Tarzan emerges from the jungle every now and then. He’s been around for 110 years, which makes him one of the longest-lived characters in pop fiction. Writer Dan Jurgens takes a swing with the classic pulp hero in the first issue of the new series Lord of the Jungle. Artist Benito Gallego delivers the story to the page with the aid of colorist Francesco Segala. It’s a less-than-inspired retelling of Tarzan’s origin, but Jurgens seems to be engaging the story from an angle that could potentially give some fresh light to an old character.

It’s the 1950s. An old man with ragged hair has booked passage on a small boat. Those in charge of the boat know the man is wealthy. So why is he moving around in such a humble fashion? His story is tied-up in antiquity. A wealthy couple is stranded in the jungle. She’s pregnant. They do their best to get by. Things go wrong. The son of the couple is taken off and raised by apes. Years later, he has returned with important business that calls him back to the place of his youth. Danger lurks around every corner. Thankfully, Tarzan is not without his allies.

Tarzan’s origin has been told a lot over the years. It’s so well-known that it would be very, very difficult to make it work in any way that makes it feel fresh. Jurgens moves around the edges of the origin like he is hunting down a way to relate to one of the most iconic characters in literature while getting around old cliches. Jurgens is doing a pretty good job of making it work, but it will remain to be seen whether or not the story gains some momentum now that the origin has been dealt with.

Gallego gives the jungle some heavy shadow and a certain amount of brutality that seems to be moving into place, but it doesn’t quite have the sense of menace that it could. The danger that faces a kid growing up in the jungle never really materializes. It all lies relatively flat on the page as the narrative crawls through the underbrush of Tarzan’s origin. An aged veteran Tarzan does come across with some degree of formidability, but the ink is so dense on the page that nothing escapes. Segala’s colors manage a degree of definition, but next to all of the ink, it’s all pretty murky. 

Lord of the Jungle will likely find its distinctive voice as things progress. The first issue hasn’t quite found a way to define itself beneath the weight of the cliche of Tarzan. Jurgens is wise to leave the name of the character completely out of the book until the end of the issue. The name itself carries SO MUCH weight that the narrative needs to work up a tremendous amount of momentum just to overcome the cliche present in one of the biggest legends in the history of pop culture.

Grade: B