.
DELL
#54 March 1954 - 52pp. 10cents
READ
IT HERE
Art
interior: Jesse Marsh (1st and 3rd stories) ~
Pencils:
Russ Manning ~ Inks: Tony Sgroi -- 2nd story
Writer
-- unknown (Gaylord Du Bois - unconfirmed)
Cover: 42nd Lex Barker
photo (Last Lex Barter cover photo)
Inside Front Cover:
New advertisement Mars Milky Way -- color
1st story “Tarzan
and the Man-killers” - 16pp.
Type -- Man-eaters (Lions)
- Buto Matari
Makwa,
one of Buto Matari’s people, informs the chief that two lions killed two
of their young cows. Buto sets a trap for them. That night within the boma,
Buto has his men ready with torches. The male lion leaps the boma and brings
down a cow. Buto and his men light their torches and throw their spears.
They miss their mark. Buto throws his torch at the male. The lion crashes
through the boma. Satisfied that the lions will not return, they head for
their homes. The mated pair enters the living compound of the village and
enters a hut.
In the morning, Buto is told
that the lions took his nephew, M’pani, and his wife, Wo-we, away. Tarzan
suddenly appears and states that he and Buto will track down the man-killers.
After tracking all day, Tarzan has a plan to lure the lions to him. He
mimics the cry of a lost young antelope. The lions come. Tarzan leaps onto
the back of the male. Buto spear shaft is broken in the fight with sabor.
Numa throws Tarzan from its back. The two lions briefly attack each other
and run off. Tarzan and Buto sleep in a tree that night.
The next morning finds Tarzan
cooking a pig that he has killed for breakfast. He also has a new spear
shaft for Buto. They come upon Rendille herders who lost a bull and a calf
that morning. They follow the trail that leads to Ngoro-ngoro. A storm
is quickly approaching. A bolt of lightning sends sabor into a cave and
numa bounds down the side of a gorge. Tarzan sees sabor sticking her head
out of the cave. Lightning strikes. Blindly, sabor leaps at Tarzan but
falls off a cliff to her death. They lose numa’s trail in the rain and
take shelter under an outcropping.
In the morning, they travel
close to a village in Ngoro-ngoro. They are going to avoid the village
because of the evil and cruel witch doctor, N’gombo. Tarzan senses sheeta
stalking a child. Tarzan’s shout diverts the leopard’s leap at the boy.
The boy cries and runs home. Tarzan was so concerned about the child’s
welfare that he fails to realize that warriors have crept up behind them.
Tarzan and Buto are knocked unconscious with clubs, taken to the village,
and tied to poles. N’gombo wants water thrown in their faces to wake them
as the moon rises. Faking unconsciousness Tarzan issues a lion’s roar.
The villagers panic and run to their huts. Tarzan breaks his bonds. N’gombo
knows it is a trick and pleads to his people to come out of their huts.
The male man-eater attacks the witch doctor. Tarzan and Buto spear the
lion. Tarzan gives the victory cry of the bull ape. End.
The featured
story is a new story that puts one in mind of the man-eaters of Tsavo.
Although the real life man-eaters were both young males, these two are
a mated pair. They seem to actively take revenge on Buto because he thwarted
their attempt to raid the cattle herd. They kill Buto’s nephew and his
wife. The man-eaters of Tsavo also appeared to be more intelligent than
your average lion. There are a great deal of night scenes in this story
and some dramatic storm scenes, which also take place at night. The lions
are the focal point of the story and are nicely rendered throughout the
story. This is the first time that a lion has been able to thrown Tarzan
from its back during a fight. It is not the first time Tarzan has cooked
food. The cooked food is probably for Buto. A subplot of the evil and cruel
witch doctor, N’gombo, never really has a chance to develop as the man-eater
chases the witch doctor. Tarzan and Buto’s spears kill the beast. The story
abruptly ends with the victory cry of the bull ape. This is good story
with very nice drawings. It is slightly marred by not showing the reaction
of the witch doctor after his life has been saved by the two men he planned
to torture and possibly kill. Maybe that will appear in a future story.
2nd story “Boy
Finds the Isle of Leopards” - 8pp.
Type -- Boy Story - Lost Race
(Leopard Men) - Baboons
Dombie must tend the goatherd
so Boy stays with him. They practice archery. A leopard with a collar steals
a goat. Boy tells Dombie to inform the Waziri as he follows the leopard.
On the trail he meets a tribe of baboons. A baboon named Shakoh joins him
in the hunt. The come upon a leopard with a balu baboon kill. The leopard
gives a cry at the edge of a lake. The Leopard Men pull a dugout canoe
across the crocodile infested water to the leopard by a pulley system.
The baboon tribe joins Boy and Shakoh. Boy shows them how to build rafts
out of reeds and dry wood. They cross to the Isle of Leopards at night.
When the baboons see the Leopard Men and the leopards, they attack. Boy
fires arrows from a tree. The Leopard Men try to flee, but Boy has cut
loose their canoe. The Leopard Men swim out into the crocodile waters.
The baboons kill the leopards. Two baboons, Bah-nok and Rokah, are killed
in the fight. The baboons want to go home. Boy wants to sleep there for
the night. End.
