KI - GOR , THE JUNGLE KING by Dave Goode

 

Ki -Gor was one of the more popular of the

Tarzan imitations. He was featured in

about 60 stories appearing in the Jungle Stories pulp magazine from 1938 to 1954. At first glance you might confuse him for Kaanga. And not because both looked like Charles Atlas and could be played by Buster Crabbe in a movie. But because both heroes adventures were published by Fiction House.

Ki -Gor as mentioned in the pulp magazine Jungle Stories.And Kaanga in the comic book Jungle Comics. And there were a few covers of Jungle Comics featuring Kaanga that were " swipes " of

Jungle stories starring Ki - Gor. In any case Ki - Gor was the original appearing first in Jungle Stories ( Winter 1938 ) in a story written by John M. Reynolds.

As origins go Ki - Gor's was pretty cliche. The son of a missionary killed by the fierce Wunguba tribe the boy survives in the jungle with the help of his elephant friend Mamo. Later growing to manhood he rescues American aviatrix and socialite Helene Vaughn who has crashed in the jungle  and been captured by slavers. The two fall in love after sharing several adventures and she forsakes America to marry Ki -Gor and remain in the jungle with him. Like I said pretty cliche. But the stories wouldn't remain that way. They would become down right psychotronic with the hero facing dinosaurs , mad scientists , glowing zombie men , vampiric flying squirrels and witch women with actual supernatural powers.

I'm sure another reason for the hero's popularity stemmed from the wonderful Jungle Stories magazine covers. Aside from Ki -Gor wrestling with crocodiles , lions and gorillas on his way to discovering lost cities in the jungle , you also found his wife Helene in a two - piece leopard swimsuit. Sometimes in bondage. Sometimes she would be in the foreground looking like she was posing for a pin - up calendar while he swung to her rescue or fought the bad guys in the background. The Fiction House editors certainly knew how to catch the attention of pulp reading young men.

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And as we close this weeks blog, I'd like to congratulate Dave Goode on having written his 200th blog. His knowledge of pop culture, psychotronica, martial arts, and wrestling far exceeds many of the so called "experts" posting on the world wide web. He claims that much of his knowledge has slipped away...I disagree...once you get him talking about some nostalgic moments of yesteryear, the gears begin to turn and Dave Goode's built in pop culture dynamo is back to full power. Dave's a fantastic writer and a better friend. Congrats, bud.

Vance Capley

artist

TARZAN UNCHAINED!!! by Dave Goode

 TARZAN UNCHAINED!!! by Dave Goode

It's a funny thing. I know Mike Henry only made three Tarzan movies. TARZAN AND THE VALLEY OF GOLD ( 1966 ) , TARZAN AND THE GREAT RIVER (1967 ) and TARZAN AND THE JUNGLE BOY ( 1968 ). But in my mind it seems like he made four. It doesn't matter how many times I look it up and see he made only these three. I still think he made four. If there had been fourth Tarzan movie starring Henry I would have liked to have seen it feature one or two characters from the Edgar Rice Burroughs' books. Specifically Jane and La of Opar. I'd  also liked to have seen the untamed ape - man of Burroughs.

Henry, the former NFL linebacker, comes close to matching the primal ferocity of Tarzan in his fights with Rafer Johnson in TARZAN AND THE GREAT RIVER and TARZAN AND THE JUNGLE BOY. And the climatic battle between his Tarzan and the cyclopean martial arts master played by Don Megowan in TARZAN AND THE VALLEY OF GOLD is another standout. In that one he break's his opponent's neck with a full-nelson. Tarzan's signature wrestling hold. But if you really want to see Henry cut loose check him out in THE GREEN BERETS (1968).

Okay we have Mike Henry cast as Tarzan again. But who to cast as Tarzan's mate Jane and La? Well for Jane I'd go with either Barbara Bouchet or Celeste Yarnall. And for La , the high priestess of the lost city of Opar, Hammer scream queen Martine Beswick.

"I've Heard The Natives Mention Him. He's Quite A Guy According To Them." by Dave Goode

 

Back when I first discovered "men's sweat mags" as I was entering puberty my favorite stories found within were the jungle adventures. Probably because they reminded me of Jungle Jim. The Johnny Weissmuller movies based on the Alex Raymond comic strip from King Features and not the comic strip itself. They were two different animals. Of course the stories in the sweat mags featured very a little bit more violent. And had a lot more sexual content. But the stories were more or less like the ones you found in the Weissmuller flicks produced by Sam Katzman.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of my favorite flicks from the series was THE LOST TRIBE (1949). It stars Weissmuller, Elena Verduga, Myrna Dell, Ralph Dunn, and Ray "Crash" Corrigan as Simba the Gorilla. The screenplay is by Arthur Hoerl and Don Martin.

 

It's a formula jungle adventure revolving around a lost city and it's hidden treasures. Plenty of stock footage and cheesy dialogue. It's a wonder that the  MSFT3K crew never got a hold of this. Former Olympic swimming champ Weissmuller fights a lion, a shark, an alligator, and a gang of modern day pirates. Weissmuller is at his two-fisted best in this one. He even gets tied up and worked over the bad guys. Not great art. But a lot of fun.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Funny thing is I was re-reading the Frank Frazetta - illustrated jungle romance tale "Untamed Love" when it struck me that the "great white hunter" in that story reminded me of Victor Mature in the jungle adventure SAFARI (1956). Made me think that Mature might have made a good Jungle Jim in a big budget production. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another actor I can see playing the jungle adventurer was Rory Calhoun. Calhoun had played big game hunter Jonathon Kincaid on an episode of GILLIGAN'S ISLAND that spoofed The Most Dangerous Game, Richard Connell's classic short story.

