Tarzanesque (in French: ''Tarzanide'') is a term created by Frenchman

Francis Lacassin Francis Lacassin (; 18 November 1931 – 12 August 2008) used to describe characters in

comic books A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

inspired by

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 ...

. A tarzanesque character resembles Tarzan in his physical resourcefulness, within a line of action that includes an adventurous life in the

jungle A jungle is land covered with dense forest and tangled vegetation, usually in tropical climates. Application of the term has varied greatly during the past recent century. Etymology The word ''jungle'' originates from the Sanskrit word ''jaṅ ...

, the gift of understanding and being understood by animals, contact with lost civilizations and courage combined with the ability to deal with nature. The creation of such characters may have been propitiated by the success that Tarzan had achieved since his appearance in literature in 1912, culminating with the release of daily comic strips in 1929, which paved the way for a genre that combined the allure of the unknown environment, the need for the

archetypal The concept of an archetype (; ) appears in areas relating to behavior, historical psychology, and literary analysis. An archetype can be any of the following: # a statement, pattern of behavior, prototype, "first" form, or a main model that ...

characteristics of the

hero A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or a main fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or Physical strength, strength. Like other formerly gender-specific terms (like ...

and the popularity of access. The Tarzanesque follows the same line of action as Tarzan, but including diversified heroes, female or male, adapted to adventures set in a set of elements that make up the jungle stereotype in the popular imagination, which includes, besides the African jungles, the

Amazon jungle The Amazon rainforest, Amazon jungle or ; es, Selva amazónica, , or usually ; french: Forêt amazonienne; nl, Amazoneregenwoud. In English, the names are sometimes capitalized further, as Amazon Rainforest, Amazon Forest, or Amazon Jungle. ...

and even strange jungles in

polar regions The polar regions, also called the frigid zones or polar zones, of Earth are the regions of the planet that surround its geographical poles (the North and South Poles), lying within the polar circles. These high latitudes are dominated by float ...

.Pedro Cleto (February 10, 2010).

Jornal de Notícias ''Jornal de Notícias (JN)'' (; meaning ''News Journal'' in English) is a Portuguese daily national newspaper, one of the oldest in Portugal. History and profile ''JN'' was founded in Porto and was first published on 21 June 1888. It was one of ...

Etymology and characteristics

The term "''Tarzanide''" was created by French literary critic

Francis Lacassin Francis Lacassin (; 18 November 1931 – 12 August 2008)Man-Ape Man-Ape (M'Baku) is a fictional supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is depicted as a frequent enemy of Black Panther. Man-Ape has made scattered appearances on animated television series an ...

: "Tarzan: ''mythe triomphant, mythe humilié"'' (1963), "Tarzan" ou "''le Chevalier crispé"'' (1971) and "''La Legendé de'' Tarzan" (2000). Like Tarzan, a ''Tarzanide'' is generally considered "the king of the forest" or "the king of the jungle." He can talk to animals and even lead them and is respected by most of the neighboring tribes and often finds lost civilizations. The spelling "''Tarzanidi''" is also applicable, as is the

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

variant "Tarzânico". While the terms "''Tarzanide''" and "''Tarzanidi''" are adopted for characters originating in Franco-Belgian and

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

comic book publications, for North American publications the term Tarzanesque is widely used. According to Wictionary, the word

Tarzanesque Tarzanesque (in French: ''Tarzanide'') is a term created by Frenchman Francis Lacassin used to describe characters in comic books inspired by Tarzan. A tarzanesque character resembles Tarzan in his physical resourcefulness, within a line of actio ...

suggests a savage jungle life.

History

First manifestations

The success of the

comic strips A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of comics ter ...

that appeared in 1928 boosted the creation of multiple "kings" and "

jungle girls A jungle girl (so-called, but usually adult woman) is an archetype or stock character, often used in popular fiction, of a female adventurer, superhero or even a damsel in distress living in a jungle or rainforest setting. An alternate depiction i ...

" (also called "jungle women"). Some of these manifestations were independent - in 1931, writer

Jerry Siegel Jerome Siegel ( ; October 17, 1914 – January 28, 1996)Roger Stern. ''Superman: Sunday Classics: 1939–1943'' DC Comics/Kitchen Sink Press, Inc./ Sterling Publishing; 2006 was an American comic book writer. He is the co-creator of Superman, in ...

, who would eventually become one of the creators of

Superman Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book ''Action Comics'' #1 (cover-dated June 1938 and publi ...

but at the time was still in high school, created a Tarzan parody for Glenville High School's student newspaper The Torch - while others were crafted for professional purposes. In 1933, Filipinos Francisco Reyes (

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and ...

) and Pedrito Reyes (

comic book writer A script is a document describing the narrative and dialogue of a comic book in detail. It is the comic book equivalent of a television program teleplay or a film screenplay. In comics, a script may be preceded by a plot outline, and is almost ...

