A History of Pellucidar Comics

A History

of

Pellucidar Comics

Written by David Critchfield and published online at this website on 12/25/98. It was published in the National Capital Panthans Journal #91, May 2004, and reprinted in the book, The Gilak's Guide to Pellucidar in 2007. A small portion of this section appeared as Korak at the Earth’s Core in ERB-APA #97, Spring 2008.

Last updated 12/26/10.

All rights reserved. 

Tarzan at the Earth’s Core - Artist Rex Maxon (1892–1973) illustrated the novel, Tarzan at the Earth’s Core, adapted to comic strip format by R. W. Palmer for the United Feature Syndicate (UFS) daily Tarzan newspaper strip. Each strip consisted of four illustrated panels with text beneath. This sequence was numbered H-1 to H-96. The story began June 1, 1931 and ran until September 19, 1931.

The story was collected in the 1992 Italian book, 20.000 Leghe Sotto la Terra: Pellucidar e Gli Altri Mondi Sepolti (20,000 Leagues Under the Earth: Pellucidar and Other Buried Worlds) by Fabrizio Frosali.

The strips were also reprinted in Bill Hillman’s ERBzine beginning with issue #3085 on 11-19-2010 and finishing with #3095 on 12-24-2010. They can be read online atwww.erbzine.com/mag30/3084.html.

Dave Innes of Pellucidar (The Hawley Publications), was Pellucidar’s first appearance in a comic book; an adaptation of the first part of At the Earth's Core by ERB’s son, John Coleman Burroughs (1913-1979). It was the final twelve pages of a sixty-four page comic, Hi-Spot Comics #2, in November of 1940. This comic also included an adaptation of Jack London’s Seawolf. The full-color cover was an illustration of Innes holding the Earth with the iron mole stuck through the middle. There never was a #3 of this comic. It was reprinted in ERB-dom #9 in March of 1964. It appeared again in a fifty-six page Burroughs Bibliophiles booklet called David Innes of Pellucidar in 1968, this time including all thirty-two pages, some originally intended for other comic issues. There is a full page explaining this comic in The Edgar Rice Burroughs Library of Illustration Volume 2 published by Russ Cochran in 1977. The comic is also reprinted in that book.

  

Tarzan in Pellucidar – Writer Rob Thompson took over the UFS Tarzan daily comic strip, and his first continuity was an adaptation of Tarzan at the Earth's Core. This ran during the winter of 1947-1948 in strips #2509-2640. The book version has Jason Gridley telling Tarzan the events that happened in the story, Tanar of Pellucidar. At ERB’s suggestion, Thompson changed this to At the Earth’s Core, and so there is a five-week flashback to bring Tarzan up to date. Another alteration to the original story is that the great dirigible, the O-220, is not used to enter Pellucidar. Instead, a Doctor Dana Franklin duplicates Abner Perry’s iron mole. The Doctor and his daughter, Doris, are part of the new prospector’s crew. Thompson’s story then follows the book pretty faithfully until after Tarzan, Jason, and the others escape from the Horibs. Instead of rescuing David Innes from the Korsars, he is rescued from a band of Sagoths. Then the group splits up, with Tarzan, Dr. Franklin, and Doris journeying back to where the iron mole is, and the others returning to Sari to enlist Ghak’s help in flipping the mole around to point to the surface. With Tarzan’s group is Ulan, a man from Clovi that was banished for speaking on Tarzan’s behalf earlier in the story. His exile does not occur in the original book. At this point, Thompson borrows events from Land of Terror. Tarzan and friends rescue a baby maj (mastodon) that is mired in a marsh. Its parents appear grateful and travel with them for a while. Then, the humans are captured by the man-eating giants of Azar. The mastodons return the favor and break the prisoners free and carry them to the vicinity of the iron mole. At story’s end, Doris decides to remain in Pellucidar with Ulan.

 Dan Barry (1923-1997) was the artist for this continuity, although Burne Hogarth (1911-1996) penciled the first few weeks. ERB complained about Hogarth dressing the people of Pellucidar in ornate turbans and robes instead of animal skins. In truth, Dian the Beautiful has never been drawn so completely clothed.

 These strips were reprinted in the U.K. comic book, Tarzan Adventures, as shown below:

q       The Mole – Issue #42 on 01/17/59 contains strips #2509-2523

q       Escape to Sari – Issue #43 on 01/24/59 contains strips #2524-2545

q       Tarzan and the Sagoths – Issue #44 on 01/31/59 contains strips #2546-2567

q       Prisoner of the Clovians – Issue #45 on 02/07/59 contains strips #2568-2589

q       Tarzan and the Snake Men – Issue #46 on 02/14/59 contains strips #2590-2611

q       Jason Gridley and Thoar – Issue #47 on 02/21/59 contains strips #2612-2644

q       Pellucidar Concludes – Issue #48 on 02/28/59 contains strips #2634-2640

Cover images of these are at one of Bill Hillman’s websites.

The entire story was reprinted in two issues of the Burroughs Bulletin. Strips #2509-2542 were reprinted in #21 in 1971, and #2539-2640 were reprinted in #36 in 1974. 

 The story was collected again in a New Zealand comic book in 1973 called Tarzan of the Apes Special Superadventure Issue.

The story was collected in the 1992 Italian book, 20.000 Leghe Sotto la Terra: Pellucidar e Gli Altri Mondi Sepolti (20,000 Leagues Under the Earth: Pellucidar and Other Buried Worlds) by Fabrizio Frosali.

The story was collected once again in Rick Norwood's magazine Comics Revue in issues #175-193.

  

Possibly as early as 1964, Artist Jeff Jones produced eight comic pages plus a cover page of an adaptation of Tarzan at the Earth’s Core. Burroughs fan Henry Franke published these pages plus an additional Pellucidar comic cover by Jones, perhaps related to the strip, in The Mucker Magazine #14, February 2010. In the article, Franke speculates about the purpose of this presumably previously unpublished and unfinished comic.

Tarzan at the Earth’s Core - Gold Key Comics faithfully adapted the book, Tarzan at the Earth's Core, in the comic Tarzan of the Apes. Doug Wildey (1922-1994) is the artist. These three stories are titled:

q       Tarzan at the Earth’s Core (September 1968, #179) - The protoceratops is pictured and described in a one-page presentation included in the comic called Dinosauria.

q       Lost in Pellucidar (October 1968, #180) - The plesiosaur is pictured and described in a one-page presentation included in the comic called Dinosauria.

q       The Pirates of Korsar (December 1968, #181) - The ankylosaurus is pictured and described in a one-page presentation included in the comic called Dinosauria.

    

Marvel Comics negotiated with ERB for a Pellucidar newspaper strip late in 1970. Sadly this project never got off the ground but several sample panels appeared in Wonderworld #9 in August 1973. The sample strips were written by Roy Thomas and drawn by Ross Andru (picture below).

