tales and Joe Kubert's undeniable intensity and skill. Beginning with this first volume, Dark Horse's hardcover series reprints Kubert's entire Tarzan work. Join us on these primal adventures, as Tarzan discovers the pleasures and perils of the African wilds... and the many dangers posed by both man and beast! Joe Kubert's Tarzan, Volume One, reprints issues #207 through #214 of the 1970s run, featuring "Origin of the Ape Man" (a bold adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs' first Tarzan novel), "Jungle Tales of Tarzan," and other stories inspired by Burroughs' books - all written and drawn by the legendary Joe Kubert!

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Joe Kubert's Tarzan was one of the rare collaborations between character and artist that now seem definitive regardless of how many other talented creators try their hand--think also Curt Swan's Superman, Jack Kirby's Fantastic Four, and Barry Windsor-Smith's Conan. Tarzan: The Joe Kubert Years, vol. 1 collects the first eight issues of Kubert's run as writer-illustrator-letterer in 1972, encompassing Tarzan 207-214. Most significant is the first four issues, which Kubert used for an engrossing adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs' first Tarzan novel. After this telling, the remaining four issues seem rather slight, but Kubert's dramatic art and stories are never less than interesting. Dark Horse's beautiful volume includes Tatjana Wood's original colors restored, and a new introduction by Kubert himself. --David Horiuchi

From Publishers Weekly

Edgar Rice Burroughs's Tarzan of the Apes first appeared in prose form in 1912, launching a publishing and film empire. Tarzan comics have been published since 1929, and while the jungle lord's adventures have been illustrated by several legendary artists, perhaps none resonates as powerfully with comics readers as Kubert (Yossel, Sgt. Rock). Long a Tarzan fan himself, Kubert leapt at the chance to delineate the series in 1972 while working at DC Comics, and the results are simply stunning. Based on Burroughs's first Tarzan novel and a subsequent collection of short stories, this vibrantly colorful edition thrusts readers headfirst into a lush jungle setting in which danger lurks behind each tree, and the only law is that of the wild. Tarzan's world is a violent and unforgiving one, a point savagely driven home on every page as the narrative retells the hero's origins and rise to power as the uncontested master of his domain. This is grandly entertaining stuff for both old and new readers alike; a cornucopia of excitement that has not aged a day, collected in an edition that can be reread and savored for years to come. (Nov.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 200 pages
• Publisher: Dark Horse (November 29, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1593074042
• ISBN-13: 978-1593074043
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #271,986 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Joe Kubert's faithful adaptation of "Tarzan of the Apes" for DC Comics, July 31, 2006

By 

Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Tarzan: The Joe Kubert Years Volume 1 (v. 1) (Hardcover)

Way back in 1929 Edgar Rice Burroughs' "Tarzan of the Apes" was adapted in newspaper comic strip form by illustrator Hal Foster. A full-page Sunday strip began in 1931 drawn by Rex Mason, and since then Burne Hogarth, Russ Manning, and Mike Grell have been some of the big names that have drawn the Lord of the Jungle. The only problem is that I never lived anywhere that had Tarzan in the Sunday comics, so for me Joe Kubert is THE artist that I associate with Tarzan. By the time Kubert's took over the book with issue #207 of "Tarzan of the Apes" (April 1972), I had read all of Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan novels, so even though I was only buying Marvel comics at that time when I saw the 1st DC issue with its 52 BIG pages ("Don't take less! Only 25c), I picked it up and Kubert's faithful four-part adaptation of the first ERB novel sold me on the comic. After all, not only did you have the first 26-page part of the adaptation, but an introduction to ERB in "The Dum-Dum" (written by "Marvin Wolfman"), which would be the book's letters page, an adaptation of "Tarzan's First Christmas" from Hall Foster's December 27, 1931 Sunday strip, and the first chapter of an adaptation of ERB's "A Princess of Mars" starring John Carter by Murray Anderson. What more could an ERB fan possibly hope for in one comic book?

