It's maybe OK to gawk when he's fighting a lion, but embracing his wife...?

Even I'm barely old enough to remember, but Tarzan used to be a prestige gig. Still, there's a right way and a wrong way to do things, and Marvel unsurprisingly chose the latter here. Although it may have been a creative choice as well! From 1977, Tarzan #2, "The Road to Opar!" Adapted from Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan of the Apes and Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar by Roy Thomas, art by John Buscema.

Tarzan was returning home with a guest, Jules Frecoult, whom he had saved from a lion. But "Jules" was really Albert Werper, a Belgian deserter who had killed his commanding officer and fell in with some bandits who wanted to be rid of Tarzan. After Jane recounts Tarzan's origin to him, Albert eavesdrops on the couple--not like that! Well, at least not like that right away: Tarzan tells Jane, their finances back in England had gone bust. Probably due to foul play or dirty deeds, sure, but that left Tarzan forced to come up with quick cash the only way he could: a trip to the lost city of Opar for some gold. Jane knew it was dangerous, probably least of all because the city's queen La wanted Tarzan for herself; but the trip gives Albert an idea--to kill Tarzan after the trip, to steal the gold as well? Yeah, look at the big idea man. I'm sure that'll go well for him.

Despite the prestige of Thomas and Buscema, Mark Evanier noted they were kind of barking up the wrong tree there: Tarzan was more popular in the foreign markets, and they didn't want adaptations, but that's what Thomas decided they should do. The foreign markets also wanted something like the Russ Manning version, while Buscema wanted to do a Joe Kubert-style. Even the number of pages wasn't right for the overseas sales! But, as we've seen, Marvel would keep trying to squeeze that square peg in a round hole for over two years. Which still seems like a bit of a run, considering Star Wars would've just come out, and sci-fi would've been bigger than big then. Still, it feels like whenever anyone gets the Tarzan license, the first thing they want to do is the origin yet again, when maybe they should do something newer.