ERBzine 4972: ERB Eclectica 2015.04

Official Edgar Rice Burroughs Tribute and Weekly Webzine Site
Since 1996 ~ Over 10,000 Web Pages in Archive
Presents
Volume 4972

Eclectica Archive

ECLECTICA v.2015.04

Eclectica Archive

COMICS

UPDATE FROM

Jungle Girl
Change is coming to the Jungle! (May 8, 2015 – Tarzana, CA) As of episode #31 our Jungle Girl feature will be drawn by War Chief's own Nik Poliwko. Our current art team of Will and Jo Meugniot have decided to actively pursue their retirement and realized having a regular weekly assignment was interfering with their travel plans. Per Will, "Drawing Jungle Girl for the great people at ERB was a dream come true, but I've been concerned that I couldn't continue delivering the strip at its current quality and find time for the outside pursuits I've wanted to take up in retirement. It's been a relief that Nik, who is one of my favorite Burroughs artists, is willing to pick up the reins. As a fan of Martin's writing and Nik's visual storytelling, I look forward to seeing what comes next in the lives of Gordon and Fou-Tan, and trust you'll all join me in my enjoyment of the continuing adventures of Edgar Rice Burroughs' Jungle Girl."
They will be missed! We are excited to continue this wonderful story with Martin Powell, writing, and Nik Poliwko as our artist. Nik is the current artist for The War Chief and also the Editor or our special FB page for ERB web comics www.facebook.com/groups/ERB.Online.Strips/
See all our Comic Strip Samples
The first four episodes of “The Jungle Girl,” and all the comic strip storylines featured at EdgarRiceBurroughs.com/Comics, are available at no charge. Fans can gain unlimited access to the entire site and all the strips from the beginning for only $1.99 per month or $21.99 per year.
About the Edgar Rice Burroughs Digital Comic Strips Service
Regularly updated and expertly curated, the Edgar Rice Burroughs Digital Comic Strips service offers all new web comic adventures based on the classic characters and stories of Edgar Rice Burroughs.
Current offerings include:

THE GIRL FROM HOLLYWOOD™ by Charles Santino and Joel Zain Rivers
TARZAN OF THE APES™ by Roy Thomas, Pablo Marcos and Oscar Gonzalez
JOHN CARTER WARLORD OF MARS™ by Roy Thomas, Pegaso, Salvador López, Carolina Sánchez, Guadalupe Rivera and Olivia Peña
THE NEW ADVENTURES OF TARZAN™ by Roy Thomas and Tom Grindberg
PELLUCIDAR™ by Chuck Dixion and Gary Kwapisz
THE LAND THAT TIME FORGOT™ by Martin Powell, Pablo Marcos and Oscar Gonzalez
KORAK THE KILLER™ by Ron Marz, Rick Leonardi, Neeraj Menon and Troy Peteri
THE MUCKER™ by Ron Marz, Lee Moder, Neeraj Menon and Troy Peteri
CARSON OF VENUS™ by Martin Powell, Thomas Floyd and Diana Leto
THE ETERNAL SAVAGE™ by Martin Powell and Steven E. Gordon
THE WAR CHIEF™ by Martin Powell and Nik Poliwko
THE CAVE GIRL™ by Martin Powell and Diana Leto
THE MONSTER MEN™ by Tom Simmons, Erik Roman, L Jamal Walton and Cristian Docolomansky
THE LOST CONTINENT™ by Martin Powell and Oscar Gonzalez
JUNGLE GIRL™ by Martin Powell, Will Meugniot and Jo Meugniot
THE OUTLAW OF TORN™ by Tom Simmons, Jake Bilbao and L Jamal Walton
About Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc.
Founded in 1923 by Edgar Rice Burroughs, as one of the first authors to incorporate himself, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. holds numerous trademarks and the rights to all literary works of the author still protected by copyright, including stories of Tarzan of The Apes and John Carter of Mars. The company has overseen every adaptation of his literary works in film, television, radio, publishing, theatrical stage productions, licensing and merchandising. The company is still a very active enterprise and manages and licenses the vast archive of Mr. Burroughs’ literary works, fictional characters and corresponding artworks that have grown for over a century. The company continues to be owned by the Burroughs family and remains headquartered in Tarzana, California, the town named after the Tarzana Ranch Mr. Burroughs purchased there in 1918 which led to the town’s future development. For more information, please visit EdgarRiceBurroughs.com
Best Regards,
The Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. Team
James Sullos | President | Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc.
PO Box 570277 | Tarzana CA 91357 | 818.344.0181
www.edgarriceburroughs.com
More on ERB's JUNGLE GIRL novel in ERBzine
www.erbzine.com/mag7/0776.html
Burroughs started writing this novel on October 2, 1929
under the working title of The Dancing Girl of the Leper King.
It was released as a 5-part serial in Blue Book Magazine
under the title of The Land of Hidden Men.
READ THE E-TEXT EDITION