), created one of the first Tarzan copies, ''Kulafu''. In 1934,

Alex Raymond Alexander Gillespie Raymond Jr. (October 2, 1909 – September 6, 1956) was an American cartoonist who was best known for creating the '' Flash Gordon'' comic strip for King Features Syndicate in 1934. The strip was subsequently adapted into m ...

created the comic strips

Flash Gordon Flash Gordon is the protagonist of a space adventure comic strip created and originally drawn by Alex Raymond. First published January 7, 1934, the strip was inspired by, and created to compete with, the already established ''Buck Rogers'' adve ...

and

Jungle Jim Jungle Jim is the fictional hero of a series of jungle adventures in various media. The series began on January 7, 1934, as an American newspaper comic strip chronicling the adventures of Asia-based hunter Jim Bradley, who was nicknamed Jungle ...

to compete, respectively, with

Buck Rogers Buck Rogers is a science fiction adventure hero and feature comic strip created by Philip Francis Nowlan first appearing in daily US newspapers on January 7, 1929, and subsequently appearing in Sunday newspapers, international newspapers, books ...

and

. Jim, however, was not a "King of the Jungle", but a hunter who had adventures in Asian jungles. At the beginning of the series, there was the character Zobi, the jungle boy. In 1936,

Timely Comics Timely Comics is the common name for the group of corporations that was the earliest comic book arm of American publisher Martin Goodman, and the entity that would evolve by the 1960s to become Marvel Comics. "Timely Publications became the name ...

(now

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...

) published the first issue of the

pulp magazine Pulp magazines (also referred to as "the pulps") were inexpensive fiction magazines that were published from 1896 to the late 1950s. The term "pulp" derives from the cheap wood pulp paper on which the magazines were printed. In contrast, magazine ...

" Ka-Zar", starring the title character, a young man named David Rand who had been raised in the

Belgian Congo The Belgian Congo (french: Congo belge, ; nl, Belgisch-Congo) was a Belgian colony in Central Africa from 1908 until independence in 1960. The former colony adopted its present name, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in 1964. Colo ...

alongside the lion Zar. In addition, William L. Chester released the character Kioga from the book series, who lives his adventures in the Bering Strait, and in 1938, Kioga was given the series

Hawk of the Wilderness ''Hawk of the Wilderness'' (1938) is a Republic movie serial based on the ''Kioga'' adventure novels written by pulp writer William L. Chester (1907-1971). Kioga was a Tarzanesque white child raised on a lost island in the Arctic Circle, somewh ...

, played by

Herman Brix Bruce Bennett (born Harold Herman Brix, also credited Herman Brix; May 19, 1906February 24, 2007) was an American film and television actor who prior to his screen career was a highly successful college athlete in football and in both intercol ...

,Mattos, A. C. Gomes de. A Outra Face de Hollywood: Filme B. .l. Rio de Janeiro:

Rocco Rocco or Rocko is both a given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include: First name * Rocco Baldelli (born 1981), American Major League Baseball player and manager of the Minnesota Twins * Rocco Botte (born 1983), American actor an ...

. ISBN 85-325-1496-0 who had also played Tarzan in the film serial ''

The New Adventures of Tarzan ''The New Adventures of Tarzan'' is a 1935 American film serial in 12 chapters starring Herman Brix. The serial presents a more authentic version of the character than most other film adaptations, with Tarzan as the cultured and well-educated gent ...

'' released in 1935. In the fifth issue of

New Comics ''Adventure Comics'' is an American comic book series published by DC Comics from 1938 to 1983 and revived from 2009 to 2011. In its first era, the series ran for 503 issues (472 of those after the title changed from ''New Adventure Comics''), m ...

(June 1936), Homer Fleming's character Sandor was introduced, who had adventures in Northeast

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

In 1937,

Will Eisner William Erwin Eisner (March 6, 1917 – January 3, 2005) was an American cartoonist, writer, and entrepreneur. He was one of the earliest cartoonists to work in the American comic book industry, and his series ''The Spirit'' (1940–1952) was no ...

and

Jerry Iger Samuel Maxwell "Jerry" Iger (; August 22, 1903 – September 5, 1990) was an American cartoonist and art-studio entrepreneur. With business partner Will Eisner, he co-founded Eisner & Iger, a comic book packager that produced comics on deman ...

created

Sheena, Queen of the Jungle Sheena, Queen of the Jungle, is a fictional American comic book jungle girl heroine, originally published primarily by Fiction House during the Golden Age of Comic Books. She was the first female comic book character with her own title, with her ...

, one of the best known "jungle girls". Although well known, the character was not the first to fit this archetype: in 1904 " Rima the Jungle Girl" had appeared as a character from the book Green Mansions: A Romance of the Tropical Forest, written by

W. H. Hudson William Henry Hudson (4 August 1841 – 18 August 1922) – known in Argentina as Guillermo Enrique Hudson – was an English Argentines, Anglo-Argentine author, natural history, naturalist and ornithology, ornithologist. Life Hudson was the ...

