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Jungle Heroes: Part One
With Tarzan's success in 1912 through to the 30s, and onward, many writers, comic book artists and publishers have been inspired to create their own jungle heroes. Here is a look at a few of them, more or less in order of creation:
1840s
Little Savage / Frank Henniker
1890s
Mowgli
Tarzan - Created by Edgar Rice Burroughs and first published in 1912.
Korak - Son of Tarzan, also created by Edgar Rice Burroughs, first appeared in text stories published in 1914.
Nu
1920s
Bomba the Jungle Boy
Bomba The Jungle Boy was first published in 1926 for younger readers.
Morgan the Mighty
According to Wikipedia the character of Morgan the Mighty first appeared in text in 1928, and in illustrated form in 1938 for a comic strip named after the character.
Tanar
Another caveman character from Edgar Rice Burroughs, "Tanar of Pellucidar" was first published in 1929.
1930s
Jan of the Jungle
Written by Otis Adelbert Kline in 1931, Jan appeared in several stories in Argosy magazine, and later a film adaptation in 1935 "Call of the Savage". The character also appeared in comic books.
Tam, Son of the Tiger
Also written by Otis Adelbert Kline in 1931, Tam is a jungle hero clone of Tarzan who wears a red toga!?! His title "Son of the Tiger" is not just to impress people; the character actually was adopted and raised by a tiger. Several stories were published in various issues of Weird Tales magazine.
Kwa of the Jungle
Written by Paul Regard, Kwa appeared in several stories in Thrilling Adventures magazine beginning in 1932. Kwa has short blond hair and on at least one occasion wore a leopard print loincloth with a shoulder strap.
Kaspa the Lion Man
Written by C.T. Stoneham in 1933, Kaspa appeared in at least one novel and later the film "King of the Jungle" starring Buster Crabbe. On book covers the character is a Tarzan clone with short black hair wearing leopard print Speedo style shorts.
Sorak
Written by Harvey D. Richards in 1934, Sorak appeared in several novels.
Strang the Terrible
According to Wikipedia, Strang is another jungle hero character who first appeared in text stories, this time in 1936. The character then appeared in a comic strip in 1944 that was later republished under the title "Morgan the Mighty" as the characters were quite similar.
Ka-zar
As a collector of the Ka-zar marvel comics, I was very surprized and pleased to discover that Ka-zar's origins do not start in the 1970s, but in fact go back to the 1930s! "Adventures of Ka-zar the Great" was first published as a pulp magazine in 1936. Here is an excellent website that provides images and explains the full story, which is a bit dizzying to keep track of!
http://home.comcast.net/~cjh5801a/Ka-Zar.htm Therefore it seems that Ka-zar was the original jungle hero to have blond hair. His hair was shown as being very short in the 1930s, but became much longer in the 1970s.
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Jaragu of the Jungle
Created by Rex Beach, "Jaragu of the Jungle" was published as a Big Little Book in 1937 by Whitman. The cover illustration depicts Jaragu as looking very much like Mowgli with black hair and wearing a langota (cloth wrapped around his body to shape "underwear").
Von Horst
Another Edgar Rice Burroughs novel Back to the Stone Age was originally published under the title Seven Worlds to Conquer in 1937. The hero, Von Horst, is not a cave man but plays a similar type of role fighting off prehistoric beasts. This paperback is an Ace edition and undated but was likely published in the late 60s or early 70s.
1940s
Ka'a'nga
This blond haired Tarzan clone was featured in "Jungle Comics", first published by Fiction House in 1940. The character reapeared in "Ka'a'nga the Jungle King" in 1949 until 1954, also published by Fiction House. In 1963 and 1964, reprints were published in "Jungle Adventures" by Super Comics.
Wambi
This is a Mowgli clone who appeared in "Wambi Jungle Boy" comics, published by Fiction House Magazines from 1942 to 1953, with 18 issues. The character also made appearances in the same publisher's comic series "Jungle Comics".
Yarmak
"Yarmak, Jungle King Comic" is a jungle hero comic from Australia, published by Young's Merchandising Co. in 1942. The series was illustrated by Stan Pitt. Yarmak is an exact clone of Tarzan.
Jo-Jo
According to Wikipedia "Jo-Jo, Congo King" was a comic book series that was first published in 1947 and lasted until 1949, with 29 issues.