click for larger images
First Edition Cover art by Studley Burroughs ~ Jungle Girl by Frank Frazetta
We spent the month of April 2015 in Indochina.
A highlight of the trip was a visit to many of the Cambodia locales described in ERB's Jungle Girl.

We took thousands of photos which will be released shortly. . . meanwhile:

Sunrise at Angkor Wat, Cambodia ~ Tantor and the Hillmans come to the rescue through the jungle

More ERB, Inc. Authorized Comics from Dynamite
John Carter Warlord Mars 2015 Special An unexpected attack from a deadly force puts Warlord of Mars John Carter and his beloved Dejah Thoris under siege within their very own palace. With the help of their loyal friend Tars Tarkas, they manage a hasty escape only to find their world teetering on the brink of destruction. Facing overwhelming odds, they must forge questionable alliances in order to save their people from a fate worse than death! A thrilling, action-packed story in the spirit of pulp master Edgar Rice Burroughs!

More John Carter of Mars at our companion sites:
www.johncarterofmars.ca
and
www.cartermovie.com

Famous Funnies #212 cover by Frank Frazetta

An oldie from our Comics Archive
More

Famous Funnies cover art at:
http://www.erbzine.com/mag31/3125.html

LORD OF THE JUNGLE #12
32 pages FC • $3.99 • Mature
Written by Arvid Nelson ~ Art by Roberto Castro ~ Cover by Lucio Parrillo
At long last, the Lord of the Jungle finds the fabled treasure-city of Opar.
Unfortunately for him, his arch-nemesis Nicholas Rokoff arrives at the exact same time.
But a little surprise is in store for both men – turns out Opar isn't exactly a ghost town,
and the locals aren't too keen on outsiders!
Hot jungle babes, savage beasts, and a mountain of gold await the ape-man in
Lord of the Jungle #12: The Treasure Vaults of Opar!

The Work Desk Of Abhishek Malsuni
With John Carter: Warlord Of Mars
Bleedingcool.com ~ May 1, 2015
"Artist Abhishek Malsuni has been working on
John Carter: Warlord Of Mars for Dynamite Entertainment.
Here we have a variety of images from his work on issues #1 through 5.
This is a really nice look at the artistic process and at Malsuni’s talent."

Mad Man: A New Biography of Harvey Kurtzman
Seattle News ~ May 5, 2015
"Maybe Mad is like the movie John Carter—based on Edgar Rice Burroughs’ John Carter of Mars. Just hear me out:
It was so widely influential, over so many decades, and so copied and appropriated, that the original doesn’t turn heads anymore."
More:

Kurtzman wrote numerous Tarzan parodies in MAD:
MELVIN OF THE APES MEETS POOPEYE
Tarzan Parodies with John Severin art:

ERBzine 3638

Melvin!

