KORAK, SON OF TARZAN
Issue #18, August 1967

Cover: George Wilson

Inside front cover: Off-Shore Island (Madagascar)

Story: Giant of Clay
Position: 1
Writer: Gaylord Dubois
Artist: Warren Tufts
Inker: Warren Tufts
Pages: 21 pages
Characters: Korak, Dr. Rupert Wexel, Hallie Wexel

Synopsis: An archaeologist and his daughter find a petrified Zinjanthropus lying beside a stream, where it had fallen from an eroded wall of lava. Later Korak finds the stone body and follows their tracks up a waterfall into an extinct, gigantic, valley-sized volcano crater. Meanwhile the two archaeologists find themselves attacked by a living Zinjanthropus. Simultaneously the hairy brute is struck in his club wielding hand by Korak's arrow, and in the temple by a stone fired from the slingshot of a Homo Habilis pygmy. Korak carries the two archaeologists under his arms to cover as a group of the small cavemen follow. He uses a flaming bundle of grasses to scatter them. Temporarily safe, the three sit down together for conversation and refreshment. Later a thunderstorm causes a flash flood that begins to fill the entire valley. The three Homo Sapiens climb to the top of a kopje within the crater to get above the water.There they find both the Zinjanthropi and the Homo Habili gathered, under a universal truce of animals during flood or fire catastrophe. Dr. Wexel unwisely approaches too close to the pygmies in order to get some photos, in spite of Korak's warnings, and eventually triggers a violent response. Korak is wounded in the back by a slingshot stone as he carries Dr. Wexel back to a safe distance. Meanwhile the violent episode has launched the two tribes of cavemen into a free-for-all. Korak leads his two companions down the slopes towards the flood waters, and again Dr. Wexel's insistence on obtaining further photographs puts korak into confrontation with a giant Zinjanthropus. They manage to escape the kopje on a floating tree, but soon the tree begins to move towards the waterfall at the valley's entrance. They jam the tree sideways to prevent themselves from being dashed down the rift. Suddenly a renewal of the ancient volcano causes an earthquake, and a resulting landslide plugs the gap. They hike out of the valley over the cliffs. Dr. Wexel is still obsessed with getting proof of the cavemen, and he insists that Korak help them tie the petrified Zinjanthopus to their jeep. When another volcanic earthquake buries the stone body beneath a landslide, Korak warns them that if they plan to return they better hurry, since a renewal of the volcano would spell extinction for the inhabitants.

Remarks: Hallie is so impressed with Korak's abilities (such as his fashioning of leather moccasins for them from scratch) that she compares him to her fictional favorite, Tarzan, who Korak is quick to assure her is not a fictional character.

2. Text page: Africa, the Cradle of Man

3. Mabu: A Friend in Need. 4 pages. Gaylord Dubois, writer; Warren Tufts?, artist.

Inside back cover: If You Know Just Ten People...

Back cover: $100.00 Dollars is Yours...