Heritage Auctions offers Tarzan comic art and much more in January

By John Freeman on December 6, 2019

Leading auctioneer Heritage Auctions has an incredible auction of Tarzan comic art and more coming up in January, from the collection of the late Derek Peter Ogden, a British fan of the jungle hero and longtime publisher of the Erbania fanzine, first published out of Blackpool in 1956.

The auction, taking place 9th January, with bidding opening next week, includes a staggering number of rare Tarzan comic art including strips by Hal Foster, Burne Hogarth and Russ Manning, illustrations by others, including Mike Zeck, plus rare Tarzan books, magazines, film posters and other non-Tarzan items.

Hal Foster Tarzan #281 Sunday Comic Strip Original Art dated 26th July 1936. “The Raiders” was an episode from fairly early in the famed “Tarzan in the City of Gold” story arc. The story, based on the original Edgar Rice Burroughs novel, ran for over a year, from May of 1936 until October of 1937. It was the last story arc by Hal Foster before he moved on to create “Prince Valiant”. Burne Hogarth would step in to finish the story in May of 1937

Burne Hogarth Tarzan #1003 Sunday Comic Strip Original Art dated 28th May 1950. An episode from the story arc “Tarzan and the Adventurers” features Tarzan escaping from the Dagomba stockade with his unconscious friend Mabuli

A page from “Tarzan in Savage Pellucidar”, published in 1975 by Russ Manning . A fantastic page by one of the best Tarzan artists ever, it features Tarzan and David Innes – just after they are arrived in Pellucidar (thanks to a ride from Captain Nemo’s submarine via Loch Ness)!

1980s Tarzan Original art by Mike Zeck

Peter Ogden, who died in 2017, was the longtime editor of Erbania, a Tarzan fanzine, which was originally published out of Blackpool in April 1956 through to 2010, by which time Peter lived in Tampa, Florida, which included art by artist such as Jim (James) Cawthorn, Frank Reyes and many more; a publisher and editor honoured by Tarzan fans around the globe. He’s much missed by that community, but information on his publication is available on the excellent ERBZine official Edgar Burroughs web site curated by Bill and Sue-On Hillman.

• You can view the Peter Ogden Collection auction items here on Heritage Auctions | Bidding opens 11th December with the auction on 9th January 2020

• Erbania cover archive and content information on ERBZine

James Cawthorn

James Cawthorn is best known to Burroughs fans for his early work on the British fanzine Burroughsiana, edited by Michael Moorcock from 1956-1958, and for Erbania, edited by Pete Ogden during the same period. He also illustrated for Tarzan Adventures, a series of Tarzan comics interspersed with other stories and articles, also edited by Michael Moorcock. The series was reprinted by Savoy in 1977.

James Cawthorn: The Man and His Art was originally intended to be a modest memorial by Maureen Cawthorn Bell for her artist brother following his death in 2008, but as noted in this review by John Coulthart, the book grew into a heavyweight volume of 448 pages containing over 800 individual pieces of art: book covers, illustrations for magazines and fanzines, private pieces for friends and relatives, and many sketches or preliminary works, most of which have never seen print before.

• Steve Holland reviews James Cawthorn: The Man and his Art her on Bear Alley

• Read David Britton’s interview with longtime Erbania artist James Cawthorn (1929 – 2008)

• Tarzan on AmazonUK

About the Author
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John Freeman

John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.

He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.