Korak, Son of Tarzan Archives Volume 2 Hardcover – September 17, 2013

The adventures of Jack Clayton, and his great ape companion, Pahkut, continue in "Korak, Son of Tarzan," the second volume of the Dark Horse Archives hardcover book series collecting the revered work of comic art master, Russ Manning. First published over 40 years ago, these stories, based on the famous work of author Edgar Rice Burroughs, return readers to a more pure time in comic storytelling, with tales of fun, unabashed adventure, elegantly illustrated by a then growing legend in the field.This book opens with a very informative introduction written by Stephen R. Bissette, an artist perhaps best known for collaborating with writer Alan Moore, and inker John Totleben, on their revitalization of the DC Comic character, the Swamp Thing, in the early 1980's. Mr. Bissette details the production history of the "Korak" comic published by Gold Key with the help of veteran artist Mike Royer, who provides a first hand account of the creation of the "Son of Tarzan" series, as he was a long time assistant and inker to Russ Manning. My Royer's recollections prove invaluable in explaining the process that created the completed pages of "Korak" artwork, as well as the shared effort that went into writing and drawing the character's comic book adventures. For this reviewer, Mr. Bissette's introduction offers a prime example of what a reprint collection should do. To not only give the reader a high quality showcase of comic story and art but also feature a well researched historical narrative of the creation of that comic.Volume 2 of the "Korak" series features a total of 9 stories of varying length. The first tale, "Challenge of the Avengers," is the longest "Son of Tarzan" adventure published by Gold Key and illustrated by Mr. Manning, a 27 paged drama involving "Korak" and Pahkut aiding a brave Hausa warrior, Boubeker, in his quest to rescue Noma, his kidnapped sister. The other stories include:"Lair of the Dragon;" in which "Korak" helps 3 young members of the United States Peace Corps and discovers a lost Persian city."The Men from Underground:" the "Son of Tarzan" guides a safari across a bleak African dessert and comes into conflict with a treacherous tribe of Tuaregs."When the Rhino Charged:" When his great ape friend, Pahkut, is mercilessly shot, "Korak" goes on a mission of vengeance against Shenzi, and his band of renegade hunters."The Pit:" the jungle prince attempts to rescue Copperi, a young princess, and other tribeswomen from a deadly, ancient ritual."Invasion from Paul-Ul-Don:" "Korak" returns to the hidden valley of lost races and prehistoric beasts and shares an adventure with his friends, the "Stork Men.""The White Pygmies Strike Back:" With Jad-Bal-Ja, his father's golden Lion, "Korak" travels to the ancient city of Opar for the first time and battles the beast men of Opar as their beautiful Queen La, with the help of greedy treasure hunters, attempts to take back her ancient home now controlled by members of a race of white pygmies."The Alien Jungle:" A most unusual "Son of Tarzan" tale featuring "Korak" and the great ape, Ahkut's strange encounter with a race of aliens and trip to another world! It is not explained if this great ape is a different ape than "Korak's longtime comic companion Pahkut. It should be noted that in the original "Son Of Tarzan" novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs, young Jack Clayton's ape friend was named Akut."Lost Apeling:" the shortest tale in this collection at 4 pages in length; "Korak" seeks to find a rare white furred baby ape captured by an evil witch doctor."The Deadly Motion Picture:" described in this collection as a "Bonus Story," this tale is actually a reformatted adventure from the "Tarzan" comic strip, reprinted in the last 3 issues of DC Comics' version of the "Korak" comic, #s 57-59. The strip chronology continued in "Tarzan" #238 (titled "Return to Pellucidar"), and finally concluded in the "Tarzan Family" anthology comic #60 in a story called "Escape from Pellucidar." The serial adventure reprinted specifically from the "Korak" comics in this collection centers on the "Son of Tarzan" working on a film production which includes a pair of troublesome filmmakers.The book also includes reproductions of the Gold Key cover paintings created by Morris Gollub and George Wilson, and an added treat: 2 single paged instructional comics, "Keeping Fit with Korak," illustrated by Mr. Manning, from "Korak" issue #11.This reprint volume, like its predecessor,  Korak, Son of Tarzan Archives Volume 1 , showcases the beautiful artistry of Russ Manning, and the engaging writing of longtime "Tarzan" comic writer Gaylord Dubois. The duo made a great creative team, but Mr. Manning's comic storytelling skills make these jungles tales all the more memorable. His clean, precise line, when properly rendered by his inking assistants Mike Royer and Guillermo Cardoso, makes these Burroughs' inspired stories of exotic Africa, mysterious tribes and ancient civilations, truly come alive. These are adventure tales at their best.If there is one fault in this collection it is the cover to the book, which features a smiling "Korak," swinging through the trees with his friend Pahkut, an African breeze flowing through his black hair; a hair color that changes to dark brown within the comic pages of this reprint tome. This hair color confusion is a carry over from the first volume in this series but it is this book's sole mistake."Korak, Son of Tarzan Archives Volume 2" is another fine showcase of the talent of Russ Manning, and it comes with this reviewer's highest recommendation!

