"Tarzan: The Centennial Celebration: The Stories - The Movies - The Art" by Scott Tracy Griffin published in 2012 by Titan Books, A Division of Titan Publishing Group Ltd. with a Foreword by actor Ron Ely and an Author's Note. Created and published to mark the hundred years since the character Tarzan sprung from the imagination of author Edgar Rice Burroughs this is a beautiful oversized book rich in dynamic images from magazine covers, hardcovers, paperbacks, interior illustrations, newspaper funny pages, comic books, film stills, and photos of people and places connected to Tarzan and his creator. Tarzan of the Apes was first printed in the pages of The All-Story magazine in October 1912, where the editors were so excited by the tale that they published it complete instead of the usual practice of serializing over multiple issues, then the first hardcover edition followed from A.C. McClurg & CO. in 1914. Author Griffin and his editors have worked wonders in organizing a wealth of material covering Burroughs Tarzan stories and the multitude of multimedia adaptions and interpretations of the character. After briefly sketching the early life and writings for Burroughs as well as the pulp magazines and the world of 1912 the first half of the book covers the twenty-four official Tarzan books in chronological order with information boxes on the writing, publishing, & adaptations plus sidebars on people, places, and languages as well as differences between the books and the movies. Alongside the text are beautiful reproductions of art associated with the particular book being discussed from its many publications and adaptations for both adults and children. After brief sections covering Tarzan's popularity with children and adaptations in newspaper funny pages, comic books, and radio comes the next largest section on Tarzan of the Films starting with the Silents. It may be hard to believe today that prior to James Bond the Tarzan films were the most successful series at the box office in the world and a true global phenomenon. A fifty year run began with an adaptation of Tarzan of the Apes in 1918 after which there was a Tarzan film or film serial in release every year or so until 1966 followed by a successful two year run on network television starring Ron Ely as the ape man. Sadly, despite their popularity, today many of the silent films and serials are either lost or exist in truncated formats. Burroughs had a mixed experience with the initial silent adaptations, so when he signed his agreement with MGM for a film adaptation he only gave them rights to the characters and not a particular story which left the studio free in creating their film Tarzan the Ape Man in 1932. MGM defined the public image of Tarzan with their casting of Johnny Weissmuller as a noble savage with a limited vocabulary who only wants to do right by the jungle while romancing his lady love Jane Porter played by Maureen O'Sullivan in their very adult sexy pre-code super-production and it's sequel Tarzan and His Mate. While the enforcement of the code shifted the series to a more family friendly tone as Tarzan and Jane adopt their son Boy played by Johnny Sheffield the basic depiction of the "Me Tarzan you Jane" cliché carried over for 25 years through 19 films including Weissmuller's and his inheritors Lex Barker and Gordon Scott. In the late 50s new producers shifted to a more erudite Tarzan depiction which focused on him as solo adventurer (no Jane or Boy even mentioned) with widescreen international location filming in Africa, India, Thailand, Brazil and Mexico. The irony is that the Tarzan of Burroughs books is actually an English Lord who is multi-lingual speaking the language of the apes as well as French, English and many African languages and dialects; and is alternatively known as John Clayton, Lord Greystoke after Tarzan reclaims his inheritance and marries Jane. Tarzan has swung through many highs and lows since the late sixties as the paperback boom over the next two decades features fantastic cover paintings by illustration artists including Robert Abbett, Neal Adams, and Boris Valejo many beautifully reproduced in the pages of this book. In the last 50 years Tarzan media depictions have included a 70s Saturday morning animation series on CBS, several live action TV series in 90s, and a new animation series from Disney in the 2000s. In film the most notorious and notable depictions include a remake of Tarzan the Ape Man where the entire focus was on Bo Derek's Jane in 1981 followed by one of the most faithful depictions in Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes in 1984 then in 1999 with Disney's Tarzan capping the studio's animation renaissance and finally a film not covered in Tracy's book The Legend of Tarzan in 2016. In the last part of the book Tracy covers such varied aspects of the Tarzan history as Disney's Broadway musical adaptation of Tarzan, the collectibles, fanzines, fan clubs, Tarzan on the world wide web, the origins of Tarzana, California, how Edgar Rice Burroughs became one of the first authors to become incorporated in 1923 to own the trademark on his characters and publish his own books, a business still operated by his family after 100 years! Author Scott Tracy Griffin has created an extremely worthwhile salute that doubles as a historical look at the evolution of popular media while keeping its focus on the celebration of Edgar Rice Burroughs iconic character Tarzan. ( )

This is an excellent celebration of Tarzan and a beautiful overview of the character gathering together some of the most impressive Tarzan artwork possible. After first perusing this book I decided that I needed to find many of the covers to add to my collection. Being an overview it is not an intensive dive into the cultural impact of the character nor is it a in depth biography of Edgar Rice Burroughs. Having said that it is an extensive probing into the literary character, the themes and influences of ERB in the stories. The last third of the book delves into all things Tarzan outside of the books. If you are new and curious about Tarzan it gives a nice framework to the non-literary Tarzan. This section may be disappointing to the avid fan or collector but again it is a celebration of all things Tarzan. For those who want a more in depth work on the films of Tarzan, they should read Scott Tracy Griffin's Tarzan on Film.

Tarzan the Centennial Celebration is a coffee table book showcasing cover art by N.C. Wyeth, J.Allen St. John, Roy Krenkel Jr., Frank Frazetta, Boris Vallejo as well as comic art by Joe Kubert, Tom Yeates among others. You will not find a wider collection of Tarzan art in any other book. Additionally there are pages devoted to single pieces of art, creating mini-posters enhances by the oversized format.

If you are a collector it is a must have book. if you are a fantasy art fan, you won't get a better gallery of Tarzan anywhere. If you are casually interested in Tarzan this is a good overview with the bonus of being gorgeous book to have on your coffee table. This is a book all Tarzan fans should own. ( )

Great coffee table book relating all things Tarzan from the initial stories, many of their republications & adaptations, and far more than I ever needed to know about the movies, etc. Just wish they'd spared a half-page to talk about the cartoon show I loved as a kid. Still, a great resource if you're an ERB and Tarzan fan. ( )

This was a fun book that I got after reading Jane, the Woman Who Loved Tarzan. It is large format and while there is considerable text there are also numerous examples of magazine, book, and comic cover art. Some interior art is also included as well as panels from several of the comics. In the section about the numerous movies we have stills from them as well as photos of some of the cinema and TV Tarzans with the other actors and even with Burroughs.

From the biographical information, I think that Burroughs had an interesting life from a stint as a "cowpoke" at the age of 15 to serving as a war correspondent in the Pacific during WWII. Many of his experiences made their way into the background of his stories although he once claimed that the less he knew about something the better his writings.

There was also a lot of film history in the section about the movies (which ranged from silent films up until today) which included facts about the careers of the various actors who took part. Tarzan was very much an international phenomenon with many of the movies making much of their revenue from foreign distribution. As far as the books and the comics were concerned, they also found a wide distribution all around the globe with Burroughs books being translated into 32 languages. Although this book concentrated on Tarzan the other characters created by him were represented as well with some discussion of their stories and with artwork.

I would recommend this volume to any fan of Edgar Rice Burroughs and his works.