- eight years before Tarzan. Winter_1939_issue_of_Jungle_Stories

Sheena was the first "

jungle girl A jungle girl (so-called, but usually adult woman) is an archetype or stock character, often used in popular fiction, of a female adventurer, superhero or even a damsel in distress living in a jungle or rainforest setting. An alternate depiction i ...

" to wear a leopard-skin bikini, which would soon become a ''cliché'', and was also the first heroine to get her own comic book, published by

Fiction House Fiction House was an American publisher of pulp magazines and comic books that existed from the 1920s to the 1950s. It was founded by John B. "Jack" Kelly and John W. Glenister.Saunders, David"JACK BYRNE (1902-1972),"Field Guide to Wild American ...

between 1942 and 1953. Rima would only have her first comic book version in 1952, in issue #90 of

Classics Illustrated ''Classics Illustrated'' is an American comic book/magazine series featuring adaptations of literary classics such as ''Les Misérables'', ''Moby-Dick'', ''Hamlet'', and ''The Iliad''. Created by Albert Kanter, the series began publication in 1 ...

, drawn by

Alex Blum Alexander Anthony Blum (February 7, 1889 – September 1969) was a Hungarian-American comic book artist best remembered for his contributions in the 1940s and 1950s to the long-running comic book series ''Classics Illustrated''. Biography Born ...

, and a regular series in 1974, by

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 ...

, and even appeared in three episodes of the cartoon

Super Friends ''Super Friends'' is an American animated television series about a team of superheroes, which ran from 1973 to 1985 on ABC as part of its Saturday-morning cartoon lineup. It was produced by Hanna-Barbera and was based on the Justice League of ...

. In 1939, Ka-Zar makes his comic book debut in ''

'' #1, the publisher's first publication of its kind and the first written by Ben Thompson. It was adapted from Bob Byrd's short story "King of Fang and Claw", initially published in the hero's

. Besides the Belgian Congo, Ka-Zar would live adventures in

Somaliland Somaliland,; ar, صوماليلاند ', ' officially the Republic of Somaliland,, ar, جمهورية صوماليلاند, link=no ''Jumhūrīyat Ṣūmālīlānd'' is a ''de facto'' sovereign state in the Horn of Africa, still conside ...

(a region of

Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and face the most varied villains: hunters,

smugglers Smuggling is the illegal transportation of objects, substances, information or people, such as out of a house or buildings, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations. There are various ...

fascists Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy and th ...

Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...

, among others. In 1941, the hero participated in a story by the android

Human Torch The Human Torch (Jonathan "Johnny" Storm) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is a founding member of the Fantastic Four. He is writer Stan Lee's and artist Jack Kirby's reinvention of ...

. Ka-Zar was published by the company until 1942. Nyoka_the_Jungle_Girl_6A

In 1940,

started publishing the stories of "Kaanga, Jungle King" and

Besides Kaanga and Sheena, Fiction House had already published, in the pulp magazine Jungle Stories, the character "Ki-Gor". Also published by Fiction House were "Camilla, Queen of the Lost Empire", created by C. A. Winter and "Tabu, the Jungle Wizard", created by

Fletcher Hanks Fletcher Hanks, Sr. (December 1, 1889 – January 22, 1976) was an American cartoonist from the Golden Age of Comic Books, who wrote and drew stories detailing the adventures of all-powerful, supernatural heroes and their elaborate punishments of ...

. In 1941,

Republic Pictures Republic Pictures Corporation (currently held under Melange Pictures, LLC) was an American motion picture production-distribution corporation in operation from 1935 to 1967, that was based in Los Angeles. It had studio facilities in Studio City an ...

released the film serial

Jungle Girl A jungle girl (so-called, but usually adult woman) is an archetype or stock character, often used in popular fiction, of a female adventurer, superhero or even a damsel in distress living in a jungle or rainforest setting. An alternate depiction i ...

, about young Nyoka Meredith (Frances Gifford), raised in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

by her father. The studio used a title from a novel 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 ...

, however, the story and character were created by the studio. The following year it released a new sitcom,

Perils of Nyoka ''Perils of Nyoka'' is a 1942 Republic serial directed by William Witney. It stars Kay Aldridge as Nyoka the Jungle Girl, a character who first appeared in the Edgar Rice Burroughs-inspired serial ''Jungle Girl''. Plot Nyoka, with help from La ...

, this time, Nyoka had her last name changed to Gordon and was played

Kay Aldridge Katharine ("Kay") Gratten Aldridge (July 9, 1917 – January 12, 1995) was an American actress and model, best known for playing feisty and imperiled heroines in black-and-white serials during the 1940s. Life and work Aldridge was born on July ...