This really is the Golden Age for all fans of Tarzan (and family) comics. Hard on the heels of the Library of American Comics'  Tarzan: The Complete Russ Manning Newspaper Strips  and Dark Horse's own giant  Tarzan: The Sunday Comics, 1931-1933  the latter gives us a second (and final) helping of the comic book adventures of Korak (the 'Killer' in ERB lingo) from the 1960s.Written by Gaylord Dubois -- or by Don Christensen, or perhaps by Manning himself -- these beautifully rendered tales of the jungle prince are every bit as entertaining as when they were first published over forty years ago. This is not the angst-drenched 'hero' of today's comic books but a genuinely happy teenager who embraces each adventure.There are nine tales in this collection: 'Challenge of the Avengers', 'Lair of the Dragon', 'The Men from Underground', 'When the Rhino Charged', 'The Pit', 'Invasion from Pal-ul-don', 'The White Pygmies Strike Back', 'The Alien Jungle', and 'Lost Apeling'. (There is a final bonus tale, 'The Deadly Motion Picture', originally published by DC Comics after that comics giant won the rights for Tarzan and his family.)Each story is self-contained, but it helps to know a little of the Tarzan lore to appreciate what Pal-ul-don was, or when La of Opar and the golden lion Jad-bal-ja make appearances in 'The White Pygmies Strike Back'.My personal favorite is 'Challenge of the Avengers' when Korak joins a Tuareg prince adopted by a Hausa emir to rescue the latter's kidnapped sister. The spirit of the adventures -- which includes a mystical club 'Invincible' ("the weapon of a famous Yoruba chief when giants walked the Earth"), a meeting with the friendly seer Nyanga, an encounter with not-so friendly French Foreign Legionnaires, and the ape Pakhut doing a wedding dance -- is summed up in the final panel. When Boubeker apologises to Korak for not providing him with a horse -- "Your trip may be a long one!" -- the young man casually responds, "Oh... I wasn't going anywhere... until I met you!"It is telling, by the way, that it is the African Nyanga who is friendly and the European legionnaires that come across as both stupid and selfish. And equally that it is Walt Prescott who reminds Johnny Prescott that they can't just "run away from a tough problem" when caught in New Baghdad.But of course if this were _only_ about the stories we probably wouldn't even have this book in the first place. This is a collection of Russ Manning art.I cannot comment on how faithfully this book reproduces the Gold Key originals (all long before my time). What I can say is that it looks better than the first volume, where some of the art made me wonder whether Russ Manning could have drawn anything so badly. Whether this is because Manning himself was being better served by his inkers or because Dark Horse has done a better job of reconstructing the art is something I leave to the experts to decide; all I can say is that it looks good at first glance.Nyanga's smilng eyes (Page 43), the look of relief on Copperi's face as she clutches Korak's arm (Page 115), Korak and Jad-bal-ja stretching out blissfully after escaping White Pygmies and Oparians alike, the vignettes of the alien jungle in the story of the same name, and, of course, the dinosaurs -- Manning drew them all beautifully.Extras? We get the Gold Key covers, painted art by Morris Gollub and George Wilson, both of whom persisted in depicting Korak with yellow hair (rather than Manning's chosen brown). And there is an excellent essay, 'Korak, Son of Many Tarzans...', by Stephen Bissette, seven and a half pages of a fun romp through the pop culture of the 1960s.[One small point: Bissette says Manning continued the story from 'Korak, Son of Tarzan' #21 in the newspaper strips, starting from October 29, 1968. Actually, strip 9439 is dated October 20, 1969, almost exactly a full year later -- and due to be published in  Tarzan: The Complete Russ Manning Newspaper Strips Volume 2 (1969-1971) .]This is a gorgeous book, a more than worthy successor to the first volume, and worth every penny -- especially at Amazon's discounted price.

