Tarzan and the Champion
Dust-jacket illustration for Tarzan and the Castaways
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| Author | Edgar Rice Burroughs |
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| Illustrator | Frank Frazetta |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | Tarzan series |
| Genre | Adventure |
| Publisher | Canaveral Press |
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Publication date
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1965 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback) |
| Pages | 229 pp |
| Preceded by | Tarzan and the Madman |
| Followed by | Tarzan and the Valley of Gold (1966) |
Tarzan and the Castaways is a collection of stories by American writer Edgar Rice Burroughs, the twenty-fourth in his series of books about the title character Tarzan. In addition to the title novella, it includes two Tarzan short stories. Of the three pieces, "Tarzan and the Jungle Murders", was written first, in January 1939. It was first published in the magazine Thrilling Adventures in the issue for June 1940. "Tarzan and the Champion" was written in July 1939, and first published in Blue Book Magazine in the issue for April 1940. "The Quest of Tarzan" was begun in November 1940 and first published in the magazine Argosy Weekly as a three-part serial in the issues for August 23, August 30, and September 6, 1941. The three stories were gathered together and first published in book form in hardcover by Canaveral Press in 1965. At that time "The Quest of Tarzan" was retitled "Tarzan and the Castaways" to avoid confusion with the earlier Tarzan novel Tarzan's Quest. The first paperback edition was issued by Ballantine Books in July 1965.
This story was originally entitled "The Quest of Tarzan". Tarzan is stranded on a Pacific island inhabited by the remnant of a lost Mayan civilization.
Tarzan, his monkey friend Nkima, and Chief Muviro and his faithful Waziri warriors confront an American prize fighter, One-Punch Mullargan, who has come to Africa to hunt the wildlife, using a machine-gun. Both Tarzan and Mullargan are captured by cannibals, from whom they escape with heroic acts. Tarzan banishes Mullargan from Africa at the story's end.
Stan Galloway writes: "Mullargan’s ambiguous character development, beginning as a thoughtless hunter ending with some questionable thoughts, leaves the story thought-provoking without being poignant." David Bruce Bozarth described the story as "… a kind of “tongue-in-cheek” joke that really never comes off as being all that funny. One serious moment in this little piece of fluff is Tarzan’s lecture about suffering animals."
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Wikipedia