Comic Review: Lord of the Jungle Annual 1

This weekend's comic review: Tarzan's New York Adventure! Just without Weissmuller.

Picking up sometime after his first meeting with Jane Porter and his decision to leave and let her have a happy life, Tarzan here has returned back to the jungle, where he finds an orphaned lion cub and what he hopes is a return to his past life. That gets shattered when he is captured by a hunter named Sammy Sykes and his men. Before too long Tarzan finds himself in New York being promoted in a wrestling match against "Starker the Superlative." But no one counts on the Ape-Man's skills and his desire to break free, leading to a frenzied escape, an alligator(!) and a bloody resolution.

I've so far liked Dynamite's Lord of the Jungle series, finding it a good take on Tarzan of the Apes, even with the changes-some that actually work. This stand alone annual though leaves me a little cold. It's not bad but I just didn't get involved with it as much. I guess that could be attributed to it's one shot status since it doesn't lead anywhere or have any real impact on the ongoing series. That said I did like the little bits of humor that writer Mark Rahner adds to the story-from Tarzan relating his recent heartbreak over losing Jane to a humorous homage to The Jungle Book. I also got a good chuckle out of seeing Tarzan fight an alligator since it seems virtually every Tarzan movie has that scene in it.

With this issue, artist Serio Fernandez Davila handles the art duties and it has a nice bright look to it. The characters are handled quite well-with Tarzan going from warm to animalistic in good fashion-and the action sequences are handled well. There is some blandness to the back grounds but it still looks good. Not the greatest Tarzan comic ever but it will do.

So there you go. For those looking for a good one shot story starring everyone's favorite loin cloth wearer it's an OK issue. I would recommend picking it up at the store and flip through it first though. If you like what you see go for it, if not then maybe save your money and get the regular series.