Tarzan by Hal Foster dated 26 Feb 1933

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Classic Tarzan Sunday by Hal Foster

February 26, 1933

It’s hard to imagine that Hal Foster was the second choice to illustrate the adaptation of Edgar Rice Burrough’s classic into a comic strip, but he was. J. Allen St. John, the original Tarzan of the Apes cover artist, rejected the job when approached due to the deadlines. The 36-year-old Harold R. Foster’s first Tarzan work was published on January 7, 1929. Foster would go on to create the definitive Tarzan, adapting the book pretty much on his own. After the initial book adaptation, Foster returned to advertising. But, the Great Depression would lead to the closing of the firm Foster worked for and few real jobs elsewhere. As a result, he would return to the strip on September 27, 1931 and take over the Tarzan Sunday page (the existing daily artist, Rex Hayden Maxon, continued on the dailies). Under Foster’s care, Tarzan thrived. And, his two-year ‘Egyptian sequence’ – from which this Sunday comes – is considered not only the highpoint of his run, but one of the high-points of the medium.

The art is in ink over graphite on Bristol board with an image area of approximately 20" x 22". [tbc]

Artwork will be shipped from within the US due to size.

$25,000.00