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 excellent Doug Wildey.
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.
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.
This week, Korak starts the story by agreeing to hide a relic until two neighboring villages can decide peacefully which one will own it. While hiding the relic, the son of Tarzan rescues a gullible loner named Harvey from a snake and befriends him. Unfortunately, a pair of unscrupulous fortune hunters convince Harvey that they took him to the moon and threaten to strand him there unless he tells them where Korak hid the relic. Then, a giant lizard appears killing the fortune hunters, but Korak rescues Harvey. When the villages resort to violence over the ownership of the relic, Harvey finds it and destroys it.
In the beginning, Korak is apparently respected enough by both villages to hide the relic until they decide peacefully which one will own it. He exhibits his good heart, as well as his physical prowess, by rescuing Harvey from the snake and then by befriending the gullible loner. He then demonstrates his excellent tracking ability by finding Harvey and then rescuing him again, this time from the giant lizard. Although he allows Harvey to destroy the relic which he was responsible for hiding, this was only after the villages resorted to violence over the ownership dispute, reminiscent of Moses smashing the tablets.
Wildey's artwork is excellent. Viewers have plenty of opportunity to admire Korak's lean, athletic physique and cute, boyish face, although he is not as often in trouble in this story.
Favorite scene: page 1, panel a
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):
No comments:
Post a Comment