Tarzan Returns to the Earth’s Core - Artist Russ Manning (1929-1981) took Tarzan and Korak to Pellucidar in the United Feature Syndicate (UFS) daily Tarzan newspaper strip. This story began on 11/22/71 with strip #10093, and ran until 07/29/72 with strip #10308. Manning used the letter “M” to denote 10,000. For example, the strip on 11-29-71, which is numbered M-99 on the actual strip, is sequentially #10,099.

 In the story, Tarzan and Korak return a Mahar to Pellucidar. How the Mahar got to the surface in the first place was told earlier in a daily strip sequence called Tarzan and the Cult of the Mahar, which began on 03/11/71 with strip #9874, and ran until 07/31/71 with strip #9996. Cult of the Mahar does not take place in Pellucidar, but at the end, in strips #9980 through #9989, the Mahar tells Tarzan how he came to the surface. Every schoolboy remembers the end of the first Pellucidar book. Hooja substitutes a Mahar in the place of Dian the Beautiful, and sets David off in the prospector at the wrong angle. In the next book, Innes returns the Mahar to Pellucidar. According to the Manning story, this was just an illusion placed in Innes’ mind by the Mahar, which actually remained on the surface. 

 The Mahar story sequence did not run directly before the Pellucidar one; a story called Korak and the White Water Runner was between them.  

Manning discussed the comic and the technical issues of illustrating Pellucidar in a brief article in ERB-dom #53 in December 1971. He said that with Pellucidar’s upward curving horizon, there is never a clear sky to silhouette objects against. Also, with the sun directly overhead, nothing has shadows. 

The strip on 12/22/71, M-119, featured the founder of the Burroughs Bibliophiles, Vern Coriell, as a crewmember of the O-220.

 Many of the strips from the Pellucidar story were reprinted in the fanzine, ERB-dom, as shown in the following table. 

ERB-dom issue number and date		contains original strip number and date
80	February 1975	M-99	11/29/71	to	M-122	12/25/71
81	April 1975	M-123	12/27/71	to	M-128	01/01/72
82	June 1975	none
83	September 1975	M-129	01/03/72	to	M-148	01/25/72
84	November 1975	M-149	01/26/72	to	M-168	02/17/72
85	February 1976	M-169	02/18/72	to	M-188	03/11/72
86	April 1976	M-189	03/13/72	to	M-208	04/04/72
87	June 1976	M-209	04/05/72	to	M-223	04/21/72
88	September 1976	M-224	04/22/72	to	M-238	05/09/72
89	November 1976	M-239	05/10/72	to	M-248	05/20/72

 ERB-dom #82 didn't contain any reprinted strips. In that issue, editor Caz explained, We dropped “Korak at the Earth’s Core” in light of DC’s publication of Tarzan No. 238, “Return to Pellucidar” for only 50¢. By comparing it to ERB-dom #80 & #81 strips, you can see they dropped many of the original panels, but they did add color.

 I did compare the strips to the comic book. Not only were some strips dropped, but also new word balloons replaced old, and some of the panels were placed in a different order.

 The DC Comics story, Return to Pellucidar in Tarzan #238 (June 1975) mentioned by Caz, reprinted the Manning strips, this time colorized. Forty-nine pages of the comic book are devoted to the story. It begins approximately with strip number M-98 and ends with strip number M-246. The panel featuring Vern Coriell is not included. The comic book’s cover illustration is by Joe Kubert. Also included in the comic is a one-page presentation called Beasts of Other Worlds. It has a picture and description of the tarag, Pellucidar’s saber-toothed tiger.

 The story begun in Tarzan #238 concludes with DC Comics’ Escape from Pellucidar, a fifteen-page story in Korak #60 (December 1975), now called Tarzan Family Giant. Here, as in Return to Pellucidar, the reprinted UFS daily strips have been colorized. This comic book contains three other stories:  “Forbidden Tomb,” “Carson of Venus,” and “Amazon of Barsoom.”

The strips can be read online because there were reprinted again, this time in Bill Hillman’s ERBzine from issue #2942 on 02/12/10 through #2965 on 04/30/10.

 The Tarzan and the Cult of the Mahar strips were colorized and reprinted in the DC comic book Tarzan #235 (March 1975) in a forty-seven page story titled: The Mahagga. These strips can also be read online because they were reprinted in Hillman’s ERBzine from issue #2916 through 2929.

Strips #10,289 through #10,308 were reprinted in Rick Norwood's Comic Revue issues #173-174.

 Plot Summary - Tarzan Returns to the Earth’s Core 

Tarzan and Korak are aboard the O-220 on a mission to return a Mahar to Pellucidar. With them are Lieutenant/Captain Hines, navigator Vern, helicopter pilot Makebe, and Mugambi and his Waziri warriors. Korak is excited about his first trip to the Earth’s core. The Mahar had been locked in a cell in the mountains where the O-220 had been hidden.

The dirigible enters Pellucidar through the polar opening. The crewmembers see Bhodes[1], Pellucidar’s moon.

Once in Pellucidar, a flock of Pteranodons attacks the dirigible, frees the Mahar, and carries off Korak. Tarzan and Makebe follow in a helicopter. The Mahar can communicate telepathically with Tarzan, and warns him to leave or Korak will be killed. Makebe lands the helicopter out of range of the Mahar’s telepathic powers. Tarzan plans a simultaneous air and land attack. He leaves on foot, and Makebe goes to get the O-220. Suddenly Tarzan is attacked and captured by Horibs riding gorobars[2].

Tarzan awakes in the Horib’s cavern of mud where Princess Dav-an[3], the daughter of David Innes and Dian the Beautiful, is also a captive. They are to be fattened, and fed to the Horib hatchlings. Tarzan is able to swim to freedom, taking the girl with him. Free, Dav-an insists on being taken to Sari but Tarzan must hasten back to the Mountains of the Thipdars to save Korak. They depart briefly but Dav-an encounters a lone Horib.

Tarzan hears her scream, and interrupts the capture attempt. He fights and kills the Horib. Dav-an realizes that it’s too dangerous for her to travel to Sari alone, and agrees to go with Tarzan to free Korak. They depart for the Mountains of the Thipdars riding the slain Horib’s gorobar.

A storm hits as they enter the mountain range. Tarzan leaves Dav-an in the safety of a cave, and continues alone. He finds the cavern of the thipdars just as the flock is leaving, fleeing in fright, from what, Tarzan wonders?

Tarzan finds Korak’s knife, but the cavern is otherwise empty. He returns to check on Dav-an only to find her gone. Then Mugambi and the Waziri arrive. Mugambi tells Tarzan his story.

Makebe had brought them to the mountains in the helicopter. The warriors searched for Tarzan and Korak on foot. Then they were attacked by flying dragons (thipdars) but fortunately the storm drove them off.