. In the same year, she got comic books published by

Fawcett Comics Fawcett Comics, a division of Fawcett Publications, was one of several successful comic book publishers during the Golden Age of Comic Books in the 1940s. Its most popular character was Captain Marvel, the alter ego of radio reporter Billy Bats ...

and in 1944,

Linda Stirling Linda Stirling (born Louise Schultz; October 11, 1921 – July 20, 1997) was an American showgirl, model, and actress. In her later years, she had a second career as a college English professor for more than two decades. She is most famous ...

stars in another studio serial, The Tiger Woman, this time set in

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

. The Haitian Andre LeBlanc creates the Brazilian jungle girl ''Morena Flor'', published in daily comic strips and in the comic book of Capitão Atlas, a kind of Brazilian hunter similar to

created for a radio show. LeBlanc was

Sy Barry Seymour "Sy" Barry (born March 12, 1928)
at the

The Phantom ''The Phantom'' is an American adventure comic strip, first published by Lee Falk in February 1936. The main character, the Phantom, is a fictional costumed crime-fighter who operates from the fictional African country of Bangalla. The charact ...

, created by

Lee Falk Lee Falk (), born Leon Harrison Gross (; April 28, 1911 – March 13, 1999), was an American cartoonist, writer, theater director, and producer, best known as the creator of the comic strips ''Mandrake the Magician'' and ''The Phantom''. At the ...

. In 1949, actor

Steve Reeves Stephen Lester "Steve" Reeves (January 21, 1926 – May 1, 2000) was an American professional bodybuilder, actor, and philanthropist. He was famous in the mid-1950s as a movie star in Italian-made sword-and-sandal films, playing the protagon ...

starred in the

pilot episode A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie), in United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television network or other distri ...

of the TV series Kimbar of the Jungle, however, the project was not approved. In the 1950s, two artists who drew Tarzanesque heroes from Fiction House would work on Tarzan comic strips:

John Celardo John Celardo (December 27, 1918 – January 6, 2012) was an American comic strip and comic book artist, best known for illustrating the ''Tarzan'' comic strip. Early life Born on Staten Island, Celardo continued to live there most of his life ...

(who illustrated stories starring Kaanga) and

Bob Lubbers Robert Bartow Lubbers (January 10, 1922 – July 8, 2017) was an American comic strip and comic book artist best known for his work on such strips as ''Tarzan'', ''Li'l Abner'' and ''Long Sam''. Biography Born Robert Bartow Lubbers in 1922, he be ...

(who illustrated stories featuring Camilla).

Black Tarzanesques

In 1947, disturbed by the way

black people Black is a racialized classification of people, usually a political and skin color-based category for specific populations with a mid to dark brown complexion. Not all people considered "black" have dark skin; in certain countries, often in s ...

were portrayed in comic books (especially in hero stories set in Africa), the African-American journalist

Orrin C. Evans Orrin Cromwell Evans (1902–1971) was a pioneering African-American journalist and comic book publisher. Considered "the first black writer to cover general assignments for a mainstream white newspaper in the United States," he also published ...

created the comic book

All-Negro Comics ''All-Negro Comics'', published in 1947, was a single-issue, small-press American comic book that represents the first known comics magazine written and drawn solely by African-American writers and artists. Publication history African-American jo ...

, produced and directed to the black audience (something like the so-called

race films Race, RACE or "The Race" may refer to: * Race (biology), an informal taxonomic classification within a species, generally within a sub-species * Race (human categorization), classification of humans into groups based on physical traits, and/or s ...

The word race was used in a pejorative sense; in the 1950s, the terms race music and race records were replaced by

rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...

or R&B. ''in'
Black Pau: A soul music no Brasil nos anos 1970
/ref> between the 1910s and 1950s and the

Blaxploitation Blaxploitation is an ethnic subgenre of the exploitation film that emerged in the United States during the early 1970s. The term, a portmanteau of the words "black" and "exploitation", was coined in August 1972 by Junius Griffin, the president o ...

movies in the 1970s). In this comic book Orrin's brother, George J. Evans Jr., created the hero Lion Man, an African-American scientist in the service of the UN, which when sent to the

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

, comes across a

uranium Uranium is a chemical element with the symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Uranium is weak ...

mine and, fearing that the mine fell into the wrong hands, he decides to protect it and becomes a kind of black Tarzanesque. Despite the efforts, the comic book lasted only one issue. This was not the first attempt at a black Tarzanesque; the also African-American

Matt Baker Matthew James Baker (born 23 December 1977) is a British television presenter. He co-presented the children's television show ''Blue Peter'' from 1999 until 2006, BBC One's ''Countryfile'' since 2009 and ''The One Show'' from 2011 to 2020, wit ...

created Voodah in 1945, for the third issue of Golfing/McCombs Publisher's Crown Comics. On the cover of the fifth issue, Voodah appears as a

Caucasian Caucasian may refer to: Anthropology *Anything from the Caucasus region ** ** ** ''Caucasian Exarchate'' (1917–1920), an ecclesiastical exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Caucasus region * * * Languages * Northwest Caucasian l ...

(although he was still black on the inside pages), and in the next issue, Voodah became white on the inside pages as well.

