KORAK, SON OF TARZAN
Issue #17, June 1967

Cover: George Wilson
Inside front cover: The Caracal...An African Cat

Story: Valley of Monsters
Position: 1
Writer: Gaylord Dubois
Artist: Warren Tufts
Inker: Warren Tufts
Pages: 21
Characters: Korak, Muhammed Isolo, Kleah, Umakok, Jakon

Synopsis: Korak observes some tribesmen throwing a civilized black man as a sacrifice to a giant crocodile which has emerged from Pal-Ul-Don into the jungle. The son of Tarzan not only rescues the man but actually kills the gigantic croc with his knife. The only way for the two to escape from the boatload of tribesmen is to swim into a cave leading into Pal-Ul-Don. When they emerge in the lost valley, Isolo is astounded to behold a variety of dinosaurs flourishing within. The pair manage to subdue a diatryma for transportation. They come upon a tyrannosaurus, called a "garth" in the language of Pal-Ul-Don, just as it is about to devour a young girl. Korak scores a bullseye with a spear right into the monster's open jaws, impaling its throat. They head for her village, and on the way meet with her father, Chief Jakon, just returning from a victorious battle with another tribe. Kleah explains that she had to flee her village because, in Jakon's absence, a brute named Umakok has usurped leadership and attempted to force her. They ride back to the village and there Jakon duels with the raging Umakok in a personal chief fight. No weapons are allowed, but when Umakok pulls a hidden knife on Jakon, Korak hurls his own knife with precision, injuring the brute's hand and giving Jakon the advantage needed to overcome and exile the renegade. Meanwhile, Isolo and Kleah have fallen in love and he decides to remain in Pal-Ul-Don as her mate, so Korak rides off into the sunset on the diatryma.

Remarks: Korak mentions his rescue of Tarzan and Jane from TARZAN THE TERRIBLE to Isolo. Korak explains that the reason Pal-Ul-Don has not been discovered by airplanes is because there are no safe landing places in the rocky valley. Isolo is a graduate from Oxford, who was forced to flee into the jungle when a rebellion overthrew the government for which he worked. They guide the diatryma (called a "Dyal") by using a hood with movable eye pieces attached to reins. Kleah's tribe is a caucasian black tribe that is probably a left-over from the Jesse Marsh continuity of the fifties Tarzan comics.

Centerspread: First edition of the Gold Key comics Club news to appear in Korak. Full page ad for the complete Ballantine Burroughs novels.

2. Text page: The Rhino (fiction)

3. Mabu: Lion Hunter. 3 1/2 pages. Gaylord Dubois, writer; Warren Tufts, artist.

Inside back cover: 3 complete fishing rods $12.95

Back cover: Make Money Get Prizes with Fast Selling American Seeds