Tarzan returns to the dirigible to continue the search across the savage vastness of Pellucidar.

When the thipdar pulled Korak from the dirigible, he was taken to one of hundreds of caverns. He tries to escape but a Mahar paralyzes him with a mental blast. While the attacking Waziri and the O-220 distracts the Mahar, Korak slips away.

Korak comes upon another cavern where a Mahar is about to capture a girl. It’s Dav-an, although Korak hasn’t met her yet. He quickly attacks the Mahar, and then all, including the gorobar, tumble down the side of a cliff into a flooded river. The lizard, at home in the water, inflates itself with air, and carries Korak and Dav-an about fifty miles downstream.

The two are attacked by a Sagoth. The Sagoth falls, apparently a victim of a gunshot. Korak helps the Sagoth, bandaging the wound. Dav-an, fearing other Sagoths are nearby, and upset with Korak for saving the gorilla-man’s life, flees on the gorobar.

Korak follows the sound of gunfire. He comes upon a group of Sagoths attacking who he believes are men from the O-220. Who else would be bearing guns in savage Pellucidar? The Sagoths cause an animal stampede toward the holed-up riflemen. Korak alerts the shooters in time for them to seek shelter in the treetops. Then they elude the Sagoths, taking advantage of the dust stirred up by the passing stampede.

Korak sees that these are not his friends from the O-220 but are men from Sari, led by David Innes. They are searching for Dav-an.

Korak, Innes, and the Sarians decide to take Innes’ boat upriver to the Mountains of the Thipdars to find Tarzan. Innes reasons that using the O-220 will make his search for Dav-an easier. When they approach the moored Connecticut, they find her full of Sagoths armed with match-lock carbines[4].

The gilaks are taken captive and put to the oars of the Connecticut. Instead of going upriver, they go down it, stopping once to pick up another Sagoth party with slaves, including Dav-an.

When they reach the sea, two azdryths[5] attack. David Innes does not want to show the Sagoths how to use the ship’s cannon, giving that race the knowledge of superior weaponry. His daughter disagrees feeling that saving their lives is more important. The Sagoths release her from the oars and she dispatches two azdryths with two cannon shots.

Aboard the O-220, Tarzan continues the search for his son. He flies to Sari, only to find it under attack by Sagoths, now using canons. The O-220’s firepower is too much for the Sagoths, but the Sarian general, Roag, is a traitor in league with the Sagoths. Tarzan is shot, and Dian is taken prisoner.

Merely wounded, Tarzan captures general Roag.

The O-220 flies to the coast and finds the Sagoths marching empress Dian and the captured Sarians into captivity. They free the prisoners.

Meanwhile, Korak, David Innes, Dav-an, and other prisoners are taken off the Connecticut. They are seized by Mahars, and taken to Bhodes, Pellucidar’s moon. There, the Mahars lure them into a feeding pool. Just in time, the O-220 arrives to save the mesmerized ones. All are reunited, and Tarzan and Korak return to the ape-man’s jungle.

---

[1] Called the Dead World in ERB’s books

[2] Spelled gorobor in ERB’s books. Later in this story, it is simply referred to as the lizard.

[3] Princess Dav-an is a character created presumably by Manning. Abner Perry has a daughter named Tala in Dark Horse’s Tarzan: Tales of Pellucidar by Thomas Yeates.

[4] In strip M-216 Manning seems to make a mistake. The Sarians aboard the Connecticut admit to having been surprised by the Sagoths at night.

[5] Spelled azdyryth in ERB’s books, this beast resembles our ichthyosaurus, a fearsome ocean reptile.

DC Comics took over Korak from Gold Key with issue #46 on 05/06/72. It contained Pellucidar: The World Within, a story by Len Wein with art by Alan Weiss. This began an adaptation of At the Earth's Core that continued in Weird Worlds.

Edgar Rice Burroughs Weird Worlds (DC comics) continued the adaptation of At the Earth's Core that started in Korak #46. Each of these comic books contained both a continuing Pellucidar and Barsoom story. The adaptation of At the Earth’s Core completed in issue #5 and Pellucidar began with issue #6. These stories were dropped after issue #7.  The Writer / Artist for each is as follows:

q       The Arena of Sudden Death--#1 September 1972, Len Wein / Alan Weiss

q       Slaves of the Mahars------------#2 November 1972, Len Wein / Alan Weiss

q       Temple of the Damned---------#3 January 1973, Len Wein / Alan Weiss

q       Jubal the Ugly One---------------#4 March 1973, Denny O’Neil / Michael Wm. Kaluta

q       Combat-------------------------------#5 May 1973, Denny O’Neil / Dan Green

q       Return--------------------------------#6 August 1973, Denny O’Neil / Dan Green

  q The Trap-----------------------------#7 October 1973, Denny O’Neil / Dan Green

    

      

Tarzan in Savage Pellucidar (1975) is a forty-eight page graphic novel written by Mike Royer and drawn by Russ Manning that was published in numerous European countries. In this story, Tarzan enters Pellucidar in a submarine down through bottomless Loch Ness. There he fights Hooja the Sly One and the Sagoths as the Mahars try to regain their Great Secret.

The Amulet, the Power, and the Hero (11/12/76) – This story appeared in DC Comics issue #66, again called Tarzan Family Giant. The comic has three stories: Korak, Barsoom, and Pellucidar. Elliot Maggin wrote the Pellucidar yarn. The artist was Gerry Talaoc. The beginning of this story is very similar to the second book of the series. Cogdon Nestor discovers a telegraph chattering away in the Sahara Desert. It tells him of the further adventures of David Innes in Pellucidar. Innes returns to the savage world with the iron mole loaded with books, blueprints, and supplies. Once in Pellucidar, the story bears no resemblance whatsoever to Burroughs’ books. A village, too civilized to be in Pellucidar in my opinion, is being terrorized by Mahars. The villagers feel defenseless because their Amulet of Power has been stolen. Armed with swords, Innes and the chief go the Mahar’s eyrie and win back the Amulet. Turns out there were only two Mahars. It also turns out that the Amulet is just a worthless tricket and is discarded. The story wraps up, like a Burroughs book, with the end of the “framing device”. Here again it’s similar to the book, Pellucidar. Cogdon Nestor has received a reply from the writer Burroughs. “Story True.”

Dead Moon of Pellucidar - Writer and artist Russ Manning took the ape-man to the Earth's core in the UFS Tarzan Sunday comic strip in a story that ran for a year and spanned fifty-three parts from #2448 on 02/05/78 to #2498 on 01/28/79. These strips were reprinted by Blackthorne Publishing in Comic-Strip Preserves Tarzan #3 in July 1986, although reduced in size to 4" x 6". They were reprinted again in ERBzine #2137 on September 10, 2010 .

