Korak, Son of Tarzan #45

Below: Cover Original Art,

Keys of Knowledge: The Chimpanzee (1 page)

Text page: Little People of the Jungle (non-fiction)

Mabu, Jungle Boy: Kudu: The Crocodile's Prey

Korak and a young black warrior come upon two leopards by a stream simultaneously, and each of them kills one. The black, Tongo, is wounded in the leg and can't walk, so Korak makes a tree-nest for him to lie in, and then tans the skins. Korak leaves to find out where his tribe is located, and finds that slavers have burned the village and carried off the women. He returns to Tongo but waits to break the news. One morning Tongo takes off while Korak is out hunting. Korak trails him back to the burnt-out village and offers to aid him in retrieving his fiance. Korak carries him through the trees for many hours, until they get to the ocean. There on the beach the black slavers have met Arab slavers, to trade slaves for guns and liquor, and have a wild party. Korak and Tongo sneak around and first stave in the bottom of the longboat, then silently swim out to the anchored dhow, where the slaves are kept, and climb aboard. They interrupt the guards at a game of dice and quickly overpower them. Then they go below and release the slaves, and Korak instructs them to all swim to the beach, out of sight up the cove. He then lowers the sails, and sets the boat to move out to sea, before diving in himself and returning to land. When the Arabs see their ship moving out, and find their longboat stove in, they immediately believe that the black slavers have double-crossed them, and the two parties of slavers fall upon each other with guns and swords. This satisfies the demands of honor on Tongo, who has left the women to return and wreak suicide revenge upon the slavers. Minday catches up with Tongo, and Korak pronounces him the new chief of his tribe. They walk off into the shadows of the forest, the three of them with arms around each other's shoulders.

Remarks: After Korak tans his leopard skin, he wears it as an over-the-shoulder loincloth for the rest of the issue, the only Korak issue in which he wears it this way; he is also depicted with that type of "caveman" loincloth on the cover painting. This issue marks the last Gold Key issue of Korak before being handed over to DC comics with issue #46.

Gallery

Link:

see http://www.erblist.com/erbmania/korak/gk45.html