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Volume 1758

REX MAXON'S  SUNDAY TARZAN STRIPS I
PART I: March 15, 1931 - June 28, 1931
Thanks to Dale Broadhurst for sharing his collection and for his efforts in restoration.
Click for full-screen images
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Rex MaxonHarold Foster was the first artist to adapt Tarzan into strip form. It was actually a story strip, consisting of five panels a day with typeset text beneath each panel. Foster drew just 60 daily strips which were reprinted as one of the very first comic books (The Illustrated Tarzan Book No. I - G&D). When United Feature Syndicate, who commissioned the strip, decided to continue the daily Tarzan and Foster was unavailable, they turned instead to staff artist, Rex Maxon 

Rex Maxon started the daily black and white Tarzan strip on June 10, 1929. Palmer, a writer in Cleveland, plotted out The Return of Tarzan and Rex did the first ten weeks for free. The strip was successful and was sold to United Features Syndicate. Maxon continued to draw the series, almost continuously, for the next 18 years -- a total of 5,200 strips. 

On March 15, 1931, the Tarzan colour Sunday page was inaugurated and Maxon took on this assignment as well. Unfortunately Foster was a hard act to follow. Maxon's inadequacies as an illustrator and storyteller, which may have been acceptable on a black-and-white daily strip, were magnified by the larger colour panels. Many thought him an odd choice as he lacked his predecessor's skill in figure drawing, composition, and several other abilities essential for the drawing of a jungle adventure strip. Edgar Rice Burroughs, especially, disliked Maxon's approach and complained frequently to the syndicate about the strip's art and story lines. He even suggested that Maxon be given photos of animals so he could learn to draw them correctly. Maxon, however, was kept on, possibly because he worked cheap. 

In response to Burroughs' complaints, the syndicate brought back Harold Foster to take over the Tarzan colour Sunday pages -- giving Maxon more time to concentrate on the daily strips. This was the start of a very successful run for Foster that would stretch from September 27, 1931 through May 2, 1937. Foster then went onto even greater success with his own strip, Prince Valiant.


1: The Beginning ~ March 1931
March 15, 1931
01: THE FIRST 
TARZAN SUNDAY PAGE
1931.03.15
March 22, 1931
02: DANGER CREEPS CLOSE 
ON VELVET PADS! 
1931.03.22
March 29, 1931
03: A NEW PERIL STALKS 
FROM THE JUNGLE DEPTHS! 
31.03.29 

April 1931 
April 5, 1931
04 : THE FURY OF 
THE APE-MAN 
19 31.04.05 
April 12, 1931
05:  IN THE HANDS OF 
A SAVAGE HORDE 
1931.04.12 
April 19, 1931
06: TARZAN AND 
THE ARAB MARAUDERS 
1931.04.19
April 26, 1931
07: THE FLAMING FURY OF 
THE MOSLEMS
31.04.26 

May 1931 
May 3, 1931
08: GREEN EYES GLEAM 
THROUGH THE DARKNESS
1931.05.03
May 10, 1931
09: TANTOR
TO THE RESCUE! 
1931.05.10
May 17, 1931
10: THE IVORY 
POACHERS ATTACK 
1931.05.17
May 24, 1931
11: IN THE HANDS OF
THE IVORY POACHER 
1931.05.24

May 31, 1931
12: WHERE PERIL SPRINGS
FROM TOOTH AND CLAW
1931.05.31


June 1931
June 7, 1931
13: KIDNAPPED
.
1931.06.07
June 14, 1931
14:  INTO THE RIVER 
OF CROCODILES
1931.06.14
June 21, 1931
15: THE ISLAND 
OF MYSTERY
1931.06.21
June 28, 1931
16: MAROONED! 
.
1931.06.28


Continued in ERBzine 1759

THE REX MAXON TRIBUTE PAGES

Rex Maxon Tribute
Links to all the Maxon Tarzan Strips
www.ERBzine.com/maxon
Rex Maxon Biography
with Photos and Articles
www.ERBzine.com/maxon/bio.html
REX MAXON'S  SUNDAY TARZAN STRIPS I
PART I: March 15, 1931 - June 28, 1931
 www.erbzine.com/mag17/1758.html 
REX MAXON'S  SUNDAY TARZAN STRIPS II
PART II: July 5, 1931 - September 20, 1931
 www.erbzine.com/mag17/1759.html 
.
I. Intro and Bio
II. Maxon/Foster Connection
III. Reprints
IV. Summary of Sunday Pages
V. Sunday Pages Thumbnails

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Not for download or duplication.
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