Zago
"Zago, Jungle Prince" was a comic book series by Fox Features Syndicate that was first published in 1948 and lasted only 4 issues. Zago has short blond hair and wears black Speedo style shorts. In some cases his shorts are striped vertically with red and black or green and black.
Jongor
Author Robert Moore Williams created three novels that featured Jongor, a clone of Tarzan. According to Wikipedia the first Jongor story was published in Fantastic Adventures magazine in the 1940s. The novels however were not published until 1970.
1950s
Akim No. 167, June 1966, and Akim No. 239 (unknown date) Apparently Akim has the ability to pin a Rhino down with one knee!
Akim
A jungle hero from Italy who was also very popular in France, Akim was not only a Tarzan-like hero, he also looked just like Tarzan with short black hair and leopard print trunks. If I understand correctly, the character first appeared in comic books in Italy in 1950 and was later featured in comics that were published in France. The character appeared in several series of comics, including "Akim", "Bengali" and "Akim-Color", which ultimately lasted until the early 1990s. Well done Akim!
Tarou
A jungle hero from France, Tarou seems to have first appeared in "Dynamic" comic books during the early 1950s. The character's second comic series was in print until at least the late 1960s. I don't have any of these comics and haven't read any, though it seems that the character went through a few changes and was at first more of a typical Tarzan type in a loin cloth. Later he is depicted as more civilized, wearing a white muscle shirt, pants and tall boots. I've also seen a 1966 French comicbook that depicts him as a caveman with long blond hair, though I'm not certain if this is the same "Tarou" as the others.
Thun'da
"The Jungle Adventures of Thun'da, King of the Congo" was a 6 issue comic book series that was first published in 1952 by Magazine Enterprises. That same year the movie "King of the Congo" was produced by Columbia Pictures starring Buster Crabbe as Thun'da, though I'm not certain if the movie was based on the comic book character.
Zanthar
This was a French comic published in the early 1950s (possibly 1953) until the early to mid 1960s. Zanthar looks like he is a caveman type of character. In the late 1960s author Robert Moore Williams produced a four volume novel series based on a character named Zathar, but this is unrelated to the earlier Zanthar comic series.
Tor
A caveman hero first seen in the comic "One Million Years Ago" by St. John Publishing Co., 1953-54. Various publishers have sinces kept the character in print, with the "Tor" comic books published by DC Comics in 1975-76 being the first of these. Collections of the Tor comics have more recently been published in 2009 and 2010. Tor was also a caveman character in the live action "Korg 70,000 B.C" TV series from the 1970s, however this character had nothing to do with the comics.
Jungle Boy and Lo-Zar / Tharn
These characters appeared in the 1954 comic "Jungle Action" by Atlas comics. When the comics were reprinted by Marvel in the 1970s, Lo-Zar's name was apparently changed to Tharn. Jungle Boy has short brown hair and wears red shorts, while Lo-Zar/Tharn has short blond hair and wears black shorts. The characters were later depicted wearing brown loincloths rather than shorts. An unrelated movie titled "Jungle Boy" was also produced in 2008 and is available on DVD.
Wild Boy / Wildboy
This was a young tenage character with long blond hair who wore a solid red or blue loin cloth. The 15 issue "Wild Boy of the Congo" comic book seris was first published from 1951 to 1955 by Davis Comics/St. John Publishing. A similar yet unrealated character, also with long blond hair, appeared in the live action Saturday morning TV series "Bigfoot and Wildboy", that was produced by Sid and Marty Krofft from 1976 to 1979. This Wildboy wore a brown outfit (sleevless shirt, loin cloth, and shoes) that seemed to have been made entirely of skins, not unlike a caveman.
Janu the Jungle Boy
This is a character from the "Congo Bill" comic series published by DC Comics in 1955. There also seems to have been a "Congo Bill" movie made in 1957 but I don't know if it was based on the comic.
The next page of this blog continues with the 1960s. Please see "Other Jungle Heroes: Part Two".
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Jungle Heroes: Part Two
1960s
Kona
"Kona, Monarch of Monster Isle" was a comic book series that was first published in 1962 and lasted 21 issues. The character appears to be a mix of the caveman hero and jungle hero types.
Naza
From Dell comics "Naza, Stone Age Warrior" was published in the mid 1960s, with issue No. 3 in 1964. There are about ten issues in all.
