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Volume 0044



BIG LITTLE BOOKS & COMICS

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tarzan

Big Little Books


Whitman Publishing Company of Racine, Wisconsin introduced Big Little Books in 1932. The early newspaper comic strips aided in the birth of these books along with giving the comic books, which had only been out for a short time, a lot of competition. For 10 cents a child could buy a colorful hard cover book that had stories of radio, comic and movie heroes. Inside this book they would see text on the left side and a picture on the right. Along with the colorful covers of exciting contemporary heroes were also such classic writings of literature as Treasure Island, Robinson Crusoe, Moby Dick and more.

During this period there also were soft cover books made from the hardback versions which were marketed as premiums. These books were made for promoting  products from various companies - Cocomalt, toothpaste, gasoline were all plugged. These premiums caught on, with the children prompting mom to buy certain products so they could have the books to add to their collection.
 

Whitman books set the standards for similar books by other publishers:
Dell - Cartoon Story Books and Fast-Action Stories)
Engel-van Wiseman - Five-Star Library Books
Fawcett - Dime Action Books
Goldsmith - Radio Star Series
Lynn - A Lynn Book
Ottenheimer-Saalfield - Little Big Books and Jumbo Books
Whitman - Big Little Books and Better Little Books
Waldman - Moby Books
World Syndicate - High Lights of History Series
Assorted Premiums and Related Items: Ice Cream Cup Lid Books - Top Ten Books - Wee Little Books - Penny Books - Nickle Books - Karmetz and Perkins Books - Big Big Books - countless  puzzles, cards, games toys...
 

Most Whitman BLBs  were 3 5/8" x 4 1/2" x 1 1/2" in  size and 432 pages in length. The outstanding feature of the books was the captioned picture opposite each page of text. The books originally sold for a dime (later 15¢). Many children learned to read and have an appreciation for all books because of their experiences with BLBs. The source material for the books was drawn mostly from radio, comic strips, and motion pictures.

The first BLB, The Adventures of Dick Tracy, came off the presses just before Christmas in 1932. It preceded the first true comic book by a year, and the subsequent BLB production spanned more than a half century. Within the span, there are historical patterns which clearly define three  major periods of publication.

The Golden Age (1932 to mid-1938) is a description reserved for the most interesting, influential, and memorable production of the  books. These were the true Big Little Books. During this period, the effects of the depression were still being felt, and numerous  publishers besides Whitman produced  inexpensive BLB-type books.

The Silver Age (mid-1938 to 1949) was influenced by the growing comic book market and paper shortages during WWII. Only Whitman maintained a continuous output of books through the war years. It used the "flip-it" feature extensively to attract buyers, and as these years went by, the books gradually contained fewer and fewer pages.

The Modern Age (1950 to the present) is characterized by more than 40 years of sporadic and short-lived attempts to revive the books in different  forms and with different content: New Better Little Books, BLB TV Series,  the hard cover 2000-Series,  and the soft cover 5700-Series.  Whitman was taken over by the Western Publishing Company.


History of the Big Little Books

 
ERB BLB TITLES
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Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs - Whitman - No. 744
Tarzan The Fearless - Featuring Buster Crabbe by ERB - Whitman - No. 769
The Story of JohnnyWeissmuller - The Tarzan of the Screen  by Eleanor Packer

With summaries of the motion pictures,
"Tarzan, The Ape Man" and "Tarzan and His Mate."
The character of Tarzan was adapted for motion pictures from the famous stories of ERB Whitman - No 778 - 235 pages - 1934
The Tarzan Twins ~ 1934 ~ No. 770 
The Tarzan Twins ~ 1935 ~ similar to #770 
The Tarzan Twins  - 1935 ~ 48-page give-away. 
Tarzan and the Tarzan Twins  with Jad-Bal-Ja the Golden Lion

Whitman Big Big Book - No. 4056
Dearholt, Stout and Cohen presents Edgar Rice Burroughs'

The New Adventures of Tarzan
A Burroughs Tarzan Enterprise Filmed by the Ashton Dearholt Expedition
Whitman - No. 1180 - 155 pages - 1935
Tarzan Escapes - A New Story of Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs

Illustrated with Scenes from the MGM Production
Starring Johnny Weissmuller & Maureen O'Sullivan
Whitman - No. 1182 - 235 pages - 1936
The Return of Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs - Whitman - No. 1102
Tarzan ~ 1935 & 1936    Tarzan Cup ice-cream give away 
Tarzan and His Jungle Friends ~ 1936 
The Beasts of Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs - Whitman - No. 1410
Tarzan's Revenge by Edgar Rice Brroughs - Whitman - No. 1488
Tarzan and a Daring Rescue -  Whitman - Pan-Am Motor Oils 1938
Tarzan In The Golden City ~ 1938  Pan-Am Motor Oil free give-away 
The Son of Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs - Whitman - No. 1477
Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar - Edgar Rice Burroughs - Whitman -  No. 1495 - 1940 
John Carter of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs - Whitman - No. 1402
John Carter of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs - A Fast-Action Story - Dell - 1940
Tarzan the Untamed by Edgar Rice Burroughs - Whitman - No. 1452
Tarzan the Terrible by  Edgar Rice Brroughs - Whitman - No. 1453
Tarzan and the Golden Lion - Edgar Rice Brroughs - Whitman 1448
Tarzan and the Ant Men - Edgar Rice Brroughs - Whitman
Tarzan Lord of the Jungle by Edgar Rice Burroughs - Whitman - No. 1407
Tarzan and The Lost Empire - Whitman - No. 1442 - 1948
Tarzan in the Land of the Giant Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs - Whitman - No. 1467
Tarzan and the Journey of Terror by Edgar Rice Burroughs Whitman Better Little Book - No. 709-10
Tarzan and the Mark of the Red Hyena 1967 ~ No. 2005 

Dell Comics Map of Pal-ul-don

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tarzan
 SUNDAY & DAILY STRIPS
Read the United Features Tarzan Sunday and Daily strips 
 http://www.unitedmedia.com/comics/tarzan/
Tarzan®  the famous jungle man created by Edgar Rice Burroughs, is one of the most widely known characters in modern fiction, having appeared in books, movies and on television. A legendary hero, Tarzan enjoys the distinction of starring in the first adventure comic strip, the first continuity strip, and the first strip to appeal to generation after generation for more than six decades.
Tarzan originated in Burroughs' short story "Tarzan of the Apes" published in 1912. Several book versions followed, and in 1929 the Lord of the Jungle made his first appearance in a daily comic strip. In 1930 United Feature Syndicate (UFS) took over the syndication of Tarzan and launched the first Sunday comic in 1931. UFS continues to syndicate Tarzan as newly-created Sunday comics and classic dailies. The Sunday strips have been drawn by Gray Morrow since 1983.

Comic Book Adaptations of 
Edgar Rice Burroughs' 
Tarzan Stories
BY
Allen Ellis
This  a list of adaptations of Burroughs' Tarzan stories
as they appear in the following 6 series:

"Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan (of the Apes, #138-)." Gold Key, numbers 132,
      11/1962 - 206, 2/1972 (continues Dell issue numbering).

"Tarzan." DC (National Periodical Publications), numbers 207, 4/1972 - 258
      2/1977 (continues Gold Key numbering).

"Jungle Tales of Tarzan." Charlton Comics, 1, 12/1964 - 4, 7/1965

"Tarzan." Marvel Comics Group, 1, 6/1977 - 29, 10/1979.

"Tarzan Annual." Marvel Comics Group, 1, 1977 - 3, 1979.

"Tarzan of the Apes." Marvel Comics Group, 1, 7/1984 - 2, 8/1984 (mini-series)


All issue numbers are from the Gold Key/DC series, unless otherwise specified.