The second
story is a Boy story with no appearance by Tarzan. The Leopard Men in this
story are not as cunning and vicious as the Leopard Men in Dell #40.2.
3rd story “Tarzan
and the Revolt of Hathor” - 15pp.
Type -- Talking Gorillas -
Cathne - elephants - Goliath
Riding on Bara Tarzan bumps
into King Jathon in his lion drawn chariot near the Great Swamp in Pal-ul-don.
Tarzan tells him that it is not safe there. Suddenly a six-foot arrow pierces
both sides of Jathon’s chariot. Tarzan commands Jathon to leave as he rides
towards the swamp. A talking gorilla’s arrow misses Tarzan. However, the
ape-man’s arrows repeatedly hit their marks. The gorillas flee. Tarzan
brings one of the ten-foot bows back to Jathon to prove that the gorillas,
with almost human brains, have learned archery. Tarzan suggests to
the King that the three gorillas were an advance scout party in preparation
for an attack on Cathne. Jathon thinks Tarzan is wrong and invites him
to the City of Gold.
After reaching the city, they
have a meal with Queen Elaine. Tarzan tells her that their best defense
is Goliath, the giant lion. The bolgani fear Goliath more than anything.
They watch Goliath feed in the courtyard below. Tarzan informs Elaine about
the attack on her husband by the bolgani. King Jathon becomes concerned
and orders the guard doubled around Goliath. Suddenly gorillas are on the
top of the wall, knocking the guard off. They fire arrows into Goliath.
The great lion leaps towards its attackers. Tarzan fires arrows from the
balcony. The gorillas flee. Elaine worries about the wounded Goliath. Tarzan
leaves like a shadow.
He easily catches up to the
gorillas and decides to follow them to learn their plan. The gorillas reach
their raft in the Great Swamp. They believe that they have killed Goliath
and are reporting to their gund that the attack on Cathne can begin at
once. Tarzan hopes to delay their return. From a tree he taunts the bolgani.
All three gorillas go to the same side of the raft and fall into the water.
Crocodiles head for them. They desperately head back to the raft. Tarzan
heads for Athne, the City of Ivory, which was captured by the gorillas.
At Athne, Tarzan waits for
Goro to go under a cloud before approaching the city. He discovers many
rafts have been prepared for the attack. He climbs the wall and overhears
guards talking about how they have used up their food supplies and are
going to capture slaves to grow food for them. Tarzan forms a plan for
a revolt. He finds the war elephants unguarded. He approaches Hathor, the
wisest of the elephants. He frees the pachyderm. As he rides him towards
the gate, he notices that his captors have abused Hathor. Tarzan pretends
to be on a mission for gund Rae. The dimwitted guard opens the gate. He
rides Hathor through the swamp back to Cathne. Tarzan has a plan for the
attacking gorilla horde. Jathon places him in charge of the Cathnean army.
The gorillas, mounted on war
elephants, march on Cathne. Tarzan rides Hathor into battle. He and Hathor
convince the elephants to throw off their hated masters. The surviving
bolgani retreat towards the swamp. Jathon and his troops, in lion drawn
chariots, charge in from both flanks. The bolgani are defeated. The elephants
are given to the Athneans so they can heal their wounds. Jathon pledges
to build the Athneans a city of their own near Cathne. Tarzan pledges his
help. End.
The third
story is a new story that continues the story of the talking bolgani after
they overthrew Athne in Dell #52.1. The bolgani have learned archery and
realize that Goliath is their greatest obstacle. They send assassins to
eliminate the giant lion. Goliath is put out of commission as he was in
Dell #46.1; thus, Tarzan and the Cathneans must use their wits to defeat
the bolgani horde instead of a giant creature. It is encouraging that the
writer does not exclusively rely on giant creatures to save the day. The
Cathnean walls must be stronger than the Athnean walls because when Goliath
leaps to these walls he does not knock great chunks out of it like he did
in Athne. Hathor, the wise war elephant, originally was Prince Ergon’s
mount. In Dell #40.1, Dr. MacWhirtle shot it out from under the Prince
with a machine gun to save Dr. Maypool, his daughter, and Tom Culver. Either
the elephant remarkably recovered or this is a different Hathor. When Tarzan
tricks the dimwitted guard at the gate of Athne, he uses the words, Gund
Rae. It is not clear if this is the name of the gorilla chief or has some
other meaning. If it is the name of the chief, how did Tarzan learn the
name? As Tarzan and Jathon approach Cathne, there is an impressive archway
that suggests an aqueduct coming into the city. There is one three paneled
page that has an outstanding view of the gorillas mounted on elephants
approaching Cathne. The story puts some interesting twists in the continuing
story line, and it sets up even more possibilities for future stories.
“Mabu’s Manga” -- 45th text
story -- 2 pages - no illustrations
“Brothers of the Spear” --
30th -- 6 pages
New Subscription Offer - free
coin and key case - 1 page - in color
Inside Back Cover: New Whitman
advertisement - coloring books
Back Cover: 20th Wheaties advertisement
featuring Bob Davies, Rochester Royals
.