  

Plot Summary

    The great dirigible, the O-220, lands at Tarzan's African estate. Tarzan greets Captain Hines. Tarzan explains that the telegraph that David Innes set up (see the end of At the Earth's Core by ERB) in the Sahara transmitted a cry for help. There is a danger in Pellucidar that threatens the entire Earth. Fifty Waziri warriors are part of the crew for this mission. At first, they call the dirigible a "cloud elephant."

    As the O-220 moves north, its radio picks up news that earthquakes are striking all continents. Tarzan knows that this is related to the danger in Pellucidar. They speed toward the northern polar opening.

    Inside Pellucidar, they use the dirigible's special weapons to break up a battle between Horibs and lidi-riding warriors from Sari. Tarzan speaks to Reyna, the leader of the warriors, and finds out that an earthquake destroyed the city of Sari. Shortly after that, David Innes vanished. Reyna carries an urgent message to von Horst, chief of Lo-har. Tarzan dies on the lidi with Reyna's warriors while the O-220 follows above.

    They arrive at Lo-har, a city of caves, to find that von Horst is a bitter man, caring little for anything. Sagoths killed his mate, La-ja. An earthquake strikes Lo-har, nearly trapping Tarzan, Reyna, von Horst, and the warriors from Sari in a cave. Von Horst finally agrees to go with the group to Sari. On their way there, they are attacked by Horibs. Tarzan's group tries to outrun them. Then they come upon more Horibs attacking mammoth-riding warriors. Tarzan cleverly moves the battle up the mountain, drawing the Horibs into a cold rain where the reptiles become sluggish. He captures their leader. The mammoth-riders and Horibs join Tarzan's growing legion of mismatched warriors.

    They arrive at Sari and find a worried Empress Dian the Beautiful. As a storm dumps rain on Sari, Sagoths attack, receiving mental communications from Mahars hidden above in the clouds. The Sagoths kidnap Tarzan and Dian, carrying them at a trot to the Land of Awful Shadow. From there, Mahars carry them up to Pellucidar's moon, called the Dead World, and into a feeding temple. Tarzan saves a mesmerized girl who walks into the water toward a Mahar. The Mahar carries Tarzan into a cave where he finds hundreds of Mahars in a crystal cavern and a jewel suspended in the air (Pellucidar's moon may be hollow as well). The Emperor David Innes is there. The Mahars are forcing him to visualize surface world cities. Then the Dead World, completely made of crystals, begins to vibrate and causes an earthquake exactly where the Mahars directed it. San Francisco is destroyed. Then the Mahars try to enter Tarzan's brain.

    Meanwhile, the odd army of warriors from Sari and Lo-har, as well as Horibs and mammoth-riders are lead by Reyna and von Horst in pursuit of the Sagoths that captured Tarzan and Dian. The army comes to the Land of Awful Shadow, and while most of the gilaks sleep, Reyna asks von Horst to show her the exciting games that surface people play in the dark. Suddenly the Horibs revolt and attack them. A fierce battle breaks out and just when it looks like the Horibs will triumph, the O-220 arrives. The Horibs surrender. The entire army minus the mammoths and lidi board the great dirigible and fly to the Dead World.

    Meanwhile, Tarzan's indomitable will power allows him to break free of the Mahar's mental hold. Mahar reinforcements arrive. Collectively they concentrate their thoughts on the jewel, and power builds within it. Reyna's army enters the crystal cave to find Tarzan and David Innes being blasted by the mind rays of the Mahars. The Waziri warriors fire on the Mahars but the reptiles send a mental blast that halts the warriors' guns. Sensing the power of the crystal weakening, Tarzan sends his own mental attack at it. The crystal shatters, and the victory cry of the bull ape is voiced by the ape-man. The Mahars flee the crystal cavern. As the O-220 is getting ready to depart for the outer world, Tarzan asks von Horst if he's coming with them, but von Horst seems to be very interested in Reyna.

Commentary (and a few quibbles on details)

    Russ Manning's artwork is very good on this strip. He does well on pretty ladies. Reyna is one hot warrior-maiden, always ready to die in glorious battle, and looking mighty fine while doing it in her two-piece fur-trimmed fighting bikini, and Empress Dian the Beautiful is drawn as lovely as is her name.

    Manning's story is also very good. There's plenty of action. How can you go wrong with Horibs, Sagoths, and Mahars?

    Hines was the navigator on the original rescue mission to Pellucidar as told in the book Tarzan at the Earth's Core. He's Captain on this mission. Perhaps Zuppner, the original Captain, was unavailable or retired. This was also true in Manning's prior story in 1971, Tarzan Returns to the Earth's Core, told in the daily comic strip. Two other minor characters from that prior strip appear in this one: the Waziri Mugambi and the helicopter pilot Makebe.

    Gorobor is spelled incorrectly here as gorobar, just like it was in 1971. Abner Perry has inexplicably become Abner Dean.

    In this story, the Horibs speak the language of Tarzan's mangani, unlike in the book where they speak the common language of Pellucidar.

    As the Sagoths carry Dian into the Land of Awful Shadow, she cries, "No...No! Not into the awful shadow! It is death to enter the darkness." In the books, her brother Dacor is married to Canda of the tribe of Thoria who live in the Land of Awful Shadow. In this comic, everyone is in superstitious dread of the place.

    Dian is pretty much afraid of everything; quite unlike the way Burroughs portrays her. Here's one of several examples, "Oh...It's so dark!...And terrible! Tarzan! I'm frightened!" She's particularly annoying in strip #2474.

Many thanks to Dennis Wilcutt for sending me copies of these strips.

 Strip numbers and dates are listed below. 

       2448                    02/05/78

2449                    02/12/78

2450                    02/19/78

2451                    02/26/78

2452                    03/05/78

2453                    03/12/78

2454                    03/19/78

2455                    03/26/78

2456                    04/02/78

2457                    04/09/78

2458                    04/16/78

2459                    04/23/78

2460                    04/30/78

2461                    05/07/78

2462                    05/14/78

2463                    05/21/78

2464                    05/28/78

2465                    06/04/78

2466                    06/11/78

2467                    06/18/78

2468                    06/25/78

2469                    07/02/78

2470                    07/09/78

2471                    07/16/78

2472                    07/23/78

2473                    07/30/78

2474                    08/06/78

2475                    08/13/78

2476                    08/20/78

2477                    08/27/78

2477*        09/03/78

2478                    09/10/78

2479                    09/17/78

2480                    09/24/78

2481                    10/01/78

2482                    10/08/78

2483                    10/15/78

2484                    10/22/78

2485                    10/29/78

2486                    11/05/78

2487                    11/12/78

2488                    11/19/78

2489                    11/26/78

2490                    12/03/78

2491                    12/10/78

2492                    12/17/78

2493                    12/24/78

2494                    12/31/78

2495                    01/07/79

2496                    01/14/79

2497                    01/21/79

2498                    01/28/79 

*There are two #2477s. The strip numbers for the second one and all subsequent Tarzan strips through #2603 are off by one.

