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presents
Volume 3719
ERBzine GUIDE TO THE JOHN CARTER PAGES FROM THE FUNNIES
Intro | 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07
ERBzine 3719
INTRO | CONTENTS
ERBzine 3720
I: 1939 ~ Issues 30-33
ERBzine 3721
II: 1939 ~ Issues 34-37
ERBzine 3722
III: '39/'40 ~ Issues 38-41
ERBzine 3723
IV: 1940 ~ Issues 42-45
ERBzine 3724
V: 1940 ~ Issues 46-49
ERBzine 3725
VI: '40/'41 ~ Issues 50-53
ERBzine 3726
VII: 1941 ~ Issues 54-56/57
.From the Michael Tierney Collection: www.thewildstars.com
with supplemental scans gathered by Eric Holland

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MEET MICHAEL TIERNEY

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John Carter's first appearance in comic format was in The Funnies: Issue #30, May 1939 thru Issue #56, June, 1941. These issues are highly collectible and demand premium prices in the collectors market. 

Thanks to the generosity of comics guru, Michael Tierney, we are proud to make these rare pages of comic art by John Coleman Burroughs available to our ERBzine readers. We are also pleased that Michael has agreed to share some fascinating autobiographical info with us. 

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They're simple questions. Who am I and what's my connection to Edgar Rice Burroughs? And what's the deal with all the comic books?

I discovered comics at a train station during an emergency trip to KU Medical Center. Fortunately picked out some good stuff, as this would be my only entertainment for the better part of my Third Grade school year spent in isolation for what was explained as a rare form of terminal leukemia. I was lucky to beat the odds and did enough homework to graduate with my class. But the doctors advised that because of the physical trauma, I'd never reach age 30. Activities like football went right out of consideration, because there was no way my parents were paying any more medical bills. Had to settle for solitary sports like Track and Cross Country.

My first encounter with Edgar Rice Burroughs happened indirectly through the Gold Key comics by Russ Manning. Didn't actually read the comics at first, having seen on a spinner rack the covers of Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar. Found them interesting enough to search out the book at the local library. Eventually went back to the Tarzan comics and was enthralled by the work by Russ Manning. Didn't have much interest in the black and white movie versions on TV, even after my parents said that Tarzan actor Jock Mahoney was a cousin. Then discovered the Mike Henry Tarzan movies at the theater, and became a fan.

It took a while to try Burroughs' Martian novels. Titles like Chessmen of Mars and Thuvia, Maid of Mars gave the mental image of people playing chess while a maid shuffled in and out with fresh linens. But once I discovered The Warlord of Mars, all of the fantastic worlds and rich publishing history of Edgar Rice Burroughs opened up. 

Read everything Burroughs that I could find. Even wrote Edgar Rice Burroughs Inc. directly and made some of the best investment purchases of my life with money earned as a paperboy. My personal collection of Burroughs' work now includes all of the original comic books plus First and later edition hardcovers  and paperbacks

While the eternal optimism of Burroughs' writing was only one influence out of many, it has been one of the longer lasting.

Nearly every job '’ve ever done has been connected to printed publications. From paperboy routes starting in grade school, I worked my way up to Mail Room Supervisor at the local newspaper while in High School. Then skipped college and went straight into printing, and was managing the Fast Print Division of International Graphics by the age of 22.

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In 1982 I opened my first comic book specialty store, Collector's Edition, in North Little Rock, Arkansas, at the age of 27. My second location, The Comic Book Store, soon followed in Little Rock, along with nominations for the Star*Reach Retailer of the Year and the Will Eisner Spirit of Comics Retailer of the Year awards.

Was featured in an article about retailers in the May 2005 issue of The Comics Buyer’s Guide

In addition to writing Market Reports for numerous publications, I've been an Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide advisor since the Nineties, and have contributed Trendwatcher columns to every issue of the Comics Buyer's Guide since they switched to a monthly magazine format in 2004. Also contributed reviews that include every Tarzan comic from Dell through Gold Key, DC, and Marvel.

When it came to naming my own corporation, I took inspiration from Edgar Rice Burroughs. But I only did the last name, thinking that; "If it has the same pronunciation as the negative term of Tyranny, may as well have some fun with it." Called my corporation Tierney Inc.

Both stores were a Destination Comics! feature in the April 2010 issue of The Comic Buyer’s Guide.

But reading and retailing weren't my only interests in books. I’d decided to learn the retailing side because my ultimate goal was publishing.

I'd actually started writing when I only knew two words; 'stop' and 'go,' and drew the rest sequentially. Was very active with journalism in High School, including being editor of the school paper during the short while that it ran as a supplement in the local newspaper, and went to the KU campus for the State Finals in Sports Writing one year. My assignment was to interview former Kansas football star and future Super Bowl  MVP running back John Riggins. Didn't win, but sure wish I’d gotten to keep a copy of that contest entry. 

My first published creative story was accepted while in Junior High School, and ran in the fan pages of Warren's Eerie Magazine #37. While the trademark term wasn't yet used, this was my first tale of the Wild Stars. And, like Burroughs did with Tarzan, the Wild Stars would become a life's work. 

