Having been an Edgar Rice Burroughs fan for over thirty years, I came to the startling realization last year that I hadn’t read any of his Tarzan adventures. I began as a sophomore with Pellucidar, hopped over the John Carter, skipped to Caspak, skimmed around Venus, went to the moon, picked around various other titles here and there, then reread portions of Pellucidar and Mars, but nary a single Tarzan in all those years. Okay, wait, I read Tarzan at the Earth’s Core as part of the Pellucidar series, but I didn’t consider it a Tarzan read at the time. I guess I never really considered Tarzan sci-fi-y enough or not fantasy-y enough, even though I knew he discovered lost cities (and went to the center of the Earth). Hmph, go figure.
Via Filmation.Maybe it’s just that I got my Tarzan fix through different media. I grew up with Jonny Weissmuller and Maureen O’Sullivan first on Dialing for Dollars (anybody remember that afternoon quiz show/daily genre movie show?) and now on DVD. I watched every movie adaption that came out from the seventies up through Disney – except for Bo Derek’s. I read the comic books from Gold Key, Marvel and DC and watched the Filmation series every Saturday, even when they crunched him up with the Lone Ranger. I honestly don’t know why I never read the actual novels. Which brings me to the task at hand: THE GREAT TARZAN ADVENTURE!
;)
The really cool Ballantine covers.I am publicly declaring that it is my intent, my mission, my moral obligation as a Burroughs fan, to read the Tarzan stories from beginning to end. I will start at Tarzan of the Apes and end twenty-four books later with Tarzan and the Castaways. I will not include the kiddy Tarzan Twin stories as they are not considered part of the official Tarzan series according to . . . well, most everybody. I will be reading the Ballantine editions from seventies (the really cool black covered ones with the great Neal Adams and Boris Vallejo artwork). I also bought The Complete Works of Edgar Rice Burroughs for my kindle, so I will have Tarzan with me wherever I go.
It’s my intention to read one per month. I’ve already read the first two, so I will post my first review toward the middle of February. I think it would be great to have as many readers participate as possible – that’s why I’m going to wait a bit before I start posting my reviews – and ideally we can get lots of discussions going to examine the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of the Tarzan stories.
So, join me on Nerdbloggers as I plunge into the exciting journey I like to call THE GREAT TARZAN ADVENTURE!