Russ Manning can do no wrong. If you admire his art, get this volume. (Besides the remaining Gold Key comics featuring Korak, this also features a few pages from a later DC comicbook of Korak.)

Pages 37 thru 48 are missing.Pages 49 thru 60 are printed twice.Anyone that bought this book should check their copy.

Loved the gold key Tarzan and Korak stories whin I was a child. Russ Manning's artwork brought ERB's characters to life for me.

Some of Russ Manning's and Gaylord Dubois's finest work. It will bring back memories of your childhood when your allowance was 12 cents.

excelente album

O é livro sensacional, com histórias bem inteligentes e arte de primeira qualidade. Recomendo a todos os amantes dos quadrinhos.

Russ Manning's fluid line work is a joy even at this early stage in his career - high quality printing.

Ce second tome fait suite à ' Korak, Son of Tarzan Archives Volume 1 ' et entraînera de ma part - hélas - le même jugement : nous ne sommes pas invités à bader devant le même niveau de qualité avec lequel le regretté Russ Manning (1929-1981) séduit son(sa) lecteur (-trice).Les 5 derniers numéros du "run" initial de Manning pour la firme Gold Key sont ici repris, ainsi que divers bonuses qui permettent de satisfaire le "completist" et le "ravi de la crèche" que je suis.Ces aventures destinées aux tout jeunes, sans beaucoup de violence apparente, du fils de Tarzan et Jane - Jack Clayton, alias "Le Tueur" aka Korak - sont totalement divertissantes et dépaysantes, comme le souhaitaient le scénariste vétéran Gaylord DuBois et Russ Manning, en cette année 1965 de la publication initiale de la majorité des épisodes ici repris (1). Mais, malheureusement, RM étant appelé à beaucoup de choses (le mensuel "Magnus" puis "Tarzan"), de très nombreuses planches souffrent d'un encrage approximatif (un comble pour ce digne apôtre de la "ligne claire américaine" qu'est Manning !) de la part d'assistants, certaines cases et planches ne bénéficiant même, à mon humble avis, d'aucun véritable "input" de Russ Manning !Une assez longue préface signée Stephen R. Bissette, informative à défaut d'être un chef d'œuvre de la littérature, nous explique exactement le contexte de réalisation de ces épisodes. L'enveloppe de ce livre est celle d'un HC à l'américaine (une reluire imitation cuir couverte par une jacquette), le papier est comparable à celui des parutions françaises en kiosque dues à la maison Sagédition (d'où une épaisseur sans rapport aucun avec les "seulement" 200 pages), et rien n'est dit de l'éventuelle "remastérisation" ou de l'activité de "scanning" nécessaire à cette publication.Pour les clients "old school" d'amazon.fr et des séries liées au personnage de Tarzan en général et au dessinateur Russ Manning en particulier, ce bouquin trop cher (parce que rare ?) à $50 est une bénédiction. Pour les plus jeunes lecteurs, je dois à l'objectivité de conseiller de se faire prêter le bouquin...(1) Il y a aussi des épisodes plus tardifs : 1968 et 1975. Dans ce dernier cas, c'est un remontage plus ou moins éhonté de "planches du dimanche"... Korak, Son of Tarzan Archives Volume 1