Blood Money and Human Bondage – This story ran in Marvel Comics’ Tarzan Lord of the Jungle. The Writer / Artist / Inker for each is as follows:

q       #15 - August 1978: David A. Kraft / John Buscema / Klaus Janson – The story starts in this issue, but it doesn’t take us to Pellucidar until issue # 17.

q       #16 – September 1978: David A. Kraft / John Buscema / Klaus Janson

q       #17 – October 1978: David A. Kraft / John Buscema / Klaus Janson – Finally Pellucidar!

q       #18 – November 1978: David A. Kraft / John Buscema / Klaus Janson

q       #19 – December 1978: David A. Kraft / Sal Buscema/ Klaus Janson

q       #20 – January 1979: David A. Kraft and Bill Mantlo / Sal Buscema / Bob Hall

q       #21 – February 1979: David A. Kraft and Bill Mantlo / Sal Buscema / Rudy Nebres

q       #22 – March 1979: Bill Mantlo / Sal Buscema / Jim Mooney

q       #23 – April 1979: Bill Mantlo / Sal Buscema / Pablo Marcos

q       #24 – May 1979: Bill Mantlo / Sal Buscema / Bob Hall – contains the story’s epilogue and the beginning of the next story

Plot Summary - Blood Money and Human Bondage 

A local African villager is pursued by Arab slavers. Tarzan kills the Arabs. He then finds a group of foreigners supposedly tracking the rest of the Arab group, but their true mission is unknown. Tarzan joins them temporarily.

Meanwhile Arabs from the same group raid a village. They take the Princess Ayesha and her surviving villagers to the mountain camp of the Mad Arab, Abdul Alhazred. There they are put to work opening a sealed cavern.

Tarzan discovers the foreigners he’s partnered with are ivory poachers and thieves. The foreigners attempt to hang glide into the Mad Arab’s mountain stronghold. Tarzan and a mangani follow them, also using gliders. The ape seems to have no trouble flying his.

The Mad Arab’s slaves have opened the Sacred Cavern. Within, Alhazred completes a ritual that opens a portal to Pellucidar. He enters the portal with his men, the Princess Ayesha, and the foreigners, who pretend to be on the Arab’s side to save their lives. Tarzan follows into Pellucidar as the portal closes.

Ayesha walks ahead of the group, and is attacked by hyenadons (sic). A young Pellucidarian hunter saves her. Together they flee Alhazred’s group, and escape on the youth’s trained thipdar. Bullets wound both the young hunter and the thipdar during their flight. The dying beast manages to fly them to the Dead World, the moon of Pellucidar.

Tarzan is attacked by cannibals riding flightless birds (perhaps dyals). He escapes by diving off a cliff, one thousand feet down to a river. He swims to shore and finds it full of Korsars. The Cid talks him into joining their ranks. The pirates are attacked by a sea monster (perhaps an azdyryth). Tarzan kills it, and the Cid announces they are now blood brothers.

The cannibals join forces with the Mad Arab believing Alhazred is the “one whose coming was foretold.” They set out on the river in the cannibal’s boat. Catching up to the Cid, they attack the pirates. Alhazred takes a bullet in the face but it doesn’t even faze him. The Korsars manage to repel the cannibals. Tarzan dives off the boat when the Cid doesn’t want to pursue them.

Back on land, Tarzan happens upon a lair of Horribs. The fight results in the reptile-men all slain, and Tarzan continues his search for the Mad Arab. Then he is captured by Sagoths. He is tied up and placed on the back of a thipdar behind a Sagoth. Once in the air, Tarzan manages to dislodge the Sagoth. He is still tied up but is able to pilot the thipar with the reins in his teeth. He enters the Land of Awful Shadow and comes upon a city.

On the Dead World, Ayesha and the hunter are taken to the Mahars’ feeding pool. Killing one Mahar and wounding another, Ayesha saves the hunter and herself. Later they discover the Mahars’ sound cannon. The Mahars intend to use this weapon to wipe out the human races of Pellucidar.

Below, in the Land of Awful Shadow, Alhazred and his party of bickering foreigners and cannibals arrive at the city. He is drawn to the sonic crystal, the power source for the sound cannon.

Ayesha directs the sound cannon at the Mad Arab back on Pellucidar’s surface. She is discovered by the Mahars. During the fight, Ayesha smashes the weapon.

Tarzan discovers the defeated army of Amoz. He takes command and leads them against the pyramid city. The defending Mahars seem to have the upper hand when suddenly a stampede of animals disrupts the confrontation. It seems that the beasts of Pellucidar are being drawn to the crystal.

            At last Tarzan finds the Mad Arab as he is before the sonic crystal. An epic fight ensues. At the end, both Alhazred and the crystal are destroyed. Ayesha and the hunter, whose name is Dangar, fall in love, and ride a Thipdar to join the others in the defeated Mahars’ pyramid city.

In the epilogue, the portal to the surface has somehow materialized just when it’s needed. Ayesha decides to remain in Pellucidar with the man she loves. The Cid arrives and wishes his blood brother good luck, then Tarzan and the surviving foreigner pass through the portal. Back on the surface, Tarzan seals the entrance to the Sacred Cavern with a blast of dynamite. Pellucidar is safe from the greed of men.

            There is a mistake, or departure from ERB’s Pellucidar, in issue #20. A Mahar is enraged because Ayesha kills its mate. Mahars, of course, are all female and reproduce using artificial methods.
    Abdul Alhazred, the Mad Arab, is a name coined by H. P. Lovecraft for himself when he was a young writer and was the name of the author of the Necronomicon in Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos.

    

    

      

Back to Pellucidar - Artist Gray Morrow and writer Don Kraar took Tarzan to Pellucidar in the Sunday funnies of the UFS strip. This story ran for fourteen weeks during the fall and winter of 1987.

As the story opens, Jason Gridley and his family are living in Sari, not in Tarzana as one is led to believe by what Innes says at the end of Back to the Stone Age. Another surprise is that Jana, theRed Flower of Zoram is a blonde. Hair dye must be one of the innovations brought about by Abner Perry. 

The great dirigible, the O-220, has been brought out of mothballs and refitted for another mission to Pellucidar. A group of explorers from the surface have inadvertently started an influenza epidemic, against which Pellucidarans have no natural defenses. The O-220’s mission is to bring the city of Sari medical supplies to combat the illness.

Several crewmembers have some experience in Pellucidar. Hines, the navigator on the original rescue mission, is Captain on this one. Hines was also the O-220’s Captain in Russ Manning’s Sunday funnies story, Dead Moon of Pellucidar in 1978. I wonder if Don Kraar was being consistent with Manning on purpose or was he continuing an error. Dorf is back as well, a mate on the first mission, now a Lieutenant. And of course, Tarzan is on board.