Indian Tarzanesques

The_Jungle_Book_(1942)_Bagheera_&_Mowgli

released a few characters of Indian origin like Wambi the Jungle Boy, released in Jungle Comics #1 in January 1940). Co-created by Henry Kiefer, Wambi lived in a jungle that mixed elements of African and Indian jungles, and in addition to Jungle Comics, Wambi was published in his own comic book . As female examples, there is Taj of the Elephants, an anonymously created character released in Jungle Comics #57 (1944) and Jan of the Jungle, co-created by Enrico Bagnoli and released in Rangers Comics #42 (August 1948). In Buster Brown Comics #11 (1948), the character Ghanga was released, later spelled Gunga. In addition, the Indian-American actor

Sabu Dastagir Sabu Dastagir (possibly born Selar Sabu; 27 January 1924 – 2 December 1963) was an Indian actor who later gained United States citizenship. Throughout his career he was credited under the name Sabu and is primarily known for his work in ...

played two characters created by

Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British India, which inspired much of his work. ...

: Toomai in Elephant Boy (1937) and Mowgli in

Jungle Book ''The Jungle Book'' (1894) is a collection of stories by the English author Rudyard Kipling. Most of the characters are animals such as Shere Khan the tiger and Baloo the bear, though a principal character is the boy or "man-cub" Mowgli, who ...

(1942), as well as becoming a comic book character inspired by these roles: Sabu, Elephant Boy, published in Red Circle Comics #4 (April 1945) and a two-issue comic book of his own with stories illustrated by

Wally Wood Wallace Allan Wood (June 17, 1927 – November 2, 1981) was an American comic book writer, artist and independent publisher, widely known for his work on EC Comics's titles such as ''Weird Science (comic), Weird Science'', ''Weird Fantasy'', an ...

and published by

Fox Feature Syndicate Fox Feature Syndicate (also known as Fox Comics, Fox Publications, and Bruns Publications, Inc.) was a comic book publisher from early in the period known to fans and historians as the Golden Age of Comic Books. Founded by entrepreneur Victor S. ...

. In 1946, in the pages of the French comic book Fillette, the heroine Durga Râni appeared, written by René Thévenin and illustrated by

René Pellos René Pellos (born René Marcel Pellarin, 22 January 1900, Lyon – 8 April 1998, Cannes) was a French artist, cartoonist and writer who worked in the Franco-Belgian bandes dessinées (BD) tradition. He also competed in the men's tournament at ...

In the 1950s

In 1950,

Akim An ''akim'' ( kk, әкім, әкімдер / ''äkimder''; ky, аким; russian: аким) is the head of a local government in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. ''Akim'', meaning "God will establish", is derived from the Arabic word '' hakim'', whi ...

appeared in the Italian wallet-sized format comic book ''Albo Gioello'' created by the comic book writer

Roberto Renzi Roberto Renzi (10 February 1923 – 23 October 2018) was an Italian cartoonist. Biography Renzi began writing comics in 1942 during World War II. He created titles such as ''Il principe nero'', ''Scugnizzo'', ''Il piccolo corsaro'', ''Zan della ...

and the cartoonist Augusto Pedrazza. The character, who was published until 1991, didn't live adventures only in the jungles, but also fought common criminals in the so-called "civilized world", and for this he even wore common clothes used in big metropolises. In 1952,

Frank Frazetta Frank Frazetta (born Frank Frazzetta ; February 9, 1928 – May 10, 2010) was an American fantasy and science fiction artist, noted for comic books, paperback book covers, paintings, posters, LP record album covers, and other media. He is ...

created

Thun'da Thun'da is a fictional character created by artist and conceptualist Frank FrazettaThun'da
at

, King of Congo for

Magazine Enterprises Magazine Enterprises was an American comic book company lasting from 1943 to 1958, which published primarily Western comics, Western, humor, crime comics, crime, adventure, and children's literature, children's comics, with virtually no superhero ...

, which even had a series in the same year called

King of the Congo ''King of the Congo'' is a 1952 American 15 chapter movie serial, the 48th released by Columbia Pictures. It was produced by Sam Katzman, directed by Spencer Gordon Bennet and Wallace Grissell, and stars Buster Crabbe. The serial also co-stars Gl ...

starring

Buster Crabbe Clarence Linden Crabbe II (; February 7, 1908 – April 23, 1983), known professionally as Buster Crabbe, was an American two-time Olympic swimmer and film and television actor. He won the 1932 Olympic gold medal for 400-meter freestyle swimmi ...

(actor who had already played Tarzan in the 1933 series

Tarzan the Fearless ''Tarzan the Fearless'' is a 12 chapter American Pre-Code film serial starring Buster Crabbe in his only appearance as Tarzan. It was also released as a 61-minute feature film which consisted of the first four chapters edited together, and whi ...

). Thun'da (whose real name is Robert Drum) is an

American Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

aviator who gets lost in the Congo and who, in the comics, faced

dinosaurs Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is t ...

and prehistoric beings,Elements that also existed in Tarzan stories, specifically in the lost world of '' Pal-ul-don'' and in ''

Pellucidar Pellucidar is a fictional Hollow Earth invented by American writer Edgar Rice Burroughs for a series of action adventure stories. In a crossover event, Tarzan, who was also created by Burroughs, visits Pellucidar. The stories initially involv ...

