Official Edgar Rice Burroughs Tribute and Weekly Webzine Site Since 1996 ~ Over 10,000 Web Pages in Archive Presents Volume 3742

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ECLECTICA v.2012.07

Eclectica Archive

JIM MORRIS  TO BE SPECIAL GUEST OF HONOR  AT THE TARZAN / JOHN CARTER  CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION  AUGUST 18, 2012  WARNER CENTER MARRIOTT HOTEL Read the News Release PDF Version

Tarzana Dum-Dum 2012: August 16-18
NEW:
OFFICIAL SCHEDULE ANNOUNCED

EVENTS

DUM-DUM UPDATE

No press sheet for Burroughs There is yet another twist in the United States Postal Service's plans to issue uncut press sheets.  In July, USPS spokesman Mark Saunders replied to Linn's questions about press sheet details for the  upcoming Edgar Rice Burroughs (Aug. 17) and War of 1812 (Aug. 18) stamps.   Saunders stated that there will not be a press sheet for the Burroughs stamp, contrary to information recently published in the Postal Service's USA Philatelic catalog dated Quarter 3, 2012.   It is unknown if the Burroughs stamps were already printed prior to the USPS announcement in June that all commemoratives moving forward would be sold as a press sheet. ~ John Martin More on the Commemorative ERB stamp at: ERBzine 3611 and Concerns at ERBzine 3718

Burroughs Bibliophiles Souvenir Cup  available at Dum-Dum 2012 Designed by Laurence Dunn

ManyDum-Dum Souvenir Items with the Official Burroughs Bibliophile St. John Logo Items in preparation from BB president Henry Franke

Newsletter

100 YEARS OF TARZAN
Centenary celebration for Tarzan played by Johnny Weissmuller with Maureen O'Sullivan as Jane
Express.co.uk ~ June 29, 2012

When Edgar Rice Burroughs, a pencil sharpener salesman from Chicago, was in need of extra cash to support his family he decided to turn his hand to pulp fiction, reasoning that he had read so much “rot” in numerous magazines that he could write something “just as rotten” himself. He duly thought up a new hero character for the weekly publication, All-Story Magazine, and decided on the name Zantar. Then he crossed it out. Tublat-Zan was his next effort but something didn’t quite feel right until he came up with his third option – Tarzan.

Fast forward 100 years and Burroughs’ king of the jungle swingers is a film, comic book and literary icon. Put on a loincloth and utter the immortal cry, “ahh ahahahahh ahahahah” (or similar) and you’re instantly recognised, without even the need for wrestling a rhino or dangling from a jungle creeper. And now Tarzan is back. A new novel comes out next month and a full-length animated film is due for release next year.

In fact, over the past century, the swinging star has hardly been away. After Tarzan Of The Apes first appeared in All-Story Magazine in 1912, it was an instant hit and Burroughs went on to write a further 26 Tarzan adventure novels. Meanwhile, the Ape Man cracked the movies, appearing first in 1918 in a silent film starring the rather portly Elmo Lincoln, who accidentally killed a lion during filming.
 

There have now been 89 films, not to mention two Disney animations, 20,000 comic strips and six TV series, the longest running starring Ron Ely who did his own stunts, often getting injured in the process. It was five-times Olympic swimming champion Johnny Weissmuller however, who first uttered Tarzan’s distinctive yell in the 1932 film Tarzan The Ape Man. He replicated the cry in all 12 of his films and dreamt up the line: “Me Tarzan, you Jane” although he never said it on screen but delivered it with immaculate timing in a car park. His Jane, Maureen O’Sullivan, mother of Mia Farrow, was struggling with an oversized suitcase. Weissmuller stepped in to help and as he tossed the luggage into her car with the ease of a champion athlete, he uttered the words, beating his chest for added impact. The line went down in history.

