French Tarzan clones! Part 1

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In the booklets of complete narratives (often in an Italian format) thus appeared a few fugitive characters who lived short-lived adventures: GUNGOO "son of the jungle" by Brantonne on a scenarios by Daimblond, in the collection "Le Vainqueur" (1947), HOOGLIW, in "Un Homme dans la Jungle" by RR Giordan, in the "Bagarre" collection (Editions Publi-Vog in Nice in 1946), YEDO, in "L'Empereur de la Sylve" by Elain Day, in the same collection (1947), TOGO "Le Roi de la Jungle" by the Edomi workshop published in the "Texas" collection (Ed. Claire-Jeunesse 1947), SARI "Le Sauvage" by RR Giordan (Publi-Vog 1950 ), TOULA, "L'Homme Dieu des Terres Inconnues" by H. Will in "Selections les Marveleuses aventures" (SAETL 1948) and, in the same collection (still in 1948) L'HOMME GAZELLE by Brantonne on a screenplay by A Pautard.

Some vigilantes of the jungle had a more prolific career, it is the case of:

ROAG by G. Mattéi on scenarios by J. Cugnot, who will experience twenty adventures in the collection "Le Monde et la Jungle" published by Voix Française de Nice in 1948-49. Roag lives with a companion, Laura, in Bango, an island in the Pacific, where they face various villains, including the Japanese troops 

OURAGAN by André Bohan is edited by Edition Modernes and more than a hundred stories were published between 1946 and 1950. In tight shorts and striped swimsuits, he is not, strictly speaking, a jungle man because his adventures unfold sometimes elsewhere. But the majority of his exploits are still in the jungle or the bush, hence his nickname King of the Bush.

TARGA was created by Robba (Robert Bagage), director of the Siècle-Impéria editions, who entrusted the drawing to a young designer, Georges Estève (who signed the first Stev'son episodes). The latter evolves quickly and its somewhat stiff beginner style transforms into a flexible and lively graphic that contributed to the success of the series. Subsequently, Bob Roc (Robert Rocca) signed eight episodes, Carland three and the mysterious Motépé, one episode. Targa has a pretty (and sexy) wife, Tinga and a black panther, Khan, who is a great helper of her in her fight against adventurers of all kinds who cross her path. The trio travels and leaves the jungles of Africa for those of Asia, from India to the Pacific Islands. There are sometimes bizarre anachronisms such as the meeting of pirates and filibusters, while the action is supposed to take place in the 20th century. If this series was a great success, it is certainly due to the atmosphere of the stories, some of which are quite impressive: giant lizards, hordes of lepers, prehistoric monsters, pit of rattlesnakes, etc. The monthly appeared from 1947 to 1951, but Targa was interrupted in 1950, victim of various pressures: the threat of a trial concerning Tarzan and especially the application of the infamous law of July 1949 on publications intended for young people. The first four episodes will be repeated, in 1979, in a special “Kalar” special edition, with reworked lettering and text, under the name AGAR. 

YORGA was published in 1948-49 at La Sagedition, in the famous "Adventures and Mystery" collection. It is an Italian series due to Antonio Canale (also cartoonist of Amok under the pseudonym Tony Chan) on scenarios by GL Benelli (creator of Tex and bein other well-known characters), later in Italy, the series will be drawn by F. Gamba. "Son of the Jungle and the Gods", Yorga was still a baby when his parents were murdered on their plantation in India. Taken in by a fakir, Yorga is initiated into the occult sciences and the language of animals. As an adult, he will protect them and avenge his parents with the help of the beautiful Leïla. Unfortunately, French readers would be frustrated because the series disappears after a disastrous publication of only seven volumes, but still succeeded in Italy. 

OGAR "Le Démon des Savanes" was produced by Yves Mondet in 1948 for a bi-monthly published in Lyon. As a subtitle, this collection of eight issues bears the mention "Le journal des jeunes seeks ...". In the eighth issue, it is announced "a great adventure of Ogar, The Steel Crab, and good news: from now on, Ogar will appear on 16 pages with a new presentation" which will never see the light of day. Published in large format, on eight pages printed in blue, the adventures of Ogar remain classic, the originality comes from the place where the action begins: the Matto Grosso in Brazil. But Ogar will soon travel around the world, from Mexico to Australia via the West Indies, Java, Sumatra, Borneo and the Samoa Islands. The hero conforms to the image of the Tarzanides: dressed in a loincloth, this athlete carries an Indian dagger, which does not prevent him from using a colt, a bow or a rifle so easily depending on the circumstances. Blond, long hair like his colleagues, he fights against wild animals, hostile tribes and scoundrels of all kinds.

