ERBmania! - Korak In Pal-ul-don

KORAK, SON OF TARZAN
Issue #11, Nov 1965

Steve "Korak" Allsup

Cover: George Wilson

Inside Front Cover: Keeping Fit with Korak

Story: Invasion from Pal-Ul-Don
Position: 1
Writer: Gaylord Dubois
Artist: Russ Manning
Inker: Russ Manning
Pages: 15
Characters: Korak, Lygonani of the Masai

Synopsis: Korak is visiting the Stork People of Pal-ul-don, men who live on a lake and wear bird totem attire and who use stilts to walk on the water. A terrible flood has caused the water to rise from the river, bringing the Terribs, men who ride small dinosaurs and wear croc totem attire. Korak kills several with his bow and spear, while the giant otters of the stork men take their toll against the lizards. The Terribs are driven back, but Korak advises the tribe to travel to shore for the duration of the flood. They travel through the swamp to the outskirts of Pal-ul-don, where they meet with a band of Masai warriors, also driven, with their herd of cattle, to high ground. During the night a tyrannosaurus finds his way out of Pal-ul-don and attacks the herd, causing them to stampede into the cliffs of the lost land. Korak and the Masai track the dinosaur until they catch up to him, but when he turns on them and attacks, their weapons are useless and they have to flee back to the river. Then a gryf, who is also lost, comes upon the scene and the two saurians have a terrible battle. The gryf gores the tyrannosaurus in the belly, killing him. Meanwhile, Terribs have trailed them and start to attack, but Korak recalls the method of taming a gryf taught to him by Tarzan, and, riding the creature's back, routs the Terribs with the help of the Masai and the Stork Men.

2. The Lion Killers

3. Jungle Musicians

4. Text Page: Africa's Small Ones

5. Jon of the Kalahari: Medicine Man. 4 pages. Gaylord Dubois, writer. Jesse Marsh, artist.

Story: The White Pygmies Strike Back
Position: 6
Writer: Gaylord Dubois
Artist: Russ Manning
Inker: Russ Manning
Pages: 9
Characters: Korak, Jad-Bal-Ja, Queen La, Prince Ilony

Synopsis: Korak notices a band of Oparians heading for Opar. It is La, leading three white men on a raid of the treasure vaults, so that she can buy guns to drive the Ant-Men from Opar. Korak follows them and warns the Ant-Men of their coming.They surprise La and the raiders in the treasure vaults, and Korak is felled by a bullet that grazes his forehead, and captured by the beastmen. The three white men and the beastmen flee out into the open and try for an escape, dropping Korak in their haste, but La staggers behind some rocks, wounded. Korak comes to and, rejoined by Jad, carries her away before the Ant-Men catch her. La comments that Korak looks like Tarzan back when she first met him. They make it down to a rope bridge across a chasm, and La's beastmen wait for her on the other side. The Antmen intend to spear her, but Korak and Jad block their shot by standing out in the middle of the bridge while La gets across. Then the beastmen cut the bridge, sending Korak and Jad into the rapids far below. Somehow, they survive by swimming under water and making it to the beach.

Comments: This story is set in the old Jesse Marsh continuity of the 1950's, where one storyline tells of how the Oparians are driven from Opar and the Ant-Men, called in this story white pygmies, move in, riding their dik-diks, and set up their kingdom. In this version, Opar is set upon a huge butte made of solid marble, and the only way up is a crack in the rock. La is depicted in the normal way, with brunette hair. The beastmen are also shown in their typical form.

7. Cantankerous Camels

Inside Back Cover: Keeping Fit With Korak

Back Cover: Pin-up of cover painting