Edgar Rice Burroughs’ hero John Carter celebrates 100 this year. The John Carter movie comes out to much trumpeting and the books are on the verge of Renaissances – a reason for all of us to celebrate.
1 ) Burroughs’ books which star John Carter are called the Barsoom series. Barsoom being the Martian name for Mars.
2 ) The first book of 11 in the Barsoom series is A Princess of Mars (my thoughts), published in 1917 and was also Burroughs’ first published novel.
3 ) John Carter is an ex-American Civil War Confederate Captain from Virginia.
4 ) Before he mysteriously transported to Mars, John Carter strikes it rich prospecting for gold in Arizona. John Carter’s Martian name is Dotar Sojat after two of the green warriors he killed.
5 ) During the nine years he spent on Mars, John Carter was believed to be dead until he shows in New York in 1876. John Carter stopped aging at 30, but also has no memories before that age.
6 ) In the height of his fame, Burroughs outsold Fitzgerald, Hemingway and Faulkner combined. In the 1960s Burroughs books were reprinted in paperback format with wonderful pulp artwork featuring muscular heroes and well endowed women battling various monsters.
7 ) The powers that Burroughs gave Carter inspired two young Canadian kids named Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel who went on to create the granddaddy of all superheroes – Superman. Two classic comic strips, Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers “borrowed” heavily from Burroughs’ Martian tales. George Lucas and James Cameron have publicly acknowledged the influence from the Martian Tales on their art.
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8 ) Author Michael Chabon co-wrote the script for the 2012 movie.
9 ) The first movie starring John Cater was made in 1935 by Bob Clampett (“Beany and Cecil”) – it was a cartoon named “A Princess of Mars”.
Zohar – Man of la Book
2 Comments
10. Until right now, I’d never heard of John Carter. I feel shame.
Don’t feel bad – many others haven’t as well.