#edgarriceburroughs - Every Day With Edgar Rice Burroughs - July 22, 2025

 July 22, 2025 and thirty-five years ago on this day in 1990, the Gray Morrow illustrated and Don Kraar scripted Sunday Tarzan comic arc, “The Last of the Tribe of Kerchak,” concluded. The story ran for twelve weeks, having begun on May 6, 1990. The entire story arc and hundreds more may be read at: www.erbzine.com/mag35/3533.html

The story arc follows Tarzan and Korak as they seek to free a group of ‘great apes’ who have been captured by a scientific expedition for use as test subjects by a pharmaceutical and cosmetics company.

The drabble for today, Hidden By Words,” was inspired by the story arc and by the real-life use of animals as unwilling test subjects. The drabble is fictional, just like the story arc, “The Last of the Tribe of Kerchak,” but alas, the use of animals as test subjects is far too real.

Tarzan freed the great apes and confronted the expedition’s leader, Dr. MacKinley, ”By what right have you taken these people?”

“By the right of science. We’ll use them to test cosmetics and drugs, It the new products don’t hurt the apes, they won’t hurt humans. They’re almost human, you know.”

“They are people and they have names. This must stop.”

“Not at all. By capturing them and using them as test subjects, we can beautify humanity, improve medical practices, advance technology, and make the world a better place.”

“MacKinley, I’ve never heard greed and slavery justified with such pretty words.”