Upon arrival in Sari, Tarzan finds out that the Mahars have recently begun to rise up against the human races again and are gathering in a mountain stronghold. Also new to Tarzan, is Jason and Jana’s daughter Mia.

A man named Brock heads the expedition that brought the disease to the Earth’s core. Because Innes wouldn’t let him exploit Pellucidar’s resources, Brock has been dealing with the Mahars. Looking for a way home, Brock’s explorers hijack the O-220 with Jana and Mia onboard. Tarzan and others pursue them on Ja’s ship, The Connecticut[1].

Although Burroughs described the Mezops as similar in appearance to our Native Americans, Morrow has Ja looking like Ming the Merciless.

Ja’s island home is misspelled as Anaroc in strip #2933, and then is misspelled a different way as Anorac in the very next and remaining strips. The correct spelling is Anoroc, which, according to “Septimus Favonius” from the Burroughs Bulletin, is the backwards spelling of Burroughs’ Corona typewriter.

The Connecticut is attacked by an azdyryth[2], which is dispatched by cannon fire.

Then they fall under attack by a ship of Korsars led by none other than The Cid himself[3]. The Waziri repel the pirates using automatic weapons. The Connecticut is sorely damaged, and Tarzan’s crew abandons it and continues the journey to the Mountains of the Thipdars on the Korsar vessel.

Just two comic panels at sea and then it’s “Land Ho,” at the swamps of the Horibs. This was a significant sea voyage according to the known maps of Pellucidar. Leaving Sari, the ship must have sailed down past the Unfriendly Islands, through the nameless strait, and then across the Korsar Az to reach the stomping grounds of the Horibs.

Yes, no Pellucidar comic can resist writing Horibs into the story. The grotesque yet cool reptile-men attack Tarzan’s party. The team is assisted by the sudden appearance of warriors from the tribe of Zoram, led by Thoar, Jana’s brother.

With Thoar is his one-time[4] traveling mate, the Sagoth Tar-gash.

Tarzan’s party finds the O-220 moored deep in the Mountains of the Thipdars. Tarzan gains access by climbing one of its mooring cables.

Inside the Mahar cavern, the reptiles are not that grateful to Brock for delivering the dirigible to them; they eat him! And then, Jana, with little Mia in her arms, enters the feeding pool, mesmerized.

Tarzan recaptures the O-220 and arrives in the Mahar cavern in the nick of time. He fights and kills the Mahar queen.

Although I’ve made light of inconsistencies with the Pellucidar books, this comic is a fun read and the artwork is outstanding. All the cool Pellucidar races make an appearance: Horibs, Mahars, Sagoths, and Korsars; you can’t go wrong with that!

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[1] We last heard about The Connecticut in Russ Manning’s 1971 UFS daily comic strip Tarzan Returns to the Earth’s Core.

[2] Another common misspelling is this sea sloth’s name, which when spelled correctly contains two “y”s. Writer Kraar does no better here than Russ Manning did with it in 1971.

[3] In the book, Tanar of Pellucidar, The Cid was chief of the Korsars. He erroneously believed himself to be Stellara’s father.

[4] See the book, Tarzan at the Earth’s Core.

Strip numbers and dates:

2928                    09/27/87

2929                    10/04/87

2930                    10/11/87

2931                    10/18/87

2932                    10/25/87

2933                    11/01/87

2934                    11/08/87

2935                    11/15/87

2936                    11/22/87

2937                    11/29/87

2938                    12/06/87

2939                    12/13/87

2940                    12/20/87

2941                    12/27/87

At the Earth's Core - Artist, writer, and fan Mike Cody began adapting At the Earth's Core for the fanzine, Edgar Rice Burroughs News Dateline, in issue #42 in May of 1991. Except for issues #53 and #65/66, he produced two pages of the story in each magazine through #67/68 in June 2001. The story remains unfinished. Cody also provided the cover illustration for issue #42 and a poster from the comic in issue #52

20.000 Leghe Sotto la Terra: Pellucidar e Gli Altri Mondi Sepolti (20,000 Leagues Under the Earth: Pellucidar and Other Buried Worlds) – This 1992 Italian book by Fabrizio Frosali is a history of hollow Earth adventures, focusing primarily on the comics. The book has a great cover illustration by Pino Rinaldi. It also has a foldout color map by S. D’Amico tipped inside the back cover (map #18 on my listing). The first 33 pages of this 158-page book discuss subterranean adventures in comics, literature, and film and are amply illustrated in black and white. This is followed by a Pellucidar portfolio by Frank Frazetta. Next comes a complete reprinting, in Italian, of the first two Pellucidar appearances in the newspapers, Rex Maxon’s Tarzan at the Earth’s Core and Burne Hogarth and Dan Barry’s Tarzan in Pellucidar.

  

Odyssey (Part I) - Artist Gray Morrow and writer Don Kraar took Tarzan to the Earth’s core again in the Sunday funnies of the UFS strip. These strips were reprinted in ERBzine #2121.

In Part I of this story, Jason Gridley teleports to Tarzan’s African estate to seek his help. He tells a strange story. David Innes was in contact with John Carter on Barsoom through the Gridley wave. Perry’s teleporter, using the tenth ray of Barsoom, instead of teleporting Innes to Barsoom, caused Innes and Carter to exchange places. In addition, the ray has caused the Mahars to mutate and the people of Pellucidar to loose their homing instinct. Gridley and Tarzan teleport to Pellucidar. Perry shows them the city of Sari, complete with skyscrapers and smog.

Meanwhile, John Carter has gone to the Mountains of the Thipdars in the airship, Dian, commanded by Ja of Anaroc (spelled Anoroc in ERB's books), to fight the Mahars. The airship is attacked by thipdars and crashes. On the ground, the survivors are captured by Sagoths. Carter is taken before the Mahar Queen who wants to learn his method of traveling between worlds.

Jason Gridley, Tarzan, and Perry leave Sari in another airship, The Clementine, to rescue John Carter. Outside the Mahar grotto, Perry has devised a scheme to pump flammable liquid into the nests where lie the Mahar eggs. Tarzan runs the hose into the grotto. He finds the Mahar Queen attempting to force her will on Carter. A fight ensues, but the Mahars are no match for the team of the King of the Apes and the greatest swordsman of two worlds. Carter kills the queen, and Tarzan ignites the liquid that the airship’s engines have finished pumping into the caves. The Mahar eggs are destroyed by fire.

The Mahar threat ended, Tarzan agrees to go with Carter to Barsoom to straighten out the havoc caused by the tenth ray. The Barsoom adventure is told in Part II of Odyssey.

Strip numbers and dates for Part I are listed below. 