'', another book series created by

, creator of Tarzan ''in'' Allen A. Debus (2009). Prehistoric monsters: the real and imagined creatures of the past that we love to fear McFarland .l.p. 275. but due to budget cuts, these elements were not present in the series. In the 1960s, Frazetta illustrated covers of

paperback A paperback (softcover, softback) book is one with a thick paper or paperboard cover, and often held together with adhesive, glue rather than stitch (textile arts), stitches or Staple (fastener), staples. In contrast, hardcover (hardback) book ...

versions of Tarzan's stories published by

Ace Books Ace Books is a publisher of science fiction (SF) and fantasy books founded in New York City in 1952 by Aaron A. Wyn. It began as a genre publisher of mysteries and westerns, and soon branched out into other genres, publishing its first scienc ...

The_Israeli_Cartoon_Museum,_Display_View_016

In 1953,

Joe Kubert Joseph Kubert (; September 18, 1926 – August 12, 2012) was a Poland, Polish-born Americans, American comic book artist, art teacher, and founder of The Kubert School. He is best known for his work on the DC Comics characters Sgt. Rock and Hawkm ...

released

Tor Tor, TOR or ToR may refer to: Places * Tor, Pallars, a village in Spain * Tor, former name of Sloviansk, Ukraine, a city * Mount Tor, Tasmania, Australia, an extinct volcano * Tor Bay, Devon, England * Tor River, Western New Guinea, Indonesia Sc ...

, which differed from Tarzan by setting its stories in

prehistoric Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use of ...

times (more precisely in the year 1 million BC, corresponding to the

Quaternary Period The Quaternary ( ) is the current and most recent of the three period (geology), periods of the Cenozoic era (geology), Era in the geologic time scale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS). It follows the Neogene Period and spa ...

, which is considered by paleontologists to be the time when the first humans appeared; despite this, the author used poetic license and included dinosaurs in Tor's stories). Years later Kubert would also draw the Tarzan comics. In the same year Atlas Comics (the name used by

Marvel Marvel may refer to: Business * Marvel Entertainment, an American entertainment company ** Marvel Comics, the primary imprint of Marvel Entertainment ** Marvel Universe, a fictional shared universe ** Marvel Music, an imprint of Marvel Comics ...

during the 1950s) launched Lorna the Jungle Queen, a comic book starring a blonde jungle girl. Between 1954 and 1955, it published two comic book s that had the jungles as a setting:

Jungle Action ''Jungle Action'' is the name of two American comic book series published by Marvel Comics and its 1950s precursor, Atlas Comics. The Marvel version contained the first series starring the Black Panther, the first black superhero in mainstream co ...

and

Jungle Tales ''Jungle Tales'' (later called ''Jann of the Jungle'') was an American comic book title published by Atlas Comics, the 1950s predecessor to Marvel Comics. It was an anthology title of stories set in an African jungle. Publication history Jungl ...

. Jungle Action published two characters typically inspired by Tarzan: Lo-Zar (the character had his name changed to Tharn and had his hair color changed from blond to red in republished in the 1970s so as not to be confused with Ka-Zar) and Jungle Boy. The jungle girl, Jann of the Jungle also appeared in Jungle Action #1, and from issue 8 on, the comic book was renamed Jann of the Jungle,Common practice in American comic books) ''in'' Nano Souza (19 de maio de 2009)
A Complicada numeração das revistas americanas.
HQManiacs lasting for 9 more issues. In another comic book, Jungle Tales #1, was published the story Waku, Prince of the Bantu, a new attempt of a black hero set in the African jungles, created by unknown authors. The story featured an African prince whose character anticipated some of the concepts that would be present in

Black Panther A black panther is the melanistic colour variant of the leopard (''Panthera pardus'') and the jaguar (''Panthera onca''). Black panthers of both species have excess black pigments, but their typical rosettes are also present. They have been d ...

(another Marvel character, created by

Stan Lee Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber ; December 28, 1922 – November 12, 2018) was an American comic book writer, editor, publisher, and producer. He rose through the ranks of a family-run business called Timely Publications which ...

and

Jack Kirby Jack Kirby (born Jacob Kurtzberg; August 28, 1917 – February 6, 1994) was an American comic book artist, writer and editor, widely regarded as one of the medium's major innovators and one of its most prolific and influential creators. He gr ...

Fantastic Four The Fantastic Four is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The team debuted in ''The Fantastic Four'' #1 ( cover dated Nov. 1961), helping usher in a new level of realism in the medium. It was the first ...

#52, July 1966). In 1972, already as Marvel Comics, the publishing house launched a new comic book called Jungle Action, whose first four issues featured reruns of Tharn, Jann and Lorna's stories published in the original comic book . The fifth issue, published in 1973, featured stories by the Black Panther. Also in 1955, Republic Pictures released the TV series

Panther Girl of the Kongo ''Panther Girl of the Kongo'' is a 1955 Republic movie serial that contains a great deal of stock footage from the 1941 Republic serial ''Jungle Girl''. This was the penultimate of Republic's 66 serial films. Plot Mad scientist Dr. Morgan wants ...

