Tarzan, everybody’s favorite swinging alpha-male King of the Jungle, makes his way to a book series of collected comic strips that were originally illustrated by the late Russ Manning and the first volume of which will be released on May 29, 2013.

Tarzan: The Complete Russ Manning Newspaper Strips, Vol. 1: 1967 – 1969, will contain the strips that originally ran in black and white from 1967 – 1974 in many daily American newspapers. Sunday color strips ran until 1979. IDW Publishing, responsible for many other handsome collections of comic strips such as Lil’ Abner, Dick Tracy, Blondie, and Bloom County among others, now takes on the famed Edgar Rice Burroughs creation.

IDW’s President and Chief Operating Officer Greg Goldstein, summed it up by exclaiming that “the addition of Tarzan to the Library of American Comics amplifies even further that the imprint is the premier archival home for comic strip reprints and collections. Russ Manning’s Tarzan run is one of the real highlights of the modern age of adventure strips and we are definitely excited to be the home of its long-anticipated return to print.”

“When I saw I you, I believed it was a sign, that something new can come into this world,” says Tars Tarkas, the giant green Thark, as voiced by soulful Willem Dafoe in the teaser trailer for John Carter. Sadly, when the feature film entered our world, or at least in our cinemas, its reputation had already been tarnished by a soaring budget, backstage turbulence, and muddled marketing. Not until the release of Michael D. Sellers‘ winning book, John Carter and The Gods of Hollywood, have we truly appreciated all of what truly unfolded behind the scenes, of what John Carter could have been.

Before I dive into the book, let me share with you my experience with the film. I followed John Carter‘s production process extensively years prior to its March 2012 opening, as I was just as excited as any other Andrew Stanton fan of this Academy Award-winner directing an adaptation of the Edgar Rice Burroughs novel. Though I was not terribly familiar with the material, I felt enchanted by the riveting content. I was more than thrilled to be one of only thousands of individuals to see early scenes of John Carter at the Disney D23 Expo in August 2011. Some felt apathetic over the clips. Me, I was engaged every second. My fascination with this project led me to write many John Carter articles for Fused Film, the site I previously wrote for, and I have continued to throw in references to Carter in many of my Geeks of Doom pieces. I was on cloud nine when I saw that a book about this topic entered the market.

As I have discussed on Disney In Depth recently, the purchase of three key film properties – Pixar, Marvel and Lucasfilm – that have further realized Disney’s influence in the entertainment industry. Even the 2004 acquisition of The Muppets has forever changed the outlook for Jim Henson’s most adored faces. All of these characters unite the geek community, even those who enjoy Disney. In this edition, I will share some popular YouTube videos that spoof Marvel Studios, Pixar, Muppet, Star Wars and “regular” Disney films by featuring some famous personalities from the whole Disney universe.

John Carter
Blu-ray | Blu-ray 3D | DVD
Directed by Andrew Stanton
Starring Taylor Kitsch, Lynn Collins, Willem Dafoe, Mark Strong, Ciarán Hinds, Dominic West, James Purefoy
Walt Disney Pictures Home Entertainment
Release Date: June 5, 2012

Written by Edgar Rice Burroughs, A Princess of Mars is the first book in the John Carter of Mars series, which tells the story of a Civil War veteran transported to Mars.

For nearly 100 years, Hollywood has failed in its attempts to bring Burroughs’ classic science-fiction fantasy to the silver screen, though the ideas presented were borrowed by countless other works.

Burroughs’ John Carter of Mars series is so old that it actually influenced other influences. From Robert E. Howard’s Conan the Barbarian series to the pulpy Flash Gordon serials of the ’30s and ’40s that inspired George Lucas’s Star Wars, the themes and elements of Burroughs’ work have been mined so thoroughly that most moviegoers will find Disney’s live-action film adaptation, John Carter, to be rather irrelevant – but that’s not to say it isn’t entertaining.

Lord of the Jungle Annual #1
Written by Mark Rahner
Illustrated by Sergio Fernandez Davila
Colors by Santosh Kumar Rath
Letters by Simon Bowland
Based on the stories of Edgar Rice Burroughs
Cover by Lucio Parrilo
Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: May 23, 2012
Cover Price: $4.99

Lord of the Jungle Annual #1 is a good read for anyone that’s a fan of Edgar Rice Burroughs or Tarzan in general. It’s a classic story that some of you might be familiar with, but entertaining nonetheless.

Writer Mark Rahner brings us Tarzan’s first trip to civilization! And believe me, it’s a really fun read. There’s been many versions of this story told in countless media, but it’s your classic fish out of water story, with a couple of great twists thrown in for good measure.