What we have in "Tarzan: The Joe Kubert Years, Volume 1" are the Kubert's first eight issues, #207-14. Prior to this time I had associated Kubert with his work on "Sgt. Rock," but his distinctive style was perfect for Tarzan. The story begins with a safari being attacked by a panther and Tarzan showing up out of nowhere to save a pretty young blond woman in a pith helmet. Her guide then tells the story of "The Origin of Tarzan of the Apes," starting in 1888 when a ship left Dover, England, with John Clayton, Lord Greystoke, and his wife Lady Alice. The first chapter covers the birth of Tarzan, the death of his parents, how he came to be raised by Kala of the great apes, and his battle to the death with Bolgani, his rival in the tribe. "A Son's Vengeance" (#208) is where Tarzan learns to read and that he is not an ape but a "man," and avenges the death of Kala when she is killed by a "hairless ape." "A Mate for the Ape-Man" (#209) begins with Tarzan defeating Kerchak and Terkoz, before leaving the tribe to find his destiny as a man. This is where we pick up the story with Jane Porter, her father Professor Porter, her fiance William Clayton (Tarzan's cousin), and the rest of their abandoned expedition, up to the point where Tarzan rescues Jane from Terkoz. "Civilization" (#210) finds Tarzan spending some quality time with Jane, but then rescuing D'Arnot from the natives and finally learning how to speak French (he already reads and writes in English). In the end he tracks down in America, learns she is about to be married to William and his own true identity as the real Lord Greystoke, and refuses to ruin her future.

Kubert is faithful to the action and the dialogue, such as Tarzan's final line, and does not have a problem drawing the young Tarzan as running around naked (drawn strategically, of course) until the point in the story where he gets his first loin cloth. The pace of the story really picks up in the final part: the first three sections covered the first 156 pages of my paperback edition of "Tarzan of the Apes," while the fourth chapter covers 89 pages (I have the page numbers written on the back covers of my original comic books). But since the whole last section is about Tarzan NOT getting Jane, while getting educated so that he finally speaks English too, there is not a lot of real action after the opening pages. The framing device of the guide and the blonde is finally resolved (no, she is not Jane, just another white woman who has lost her father in the jungles of Africa), and allows Tarzan to make the point that the jungle is more civilized than the real world. So the set up for the comic book is not Tarzan and Jane, but the time before our hero gets domesticated. This makes sense since ERB regretted the relationship between Tarzan and Jane (he thought La, High Priestess of Opar was a better match), and even killed Jane off at one point in the series.

The other four issues contained here suffer by comparison, but then anything would. "Land of the Giants" (#211) involves an evil little man named Kalban and the Kolosans, a race of giants. The little guy drinks their forbidden water and grows to be a giant as well, but by the time you get to the end of this one, where Tarzan battles a monster giant gorilla on top of a flying airplane, you are praying Kubert will get back to ERB's original stories. That happens with "The Captive" (#212) and the next two issues after that, all of which are taken from the "Jungle Tales of Tarzan," which happens in the same time frame as the first half of the first novel. This one features a great cover of Tarzan taking down a rhinoceros, and the story is about how the natives capture Tarzan and he calls Tantor on them. "Balu of the Great Apes" (#213) is a nice little story about Tarzan protecting a balu (baby) of his tribe and finding his place as their leader. "The Nightmare" (#214) is the story of what happens the first time Tarzan eats cooked meat and it disagrees with his stomach. So, except for that non-ERB inspired story in #211, this is a solid collection of Kubert doing Burroughs. I would not say that it is downhill from here, but rather than things are never as geaat as this awesome start.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding, January 22, 2006

By 

Parker (At Large) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Tarzan: The Joe Kubert Years Volume 1 (v. 1) (Hardcover)

The four part adaptation of the first Tarzan novel was well written and well drawn and Kubert's love of the source material is evident.
The writing and art are so fluid and vibrant that these stories seem as though they were published last year and not more than thirty years ago. The adaptations are strong and detailed, and hold up much better than the more abreviated adaptations of Robert E. Howard's Conan story adaptations for Marvel, done around the same time.

I would point out that the four part adaptation is something rare for a comic book from the 1970's, which generally kept to a two part story at the longest, so Joe was allowed plenty of breathing space to do justice to the original book.

I don't understand the $50 price tag on DC's (and now Darkhore's) archive editions. THe price seems so exesssive for such a small offering of 200+ pages. One wishes Darkhorse could have added a few more issues into this volume, but worth the cover price regardless.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tarzan like you've never seen him before, March 17, 2006

By 

D. Donovan, Editor/Sr. Reviewer "California B... (California, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tarzan: The Joe Kubert Years Volume 1 (v. 1) (Hardcover)

Tarzan like you've never seen him is expanded upon and portrayed in living color by dynamic graphic artist Joe Kubert, who produces a vivid set of tales and provides archived drawings with color restoration based off of Tatjana Wood's original colors. This collection reprints the first eight issues of Joe Kubert's classic Tarzan comic series: works done at the height of his career. Two audiences will relish this collection and must own it: Kubert fans, and Tarzan fans. Each will find the full-color presentation provides high-quality reproduction and an uninterrupted set of adventures. Very highly recommended: a classic keepsake.