Anthro
I'm only speculating that the popularity of Bomba in the 1960s led to the creation of Anthro from DC Comics in an attempt to cash in on Bomba's success...who, let's not forget, was actually cashing in on Tarzan's success. Anthro was a caveman however, so I could be wrong about Bomba having anything to do with influencing the creation of the Anthro comic. It's an interesting coincidence however, that both comic book titles were published by DC Comics in 1968. With his long hair, it seems that Anthro is more like Tarzan's son Korak than Bomba.
George of the Jungle
George started out in the late 1960's as an animated Saturday morning television character.
Special Zembla, No. 25, June 1970
Zembla
Sporting long brown hair and a bright yellow leopard print Speedo type outfit (with a thin strap across one shoulder), Zembla has been a popular jungle hero in France since the late 1960s or early 1970s. By 1971 the Zembla comic book series already included over 100 issues. In 2000 a new "Special Zembla" comic book series was published featuring different styles of fantasy or cartoon artwork on the covers.
Kimba
I don't know much about this one. "Kimba roi de la jungle" is a French comic book series that seems to be based on a live action TV show or movie. Some issues are dated 1966 and others 1967.
Kali No. 76, Oct 1972 This is a smaller sized comic but I've shown a large picture of it so that Kali's face would be visible.
Kali / Zora
This is a jungle hero with long brown hair who, instead of the typical leopard loin cloth, wears a solid red fabric wrap (though sometimes it is blue or white) similar to Mowgli. The charater is from the "Kali" comic series in France, that seems to have started in 1967 and continued until at least 1980. Kali has a female compaion who's name I'm assuming is Zora, as both characters are also featured in "Zora" comics from the same time period.
Toka Jungle King
"Toka the Jungle King" was published by Dell Comics in 1964 and lasted 10 issues, until 1967. Toka seems to be an aboriginal warrior but fights leopards and alligators just like Tarzan. The name "Tokka" was also used in the 1991 movie "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze" for one of the film's villains, an evil mutant snapping turtle.
Tanka
This is another French Tarzan clone, with short blond hair, who appeared in the "Nevada" comic series published during the 1960s. I'm not certain when this original series started or ended. As of 2004, Tanka became part of the Hexagon Comics group of characters to be re-imagined and, presumably, featured in a new comic series. However, I'm not certain if any new comics have yet been published or if the artwork seen on the Hexagon website is just conceptual.
Yataca
According to wikipedia, the French comic series "Yataca" was produced from 1968 to 1989. This is another jungle hero with long blond hair.
1970s
Rahan
Another Caveman, which seems to have little if any influence from Tarzan, is the blond haired Rahan from France. This was a very successful character that appeared in large format comics during the 1970s. Shown above is No. 19 from the soft cover Nouvelle Collection series. If I'm not mistaken, this is the second series of Rahan comics. The artwork for Rahan is quite remarkable and is why I started collecting Rahan books. I know a little French but unfortunately not enough to read these comics! It would be awesome if they published them in English some day.
Kamandi: The Last Boy on Earth
DC Comics also has a blond haired hero. Kamandi: The Last Boy on Earth was first published in Oct 1972 and lasted until 1978 with a successful run of 59 issues.
Zangar
The character Zangar appeared in the 3 issue "Jungle Adventures" comics series, published by Skywald Comics in 1971. Zangar has long red hair and wears leopard patterned trunks.
Zan / Zarawa
A jungle hero from Italy, "Zan della Jungla" has long blond hair past his shoulders, is very strong and wears a leopard pattern Speedo. Essentially, he is a blond Conan the Barbarian in the jungle. I gather the comics were first published in Italy in 1974, and later in France where Zan became Zarawa and was published within the Akim comics.
Kong the Untamed
Another caveman hero from DC Comics, "Kong the Untamed" lasted five issues beginning in 1975. Kong has long blond hair and wears a brown loincloth.
Tragg
Another caveman, Tragg was a very short lived character. Published by Gold Key/Whitman/Western Publishing Company in 1975, Tragg and the Sky Gods lasted only 8 issues. Tragg also appeared in Gold Key Spotlight, No. 9, 1977. Issues were later reprinted in 1982.