1. Tarzan of the Apes: 155, 12/65  (reprinted # 178, 8/68)
                                   207, 4/72 - 210, 7/72
                                    Russ Manning & Gaylord DuBois
                                   Tarzan of the Apes (Marvel) 1, 7/84 - 2, 8/84

2. The Return of Tarzan: 156, 2/66 ~ Russ Manning & Gaylord DuBois
                      219, 4/73 - 223, 9/73

3. The Beasts of Tarzan: 157, 4/66 ~ Russ Manning & Gaylord DuBois

4. The Son of Tarzan: 158, 6/66 ~ Russ Manning & Gaylord DuBois

5. Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar: 159, 8/66 - 161, 10/66
        Russ Manning & Gaylord DuBois
        1 (Marvel - "Freely Adapted"), 6/77 - 6, 11/77,
        8, 1/78, 10, 3/78, 11, 4/78

6. Jungle Tales of Tarzan: Tarzan's First Love: Tarzan Annual 1, 1977
       (also in Tarzan: Love, Lies...and the Lost City, #1, 1992, Malibu Comics)
        The Capture: Jungle Tales of Tarzan 1, 12/64
                                                              169, 7/67
                                                              212, 9/72
       The Fight for the Balu: JToT 1, 12/64
                                            213, 10/72 (reprinted 252, 8/76 - 253, 9/76)
        The God of Tarzan:  JToT 3, 5/65
                                            169, 7/67
                                             9 (Marvel) 2/78
          Tarzan and the Black Boy: 170, 8/67
      The Witch-Doctor Seeks Vengeance: none
           The End of Bukawai: Tarzan Annual 1, 1977
           The Lion: JToT 4, 7/65
                                               12 (Marvel) 5/78
           The Nightmare: JToT 3, 5/65
                                               214, 11/72 (reprinted 257, 1/77)
           The Battle for Teeka: JToT 2, 2/65
                                               14 (Marvel) 7/78
           A Jungle Joke: JToT 4, 7/65
                                              170, 8/67
                                              13 (Marvel), 6/78
         Tarzan Rescues the Moon: JToT 2, 2/65
                                             7 (Marvel), 12/77

7. Tarzan the Untamed: 163, 1/67 - 164, 2/67
                                 Russ Manning & Gaylord DuBois
                                  250, 6/76 - 256, 12/76

8. Tarzan the Terrible: 166, 4/67 - 167, 5/67
                                    Russ Manning & Gaylord DuBois

9 . Tarzan and the Golden Lion: 172, 10/67 - 173, 12/67
                                    Russ Manning & Gaylord DuBois

10. Tarzan and the Ant Men: 174, 2/68 - 175, 4/68
                                    Russ Manning & Gaylord DuBois

11. Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle: 176, 6/68 - 177, 7/68
                                    Russ Manning & Gaylord DuBois

12. Tarzan and the Lost Empire: 194, 8/70 - 195, 9/70
                                    Paul Norris

13. Tarzan at the Earth's Core: 179, 9/68 - 181, 12/68
                                     Doug Wildey

14. Tarzan the Invincible: 182, 2/69 - 183, 4/69
                                     Doug Wildey

15. Tarzan Triumphant: 184, 6/69 - 185, 7/69
                                     Doug Wildey

16. Tarzan and the City of Gold: 186, 8/69 - 187, 9/69
                                     Doug Wildey

17. Tarzan and the Lion Man: 206, 2/72
                                                  231, 6-7/74 - 234, 12/74-1/75

18. Tarzan and the Leopard Men - none

 19. Tarzan's Quest: 188, 10/69 - 189, 12/69

20. Tarzan and the Forbidden City: 190, 2/70 - 191, 4/70

21. Tarzan the Magnificent - none

22. Tarzan and "The Foreign Legion": 192, 6/70 - 193, 7/70
                                    Paul Norris

23. Tarzan and the Madman - none

24. Tarzan and the Castaways: 240, 8/75 - 243, 11/75
                                    Paul Norris

25. Tarzan and the Champion: 248, 4/76 - 249, 5/76
                                    Paul Norris

26. Tarzan and the Jungle Murders: 245, 1/76 - 246, 2/76
                                    Paul Norris

27. Tarzan and the Tarzan Twins: 196, 10/70
                                     Mike Royer
 
 

For more information on ERB comics visit:
ERB Comics Encyclopedia
ERB Illustrated Artists Encyclopedia
MOTES & QUOTES ERBzine 0072. GAYLORD DuBOIS DELL TARZAN AUTHOR
MOTES & QUOTES ERBzine 0073. DELL  COVER ART MOSAIC
MOTES & QUOTES ERBzine 0035. Illustrators
MOTES & QUOTES ERBzine 0064. STRIPS
Visit the BLB Illustrated Bibliography: Enter Here


 
 



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