, which resembled Jungle Girl, and even used scenes from Jungle Girl's archives. In Japan the film

Brooba is a 1955 adventure film directed by Shigeyoshi Suzuki. The film was a Japanese Tarzan film based on the main character Brooba. It was supposed to be shot in the jungle but was filmed in Los Angeles. Like Johnny Weissmuller who starred in class ...

is released, clearly inspired by the films starring

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 ...

In the 1960s

In 1962, Brazilian actor Wilson Vianna starred in two films of the Mexican tarzanesque ''Barú'': ''Barú,'' ''el hombre de la selva'' and ''El mundo salvaje de Barú''. On Brazilian TV, Vianna played Capitão Atlas. In the mid 60's, taking advantage of the success of the genre, other Brazilian publishers created their own tarzanesques. One of them was Targo (later renamed Taika) from Editora Outubro created by Heli Otávio de Moura Lacerda. Targo was an orphan who survived a plane crash in the

Amazon rainforest The Amazon rainforest, Amazon jungle or ; es, Selva amazónica, , or usually ; french: Forêt amazonienne; nl, Amazoneregenwoud. In English, the names are sometimes capitalized further, as Amazon Rainforest, Amazon Forest, or Amazon Jungle. ...

(more precisely in the border of the state of Amazonas with

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

, although he also had stories set in the

Brazilian Plateau The Brazilian Highlands or Brazilian Plateau ( pt, Planalto Brasileiro) are an extensive geographical region, covering most of the eastern, southern and central portions of Brazil, in all approximately half of the country's land area, or some 4,5 ...

) and was raised by

indigenous peoples Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

. The character had stories produced by artists such as Helena Fonseca,

Jayme Cortez Jayme Cortez ( Lisbon, September 8th, 1926 - São Paulo, July 4th, 1987) was a Portuguese-born Brazilian comics artist. He is considered one of the most important artists of Brazilian comics. He was born in Portugal and began his career in the Port ...

Gedeone Malagola Gedeone Malagola (São Paulo, July 7th, 1924 - Jundiaí, September 15th, 2008) was a Brazilian comics artist and editor. He started his career in the 1940s, drawing for the newspaper A Marmita. He worked for several comic book publishers until he ...

Nico Rosso Nicolas Rosso (Turin, July 19, 1910 - São Paulo, October 1st, 1981) was an Italian-Brazilian comic artist. Born in Italy, he studied with the masters Giacomo Grosso and Giovanni Reduzzi. He also taught Illustration and Costume History at the Ber ...

Rodolfo Zalla Rodolfo Zalla (Buenos Aires, July 20, 1931 - São Paulo, June 19th, 2016) was an Argentine comics artist. He started drawing comics while still in Argentina in 1953, but his career gained prominence after moving to Brazil with fellow comic artist ...

, Moacir Rodrigues Soares, and like Tarzan and Thun'da, Targo also lived with

creatures considered extinct. The idea of an Amazon inhabited by prehistoric beings had already been portrayed in the book

The Lost World The lost world is a subgenre of the fantasy or science fiction genres that involves the discovery of an unknown Earth civilization. It began as a subgenre of the late- Victorian adventure romance and remains popular into the 21st century. The g ...

Arthur Conan Doyle Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for ''A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Ho ...

, published in 1912. Like Tarzan, Targo also had his own family, consisting of his wife Arimá, her brother Aurici, and a jaguar. Under Jayme Cortez's guidance, the character was a joint creation of editors and cartoonists from Editora Outubro , and it was up to Gedeone Malagola to name the hero. According to him, the name came from a policeman friend who had the surname "Targa" and he used to joke with the name of his friend comparing it to the Tarzan. Coincidentally, Targa was also the name used in a French tarzanesque published in the 1940s. Gedeone himself had also created another Tarzan-inspired character, "Tambu" and made

stories by

for Gráfica Novo Mundo. Another example was Tarun by Paulo Fukue, released in EDREL's ''Magia Verde'' comic book . Like Thun'da, Tarun was a man trying to return to civilization, not fitting in the wild child/good savage archetypes, and like Targo, Tarun lived adventures in a lost region of the Amazon, the "Fantastic Region". For the Mexican origin publisher Editormex, the comics artist Edmundo Rodrigues drew a story of Antar (an anagram of Tarzan), which was a magazine of photo comics of

movies,

, among others. Tarzan_Finds_a_Son!_(movie_poster)

In 1963, created by Marcel Navarro to compete with Akim, the French character Zembla appeared in the comic book Spécial Kiwi, which even had stories drawn by Akim's co-creator Augusto Pedraza. However, Zembla's stories were closer to parodies, since he was raised by lions and wore a leopard skin strip, and had as allies a lion, a wildcat, a kangaroo, a pygmy, and a magician (clearly inspired by