Western Publishing Company's Tragg and the Sky Gods, No. 9, 1982 republished edition. Originally published in 1975. Tragg's hair is blond on the cover, but is coloured brown inside the comic!
Tono and Kono: The Jungle Twins
Published by Gold Key/Western Publishing Company in 1975, this is a very campy take on the Tarzan jungle hero. While the idea of jungle hero twins is silly enough on it's own, the idea is actually borrowed once again from Edgar Rice Burroughs who had double Tarzans appear in several of the original Tarzan novels. Burroughs also wrote the children's books, The Tarzan Twins (1927) and Tarzan and the Tarzan Twins (1936). The Gold Key Jungle Twins comic was first published in 1972 and lasted 18 issues. The only differrence between the two heroes is that Kono wears a necklace and Tono does not.
Gold Key, The Jungle Twins, No. 16, Sept 1975.
I've included a picture of the first panel to show how the characters are depicted inside the comic. Gotta love that goofy hair!
Tiki shown in danger on the cover of Safari, No. 133, Sept 1978
Tiki
This character is from a French comic so I'm not certain about the story concept. Tiki is a young teenage character. If there were a contest for skimpiest loin cloth he would win it. It looks like its made out of wigs! I'm not really sure what the deal is with Tiki. He doesn't seem to be a "jungle hero" like the others listed here, but rather just finds himself in trouble and has to run away from danger. The comic is called "Safari" which may have been first printed in the 1970s. I have issue No. 133, and it is dated 1978.
Korg
"Korg: 70,000 B.C." is a comic book published by Charlton Comics Group from 1975-76, lasting 9 issues. The comic series is based on the Hanna-Barbera live action TV series starring Jim Malinda as Korg, Bill Ewing as Bok, Naomi Pollack as Mara, Christopher Man as Tane, Charles Morteo as Tor, Janelle Pransky as Ree, and narrated by Burgess Meredith. The TV series was created by Fred Freiberger.
Grok, Zon, Trag and Orm
"One Million B.C" is a series of caveman action figure dolls produced by Mego in 1975. Seen above are, from left to right, Grok, Zon, Trag, and Orm. I'm missing the cavewoman, Mada, from this set. Mego's "One Million B.C." series of dolls has nothing to do with the popular 1966 Ray Harryhausen stop motion film "One Million Years B.C" that starred Raquel Welch, or the original 1940 film "One Million B.C." that the 1966 film was based on. For more about these Mego dolls see the "Mego Dolls" Part one" page of this blog.
Tarr
A barbarian from the French comic series "Tarr" published between 1976 and 1988 in hardcover books. Not unlike many others on his list, Tarr has long blond hair and wears a very skimpy loincloth. He is shown as a warrior type with a sword and shield, often with a submissive half naked woman crawling about his ankles. Earlier comics show Tarr wearing a unique pair of purple elf-like shoes. These were later replaced with the standard fur-trimmed barbarian boots. Here is a great website for Tarr images:
http://www.gwthomas.org/taar.htm1980s
Dar / Beastmaster
The Beastmaster is a movie from 1982 about a jungle hero / barbarian type of character named Dar, played by actor Marc Singer (who also starred in the popular Sci-Fi TV series "V"). Dar has the ability to communicate telepathically with his pets: an eagle, a tiger and two ferrets. A sequel was released in 1991 followed by a TV movie in 1996, with Marc Singer continuing in the role of Dar for each. Actor Daniel Goddard later portrayed the character of Dar in a television series. It was produced in 1999 and lasted three seasons with 66 episodes. Marc Singer made a guest appearance in the third season.
Yor
Yor is the main character in the 1983 film "Yor" from Columbia Pictures. I have yet to see the movie so I'm not certain if Yor is intended to be a caveman, jungle hero or barbarian type of character but his appearance is the same as all the above. He has shoulder length blond hair and wears a rather skimpy loincloth. The character was portrayed in the film by actor Reb Brown. A press photo caption explains "The mysterious gold medallion that Yor wears around his neck is the only clue in his quest to learn about his origins."
1990s
Oombah
The only Canadian conrtibution to this list, "Oombah, Jungle Moon Man" is a single issue comic published by Strawberry Jam Comics in 1992.
2000s
D'Leh
"10,000 B.C.", is a Warner Bros. movie from 2008 about a caveman hero, D'Leh, payed by actor Steven Strait and directed by Roland Emmerich.
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