Lord of the Jungle!

Readers of a pulpish disposition might have noticed the imminent return of one John Clayton, otherwise known as Viscount Greystoke. He was first seen on these shores 104 years ago and has been a regular visitor since – most recently appearing in 2013.

No? Perhaps you know him better by his other name: Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle.

The Legend of Tarzan, starring Alexander Skarsgård and Margot Robbie, premiers on Wednesday 6th July. It’s true that early reviews have not been anything to *ahem* beat one’s chest about – in fact, most recent attempts to bring the Lord of the Jungle to the big screen have been critical failures. Perhaps it’s just too difficult to bring such a seminal pulp character up-to-date and, rather than try to put a modern spin on Tarzan, we should just go back to the source material . . .

Tarzan of the Apes was the first appearance of the character, published in All-Story Magazine in October, 1912, and then as a novel two years later.

The story continued with The Return of Tarzan, The Beasts of Tarzan, The Son of Tarzan, Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar and Jungle Tales of Tarzan – and another eighteen volumes!

Or, you could get all six of those first novels in one big handy volume, all decked out in black and gold. Something like this . . .

Tarzan of the Apes and Other Tales contains the first six Tarzan stories collected in a lovely centenary hardback edition.

And of course, you can find more of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ work via his Author page on the Gateway website and read about him in his entry in The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction.