John Clayton

John Clayton is the comic-book adaptation of Tarzan, the jungle hero created by Edgar Rice Burroughs, appearing in early Dell Comics reprints. Born to English nobility and orphaned in the African wilderness as an infant, he was raised by great apes and grew into a legendary wild man of the jungle.

Few characters can claim a publishing life stretching nearly nine decades, but John Clayton has done exactly that — debuting all the way back in 1938's Comics on Parade #1, a Platinum Age landmark brought to life by Bernard Dibble, and remaining a presence in comics catalogues well into the 2020s. With 206 catalogued appearances spread across beloved series like Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan, Tarzan in Color, and The Menomonee Falls Gazette, this is clearly a figure with serious staying power in the adventure comics tradition. Three of those appearances carry key-issue status, making them genuine prizes for collectors on the hunt. The distinguished company John Clayton keeps — sharing pages with the likes of Superman, Batman, Clark Kent, and Bruce Wayne — speaks to the rarefied tier of comics royalty he occupies, a Platinum Age original still worth tracking down today.