What connects Phil Collins, Christopher Lambert, Kellan Lutz, Lucy Lawless, and Elvis Presley? Tarzan, of course! From Edgar Rice Burroughs’ pulpy, bosom-heaving adventure (Don’t believe us? We read out some excerpts to prove it!) to screens big and small, it’s everyone’s favourite Lord of the Apes.
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As a major ERB fan (yes I own all 24 of his Tarzan books and most of his others) I will admit he does tend to have somewhat bland characters, but he made up fir it by having some of the most thrilling adventures occur in his books. The Tarzan series is interesting because it has a curve to it, where the first twelve are all a ton of fun, building off of each other and becoming a glorious tapestry of adventure. Then he settled into a weird formula where Tarzan and insert white guy would find two battling lost cities and join with either side. Lost cultures found include Romans, Crusaders, Ant-men, madmen, and talking gorillas named after British monarchs.
While I won’t call Burroughs a paragon of racial and gender equality, I will say that he would introduce several native Africans who would become trusted allies of Tarzan, and Jane did become a great character who once was able to survive months in the jungle on her own.
Also, if Waltz is the bad guy, he would be perfect for books 2-4s antagonists of the evil Russian agents Nikolas Rokoff and Alexis Paulvitch, who Tarzan defeats in book 3 by teaming up with an unusually smart ape, a panther, and a native chief, it is so awesome!
ERB makes surviving in the jungle on your own look so easy. American heiress? English lord? It doesn’t matter who you are, you two can survive in the African jungle!