''Tarzan and the Lion Man'' is a novel by American writer Edgar Rice Burroughs, the seventeenth in his series of twenty-four books about the title character

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 ...

. The novel was originally serialized in the magazine ''

Liberty Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom. In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...

''from November 1933 through January 1934. It satirizes Hollywood's treatment of the Tarzan character and even spoofs Burroughs' own work. It was written at a time when

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 ...

was becoming a movie star by playing Tarzan as an illiterate character, to Burroughs' open displeasure.

Plot summary

Tarzan and his lion companion

Jad-bal-ja Jad-bal-ja, the Golden Lion is a fictional character in Edgar Rice Burroughs's Tarzan novels, and in adaptations of the saga to other media, particularly comics. Character Jad-bal-ja serves as a companion to Tarzan, to whom he is attached as a do ...

discover a mad scientist with a city of talking

gorilla Gorillas are herbivorous, predominantly ground-dwelling great apes that inhabit the tropical forests of equatorial Africa. The genus ''Gorilla'' is divided into two species: the eastern gorilla and the western gorilla, and either four or fi ...

s. To create additional havoc, a Hollywood film crew sets out to shoot a Tarzan movie 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 ...

and brings along an actor who is an exact double of the apeman, but is his opposite in courage and determination. Later, as ''John Clayton'', Tarzan visits Hollywood to find himself in a

screen test A screen test is a method of determining the suitability of an actor or actress for performing on film or in a particular role. The performer is generally given a scene, or selected lines and actions, and instructed to perform in front of a came ...

for a role in a Tarzan movie. He is deemed unsuitable for the lead role because he is "not the type."

Comic adaptations

The book has been adapted into comic form by

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 ...

in ''Tarzan'' no. 206, dated February 1972, with a script by

Gaylord DuBois Gaylord McIlvaine Du Bois (sometimes written DuBois) (August 24, 1899 – October 20, 1993) was an American writer of comic book stories and comic strips, as well as Big Little Books and juvenile adventure novels. Du Bois wrote ''Tarzan'' for Del ...

and art by

Paul Norris Paul Leroy Norris (April 26, 1914 – November 5, 2007) was an American comic book artist best known as co-creator of the DC Comics superhero Aquaman, and for a 35-year run as artist of the newspaper comic strip '' Brick Bradford''. Biography ...

, and later 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 ...

in ''Tarzan'' nos. 231-234, dated July 1974-January 1975, adapted by

Joe Kubert Joseph Kubert (; September 18, 1926 – August 12, 2012) was a Polish-born 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 Hawkman. He is also kno ...

Sources

* *

External links

*
ERBzine.com Illustrated Bibliography entry for Edgar Rice Burroughs' ''Tarzan and the Lion Man''
* ttp://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks06/0600711.txt Text of the novel at Project Gutenberg Australia {{Tarzan 1934 American novels 1934 fantasy novels Books about lions Novels first published in serial form Tarzan novels by Edgar Rice Burroughs Works originally published in Liberty (general interest magazine)