LORD OF THE JUNGLE #3, from Dynamite Comics on January 25th, 2023, finds Tarzan learning to speak with humans, after a chance battle with a lion, just in time to strike a dangerous deal.
The Details
- Written by: Dan Jurgens
- Art by: Benito Gallego
- Colors by: Francesco Segala, Agnes Pozza
- Letters by: Carlos M. Mangual
- Cover art by: Philip Tan (cover A)
- Comic Rating: Teen+
- Cover price: $3.99
- Release date: January 25, 2023
Is It Good?
LORD OF THE JUNGLE #3 continues to impress as Dan Jurgens brings Tarzan to vivid life with all the spirit of pulp serial adventure you could hope for. Honestly, you couldn’t ask for a better reinvigoration of the character.
Everything about this issue works. Split between a heavy focus on Tarzan’s early days in the jungle and his present adventure as an older, wiser Tarzan, this issue demonstrates respect and a clear understanding of the source material. Jurgens recounts Tarzan’s first exposure to white hunters, showing his adaptability to language and his selflessness when he uses his newfound knowledge to help his animal friends. Jurgens didn’t create Tarzan, but it’s in this issue you’re reminded why Tarzan endures as a classic hero.
Beyond the thematic elements and spot-on characterization, Jurgens puts his all into the writing execution. The pacing, plotting, and dialog are pristine. Particularly in the dialog, Jurgens strikes the right balance between establishing a white savior grunting jungle words and sounds, and making the dialog believable, without dipping into early Hollywood stereotypes of jungle “savages.”
Second to Jurgens’s amazing script is Gallego’s equally amazing art style, homaging the best of Bronze Age comics. The line work is immaculate, Segala’s coloring choices are nearly perfect, and the lettering is something else. We don’t generally have much to say about lettering, but in this case, Mangual adds to the nostalgic strength of this issue by using weathered parchment for the narration captions. It’s a little creative choice that makes a big difference in creating the atmosphere of the time.
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What’s It About?
[SPOILERS AHEAD – Click here if you just want the score without spoilers]
Check out our LORD OF THE JUNGLE #3 review to witness Tarzan’s first encounter with white hunters.
We begin with an older and masked Tarzan breaking into a guarded building. We soon learn the building is a museum, and Tarzan is searching for something special.
Flashback to Tarzan’s early days, and we see Tarzan intervening in a lion hunt gone wrong. He saves Carson, one of the kindly men working for the ruthless Shaw. To repay Tarzan’s help, Carson teaches Tarzan English and rudimentary Western customs.
When young Tarzan encounters Shaw again, he arrives in time to learn Shaw’s objective in the jungle. We conclude the issue with a bargain struck under duress, a hint of the bargain’s outcome, and an attempt to set things right.
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Final Thoughts
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LORD OF THE JUNGLE #3 continues to impress by reinvigorating one of the greatest pulp characters of all time. Jurgens’s understanding of Tarzan is spot-on, the recounting of Tarzan’s early days is fresh-yet-faithful, and the Bronze Age-style art is exquisite.
Related Information
What nationality is Tarzan?
Trazan was raised by apes in the jungles of Africa, but Tarzans birth parents, the Lord and Lady Greystoke, hail from England.
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