Korak, a fictional character, is the ape name of John "Jack" Clayton III, the son of
Tarzan
Tarzan (John Clayton II, Viscount Greystoke) is a fictional character, an archetypal feral child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani great apes; he later experiences civilization, only to reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adv ...
and
Jane Porter
Jane Porter (3 December 1775 – 24 May 1850) was an English historical novelist, dramatist and literary figure. Her bestselling novels, ''Thaddeus of Warsaw'' (1803) and ''The Scottish Chiefs'' (1810) are seen as among the earliest historical ...
.
History
Jack first appeared in the original ''Tarzan'' novels by
Edgar Rice Burroughs
Edgar Rice Burroughs (September 1, 1875 – March 19, 1950) was an American author, best known for his prolific output in the adventure, science fiction, and fantasy genres. Best-known for creating the characters Tarzan and John Carter, he ...
. He was introduced as an infant in the non-Tarzan novel ''
The Eternal Lover
''The Eternal Lover'' is a fantasy-adventure novel by American writer Edgar Rice Burroughs. The story was begun in November 1913 under the working title ''Nu of the Niocene''. It was first run serially in two parts by ''All-Story Weekly''. The ...
'' (later retitled ''The Eternal Savage''), in which the Ape Man and his family played supporting roles. His next appearance (still as an infant) was in ''
The Beasts of Tarzan
''The Beasts of Tarzan'' is a novel by American writer Edgar Rice Burroughs, the third in his series of twenty-four books about the title character Tarzan. Originally serialized in '' All-Story Cavalier'' magazine in 1914, the novel was first ...
'', the third Tarzan novel, in which he was kidnapped and taken to Africa. The story of his youth and growth to manhood was told in the fourth novel, ''
The Son of Tarzan
''The Son of Tarzan'' is a novel by American writer Edgar Rice Burroughs, the fourth in his series of twenty-four books about the title character Tarzan. It was written between January 21 and May 11, 1915, and first published in the magazine ' ...
'', in which he returned to Africa and lived in the jungle, taking for the first time the name Korak ("Killer" in the language of the Great Apes). Most references to him were as "Korak the Killer".
Half of the book relates to
Meriem, the girl he rescues from a beating. The two of them run wild in the forest for years before being separated. After many adventures they are re-united and eventually marry.
Korak was later used as a supporting character in the eighth through the tenth entries in the series, ''
Tarzan the Terrible
''Tarzan the Terrible'' is a novel by American writer Edgar Rice Burroughs, the eighth in his series of twenty-four books about the title character Tarzan. It was first published as a serial in the pulp magazine '' Argosy All-Story Weekly'' in ...
'', ''
Tarzan and the Golden Lion
''Tarzan and the Golden Lion'' is an adventure novel by American writer Edgar Rice Burroughs, the ninth in his series of twenty-four books about the title character Tarzan. It was first published as a seven part serial in ''Argosy All-Story We ...
'', and ''
Tarzan and the Ant Men
''Tarzan and the Ant Men'' is a novel by American writer Edgar Rice Burroughs, the tenth in his series of twenty-four books about the jungle hero Tarzan. It was first published as a seven-part serial in the magazine '' Argosy All-Story Weekly'' ...
''. The last of those three also briefly mentions Korak and Meriem's young son "Jackie". The
Bunduki series by
J. T. Edson - authorized by the Burroughs estate - includes Korak and Meriem's granddaughter Dawn as one of two main characters.
In other media
Besides the Burroughs novels, Korak also appeared in the 1920
movie serial
A serial film, film serial (or just serial), movie serial, or chapter play, is a motion picture form popular during the first half of the 20th century, consisting of a series of short subjects exhibited in consecutive order at one theater, gene ...
''
The Son of Tarzan
''The Son of Tarzan'' is a novel by American writer Edgar Rice Burroughs, the fourth in his series of twenty-four books about the title character Tarzan. It was written between January 21 and May 11, 1915, and first published in the magazine ' ...
'', the Tarzan
comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions. Traditionally, throughout the 20th and into the 21st ...
, in which he was a major character for many years; and the ''Tarzan'', ''Korak, Son of Tarzan'', and ''Tarzan Family'' comic books.
In the
Johnny Weissmuller
Johnny Weissmuller (born Johann Peter Weißmüller; June 2, 1904 – January 20, 1984) was an American Olympic swimmer, water polo player and actor. He was known for having one of the best competitive swimming records of the 20th century. H ...
Tarzan films, Korak was replaced by an adopted son called Boy (played by
Johnny Sheffield
Johnny Sheffield (born John Matthew Sheffield Cassan, April 11, 1931 – October 15, 2010) was an American child actor who, between 1939 and 1947, portrayed Boy in the Tarzan film series and, between 1949 and 1955, played Bomba the Jungle Boy.
...
). Tarzan and Jane never married in these films (they do in the books), and the substitution was made to avoid censorship. In the
Dell
Dell is an American based technology company. It develops, sells, repairs, and supports computers and related products and services. Dell is owned by its parent company, Dell Technologies.
Dell sells personal computers (PCs), servers, data ...
comic books of the 1950s, which combine material from the books and the films, Tarzan's son was also called Boy. When the Tarzan comics returned to a more faithful portrayal of Burroughs' characters in the early 1960s, Boy revealed himself to truly be called Korak, going on to later be featured in his own comic book.
Portrayal in film
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Gordon Griffith
Gordon S. Griffith (July 4, 1907 – October 12, 1958) was an American assistant director, film producer, and one of the first child actors in the American movie industry. Griffith worked in the film industry for five decades, acting in ov ...
(youth) 1920
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Kamuela C. Searle (adult) 1920
Comic books
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Gold Key Comics
Gold Key Comics was originally an imprint of American company Western Publishing, created for comic books distributed to newsstands. Also known as Whitman Comics, Gold Key operated this way from 1962 to 1984. Currently, Gold Key Comics is owned b ...
published ''Korak, Son of Tarzan'' #1–45 from January 1964 to January 1972. It featured work by
Russ Manning
Russell George Manning (January 5, 1929"United States Social Security Death Index," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/VMMT-NZN : accessed 28 Aug 2014), Russell Manning, Dec 1981; citing U.S. Social Security Administration ...
,
Warren Tufts
Chester Warren Tufts (December 12, 1925 – July 6, 1982),[Chester Tufts]
Dan Spiegle
Dan Spiegle (December 10, 1920 – January 28, 2017) was an American comics artist and cartoonist best known for comics based on movie and television characters across a variety of companies, including Dell Comics, DC Comics, and Marvel Com ...
, and others.
In 2013,
Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book, graphic novel, and manga publisher founded in Milwaukie, Oregon by Mike Richardson in 1986. The company was created using funds earned from Richardson's chain of Portland, Oregon comic book shops known ...
reprinted the Gold Key issues drawn by Manning in hardcover format.
*
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery.
DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...
acquired the
publication licensing rights to the series in 1972, continuing the numbering from #46–59 (June 1972 to September–October 1975), when it was renamed ''The Tarzan Family''. The retitled series ran an additional seven issues #60–66 (November–December 1975 to November–December 1976)
Both series also included other Burroughs' characters. The ''Korak'' series featured work from writers
Len Wein and
Robert Kanigher
Robert "Bob" Kanigher (; June 18, 1915 – May 7, 2002)Social Security Death Index, social security #116-07-5117. was an American comic book writer and editor whose career spanned five decades. He was involved with the Wonder Woman franchise for ...
and artists
Frank Thorne
Benjamin Franklin Thorne (June 16, 1930 – March 7, 2021
at the Murphy Anderson
Murphy C. Anderson Jr. (July 9, 1926 – October 22, 2015) was an American comics artist, known as one of the premier inkers of his era, who worked for companies such as DC Comics for over fifty years, starting in the Golden Age of Comic Books in ...
, and Rudy Florese. "
Carson of Venus
''Carson of Venus'' is a science fantasy novel by American writer Edgar Rice Burroughs, the third book in the Venus series (Sometimes called the "Carson Napier of Venus series"). Burroughs wrote the novel in July and August 1937. It was serial ...
" by Wein and
Michael Kaluta
Michael William Kaluta, sometimes credited as Mike Kaluta or Michael Wm. Kaluta (born August 25, 1947), is an American comics artist and writer best known for his acclaimed 1970s adaptation of the pulp magazine hero ''The Shadow'' with writer De ...
was the backup feature in issues #46–56.
References
External links
Korak in Pal-u-don''The Son of Tarzan''at
Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg (PG) is a Virtual volunteering, volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, as well as to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks."
It was founded in 1971 by American writer Michael S. Hart and is the ...
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{{Tarzan
1964 comics debuts
1972 comics debuts
1972 comics endings
1976 comics endings
Comics by Len Wein
Comics by Robert Kanigher
DC Comics titles
Fictional Central African people
Literary characters introduced in 1914
Fictional viscounts and viscountesses
Gold Key Comics titles
Jungle (genre) comics
Jungle men
Jungle superheroes
Tarzan characters