3296                    10/16/94

3297                    10/23/94

3298                    10/30/94

3299                    11/06/94

3300                    11/13/94

3301                    11/20/94

3302                    11/27/94

3303                    12/04/94

3304                    12/11/94

3305                    12/18/94

3306                    12/25/94

3307                    01/01/95

3308                    01/08/95

3309                    01/15/95

3310                    01/22/95

3311                    01/29/95

3312                    02/05/95

3313                    02/12/95

3314                    02/19/95

3315                    02/26/95

Tarzan versus Predator at the Earth's Core (Dark Horse Comics) was written by Walter Simonson and illustrated by Lee Weeks. It was published in four comic books in 1996 and collected in a 104-page trade paperback in October 1997. In the story, Tarzan receives an urgent message from Pellucidar via Gridley wave. Help is needed at the Earth's core. Tarzan takes Jane, his Waziri, and army troops and flies in through the polar opening. There they find the alien Predators hunting new prey among the savage beasts and warriors of Pellucidar. They see Tarzan as a worthy trophy. Many familiar characters are present: Muviro, David and Dian, Abner Perry, Jason and Jana, and even a cameo by ERB himself! The four individual parts are titled:

1. Worlds Within Worlds - January 1996
2. The Killing Ground! - February 1996
3. The Ancient of Days - March 1996
4. The Law of the Jungle - June 1996

      

Tarzan: The Savage Heart (Dark Horse Comics) was written by Allan Gross and illustrated by Mike Grell. The story was told in four comic books from 04/07/99 to 07/30/99. The story answers the question: what would Tarzan do if Jane were killed? Tarzan is sick of civilization; even his beloved Africa is tainted by man's hand. This is the device to get Tarzan to Pellucidar for adventures in the Paleolithic land. The first half of the first book takes place on the surface and is colored in dark browns. When the iron mole breaks into Pellucidar, everything is in bold color. Tarzan encounters many of our favorite Pellucidar beasts: the sithic, ryth, thipdar, and ta-ho. A couple of old friends also show up: D'arnot and Abner Perry. Author Gross uses some of the plotline from his book, Farewell Pellucidar (see Pastiches). An interview with artist Mike Grell can be found in the summer 1999 Burroughs Bulletin.

      

Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan: Tales of Pellucidar is three stories told in a single comic book: Dark Horse Presents #143, May 1999. The first two chapters are written and drawn byThomas Yeates. Chapter 3 is written by Steve Bissette and drawn by Yeates. The story chronologically follows The Savage Heart described above and begins with Tarzan already in Pellucidar. The ape-man and Abner Perry's (comic book) daughter, Tala, encounter the strange Mealian tribe and then struggle to survive a rare Pellucidarian storm.

The team of artist Gray Morrow and writer Allan Gross produced a series of four Pellucidar stories for the UFS Sunday Tarzan strip. Each was told in sixteen strips. They ran from 05/30/99 (#3537) to 08/13/00 (#3600). The stories are well constructed with plenty of action, and the artwork is very good.

q       Tarzan and the New Atlantis – Jane is insistent that Tarzan clean out the shed before taking off on a new adventure. Amidst the clutter, they find an Oparian tablet with Tarzan’s likeness on it. Tarzan and Nkima go to Opar’s secret treasure vault to clear up the mystery. There they find another mystery: a statue of Tarzan. Suddenly Tarzan and Nkima are transported through a mysterious portal to Pellucidar. They arrive inside a temple where beastmen are worshipping a statue of Tarzan. A beastman tells Tarzan that they have awaited his coming for a thousand generations. Now the ancient prophecy will be fulfilled, and Tarzan will free the slaves from their island prison. Tarzan finds some interesting artifacts in the temple dating back to before the ancient Atlanteans allowed their knowledge of technology to degrade. The beastmen’s rulers live on the mainland in New Atlantis. A spy reports Tarzan’s coming to Queen Varla. She brings her army to the island. Tarzan uses one of the artifacts he found, a hand grenade-like explosive. Under Tarzan’s leadership, the slaves win their freedom. Back in the temple, an Atlantean examining one of the explosive artifacts accidentally sets it off, and the transporter is destroyed, and with it, Tarzan’s way home. Tarzan shows the Atlantean rulers how to operate their long-dormant robots, in order to till their fields for them and to rebuild their temple. Queen Varla wants Tarzan to remain with them, with her, but Tarzan explains that there is someone waiting for him to return. He departs in a canoe with Nkima. Strip numbers and dates are listed below.

3537        05/30/99

3538        06/06/99

3539        06/13/99

3540        06/20/99

3540 (again) 06/27/99

3542    07/04/99

3543        07/11/99

3544        07/18/99

3545        07/25/99

3546        08/01/99

3547        08/08/99

3548        08/15/99

3549        08/22/99

3550        08/29/99

3551        09/05/99

3552        09/12/99 

q       The Face in the Swamp - Tarzan saves one of the Gorbuses who committed suicide in his previous life. Tarzan and Nkima encounter a group of Gorbuses. Morrow drew them just the way ERB described them: white skin and hair, red eyes, and two long canine tusks curving downward toward their chins. One of them claims he doesn’t belong in the inner world, and the others are trying to take him away. Tarzan rescues him and carries him off. The Gorbus is afraid of the swamp. Like in Back to the Stone Age, the Gorbus, Akhi, uses some English words.  Gross reveals a little bit more of this strange race. When the Gorbus looks in the swamp water, his reflection is not of the hideous cannibal, but of his former self, Archibald Hastings, passenger on the RMS Lusitania in 1915 when a German U-boat torpedoed the ship. In this comic, Hastings forced his way onto a lifeboat and watched many others perish. He couldn’t live with that, and later committed suicide. The group of Gorbuses catches up to Tarzan and Akhi. Akhi runs off, leaving Tarzan to fight the Gorbuses by himself. Akhi is tormented by his actions. Once again, he runs off while others die, just like on the Lusitania. As Tarzan fights, the group falls into the swamp water. It’s like acid on their skin. Between the deadly waters and even deadlier water beasts of Pellucidar, the Gorbuses perish. Tarzan is grabbed by an ichthyosaur and pulled under. He cannot break free. In a moment of bravery, Akhi dives into the swamp water and rescues Tarzan. Back on the shore, Akhi dies and his body is transformed from a Gorbus back into a human. Tarzan remarks to Nkima that although men can be cruel, they can also be brave and make amends. This is a somber story, but one with a moral for us all. Strip numbers and dates are listed below.

