Tarzan/Carson of Venus

Tarzan / Carson of Venus by Darko Macan
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

When Carson Napier finds himself in dire straights, a stranger arrives on Venus in the nick of time. He was born John Clayton, Lord Greystoke, but the people of the jungle call him Tarzan!

I'm a recent convert to Russ Manning's Tarzan and I've read a couple of Edgar Rice Buroughs' Carson of Venus novels so I decided to give this a shot.

I wasn't yet a fan of Tarzan when this came out around 25 years ago so I had no idea of its existence. I've never heard of the writer Darko Macan or the artist Igor Kordey. Fortunately, they put out a pretty good crossover here.

There are a lot of moving parts to this, not unlike an Edgar Rice Burroughs novel. The Myposans are taking a lot of territory with The Loveking, a cult leader wielding mind-clouding dust. Tarzan and Carson Napier team up to kick ass and take names. The story is action packed and features ERB hallmarks like scantily clad women, ray guns, cool settings, and monsters. The floating city is built on the backs of massive turtles, for instance. The dialog is better than ERB's, in my opinion. It doesn't over explain things. The dialogue also isn't as cheesy as the pulps.

The art is somewhere between Joe Kubert and Russ Manning on the Tarzan spectrum: more detailed than Manning but not as gritty as Joe Kubert's. Kordev does a great job depicting alien monsters and crazy vehicles.

The bonus tale, Tarzan: A Tale of Mugambi, done by the same creative team, is a great read. An old man embellishes his time with Tarzan until it feels more like a myth.

Tarzan/Carson of Venus is a fun pulp action tale. 3.5 out of 5 stars.

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