Tarzan and The Time Trap

Tarzan and “The Time Trap” appeared in TV Tornado Annual 1968, an annual usually sold around Christmas time. The author and artist are not known. The story was approved by Edgar Rice Burroughs Inc. This would have been the days of Ron Ely playing Tarzan on TV. Thus inclusion in this magazine and annual that featured The Saint, Bonanza, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., The Lone Ranger, The Phantom and Magnus, Robot Fighter. The UK publisher had a deal with Western Comics Publishing (Gold Key) in the US. Tarzan got a comic called “Shadows of Evil” and a text story “The Time Trap”.

Unlike “Tarzan and the Wizard Out of Time”, “The Time Trap” is a middling affair. Tarzan and his old pal, Tantor, go exploring a part of the jungle where the natives won’t go. It is said animals disappear in that area. Following a lone lion, Tarzan and Tantor see it disappear.

They explore the spot and find a tunnel through time. On the other side is the Jurassic Age. Tantor meets a mammoth there. (Tarzan points out that mammoths have been extinct for a million years.) Tantor has fun meeting his ancient ancestor. The pair also encounter an Allosaurus, which the lion fights. Tarzan steps in and shoots the dinosaur with his bow. The lion eats the dinosaur without thanks.

Moving on, the man and pachyderm see pterodactyls.

Then they encounter two brontosauruses that are having a death match. The victor eats the head of the loser. Tarzan shoots the winner when it gets temperamental.

He also sees two small, furry creatures quivering in fear. These prove to be humans of a primitive sort. They take the apeman and his friend back to their stockaded village.

That night a Tyrannosaurus rex attacks. Tarzan, riding Tantor, attacks it with a club, knowing his bow will not be able to pierce the tough hide. He leaps off the elephant’s trunk and kills T. rex with his knife. Having enough of the Jurassic, Tarzan tells Tantor to remember where the doorway is and they return to our world, taking the lion with them.

Now you don’t have to be an expert to see the gaping wound of errors here. First off, mammoths did not live in the Jurassic. All mammals were small shrew-like ancestors. So no human cavemen types either. Mammoths hung around until around 12,000 BC. Secondly, what were those brontosaurs up to? Lastly, why was a T. rex there? They lived in the Cretaceous Period.

Tarzan and “The Time Trap” might have been fun if the writer had done a little Edgar Rice Burroughs reading. He could have avoided all of this in a number of ways. Firstly, they could have gone to Pellucidar or Caspak, where prehistoric mammals and dinosaurs co-exist. Alternatively, the land of Pal-U-Don. And thirdly, they could have stuck to Jurassic Age animals. Even a little prep to suggest it was a land of confused time streams….something! As ERB fans we love the cavemen and dinosaurs mix but we like a logical premise for it.

Sadly, what we got was typical of non-Burroughs writing for Tarzan, a hot mess. I don’t think Ron Ely ever crossed time to see dinosaurs. (Correct me if I’m wrong.) Like the Ely Tarzan, no sign of Jane in the mix. This story might have satisfied a young reader, but even they probably knew their dinosaurs and time periods better than this writer. Tarzan and “The Time Trap” is a disappointment to a true fan.