3553        09/19/99

3554        09/26/99

3555        10/03/99

3556        10/10/99

3557        10/17/99

3558        10/24/99

3559        10/31/99

3560        11/07/99

3561        11/14/99

3562        11/21/99

3563        11/28/99

3564        12/05/99

3565        12/12/99

3566        12/19/99

3567        12/26/99

3568        01/02/00

q       The Roof of the World - Still in Pellucidar, Tarzan and Nkima leave the swamp. Suddenly a stampede of thags comes upon them. They escape being trampled by dangling over a cliff while the thags, unable to stop their forward motion, plummet to their deaths. Tarzan discovers that they were being driven by Horibs. He recognizes one of them as Bagdar, from his previous visit to the Earth’s core. Bagdar tells Tarzan that they are hunting meat for a journey to the roof of the world. They have discovered a tunnel to the surface. Tarzan is taken captive. Also a prisoner is Roxie Gardner, a woman from the surface. They begin the journey through the tunnel. Tarzan notes that the dropping temperature is causing the cold-blooded Horibs to become sluggish. He chooses this moment to escape. Meanwhile, Roxie is about to be fed to a brood of Horib hatchlings. Tarzan frees her just as Bagdar arrives. Suddenly the tunnel begins to collapse. Tarzan and Bagdar work together to prevent the hatchlings from being crushed, however, the cave-in propagates, and Tarzan, Moxie, and Nkima back out of the tunnel. The path to the surface world completely collapses, sealing in the Horibs. Strip numbers and dates are listed below.

3569        01/09/00

3570        01/16/00

3571        01/23/00

3572        01/30/00

3573        02/06/00

3574        02/13/00

3575        02/20/00

3576        02/27/00

3577        03/05/00

3578        03/12/00

3579        03/19/00

3580        03/26/00

3581        04/02/00

3582        04/09/00

3583        04/16/00

3584        04/23/00

q       Flight From Pellucidar - A saber-toothed tiger attacks Tarzan, Nkima, and Moxie, now sexily attired in a cavewoman bikini. Tarzan kills it with his bow and arrow, and Moxie hears his cry of the bull ape for the first time. After dinner, they encounter a group of ape-men who say they will lead them to their plane, but actually plan to feed them to the wolves. The ape-men travel through the trees and bring them to Moxie’s plane. Using the combined muscle of the ape-men plus a wooly mammoth, the plane is freed. Tarzan speaks to the mammoth using the language of his mangani. Moxie says, “Umgowa! Umgowa!” Tarzan explains, “Elephants don’t understand ‘umgowa.’ You’ve been watching too many of those old movies. When we get out of Pellucidar, I suggest you try reading the books. They’re more accurate.” The wolves attack. Moxie is bitten, but the three manage to get the plane started and take off. Wounded but okay, Moxie is surprised to see that Tarzan can fly. They fly out of Pellucidar using the southern polar opening. Out of fuel, Tarzan is forced to bring the plane down on the snow and ice. Leaving Moxie and Nkima in the plane, Tarzan walks through a blizzard and collapses just as Moxie’s companions’ camp is found. The last scene is of Tarzan and Moxie recovering in a hospital. There’s more humor and inside jokes for ERB fans in this Sunday strip than I’m used to seeing. The story is well told with plenty of action and the artwork is good. Strip numbers and dates are listed below.

3585        04/30/00

3586        05/07/00

3587        05/14/00

3588        05/21/00

3589        05/28/00

3590        06/04/00

3591        06/11/00

3592        06/18/00

3593        06/25/00

3594        07/02/00

3595        07/09/00

3596        07/16/00

3597        07/23/00

3598        07/30/00

3599        08/06/00

            3600    08/13/11

James Van Hise submitted a story outline for a Tarzan adventure in Pellucidar to Dark Horse Comics in 1996. It was called The Dark Moon of Pellucidar. Dark Horse did nothing with it. Van Hise published the outline in ERB-APA #74, Summer 2002 and his own, The Burroughs Newsbeat Special #2, August 2006.

Tarzan and the Sea God of Pellucidar – In 2005, ERB fan Aubrey Stallings commissioned a short, eight-page comic from artist Harry Roland. Stallings’ only request was that it contain Tarzan rescuing Jane from a octopus. Later, in 2010, this comic’s name was changed to Sea God of Doriabar and published in Edgar Rice Burroughs the Second Century. You may buy one at Amazon.com.

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The Warlord

Can't get enough Pellucidar comics? Try DC's Warlord. The original series ran for 133 issues from November 1975 to 1989. In 2009, issues #1-28 were collected in a 528-page black and white collection, Showcase Presents the Warlord Volume One. The book is still available as of this writing. The Warlord is creator Mike Grell's sword and sorcery comic book set inside the hollow Earth, Skartaris. Similarities to Pellucidar include: a hollow Earth chock-full of prehistoric beasts and half-naked women, an eternal noonday sun that appears bigger than the surface world's, an upward curving horizon, and time runs very differently.

David Critchfield wrote an article about The Warlord in ERB-APA #105, May 2010. Lee Strong wrote one in the National Capital Panthans Journal #164, June 2010. Check out ERB fan Scott Dutton's Warlord website and creator Mike Grell's website.

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Sources:

q       ERB-APA #67, Fall 2000 article by Ken Webber

q       Some of the cover scans are from these Bill Hillman sites:

• Bill Ross ERB Collector Presents Who’s Who Behind the Comics DARK HORSE I
• Korak DC Comics
• Tarzan Marvel Comics 1 - 15
• Tarzan Marvel Comics 16 - 29
  

q       Tarzan in Savage Pellucidar by Ken Webber published in ERBANIA #82, 2000

q        Allan Gross Interviewed by Ken Webber published in the Burroughs Bulletin New Series #43, Summer 2000

q       Russ Manning: Burroughs Artist by Ken Webber published in Edgar Rice Burroughs' Fantastic Worlds edited by James Van Hise

q       Burroughs Bulletin #21, Spring 1971 and #36, April 1974

q       Tarzan in the Land of Foreign Books by Peter Geissler from ERB-APA #89, Spring 2006

q       The Gold Key Tarzan Adaptations: A Brief Bibliography by Tom Stock from the National Capital Panthans Journal #54, April 2001

q       Tarzan of the Comics by Matthew H. Gore

q       Bill Hillman's ERB-dom Index

q       Bill Hillman’s John Coleman Burroughs Tribute Site

q       Comics VF.com

q       Who’s Who Behind the Comics: DC The Tarzan Family by Larry G. Burrows from ERB-APA #50, Summer 1996

q       Russ Manning: A Bibliography by Robert R. Barrett from ERB-APA #37, Spring 1993

q      ERB-dom issues #53, and #80 through #89

q       Email from Pete Ogden to ERBCOF-L dated 12-23-07

q        Dreadful? Writer and Other Comments by D. Peter Ogden from ERB-APA #103, Autumn 2009

q       Tarzan of the Funnies by Robert R. Barrett published by Mad Kings Publishing (2002)

q       Charles R. Rutledge provided information and a cover scan for Tarzan of the Apes Special Superadventure Issue

q     Bill Hillman’s Tarzan Adventures UK comics website 

q     Thanks are due David Billman for his suggestions about this section.

von Horst's Pellucidar established 12-25-98