While Tarzan has been a success from the moment he appeared, it could also be said that now, in the 21st century, the character is more relevant than ever. Or so says author Andy Briggs who idolised Tarzan as a child and has been officially authorised by the Edgar Rice Burroughs estate to write the “new adventures”. His book, ­ Tarzan: The Jungle Warrior, is ­ published on July 12.

“In many ways Tarzan was the world’s first eco-warrior,” argues Briggs. “When Burroughs created him 100 years ago, people weren’t aware of environmental or eco-issues but all the time Tarzan was defending his home, the jungle, and his friends the wild animals. Now people are aware and do care and so Tarzan resonates more than ever.” Briggs’ new book deals with the destruction of the jungle forest (Jane is now the daughter of an illegal logger) and takes on the illegal pet trade of wild animals. “I liken my book to the Liam Neeson film, Taken,” he says. “Essentially, Jungle Warrior is my Tarzan meets Taken. One of the baby apes is abducted to order and Tarzan is forced out of the jungle to get him back.”

As to why Tarzan was such a big hit from the off, Briggs believes it is down to a number of factors. “Being raised by wild animals is not a particularly original idea,” he says. “The mythical founders of Rome, Romulus and Remus, were raised by a wolf and then you had the likes of Mowgli from The Jungle Book. But Tarzan appealed to people because he was this iconic masculine man, this perfect Adonis who could do no wrong. Africa was then the Dark Continent, a wonderful, mysterious place while Mountain Gorillas as we know them were still considered a ­cryptozoological species, like the Yeti or Big Foot. Tarzan tapped into all this exoticism and into the classic desire for adventure.”

Another reason for his widespread popularity, perhaps, is that Tarzan was everywhere.  “Burroughs realised people wanted more Tarzan than he could ever write so he licensed him off in films, TV shows, radio series, you name it,” says Briggs. “It changed his life and meant he was wealthy enough to afford his own ranch.” The ranch, called Tarzana, was sold after the writer’s death and is now a Los Angeles suburb complete with Tarzan-inspired road names such as Safari Avenue.

Briggs’ Tarzan, however, is not quite the same as of old. “In Burroughs’ first book Tarzan went from a grunting character to an English noble, Lord Greystoke, who accepted his rightful title. At the end of the book he was driving a Rolls-Royce through forest fires to save Jane. I wanted to look at the earlier time, when he’s about 18 and more feral, more animalistic.” Briggs was influenced by how the director Christopher Nolan re­invented Batman for the 2005 film starring Christian Bale, making a “camp figure in tights” darker and edgier. “My Jane is also much feistier,” explains Briggs. “She’s no longer the damsel in distress but Tarzan’s dynamo.”

If Briggs has modernised Tarzan this is partly because Burroughs’ books were products of their time. He had never even been to Africa and presented black natives as savage tribesmen with bones through their noses. “The books have also been criticised for not being literary enough,” says Briggs, “but Burroughs was essentially a pulp fiction writer and great at what he did. He did rely a lot on coincidence, though, on people continually getting shipwrecked on the same beach.

When the first magazine story came out, Tarzan had a friend, Numa the tiger, and only when the story was bound into a book did anyone tell him that there are no tigers in Africa, then Numa became a lion.” What’s clear is that Tarzan led to worthwhile repercussions and those inspired by his tales include Dame Jane Goodall, a leading primatologist who was jealous of “that silly Jane”. Conservationist Ian Redmond, who worked with Dian “Gorillas In The Mist” Fossey also acknowledged a debt to Tarzan and believed Fossey too was influenced by Burroughs’ books.

