Best known for his work on Sgt. Rock
, Kubert has lent his lean, gritty skills to a number of popular titles over the years, including this legendary run on Tarzan
in the 1970s. This second volume of reprints is chock-full of entertaining and appropriately over-the-top action, from shark wrestling and treasure hunting to, well, ape wrestling. There is even a complete five-issue story arc based upon Edgar Rice Burroughs's The Return of Tarzan
, featuring the hero in his cheetah-print underwear gallivanting around Europe. Tarzan himself is a classically satisfying hero, combining an unwavering sense of honor with sheer animal ferocity—not to mention a knack for getting captured that rivals only Batman's. Kubert's slightly hammy prose is always entertaining, and his use of thick, solid black lines lends a thrilling expressionist element to every panel. Contrasted with the volume's crisp color reproductions (based on Tatjana Woods's original colors), the stark shading techniques stand well apart from most of today's adventure titles—especially in the cover illustrations, all of which are included here. Kubert's Tarzan
is the ideal entertainment for a lazy afternoon, and this collection finds the artist and his hero at their best. (Mar.)
