LOAC Essentials Volume 7: Tarzan The Original Dailies

The Foster work is great to see, and the strips were printed from syndicate proofs, so it's likely they're the best reproduction we'll get.But buyers need to know, of the 300 strips included, only the first 60 are by Foster. Maxon getting the majority of the collection is not a fault (it's the reality of the first year), but buyers should be aware. And this is a Maxon collection in more ways than one.Foster drew 5 panels per strip (Maxon only drew 4), and as a result, each Foster strip is reproduced smaller, each panel approximately 2" tall, (each Maxon panel is 2.25" tall). I suspect that is a reduction from the original print size. But whether it is or isn't, isn't the point. The size of the Foster strips is simply too small to do his art justice.2" Is the size Peanuts was printed for years. 2" Works great with a big round headed kid, not so well with Tarzan battling an ape. The Foster panels are beautiful mini illustrations (Foster left the strip because he was so in demand as an illustrator), but because the reproduction is so small, they read like thumbnail sketches. The slightly larger Maxon panels look like he was doing sketchy thumbnails. There is simply more to be seen in the Foster dailies than 2" allows. Times changed and strips changed too, but the size reduction certainly helped kill adventure strips.The format is cutsey, and little more than that. The single strip per page reproduction adds nothing. Let me repeat that:The single strip per page format adds nothing.And the long oblong of a book detracts from ease of use. The long pages attached pull down on the spine. The long pages must also be more carefully handled to prevent folding. This format brings into question the physical longevity of the books themselves, it makes it questionable whether book stores and libraries will want to stock these on open shelves, where accidents will happen (Books have been being printed for 550 years. Does the publisher need to be told that this format isn't going to be well received? Even the comic reprints of the 1960's that used a horizontal format never made the books so long and skinny.)This awkward format is advertised as allowing readers to enjoy the strips as the early newspaper readers did, reading one strip a day. In fact it was the bugaboo of readers that they had to wait to read the next day's strip. Printing daily strips wasn't invented to improve the quality of the strip, it was done to sell papers. To use an advertising technique used to sell papers to package "essential" collections of comics, seems misdirected. If the books were printed three strips a page, I could do the same thing and just read one a day. And if the books were printed 3 per page I'd be able to see more clearly what the artist saw in his studio-- How the dailies interact with each other, and how the story progresses.The paper is soft and off white, very reminiscent of newsprint. That's a plus and a minus. It allows me to see the strips as they might have originally looked, but I'm curious if the paper isn't too thin, too soft (is it acid free?), for the long oblong format.Overall I'm happy with the collection, but mostly because it's the only one I have of these first Foster strips. I'm hoping a larger more essential collection comes along.

I feel that I'm reading the CliffsNotes versions of the first four Tarzan books by Edgar Rice Burroughs. I enjoyed "Tarzan of the Apes" with its illustrations by Hal Foster, but have only read about half of "The Return of Tarzan" and am not as impressed by the artwork of Rex Maxon. Unless Mr. Burroughs described Tarzan's specific hairstyle in that novel, it appears to me that the ape man miraculously discovered a light socket in the middle of the jungle and placed a finger in it, unfortunately. Anyway, I'm sorry Mr. Foster was unable to continue illustrating the daily Tarzan comics. Still, I'm enjoying this collection and am glad I purchased it.

an excellent addition to the beginning of the action/adventure strip. a well written prologue that dived into the history of Burroughs, foster, and mason. Am enjoying the beginning of the Tarzan saga.

As a fan, I found this to be a fantastic piece of Edgar Rice Burroughs history. The reproduction on a rougher, almost newsprint style paper, captured very well the feel of the old comic strips. And of course, much of the art was done by the immortal Hal Foster of Prince Valiant fame. This book was well worth the money.

Received as advertised.

Superb Tarzan's early works on illustration.A precious item.

thank you very much!

Must have for the ERB and Tarzan fan! Very cool book.

Item as expected. Well packed.

La novela original de Tarzán, es fielmente adaptada en dibujos en estas tiras cómicas editadas en 1929 con dibujos de Hal Foster y Rex Maxon. Un verdadero tesoro para los seguidores de este legendario personaje.

Aventura clássica do herói.