“The Savage Home”
Writer: Arvid Nelson
Illustrator: Roberto Castro
Letterer: Simon Bowland
Colorist: Alex Guimaraes
Cover Artists: Alex Ross, Ryan Sook, Paul Renaud, and Lucio Parrillo
Based on the stories by Edgar Rice Burroughs
Publisher: Dynamite Entertainment
“Oh, John, what do we do now? We work, Alice. We work.”
Growing up I read a lot of books thanks to my grandparents. Any time we went to the mall we would go in to the books store and they would by me a book or two. I would pick up books about all sorts of adventures and Edgar Rice Burroughs was one of my favorite writers even if I didn’t know it back then. I remember reading tales of Tarzan and it just fascinated me that a man could be raised by apes and survive. I would watch the syndicated black and white movies and television shows and when I saw the movie Greystoke – I was mesmerized. But that was a long time ago, and getting word that Dynamite had plans on putting together a series about Tarzan, I was very excited to see what they would do. So, when I got a hold of this first issue I tore in to it immediately.
If you know much about Tarzan’s origin you know his parents, Lord John and Lady Alice Greystoke, were stranded and had to survive on their own in the Congo. Tarzan’s parents eventually would die and leaving Tarzan to be raised by an ape tribe. This first issue gives an account of that origin and leaves a bit of a mystery as to why the Greystokes were left on the shore of the Congo by the crew of the ship they were traveling on. From what I can remember in reading the books as a child it had something to do with a mutiny on board the ship, but it is not clearly stated in this issue. The issue continues on with the birth of the infant Greystoke and the eventual death of his parents and the child being taken in by one of the female apes that raids the Greystoke tree house.
In all accounts, this issue is pretty strait forward and keeps along with the already established origin. I think sticking this close to the original material is a good idea because the material is so rich and ready for a new audience. Arvid Nelson really does a great job with this issue moving the story along and keeping me involved as a reader and someone who knows the source material. I think there will be people that may wonder why re-tell the origin since so many people probably already know it, but I think it is a good idea. As I said before, the story is ready for a new audience and I think Nelson has taken a good approach to reaching that audience.
I think Roberto Castro, Alex Guimaraes, and Simon Bowland do a great job. I think their style works really well together and the pages really are strong, not just as art but in storytelling as well. If there is not a homage to Joe Kubert’s run on Tarzan Castro fooled me because I see it on the page and I think it’s great. The colors in this issue are a little brighter than I thought was necessary for such a dark story, but I think that’s something I, as a reader, need to let develop and see if this is the color palette this series will go forward using or if it is just being used in this origin story. I just feel this story lends itself to use a palette like the one that is being used on Dynamite’s The Last Phantom.
Overall, this is a solid first issue to a new series at Dynamite. Dynamite has really done great work putting together impressive creative teams on all of their books and The Lord of the Jungle is just another in that successful line of books.
Story: 4 out of 5 | Art: 4 out of 5 | Overall: 4 out of 5
