Besides moving way too fast, Lord of the Jungle’s not bad at all. Arvid Nelson puts the Tarzan origin in the political context of what’s happening in the Congo contemporaneously. I’ve never seen a Tarzan story make that effort. It’ll be interesting to see if Nelson maintains it.
Otherwise, it’s a summary of Tarzan’s parents’ adventures after being shipwrecked. They are not happy adventures. Roberto Castro makes the castaways visually appealing–she’s beautiful, he’s heroically rugged–and Nelson quickly makes them sympathetic.
The story of Tarzan’s adoption takes about half the issue, since Nelson has to establish the apes. He does fine with that task, even gives them interesting noises for communicating.
It’s impossible to say how the series will go. The titular character doesn’t even have any lines this issue.
I’m pleasantly surprised; I had no expectations for this one. Nelson and Castro both do rather good work.
CREDITS
The Savage Home; writer, Arvid Nelson; artist, Roberto Castro; colorist, Alex Guimaraes; letterer, Simon Bowland; editor, Joseph Rybandt; publisher, Dynamite Entertainment.
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