I was asked by a friend to do a drawing for a special edition of a comics magazine (more of a fanzine, actually) dedicated to Tarzan. As a kid, I remember reading all sorts of Tarzan comics. While some seemed deeply rooted in the fantastical worlds of ERB, others were more down-to-earth, set in modern African settings, with the titular hero going up against drug dealers and dictators. For the life of me, I can’t remember who made those, but I could look it up.

When I was asked to do a Tarzan piece, those long-forgotten stories sprang to mind. At the same time, I had recently been researching the Congo Crisis of 1960–1964 for a spy graphic novel I plan to do, so I decided to tie the two points of interest together.

I even came up witha pulpy tagline 🙂

Tarzan in the Congo! — As Tarzan crossed into the Congo, he soon found himself in the ANC’s custody. They had laid a trap for him, thinking he was a Katangese mercenary. Unbeknownst to them, the Lord of the Jungle had ventured into the area to investigate the mysterious circumstances surrounding the tragic plane crash that claimed the life of UN Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld over Northern Rhodesia!