TARZAN LORD OF THE JUNGLE #5

Cover shows strong gloss and bright colors with sharp corners and no visible creases or color breaks. There is minor surface wrinkling/staining near the top edge, likely from the protective sleeve, and slight waviness along the spine area. No major spine stress lines, tears, or edge chipping are apparent in this photo. Interior and back cover were not assessed, so grade is based solely on front cover appearance.

Tarzan Lord of the Jungle was one of two parallel Tarzan titles Marvel published under license from Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. beginning in 1977, with regular scripter Roy Thomas and penciler John Buscema carrying the bulk of the run's adventure storytelling as it continued Tarzan's saga past the point covered in Marvel's companion Tarzan title. Issue #5, cover-dated October 1977, is a mid-run installment of that adaptation; it does not introduce Tarzan, Jane, or any other character for Marvel or for comics generally, since the character had already appeared for decades across newspaper strips, film, and earlier licensed comic runs from other publishers. There is no first appearance, death, or landmark creative milestone attached to this specific issue.

The book's market profile is that of a common, well-distributed Bronze Age licensed title rather than a speculative key. Demand centers on Edgar Rice Burroughs completists assembling the full Marvel Tarzan output and on collectors of John Buscema's adventure-comics work, not on character-first speculation, since the underlying intellectual property predates Marvel's involvement by generations. As a 1977 newsstand issue it was widely distributed before the direct-market edition split became standard Marvel practice, so surviving raw copies in circulated grades are plentiful, while high-grade survivors and CGC submissions for the title remain comparatively scarce simply because collectors have had limited incentive to grade a non-key book.

This is a book that moves through the market in bulk lots, dollar bins, and run-building want lists rather than through headline auction results. Low- and mid-grade raw copies price in line with general Bronze Age licensed-comic filler, appealing mainly to Tarzan/ERB collectors completing the series or to Buscema-art buyers indifferent to character pedigree. A CGC 9.8 example draws its premium chiefly from thin top-grade population data rather than from independent collector demand for the issue, and pricing for the title as a whole tends to track broader Bronze Age common-book trends rather than moving on its own momentum.