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Tarzan: The Centennial Celebration - The Stories, The Movies, The Art (2012) by Scott Tracy Griffin

1/29/2014

7 Comments

 
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In 1912, Edgar Rice Burroughs debuted his most famous creation in his second-ever novel, Tarzan of the Apes, and changed not only his life, but popular culture, forever after. For decades, the Lord of the Jungle dominated the fictional landscape, in every medium imaginable. A hundred years later, times might have changed and audiences become more cynical, yet Tarzan's legacy, his hold on the public's imagination, though somewhat dimmed from its once-majestic peak, still echoes on. Adaptations still keep coming, including an animated Disney TV series, a stage production and a theatrical animated film, all in the past 12 years.

A century is a long time for a fictional character to still hold currency, and dedicated Burroughs scholar Scott Tracy Griffin's Tarzan: The Centennial Celebration commemorates this impressive span in style.


I usually don't go in for coffee table books. Always heavy on beautiful imagery but light on actual content, the typical coffee table book is fun for a quick perusal but rarely commands repeated attention...something you pick up once or twice and then rarely look at again.  Happily, Griffin's terrific compendium is a notable exception. In short, it is - like its subject - magnificent.

Published by Titan Books, Tarzan: The Centennial Collection is huge (13 x 10 inches) and beautifully designed, with thick, glossy pages chock full of stunning images, but Griffin hasn't scrimped on the text side of the equation, either. This a fabulous, juicy tome that not only is a feast for the eye and a salve for the soul of adventure fiction junkies everywhere, but works as a splendid overview of Burroughs' most famous character.


PictureNeal Adams cover art for TARZAN OF THE APES
More than half of the book's 320 pages are dedicated to what started the phenomenon in the first place - Burroughs' novels: several pages for each Tarzan title, including a non-spoilery plot synopsis, plus several paragraphs providing background details about their writing, including notes on the author's research methods, word count (most of the novels seem to average 75,000 to 80,000 words), payment for each story, the sometimes quite involved back-and-forth negotiations on their publication, etc. Coverage of each novel is of course accompanied by numerous (and wonderful) cover paintings, from the original hardback dust jackets by J. Allen St. John to 1960s Gold Key comic art by George Wilson. The real highlights are the plethora of cover plates from the various Ace, Dell and Ballantine paperback runs from the 60s and 70s, especially focusing on the work of Robert Abbott, Neal Adams and Boris Vallejo, often gifted with a whole page each, the better to study their artistry in greater depth.

Griffin also peppers the book with sidebar articles (equally lavishly illustrated) on all manner of Tarzan-related goodies, from entries on Jane, the various beasts of Tazan (Tantor the Elephant, Numa the Lion, Nkima vs. Cheeta, etc.), Korak (Tarzan's son), Pellucidar, feral children, lost worlds, implacable foes, femmes fatales, an "ape language" glossary, and on and on. Later chapters of the book delve into Tarzan's forays into the world of comics (both newspaper strips and comic books), radio, film, television, stage, memorabilia and the like. Every possible facet is covered in brief, with myriad nuggets of information that many fans might not be aware of. (For example, did you know that actor Rod Taylor of The Time Machine fame starred in over 800 15-minute Tarzan serials for Australian radio in the late 50s? I sure as heck didn't!) There are also a couple of fascinating biographical chapters (again, accompanied by rare and enlightening photographs) discussing Burroughs youthful military service and later life as a world famous, elder statesman writer hanging out at his Tarzana ranch (and, of course, Tarzana itself gets its own chapter).

PictureArt by Robbert Abbott
Author Griffin definitely knows his stuff, and really, for a One Stop Shopping trip to the savage, mythical lands of the Lord of the Apes, you could hardly do better. I've found myself breaking the coffee table book curse and returning to the book every day over the past several weeks since I first got my hot little hands on it, pouring over the incredible artwork, gleaning new-to-me details from the text - basically, savoring each individual section like a delicious ice cream cone.

And best of all, the book has inspired me to start working my way through those original Tarzan novels, many of which I've never got around to reading before. Indispensable for fans of Tarzan, Edgar Rice Burroughs, pulp adventure fiction, and wonderful cover art in general, and worth much more than what it's currently going for on Amazon (can you tell I like this thing?), Tarzan: The Centennial Celebration comes highly, highly recommended. 



My Grade: A+

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Above, typically evocative cover art by Boris Vallejo, for TARZAN AND THE FORBIDDEN CITY (left) and TARZAN, LORD OF THE JUNGLE.

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Original dust jacket cover art for TARZAN AND THE LEOPARD MEN, by J. Allen St John.
7 Comments
Sergio (Tipping My Fedora) link
2/3/2014 04:43:02 pm

Thanks very much for this Jeff. I used to love Tarzan movies as a kid though never read the books (never read Burroughs at all in fact). I haven't watched a Tarzan film all the way though probably sunce GREYSTOKE came out but this sounds really tempting - thanks chum.

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Jeff
2/6/2014 01:06:59 am

Never read Burroughs!!! Shock and horror! You must remedy this situation ASAP, my friend!

I went a long time without giving any of the Tarzan movies a spin, also...it's only been in the past 5 years or so that I've started to dig back into things like Burroughs and Doc Savage, and as an offshoot, the earlier Tarzan films. Never much cared for Weissmuller in the part, but am going to give him another try this year.

Cheers for the comment, Sergio mi amigo!

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Danny link
2/4/2014 08:58:59 pm

I've been watching batches of old Tarzan movies myself and enjoying them more than I expected. I also really enjoyed John Carter of Mars when I read it last year, so this sounds like a good introduction to Burroughs other writings. Thanks for the rec!

Reply
Jeff
2/6/2014 01:10:50 am

Thanks for taking the time to swing by and leave a comment, Danny! Glad to hear you enjoyed reading the Barsoom novel (JOHN CARTER OF MARS is probably the weakest volume of that series, so if you enjoyed it, you'll dig the earlier books in the series even more). The best of the Tarzan books are well worth reading, pulp escapism at its best.

I'm planning to follow your lead and give some of the old Weissmuller Tarzan movies a spin this year. I'm guessing I'll appreciate them a lot more now than when I was younger.

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Val Lewton
2/7/2014 12:48:45 pm

It's funny that the book about ERB got an A+, while the actual book by ERB below it only got an A.

Hahahaha....a Flugelarian paradox!

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Terry Baumann
2/15/2014 05:28:20 am

My mother started me reading the Tarzan series to get me interested in reading. I have read everything I can get my hands on since then. I Love all the tales from Burroughs which I have read and own. Even started collecting some of the first editions. Loved the John Carter movie - wish it would have done better in the box office so there would have been more to follow.

Reply
Jeff
2/26/2014 09:37:13 pm

Thanks for the comment, Terry! That's cool to hear your mom started you off on being a Burroughs fan. I remember grabbing a few Tarzan books from my elementary school library but didn't get the ERB bug until I read PELLUCIDAR in my teens.

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