ERBzine 0896: Bomba / Tarzan by Thoar (original) (raw)

Next stop: The Moving Mountain, where Bomba picks up some new friends and hears what Jojasta has to say.
Thoar (Steve S.)

Rehash of the first two volumes: Pages 12-16
Caves: Bomba is fortunate to stumble upon many caves that save his life from headhunters, mad apes, pumas and boiling rain, thus far:
Bomba the Jungle Boy: Escape from headhunters. Was a den of Polulu. Pages 54-65
The Moving Mountain: Escape from boiling rain. Was a jaguar den. Pages 135-142
The Moving Mountain: The Caves of Fear. Of volcanic origin. Pages 147-151 & 162-180
The Giant Cataract: Unoccupied and used to escape a tribe of mad monkee/apes. Pages 115-120

Thoar/S.J.S./Steve S.

"Bomba the Jungle Boy in the Abandoned City" is actually a direct continuation of events related in the previous book, "Jaguar Island." Thus far (five books), this is the only such type of sequel. The island realm of Japazy the half breed has just sunk into the Great River and Bomba is trying to escape the fury of both the river and its still spewing (though underwater) volcano, Tamura.

Determined to continue on his quest to locate Japazy (whom Sobrinnini of Snake Island told the jungle boy to find), who was away on one of his trips to Ximotox (the abandoned city), Bomba saves the life of Gibo, the (somehow), only surviving inhabitant of Jaguar Island, discounting Japazy and his party. Curiously, it is as if Ashati and Neram (formerly slaves of Jojasta), no longer existed. When Bomba looks back on all his friends (page 53), he leaves out these two, though they had appeared as recently as the last book. In fact, Gibo continues to appear in all the remaining books, including those taking place in Africa and Asia.

Gibo, aside from constantly whining about spirits and demons, seems to have cornered the market on philosophy when it comes to mothers. On page 47 he tells Bomba "Because mothers are a blessing of the gods and it is not written that the mother should be forever parted from her son." But what of Gibo's mother who probably died during the sinking of Jaguar Island. I guess Bomba's mother is more important than Gibo's?

Inevitably, there is a cave scene that saves the life of Bomba. In this case (pages 57-68), he and Gibo flee a tribe of monkeys/apes and find out that an anaconda had made these extensive caves his abode.

En route to Ximotox, Gibo states "Sooner would Gibo jump into the blazing fires of the Moving Mountain and be consumed with fire." Now, I cannot state with any certainty how far away Jojasta's realm lay, but I don't believe the Great River flowed near it, thereby making me think the distance great. Yet Gibo was aware (page 75) of not only its existence but of some of its characteristics. I would have thought Jaguar Island's Tamura, a more suitable volcano for being consumed.

The abandoned city itself seems a bit contradictory, in terms of plausibility. It is located deep within Amazonia and has not even a remote connection (physically) to either the Incas to the West or the Mayans to the North. Yet this enormous and fabulously rich city of Ximitox exists and flourished over ten thousand years ago, or so Gibo relates.

The cover art of my Clover Book edition depicts the scene from page 117 where Bomba fires arrows into the approaching horde of snakes, within the outskirts of Ximotox. Weaponless Gibo gapes at the jungle boys prowess and looks on. In an odd situation, the snakes are called upon by Ramenez, a Spaniard or possibly a half breed like Japazy, who was left to guard the approaches to the city and protect Japazy's back. What's curious is that it seems he has been there for years and gone insane, forgetting mostly why he was even there. But surely Japazy couldn't have been in the city during his most recent trip, for years. And just who was Ramenez anyway? Did he accompany Japazy to the jungle from the outside world, all those years ago?

After Bomba confronts Japazy, as Ximotox is destroyed (pages 196-203 yet another land visited by Bomba that destructs or incurs serious damage), the half breed acknowledges Casson (who is still missing in action from the last book), and Sobrinnini. But not Jojasta, specifically, whom Bomba did mention. It is curious that all of the above players do seem aware that they are all in the Amazon and roughly where. How do they know? Japazy shows his awareness on page 158. The other lands where Bomba seems to bring disaster are the Moving Mountain, the Giant Cataract, Snake Island and Jaguar Island.

Well, Japazy falls to his doom and Bomba is not directed to anyone else for further information on his parents. In a switch, it is Japazy's diary (of sorts), that provides the opening into the next adventure of Bomba, "On Terror Trail."

Publishers: Cupples & Leon (First Editions) ~ McLoughlin Bros ~ Ward, Lock ~ Grosset & Dunlap.