“I would challenge people to tell me of another character from literature that leapt off the page and affected the world so much,” says Briggs. “What I’m hoping to do is not replace Burroughs’ Tarzan but simply to add to the canon, creating a Tarzan for the 21st century.”
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Promo Video

The Andromeda Incident . . .an Intense Adult Sci-Fi Fantasy Novel by R.J. DeNardo This sci-fi fantasy gives a whole new meaning to the word “Galacti-sexual.” Emrys Myrddin Calyx was born aboard the Starship Americus to a weak-willed and somewhat frail Earthling father and a black panther-like humanoid, Myrrddissian mother. Emrys was created experimentally to be double-sexed, and can change sexes at will, via a telepathic command. The Andromeda Incident (or Out of Chaos Comes Hope!) tells all about the mixed-up life Emrys lives, and his adventures and misadventures in the 12th. and 21st. centuries. Wander the universe with Emrys as he uses a time/space continuum device to journey to the devastated planets of Mars and Earth, just before both human and alien-caused cataclysmic events occur. This startling adventure was 900 years in the making! This is R.J. DeNardo's first novel and is the culmination of a nearly one-year effort to develop it from a short story to a full-length novel. He is currently writing his second novel, a sequel to The Andromeda Incident, titled: The Captain's Propensity. The author is a professional wholistic therapist who lives and practices in Palm Springs, California. The Author can be contacted via email only at: daotaoist@yahoo.com

THE RETURN OF TARZAN/THE REVENGE OF TARZAN
Silent Film Subtitles Chapter Info
1. "Tarzan's Return." First Act.
2. "Summary. After suffering a shipwreck, John Clayton and his wife, Lady Alice, died shortly after the birth of their son Tarzan on the eastcoast of Africa. The child grew up in the jungle and was raised by chimpanzees and orang utans. "
3. "William Clayton, an uncle of Tarzan, disputed this and said he will make every effort to eliminate Tarzan and render the possession of the inheritance. Tarzan loved Jane Porter sincerely, but because he thought that love was unanswered by the civilized girl, he undertook long journeys in the hope to forget her."
4. "At the beginning of this movie, the hero of our story, is on board of the "Baltic", which is on its way to England. In Liverpool, the inheritance rights of his parents will be asserted."
5. "Count the Valroy, a renowned diplomat, who perfectly fulfilled his dangerous mission."
6. "Nicolas Rockof, a passionate player, has completely watsed his capital and leads a very adventurous life. Tarzan's cousin, William Clayton, has promised him a large sum of money if he would succeed in eliminating Tarzan."
7. "Countes Olga, the wife of Count de valroy and sister of Nicolas Rockof."
8. "Adolphe Perussi, the Secretary of the unscrupulous Nicolas Rockof."
9. "You play false, impostor."
10. "I knew you were a villain, but that you are capable of doing such low things ......"
11. "The Lord has hidden cards in his pockets."
12. "I ask you politely to convince yourself that this man is lying."
13. "The cards are in the pocket of the Earl, sir .... but he has done it."
14. "That's a lie!"
15. "I will inform the captain about what happened."
16. "Can I give you a good advice? Then do not interfere with other mans business because that would make you pay dearly."
17. "Call the intercession of your sister Olga in. She has substantial interests in, if nobody on board learns that you are her brother! She must persuade her husband that he may not tell the captain anything."
18. "It will be fruitless effort, I am convinced that she will never help."
19. "One can never know!"
20. "Open up, I need you here talk seriously! Your husband has asked me ..."
21. "Who gives you the right to invade my cabin?"
22. "You must prevent your husband that the captain told anything ... when refuse. I am not for the consequences."
23. "You dare to threaten me ... oh, what else can I expect from a villain as you?"
24. "Stop it!"
25. "I would be grateful to you for all my life, if you promised me that you never speak about this outlandish adventure with someone!"
26. "END OF FIRST CHAPTER." This and much more at Ron de Laat's Holland Meets ERB site
http://www.hollandmeetserb.nl/

See more in ERB: Film Producer feature at ERBzine 0287

Tom Tyler as The Phantom

Chinese Tarzan www.ERBzine.com/movies

Renowned artists Boris Vallejo and Julie Bell are grounded in fantasy
They paint maidens, monsters and macho men,
but have an ordinary, settled life in the Lehigh Valley

(HARRY FISHER, THE MORNING CALL / June 30, 2012)
 Boris Vallejo and wife Julie Bell in their Lehigh Valley studio/home with Stella, their 2-year-old Border Collie, Eskimo.
By Tim Higgins, Special to The Morning Call ~ July 8, 2012
Featured here are excerpts of the Morning Call article.

