Tarzan Archives: The Russ Manning Years Volume 1
The golden age of comics reprints keeps giving: I'm halfway through this delightful and nicely produced collection of Manning's excellent Tarzan comics work for Gold Key. Published between 1965 and 1967, the stories here are all adapted from Edgar Rice Burroughs' first seven Tarzan novels. The approach is quite faithful, although the storylines are quite condensed from the prose versions.
Manning's Tarzan is noticeably tamer than those of Joe Kubert or John Buscema or even Hal Foster. These stories stem from a very mannered era of comics, and the ape man has more in common visually with Curt Swan's Superman than some of the more savage depictions other artists. Even so, I LOVE Manning's art. His line so crisp and clean -- he was really a perfect draftsman. Everything is so well-rendered from jungle nights and desert island beaches to English manors and trains and ships and lost cities of gold. Then there are all the animals and supporting cast and Tarzan's form in action. The Tarzan mythos provides a fertile playground for versatile and talented artists.
The graphic storytelling and flow of action is suburb. Yes, it's very much of its time. But, as with Carl Barks, comic book storytelling doesn't get much better than this, and the quality stands up to time. It's easy to see why so many pros, such as Sergio Aragones who penned the introduction to this volume, are big Manning fans.
There's more than 250 pages of glorious comics here. If you love comic books and/or Tarzan, it's a treasure. Looking forward to seeing more, including Manning's work on Gold Key's Korak: Son of Tarzan, which will be collected in another volume from Dark Horse this spring. IDW has announced plans to publish collections of Manning's Tarzan newspaper strips, too.
Once Upon A Time
We streamed this 1944 Cary Grant film for Family Movie Night last weekend and it's an odd one.
Here's the synopsis: Grant, a wheeler-dealer who runs a Broadway theater, is down on his luck after one too many bombs. He's on the verge of selling his joint when he's accosted by a couple of kids running their own hustle out on the sidewalk: They have a caterpillar that dances. To one tune only: "Yes Sir, That's My Baby," which the critter's owner, Pinky, plays on harmonica. Grant's character thinks he can make some money off this novelty, although everyone around him, including Pinky's protective older sister, played by Janet Blair, thinks he's crazy.
I think maybe the scriptwriters and producers were crazy, but this was a fun film to watch if just for the fact that you can't figure out how it got made. Outside the whacky plot, it does have some nice moments and fine performances, and I always enjoy seeing Cary Grant. There's also a cool cameo by Walt Disney, who takes an interest in maybe doing a picture featuring the dancing creature. Disney fans will want to check it out for that. William DeMarest (Uncle Charlie from "My Three Sons") also turns up.
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