ERBzine 2997

Melvin of the Apes

ERBzine 2999

Tarz an' the Apes

COLLECTIBLES

Robert R. Barrett Entry in our Facebook Group "I'm sure that many of the fans of Edgar Rice Burroughs would like to read all of his stories that remain unpublished. Sadly many of these stories were written decades ago and are now dated and a publisher would be difficult to find any interest in them. Several of them were eventually published in FORGOTTEN TALES OF LOVE AND MURDER, Guidry & Adkins, 2001. But others remain unpublished -- maybe never to be published. In 1998 Danton Burroughs asked me to read all of ERB's unpublished stories and tell him what I thought of them. The result of this reading, if any care to know, was written in my article, "The Surprise in the Safe: Edgar Rice Burroughs' Unpublished Stores," ERBANIA #79, Fall 1998. Of all of these stories the one that intrigued me the most was the unfinished "The Ghostly Script," written in 1930. After several pages (7,123 words) Burroughs ended up being stumped as to where to take the story. I enjoyed what he had written and wanted to read more -- but his typewriter never spoke to him again to finish the story. Danton and I discussed this incomplete story several times and I finally convinced him to allow Philip Jose Farmer to try his hand at completing it. I discussed it with Phil and he agreed to read what had been written and give his thoughts about completing it, eventually deciding that he could do the job. But due to other commitments and ill health Phil was unable to do the job and then both Phil and Danton passed away -- so the story will probably never be finished."
BURROUGHS UNPUBLISHED

Before Danton Burroughs' untimely death we spent many hours discussing all things Burroughs.
Some of ERB's unpublished and unfinished scripts were written out in longhand.
Dan shared copies of these gems which included The Ghostly Script
and a Tarzan short story similar to those found in Jungle Tales of Tarzan.
I converted these longhand scripts to typed e-text which I relayed back to Tarzana.
Danton had hoped to interest a number of writers in finishing these scripts.
There were a few attempts by writers,
but Dan passed away before any of these projects could be followed up on.

Tarzan and Jane in Bed with Numa

The first softcover "paperback" editions of TARZAN of the APES, RETURN of TARZAN, and SON of TARZAN,
in England, printed by Newnes, 1929.
They in turn would come to release secondary English rights to C. A. Ransom,
whom are customarily known for printing cheap editions of Edgar Wallace mysteries.
Ransom purchased Newnes' own printing plates, but issued these three novels with new covers.
The stories had appeared in England on prior occasions, but only in magazines and newsprint serials.
Newnes editions are available, in varying degrees of condition, but, are very much undervalued.
~ Courtesy of Morgan Wallace

More UK ERB Editions in ERBzine at:

Lord Greystoke's British Gallery
and
UK ERB Hardcovers
also see the
UK Comics Galleries

FILMS

Update to ERBzine Silver Screen series
www.ERBzine.com/movies
TARZAN OF THE APES
Plus Lobby Display

The Morgan City Daily Review - August 27, 1917.
Courtesy Linda Burroughs

For much more on Morgan City
and the 1918 Tarzan of the Apes film
Revisit our many Al Bohl features:

www.erbzine.com/mag31/3110.html

www.erbzine.com/mag35/3588.html

5 Movies that really deserve a Sequel:
Inception, John Carter, American Sniper, The Godfather leads the list
May 7, 2015 ~ VCPost.com "Movies are sometimes a one-hit wonder but there are a few great movies that deserve a sequel because fans came to love the characters and are asking for more.
The next movie that deserves a sequel is "John Carter" which was about this earthling who was able to go to Mars and became a hero. However, it was one of the biggest flops in the Hollywood industry as an estimated amount of $250 million went into the production but the movie only garnered $280 million when it was released in 2012. Weirdly, fans are asking for more as a press release six months ago cited that they are looking for another studio to produce a sequel of the filml. John Carter 2 might actually be a big thing in the future. . ." ~ More