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Whether it's Tarzan, Conan the Barbarian, Doc Savage or John Carter of Mars, odds are some of the images you've seen of these legends of fantasy and science fiction were painted by either Boris Vallejo or his wife, Julie Bell.

The "Vallejo" style — visions of fit, perfectly proportioned and muscular figures depicted with such amazing hyper-realism you'd swear you could reach out and touch them — is known around the world. It can also be seen in posters for movies such as 1983's "National Lampoon's Vacation" and its sequel "European Vacation," and the 1978 reissue poster for Jane Fonda's "Barbarella." Younger folks may be familiar with Vallejo and Bell if they've seen the 2007 film "Aqua Teen Hunger Force." Vallejo and Bell drew the poster.

Over the past several decades, this dynamic duo's work (either solo or collaborative) has been published and reproduced in books, calendars, illustrations and prints. Their jobs are out-of-this-world, for sure, but they do it all quietly from the suburbs of Allentown. "We really enjoy being rather anonymous," says Vallejo in a recent interview at their home/studio.

How Vallejo, from Peru, and Bell, from Texas, ended up in the Lehigh Valley begins when Bell was living in Chambersburg, Franklin County. She met Vallejo, who was living in New Jersey, through a friend at a body-building contest, another joint passion. The friend thought Bell would make a perfect model for one of Vallejo's calendar paintings. They were married in 1994 and have lived and worked together in the region since. That the Vallejo style always features a well-muscled male and/or female figure is no accident: both Vallejo and Bell are body-building enthusiasts. In fact, some of the early male figures in Vallejo's paintings were modeled on Vallejo himself, and many of his later female characters were modeled on Bell, a former nationally ranked competitive bodybuilder.

Bell, born in Beaumont, Texas, has painted the covers of some 100 fantasy/science fiction books and magazines. She was the first woman ever to paint Conan for Marvel Comics, a milestone that led to commissions from Marvel, DC and Image Comics to illustrate superheroes in fully rendered paintings. Since the early 1990s, Bell's fantasy figures have found their way onto painted covers for video games and trading cards and more mainstream advertising illustrations for Nike, Coca-Colaand Ford Motor Co.She has painted book covers for some of the major publishing houses in New York City as well as an album cover for rock singer Meat Loaf.

Vallejo was born and raised on the outskirts of Lima, Peru. His parents were teachers. At age 16, while still attending art school in the evenings, Vallejo was offered a freelance job doing paintings for a local merchant. His art instructor told him his career as an artist would be limited in Peru and the place for his talent was the United States. When he emigrated to the United States seven years later, he had a job within two months doing illustrations for a department store chain. Vallejo put together a portfolio of the kind of work he actually wanted to pursue — fantasy art. He shopped it around and found work with Warren Publishing, creators of such titles as "Eerie," "Creepy," "Vampirella" and "Famous Monsters of Filmland." "The reason I went to Warren was because they were publishing Frank Frazetta's work," says Vallejo, whose work is often compared to the late, great illustrator.

Read the entire article at HERE

'AT THE EDGE: ART OF THE FANTASTIC'
•What: More than 160 works of fantasy art from the 19th to 21st century, including book illustrations,
poster art, album covers and more by some of the biggest names in the genre.
•When: Through Sept. 9
•Where: Allentown Art Museum, 31 N. Fifth St.
•Hours: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday; noon-5 p.m. Sunday
•How much: $12; $10, students and seniors; free, ages 5 and under,
military personnel, members and everyone on Sundays
•Talk by Boris Vallejo and Julie Bell: "The World of Boris Vallejo and Julie Bell,"
2-4 p.m. Sunday, July 8 ($15; $5, members)
•Info: http://www.allentownartmuseum.org, 610-432-4333

CARTOONS

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