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Mightier Than The Mastodon! Swifter Than The Cheetah by Dave Goode

During the Silver Age of Comics my favorite Tarzan imitation was Marvel Comics' Ka-Zar. There was a Ka-Zar who appeared in a pulp magazine of the same name published by Martin Goodman's Manvis Publishing for three issues. October 1936 , January 1937 and June 1937. In 1939 the Ka-Zar character was adapted to the comic book page for Timely Comics also published by Martin Goodman. And he made his first comic book appearance in Marvel Comics No.1 alongside the original Human Torch and the Sub-Mariner. The character like the one that Buster Crabbe played in the movie KING OF THE JUNGLE (1933) was raised by lions and not apes.

 

The Silver Age Ka-Zar was a pretty one-note character (as were most Tarzan imitators). He premiered in X-MEN No.10 (March ,1965) and was more or less a Tarzan ala' Weissmuller in the Savage Land, a Pellucidar or Pal-Ul-Don type of lost world beneath Antarctica. Where Tarzan had his golden lion Jad-bal-ja , Ka-Zar had a pet sabretooth tiger Zabu. So if you liked Tarzan vs. Dinosaur stories you might think Ka-Zar was pretty cool. I myself especially liked when he would cut loose against an enemy while exclaiming "Mightier than the Mastodon! Swifter than the Cheetah! Mighty is Ka-Zar, Lord of the Jungle!" or some variation of that phrase.

Ka-Zar would guest star in Daredevil, Spider - Man, and The Hulk. And would get his own features in Astonishing Tales and Savage Tales. He would eventually receive a comic book title of his own. All of these titles were eventually canceled. As I said before Ka-Zar was pretty much a one-note character. And just how many times could you watch a television show about a jungle hero fight a dinosaur before you changed the channel? But then something remarkable happened with the premiere of the comic book KA-ZAR, THE SAVAGE (April 1981).

 

In KA-ZAR,THE SAVAGE No.1 we're introduced to a Ka-Zar that we've never seen before. One who is less "savage". Like Tarzan, Marvel's jungle king was an English lord who grew up in the wilds. Here he's been Americanized to the point that he resembles Ron Ely's Tarzan from the 1960s television series. Only wittier. He and Shanna, the She-Devil (Marvel's answer to Sheena of the Jungle) banter like William Powell and Myrna Loy in THE THIN MAN. This was a much more fun take on the character. And a much better read. The only problem I had with the new take on the character was how to reconcile it with what came before.

I had my own theory. Unlike Tarzan, Ka-Zar didn't come to the Savage Land as a baby. He was a preteen. One who probably watched Weissmuller, Lex Barker, and Gordon Scott movies. He might have read comic books starring Kaanga, Ki-Gor and Thun'Da. In short he was playing a role. Acting out how he thought a "King of the Jungle" would act.

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THE TARZAN THAT WASN'T by Dave Goode

When pole-vaulter Don Bragg won the gold medal at the 1960 Olympics in Rome he thought he was on his way to fulfilling a lifelong dream. That of playing Edgar Rice Burroughs Tarzan of the Apes on the silver screen.


After all swimming
champions...

Johnny Weissmuller



















and Buster Crabbe

 used their gold medal victories
as a springboard into the role.

And Herman Brix

 who was the world record holder in the shot-put and won the silver medal at the 1928 Olympics was handpicked by Tarzan's creator Edgar Rice Burroughs to play the Lord of the Jungle in a movie he produced.


And then there was Glenn Morris

who won the decathlon at the 1936 Olympics earning the title of the "world's greatest athlete". Something Burroughs often described Tarzan as being.

It was while in Rome for the Olympics that LIFE magazine did a photo shoot of Bragg clad only in a loincloth among the Roman ruins. And if anyone looked like Tarzan it was the 6' 2" , 200 lb. Bragg. Growing up Bragg watched Johnny Weissmuller movies and played Tarzan climbing and swinging on ropes near his home. He also was blessed by great genetics. His father had done some professional wrestling. And Bragg grew into an all-around athlete who specialized in pole-vaulting.






In 1964 Bragg was given the chance to portray the king of the jungle in
TARZAN AND THE JEWELS OF OPAR produced by Sandy Howard and filmed in Jamaica. But almost as soon as filming started the production was shutdown. ERB Inc. won an injunction against Jamaica Pictures Ltd. headed up by Sherman S. Krellberg and Sandy Howard. I wonder what the finished product would have looked like? Would the script have had Bragg "aping" Weissmuller? Who would have portrayed La of Opar? Who would have played Jane? It's too bad that the film wasn't completed. Maybe changing the hero's name to Tyger or Zantar or something else. Just looking at pics of Bragg you can see he would have made a great jungle hero of some sort.


  Speaking of low budget jungle flicks, let's see what the Golden Adonis is up to in this brand new strip by Dave Goode and Vance Capley:

See more of the Golden Adonis' exploits in Judo Comics! Available at lulu.com

Watch artist Vance Capley draw a Golden Adonis strip!