What should have been :(

Thoughts on the John Carter (of Mars) Film
By Abraham Sherman
Disney played defense with its marketing of John Carter. Who exactly was in charge of the marketing is a secondary question. The results of the decisions that were made are plain to see. Disney didn't put "Princess" in the title for fear of turning away guys (and so lost a potential hook for girls), and didn't put "Mars" in the title because of the failure of "Mars Needs Moms", and likely for fear of turning away girls (thus losing a potential hook for guys). They tried to avoid the science-fiction label, despite the fact that the film is science-fiction, and that the genre is HUGE with filmgoers. The 100-year legacy was downplayed, seemingly because they didn't want the project to come across as old-fashioned, or as an early collection of since strip-mined cliches. In other words, many marketing decisions were made out of fear. The marketing was cagey and half-hearted, and ended up not doing the enjoyable film any favors.
Trusting the source material is HUGE in marketing - just look at the boldness of Marvel as it markets some relatively obscure comics characters, selling them as what they are and trusting them to entertain. Marvel is riding its brand recognition and track record into some esoteric territory, with confidence.
Confidence is something audiences respond to, especially if its connected to a reputable brand. The Marvel name gets people there for opening weekend of whatever comic book property it is, and then the quality of the film carries the project to box office success. So far so good for them. They've delivered on their promises.
The "brand" of the John Carter books is that they inspired Superman, Star Wars and Avatar, as well as countless writers, filmmakers, scientists, etc., over the last century. Popular fiction and entertainment, to the present day, was heavily influenced/guided by what ERB wrote. His spark of imagination caught on perhaps to a degree not achieved by any other writer in history. (See quotes by Ray Bradbury, Arthur C. Clarke and many others.)
When some people today hear of a book that has had a century of imitators, they might think that the qualities of the original have been strip-mined and turned into cliches, to the point that there's nothing fresh left to offer in a film adaptation. Acquiescing to that cynical perspective goes hand-in-hand with the defensive marketing by Disney.
A marketing campaign that had highlighted the legacy and promoted the property with confidence could have provoked audience curiosity about what the original work possessed that so many others have sought to recapture. With a brood of directly-related "descendents" like Superman (and by extension the entire modern superhero genre), and Star Wars and Avatar (the greatest financial successes in science fiction that we've yet seen), the opportunity is ripe to get people asking what lightning ERB bottled that so many others have desired to possess. What was so good about the original that countless others have spent their careers chasing it? And what might that spark look like if realized in its full potential for the movie screen? By instead playing defense with the marketing, Disney left those potential hooks unused. They could have brought many more people through the doors, and then let the film speak for itself in gathering and keeping an audience. As it was, too few people were drawn in at the start to even give it a chance to become a theatrical success.
The next film has the opportunity to check off all the boxes that the Disney marketing missed. The project can be sold as what it is, with the confident promise that the spark of the original has never been replicated by any other writer or filmmaker. Many of the genre particulars have been copied, precisely because they were brilliantly innovative, but the heart of ERB's work, the unique synergism and exponential effect of the elements of his original work, has yet to be seen onscreen. Burroughs fans have been waiting for it for decades, and many of them were not fully satisfied by the Disney film. Though the Stanton film is a blast, a case can be made for a more faithful adaptation that could also be a much better film. Now to invite the world to discover in the movie theater the cinematic potential those ERB fans glimpsed and have been gasping with excitement to fully see and to share.
The way to make new fans is to market the property with the confidence that newbies will have excellent reasons to expect to become fans. Playing defense doesn't get there. The object lesson has been provided, via the infamously underwhelming Disney marketing.
Is anyone else curious to see what will happen next time, now that we know what should have been done? Does anyone else want to see something closer to the Mars that "should have been", given to us by Chicago's most over-qualified pencil sharpener salesman of 1911? ? He shared with us his dream of another world, strange and familiar, and it remains just a leap away.

www.cartermovie.com

Sunsets On Two Planets: Jasoom and Barsoom

CARTOONS

See all our past-featured cartoons at:
www.erbzine.com/cartoons

Many of this edition's cartoons were suggested by contributor John Martin.

BILL HILLMAN
Visit our thousands of other sites at:
BILL AND SUE-ON HILLMAN ECLECTIC STUDIO
All ERB Images© and Tarzan® are Copyright ERB, Inc.- All Rights Reserved.
All Original Work © 1996-2015 by Bill Hillman and/or Contributing Authors/Owners
No part of this web site may be reproduced without permission from the respective owners.