Korak is the Honorable Jack Clayton, son of English Lord John Clayton, Viscount Greystoke, also known as Tarzan, lord of the jungle. He is the hero of a 1915/6 magazine serial and 1917 novel by American writer Edgar Rice Burroughs and a 1920 silent movie serial,
as well as a character in several other Tarzan stories from 1914 to
1924. He experienced a revival in 1964 as the star of his own comic
book series and as a major character in various Tarzan comic books,
pages, and strips from 1966 to 1978.
As depicted in the comic books, pages, and strips, Korak has a lean, athletic physique, broad shoulders and thin waist, almost no clothing, a cute, boyish face, and full, thick hair. He is also an intelligent, enthusiastic teen-aged boy with excellent natural instincts and a good heart.
Korak
strives to emulate his legendary father but lacks his strength,
maturity and experience. Therefore, he is both more likely to enter
into dangerous situations and more vulnerable to being defeated.
As the star of his own comic book series in 1964, Korak is a capable, young hero. His adventures were somewhat similar to those of his father Tarzan, but independent from them.
In 1966, ABC released the TV series Batman, featuring the frequently imperiled youthful sidekick Robin the Boy Wonder. As a fan of seeing cute, young sidekicks in trouble, I watched every episode.
The British Tarzan weekly started in 1977. This week's artist is the wonderful Dan Spiegle.
Korak
continues to have a lean, athletic physique, broad shoulders and thin
waist, almost no clothing except for a leather loincloth over his
mid-section, a cute, boyish face, and full, thick, dark hair. However,
under Spiegle, Korak tended to have a shorter, more compact, gymnast's build.
He
continues to be a strong, athletic, teen-aged jungle boy. However, his
smaller size makes him even more vulnerable to defeat to larger, more
mature opponents.
He
continues to be an intelligent, enthusiastic teen-aged boy with good
natural instincts and a good heart. His youthful inexperience makes him
vulnerable to dirty fighting techniques or seduction. His youthful
enthusiasm may also lead him into trouble over good but dangerous causes
or to otherwise confront dangerous opponents to prove himself.
In
a prior story, a local fisherman managed to catch a mermaid. Korak
rescued her and took her to the ocean, but was severely injured and
taken to her underwater city to be treated. Learning that
the mermaid's underwater city sent a small army to the fisherman's
village to find her, Korak managed to notify the general of the army
that the mermaid was safe in her underwater city. The mermaid tasked Korak with destroying the helmet which produced the small army.
Last week, Korak carelessly threw the helmet into the garbage, where it was found by a hungry ape, taken from the ape by a local fisherman, won from
the fisherman by the unscrupulous owner of a gambling house, who used the helmet to gain revenge upon a hostile village.
This
week, Korak follows the path of destruction and tracks the unscrupulous owner to his gambling house on the sea. After managing the avoid the invincible, phantom soldier, Korak reaches the greedy owner and pours itchy and sticky fleas into the helmet. The gambling house owner jumps into the ocean and loses the helmet.
Once again, this
week's chaos was Korak's fault for being so careless in his disposal of
the helmet. While Korak
again demonstrates his speed, strength, and courage by confronting one of the helmet soldiers, he is eventually knocked senseless by it and is forced to rely upon the mercy of the owner of the gambling house for his life. In his second encounter, Korak
again demonstrates his speed, strength, and courage, and also intelligence by managing to
avoid another of the invincible, phantom soldiers and reaching a less forgiving owner of the gambling house and pouring itchy, sticky fleas into his helmet.
Spiegle's artwork is excellent. Viewers get great views of Korak's lean, athletic physique and cute, boyish face. My favorite scenes are when Korak confronts the invincible, phantom soldier, is knocked senseless and at the mercy of the unscrupulous owner of the gambling house for this life. He is eventually helped to his feet by one of his fellow victims.
Favorite scene: page 4, panel a
Previous British Tarzan blog:
Previous blog:
This blog is intended to raise interest in and appreciation of the Edgar Rice Burroughs character Korak. To see this story in context, you may find it in my Korak in British Tarzans blog at the following link:
This week's adventures can also be found at the following link(s):
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