's Mandrake the Magician, Mandrake). The character was published until 1994 in France, and both Akim and Zembla were published in digest size. Another French creation was Yataca, born in the Amazon Jungle, living his adventures in the Americas for twenty issues, and after that, inexplicably, his stories moved to Africa. Between 1967 and 1968,

published Bomba, the Jungle Boy whose main character had appeared in a series of books beginning in 1926 and ending in 1938. Like Tarzan, Bomba was also adapted for the movies between 1949 and 1955, with his stories set in the jungles of

. The character was played by Johnny Sheffield who had played Boy, Tarzan and Jane's adopted son in the 1939 film Tarzan Finds a Son!. In the series of Bomba films, Boy replaced Korak (character), Korak, Tarzan's legitimate son in the book series, and South America was swapped for Africa, with scenes reused from the 1930 documentary Africa Speaks! His stories would be republished by the publisher in the 1970s in comic book s starring Tarzan and produced by

. To avoid copyright infringement, Bomba was renamed Simba.

Ka-Zar and Shanna

A new version of Ka-Zar (Kevin Plunder), Ka-Zar was made in 1965 by

and

, inspired by

and

. The new Ka-Zar appears as a secondary character in the Uncanny X-Men comic book , where the

was swapped for the fictional Savage Land (a tropical zone curiously located in the Antarctic Circle, also inhabited by apparently extinct prehistoric beings, very similar to

, the Hollow Earth, hollow earth created by Burroughs), the lion Zar for the Smilodon, saber-toothed cat Zabu, and David Rand for Kevin Plunder. Ka-Zar was the most successful tarzanesque; he had several comic book s of his own, mini-series and graphic novels. In 1973,

released another jungle girl, Shanna the She-Devil, Shanna, with her own comic book that only lasted five issues, but continued to have stories published in Ka-Zar's (whom she eventually married), Daredevil (Marvel Comics character), Daredevil's and Hulk, Hulk's comic books.

Tarzanesques today

In 2000, TV Globo launched the telenovela ''Uga-Uga'' by Carlos Lombardi, where the actor Cláudio Heinrich, Claudio Heinrich played a young man raised by

who looked like

. Several of the Tarzanesques created for the North American market are in the public domain in this country. This is due to the fact that with the implementation of the Comics Code Authority in the mid 1950s, several publishers were closed down and did not renew the rights to their characters, as did the heirs of

and companies such as The Walt Disney Company.

also entered the public domain in 2001, but before that some authors were already using him in stories. From the mid-1990s to the early 2000s, the character participated in official Crossover (fiction), crossovers published with Batman,

, and Predator (film), Predator. In 1999, comic book writer Warren Ellis and cartoonist John Cassaday created several pulp-inspired characters for the Planetary series. Kevin Sack, the Lord Blackstock (an allusion to the title Lord Greystone, which Tarzan inherited from his father) is clearly inspired by Tarzan, and in 2000, Alan Moore used a version of Tarzan in his The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, without, however, having his name revealed in the series. In 2005, Shanna the She-Devil, Shanna had a miniseries produced by comic book artist Frank Cho, who also created his own jungle girl named Jana released in the Jungle Girl miniseries published by Dynamite Entertainment (known for publishing numerous projects with characters in the public domain). In 2006,

recognized the original Ka-Zar as an integral part of the Marvel Universe in the sixth issue of Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe, All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z, the publisher's official guide. However, the character did not appear in any new stories (as did the original Human Torch, for example). In 2007,

had a five-issue miniseries published by Devil's Due Digital, scripted by Steven E. de Souza (a screnwriter best known for the screenplay of the Bruce Willis film Die Hard), drawings by Matt Merhoff, and covers designed by Joe Jusko, Nicola Scott, Khary Randolph, and Tim Seeley. In early 2010, Devil's Due Digital began distributing Digitization, digitized Sheena material. In 2008, comic book writer Alex Mir and illustrator Alex Genaro released the Valkíria series, that shows the title character in a post-apocalyptic Brazil where prehistoric creatures have returned to live on Earth. In 2011, Dynamite Entertainment launched Lord of the Jungle comic book , and although it is in the public domain, the name Tarzan cannot be used in the titles without permission. Later, the publisher announced that it would publish a new series of Thun'da, and in the first issue, the publisher chose to republish the origin of the character drawn by the creator

along with the new stories produced by Robert Place Napton (scripts), with Cliff Richards (drawings) and cover by Jae Lee (cover). In 2015, Dynamite announced a Tarzan and Sheena crossover, released in 2016 under the title Lords of the Jungle. The company also announced a new Sheena series for 2017 by comic book writers Marguerite Bennett and Christine Trujillo, Christina Trujillo and comic artist Moritat (comics), Moritat, set on Amazon rainforest, Amazon instead of

.Dynamite Announces New Sheena, Moneypenny & Turok Comics
/ref>

Notes

References

Bibliography

External links

Tarzan influenced comics
{{Tarzan Tarzan Jungle superheroes Jungle men Stock characters Adventure fiction