TIM L'AUDACE, published in Nice (Publi-Vog edition), then in Monaco (Monte Carlo edition) in 1947-50, is the work of the brothers R.R. Giordan (Nissan scenarios). More than twenty booklets were published and if, at the beginning, the graphics are weak, very quickly the Giordan brothers acquire a perfect mastery in spite of the influences of Tarzan. The exotic and lush decorations are neat and Tim l'Audace, Magda his companion and the monkey "the Ancestor" are very nice characters. Tim l'Audace reappeared in 1959, in the Ardan collection, at Artima. The first issue is a superb tribute to Hogarth, but it would be the only booklet drawn by the Giordan brothers. From n ° 2, Bob Leguay takes over. Supported by many screenwriters (M. Perry, MA Rayjean, P. Ducher, J. Lombard), Bob Leguay, under pressure from the editor, changes the character who quickly gives up his loincloth to become civil and become a reporter afterwards. After having traveled the world, however, he will return to his first love and join the jungle. But he keeps his clothes and becomes, like "Jungle Jim", an adventurer of the bush who shares his exploits with a black man named Salam. After a hundred numbers, Bob Leguay abandons Tim l'Audace which is taken over by Robert Hugues. The series continued until 1965, then until 1977 with reissues, but this successful series is not the only one from this publisher which features a man from the jungle.

In "Audax", the Artima editions had already hosted:

ARDAN, drawn by J.A. Dupuich. Ardan is a former boxer, lost in the jungle, who befriends a lion, experiences three adventures in 1950 ... and disappears.

MOHA "Le Sauvage" is a young Mulatto created by André Gosselin. After a few stories in the "Audax" collection, he returns in the monthly "Tarou" where it will be drawn by Gaston Niézab. When the latter died, it was taken over by Gosselin, who finished the series in 1958.

Still at Artima, a character was to experience exceptional longevity:

TAROU "Le Maître des Tigres", created by Bob Dan (Robert Dansler), begins in the collection "Une Aventure de", passes in the "Dynamic" collection (1st series), then after a brief passage in "Ardan "(1953) accesses its own monthly title (1954). Bob Dan, an excellent storyteller, knew how to captivate his readers and compensate for a rapid drawing by the efficiency of his line. Tarou will continue until 1972, the year of the death of its author. The publisher will continue the collection until issue 263 (1977) with covers. Tarou, son of an engineer and a Malay native, was five when a cataclysm devastated the forest, killing his parents. He would be saved by a tigress who will raise him up. Thereafter, Tarou will have new companions, two tigers, then a lion: Salvator, a monkey: Bali and, of course, a companion, the pretty Denise, who will share his adventures in the jungles of the whole world. He will cross without incident the period of the beginning of the Fifties when the editors, cautious, avoided to publish masked heroes, superheroes or men of the jungle, in order not to incur the wrath of the famous Commission of Surveillance of the publications intended for la Jeunesse, who ended up defeating Tarzan in 1953 as well as a lot of American series (The Phantom of Bengal, The King of the Prairie ...). Doubtless Tarou, a French comic strip, without excessive violence and without eroticism (unlike the American series designed, it must be remembered, for an adult audience), could not shock the censors. Subsequently, the return of the hero of the jungle will be in the same spirit.

In pocket formats, sub-Tarzans were numerous, but few were those who crossed the threshold of popularity reached by Tarzan. However, there were still some exceptions with AKIM and ZEMBLA, which lasted for many years, Special Zembla still being published today.

AKIM, this "Son of the Jungle", was created in Italy in 1950, by Augusto Pedrazza, based on scenarios by Roberto Renzi. The theme is very close to that of Tarzan: Akim, Jim for civil status, is the son of the British consul in Calcutta, Frederik Rank. When returning to Europe, the family is shipwrecked and only the mother and the toddler are stranded on the African coast. The mother builds a hut and tries to raise her son, until the day when she is killed by a panther, who kidnaps the baby and takes him to the jungle. He is saved by a gorilla, will live among them and learn the language of animals. It is the beginning of a saga which will include more than a thousand adventure stories of all kinds which had an enormous popular success both in Italy and in France, where this character appears in 1958, in a monthly magazine that bears his name in the Aventures et Voyages editions. Young French readers were passionate about this hero and sales exceeded all expectations. This title went bi-monthly to n ° 23 and a BENGALI supplement, under the title "Akim special hors série". In 1967-79, Akim was even reissued, in colour, in a slightly larger format, in “AKIM COLOR.” Of course, on closer inspection, the graphics are quite ordinary, but let's not forget not that the number of plates to provide hardly allowed Pedrazza to refine his drawing.

The absence of Tarzan in the kiosks is perhaps an explanation for the infatuation of the young people for Akim but also, most certainly, the intrigues which make him face, in addition to the traffickers, hunters of wild animals, greedy explorers and other dictators in power. , common in the genre, Mongols, Romans, Japanese soldiers, aliens, etc. Humor, fantasy, sci-fiction, everything mixes together to the delight of readers. The secondary characters are well-typed and endearing: the beautiful Rita, who has become his companion, Jim, an orphan he has adopted, as well as the inevitable beasts (Zig a monkey, Kar the gorilla, Baroi the elephant, Rag the lion...). A few years later, Akim will have a serious competitor, Zembla, launched by Lug editions.