The Vanishing Herds: Jesse Marsh’s Tarzan Revisited

Features Franny Kursztejn | October 7, 2026 By 1962, fans of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Tarzan waged a rebellion against artist Jesse Marsh. Marsh helmed the character for the Dell-Western iteration in 1948, drawing over one hundred issues of Tarzan and frequent backups for Korak, Son of Tarzan up until his retirement. For the younger readers, he was the only Tarzan artist they had ever known, yet the outcry appeared almost unanimous. Not only did Marsh receive the rancor of Burroughsian sycophants for perceived “disrespect” of the source material, casual readers also soured on his antiquated, static style, frequent anatomical errors, and drab action sequences. art by Jesse Marsh from Tarzan #18 It’s true that Marsh’s health was in rapid decline. His diminishing eyesight from a long battle with diabetes only served to further simplify his style, mostly defined by bold colors, strong chiaroscuro, and limited linework. The Burroughs estate went so far as to lobby for Marsh’s removal along with the fans. They wanted a more “sophisticated artist” in charge of representing the franchise, perhaps implicitly calling to mind the earlier work of Burne Hogarth, whose robust (and physiologically a...