Started self-publishing in 1977 with the Multiversal Scribe Magazine and in the Eighties started doing comic adaptations based on one of the books from a series of Wild Stars novels written in the Seventies. 

For my publishing imprint, I initially used the name of my first store, Collector’s Edition, and later switched to Little Rocket Publications. Being based in Little Rock, Arkansas, you can guess where that name came from.

The concept behind Wild Stars is that 75,000 years ago mankind first migrated into space and colonized planets circling the brightest stars in the night sky. 

This is where all the legends of Space Gods and UFOs come from. Now, their war with a genocidal alien race has spread back to Earth.
 
 

Wild Stars Volume 2 #1 in 1988 was not only the first comic known to be created, written, illustrated, and printed by the same person, it was also the first comic to feature foil-stamping and die-cutting on the front cover, as well as on the back cover. This was years before the cover gimmicks that became prevalent in the Nineties. I also used a printer's trick on one page to fade out a background mountain throughout the run. If you have a copy with a solid mountain, it's from early in the run. The more it's faded the later it came in the 2000 copy run. This was my attempt to make each copy into a unique art print. This issue was valued at $10 a copy in a recent price guide.

Produced over a 20 year period, these chapters of this first major story arc were collected in the 25th Anniversary Edition collection of Wild Stars: The Book of Circles hardcover. 

One reviewer surmised; “Upon reaching the middle of the book, the reader will be no closer to catching up with the plot that he is now certain is a runaway literary freight train with track continually being laid down in front of it as it progresses forward. Not until the climax of the story are the seemingly disparate threads brought together for an elegantly simple ending, leaving the reader feeling much like a stupefied Watson at the end of a Sherlock Holmes adventures.” Which was exactly my goal.

Another reviewer called it; “A strangely compelling read, as if the damned thing just wouldn’t leave my hands until I got to the end. It’s the equivalent of a long line of dominoes being set to fall -- events happen in such rapid succession.” 

The title of the collection, The Book of Circles means that once you finish, you could reread it and discover other layers of the story that was described as; “Filled to bursting with subplots and hidden storylines that aren't always apparent on first blush.” Had one customer read it 5 times, and I could still point out details that he’d missed.

Only saw two negative reviews. And one of those was by an editor whom I've done work for ever since.

I was flattered when a news article covering the printing of Wild Stars Volume 3 #1 was featured on the front page of the style section of the state paper, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. A second honor came later on the front page of the High Profile section in 2009, which was more all-career encompassing.

The Wild Stars were written for readers who enjoy the adventure and excitement of a Burroughs tale and are available in print and in digital on every format from the Apple app to Amazon's Kindle and Barnes and Nobles' Nook.

I also had fun designing a couple of boardgames based on my work and that of Edgar Rice Burroughs. The Tarzan Triumphant "I am the Apeman" boardgame was licensed by ERB Inc., but neither it nor my Wild Stars: Celestial Clockwork were ever produced by the manufacturer. 

Did do a rough draft to complete Young Tarzan Ponders. Felt privileged when Danton Burroughs gave me the opportunity to work on this Tarzan fragment. Hopefully it might still see publication someday. 

And about the childhood predictions by doctors convinced that I’d never make age 30?  Never knew another survivor for very long. The lesson I took was to best accomplish your goals today and always have fun with what you do. And always be obnoxious to obstacles , which is how I became a Master certified scuba diver and batted over .900 in softball at the age of 50. I described that birthday as only being halfway through the first hundred years.

I hope you enjoy the scans from my comic collection as much as I do sharing them.


Michael Tierney -- November 26, 2011
Wild Stars TM Michael Tierney
Little Rocket Publications TM Tierney Inc.


John Coleman Burroughs Tribute Site
JOHN CARTER OF THE COMICS
SALUTE TO JC of M
COMICS BY JCB
MORE JOHN CARTER ART BY
JOHN COLEMAN BURROUGHS

JC of M FAST ACTION NAVIGATION CHART
Pages 1-65
Pages 66-131
Pages 132-192 (conc.)

JC of M BIG LITTLE BOOK NAVIGATION CHART
Pt. 1: Pages 1-61
Pt. 2: Pages 62-121
Pt. 3: Pages 122-181
Pt. 4: Pages 182-241
Pt. 5: Pages 242-301
Pt. 6: Pages 302-361
 Pt. 7: Pages 362-424 (conc.)
COMICS ENCYCLOPEDIA
Funnies Cover Art


ERBzine GUIDE TO
THE JOHN CARTER PAGES
FROM THE FUNNIES
Intro | 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07

ERBzine 3719
INTRO | CONTENTS
ERBzine 3720
I: 1939 ~ Issues 30-33
ERBzine 3721
II: 1939 ~ Issues 34-37
ERBzine 3722
III: '39/'40 ~ Issues 38-41
ERBzine 3723
IV: 1940 ~ Issues 42-45
ERBzine 3724
V: 1940 ~ Issues 46-49
ERBzine 3725
VI: '40/'41 ~ Issues 50-53
ERBzine 3726
VII: 1941 ~ Issues 54-56/57
.From the Michael Tierney Collection: www.thewildstars.com
with supplemental scans gathered by Eric Holland


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