How to distinguish confusing Tarzan styles in both comics and film

You can see that there are a lot of actors which have inspired a lot of more contemporary Tarzan designs throughout the years.

1960s-70s

Charles Bronson, Steven Hill and Peter Cullen must’ve had heads and bodies full of Frank Frazetta vibes. Although Charles Bronson himself had a head which is otherwise more similar to that of Joe Kubert’s Tor, they might’ve inspired the most famous parts of Frank Frazetta’s design portfolio, which meant that Frank Frazetta’s Tarzan designs had come of age in the mid-late 1960s. 

Aside from Horst Buchholz and Steve Reeves, as well as the gooning Lex Barker, who had prettier faces, it’s almost certain that the insanely dorky Gordon Scott who was in fact another muscly real life model for Russ Manning’s influential Tarzan design in his Gold Key Comics years. Nonetheless, his takes on both Daily and Sunday comic strip Tarzans are usually modelled on Kalman Szkalak, Frank Zane and Stellan Skarsgard. 

Joe Kubert has had a pretty strong array of designs to choose from. To make things more fun, although it only appeared in a poster advertising Russ Manning’s Tarzan comic strips, his Russ Manning-ish Neal Adams-based Tarzan, which started a design portfolio which lasted for over 4 decades, is based rather loosely on Horst Buchholz, Gary Collins and Steve Reeves. His otherwise more well known Tarzan designs, which date from the 1970s to early 1990s, are based somewhat upon Gordon Scott, Gary Collins, Ron Ely and the younger Michael Keaton. The later, somewhat less pretty looking Tarzan designs, more often based loosely on Tony Goldwyn, are mainly from the mid-late 1990s until just before Joe Kubert passed away. 

As a response to Steve Reeves’ popularity in Italian b movie cinema, Ron Ely and Joe Namath were perhaps hipper alternatives in which they instead became the first regular models for Neal Adams’ design portfolio, in 1974. As a result, the more normal-sized Aurora and WallBusters Tarzan designs are usually based on a mix of Russ Manning, Joe Kubert and Mac Raboy. Tellingly, the somewhat slimmed down post-Aurora+WallBusters designs have also become a true heavenly sight even decades later. 

That being said, Frank Zane and Kalman Szkalak have made a bigger impact on the portfolio overall, implying that the first Manning+Frazetta+Raboy inspired Tarzan designs were made as Ballantine Black Edition cover images before becoming deeply ingrained in popular culture. The later ones from the late 1970s onward more often have more flexible if still very muscly bodies, but that’s for another time. 

From the 1980s onward

Christopher Lambert has a Russ Manning-Jeff Jones head and a Jeff Jones body, yet he’s frankly more convincing in leg and arm movements too, but even with his current blindness, he still seems cute in a dorky way. 

Peter Cullen, Sean Kanan and Tony Goldwyn are clearly the real life models for Lee Weeks’ own Tarzan in Tarzan vs Predator at the earth’s core. Their heads have strong Frank Frazetta vibes combined with Jack Lehti’s plainness and Joe Kubert’s manga-like kinetic dynamics. 

Peter Cullen, James Drury and Tony Goldwyn were also indirect models for Thomas Yeates+Al Williamson’s Tarzan in Tarzan vs the Moon Men.

Joe Lara had a convincing Russ Manning-Joe Kubert-John Totleben head and William Stout-Jeff Jones body, and had clearly done his best to portray both a Ron Ely-style Tarzan and a fantasy Tarzan more akin to the OG canon books. 

Although not being good enough for a Tarzan portrayer, Casper Van Dien at least has a convincing Neal Adams+Jeff Jones head and a decent Jeff Jones body. 

Peter Lupus, Tony Goldwyn and Elmo Lincoln are the models for Shane Foley’s amazingly crude take on Tarzan. 


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