We reported earlier this week on Roger Langridge's upcoming all-ages title Snarked! from Boom! Studios. That title, based on characters from Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass, is genuine lightyears away from his other fall project, the ongoing adventures of another beloved literary persona.
A collaboration between Marvel and the Edgar Rice Burroughs estate, John Carter: A Princess of Mars is the canonical next step for a pulp icon. Created by Burroughs in 1911, he's jut one of those heroes who refuses to die. Literally.
It's been reported that Taylor Kitsch will take on the role of the all-American boy transported to the Frazettafied landscape of a fantastical Mars in an upcoming film adaptation. Here, he's drawn by cover artist Skottie Young, with Filipe Andrade interiors to come.
Here's what Marvel has to say:
"Transported to the dying planet of Mars, Captain John Carter must now fight for his life against creatures unlike any ever seen by mankind. But as he finds himself enveloped by an alien civil war, he meets the proud and beautiful Dejah Thoris, Princess of Helium, who will change his life forever!"
John Carter: A Princess of Mars is a five issue limited series, but here's hoping Langridge can summon the same magic that made Thor: The Mighty Avenger such a swashbuckling (if short-lived) triumph. Carter had many cosmic and frontier adventures with Dejah Thoris and the like, so there's plenty of material for further minis. According the the Burroughs estate, they're even looking at progression into all new tales.
Look for issue #1 in September.
Consider me Greystoked!
Find us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
Subscribe to our RSS Feed
Some rights reserved.
I was a huge John Carter reader in middle school, and I really liked the 70’s Marv Wolfman John Carter book.. I’d love to see a GOOD movie made of it, as well as any comics. I find the Marvel announcement a little odd because Dynamite is currently publishing 3 titles based on the Burroughs Mars stories. Unless those have been cancelled. But hey, more Barsoom for me, I’m happy!
Super happy to hear this, even though it’s only a mini-series to start with.
As someone who is buying both Warlord of Mars and WoM: Dejah Thoris, I can tell you it won’t take much for Marvel to absolutely blow those books away. As a fan of the character, I’m happy to support Dynamite’s efforts (how often do you see a Dejah Thoris comic book?), but, that said, I was so hoping that Marvel would return to the characters and concepts. One of many Bronze Age books I always had a special place in my heart for.
I didn’t realize Dynamite was doing a third Barsoom book. Tars Tarka?
Can Killraven be far behind? (I know it’s based on HG Wells WotW and not ERB’s Barsoomiana, but it still gets me excited for Mars stories. I always wanted to see Killraven lead an invasion to the Red Planet and take it to those scum-sucking aliens where they live!)
Next, Otis Adelbert Kline’s Maza of the Moon! /rumor
I really was confused for a bit by the title, thinking it was saying that John Carter was now the Princess of Mars. A trans-themed comic would be a pretty forward thinking thing to do and all, but…
Yes, JOHN CARTER: A PRINCESS OF MARS sounds as goofy as WARLORD OF MARS: DEJAH THORIS.
I thought the actual title of the upcoming Disney/Pixar film was JOHN CARTER OF MARS, though? (Which is actually the title of the last book in the 11-book series ERB wrote, so that’s confusing too, if the story is actually based on the first book, A PRINCESS OF MARS.)
If Disney/Pixar isn’t using the words A PRINCESS OF MARS in the title, why not call the Marvel book JOHN CARTER, WARLORD OF MARS (it was good enough for Marvel in the 1970s)? Or is the phrase “Warlord of Mars” trademarked by Dynamite Entertainment now?
@positronic They actually renamed the film “John Carter.” Which has some fans slightly peeved, as you could imagine.
Honestly, this seems like a concept well aimed toward kids interested in the movie. And with Langridge at the helm, it is highly likely to be extremely fun and enjoyable for literally ALL AGES.
I can’t badmouth any truly all ages comics as they are absolutely what the industry needs.
My hope is that Marvel will find an effective means to market their all ages books digitally. This would be a good place to start.
Links for Comics 4 Kids (Comixology’s all ages ap) on Disney.com?? How bout on Disney TV as well?? Why would a Disney owned company NOT cross promote like this? Isn’t it obvious the built-in-audience of comics readers translates to ticket sales? Pimp the comics Disney!
It’s nice to find a little community of Barsoom fans here! I wish I could find those old 70s comics. I think they were collected as a TPB by Dark Horse this year, but they were probably B&W instead of color.
@player1 I agree, the Dynamite books are not 5-star, but they are OK and better than nothing. Some of the art is pretty nice, but I don’t like the Tharks. Hard to compare to one of those detailed Frazetta paintings!
How versatile! Mr. Skottie Young. Very nice cover.
@kennyg
Quote: It’s nice to find a little community of Barsoom fans here! I wish I could find those old 70s comics. I think they were collected as a TPB by Dark Horse this year, but they were probably B&W instead of color.
Dark Horse reprinted both the DC John Carter stories (“Weird Worlds”, in color) and the Marvel ones (“Warlord of Mars”, in black and white). The latter is a thick tome, similar to DC’s Showcase Presents or Marvel’s Essentials, while the former is more of a standard trade collection. Here are the links to the books on Amazon.com:
John Carter of Mars: Weird Worlds
John Carter of Mars: Warlord of Mars
@Jdudley
What makes you say this is aimed at kids? I realize the goofy-looking cover art by Skottie Young (sorry, not a fan) could give that impression, but if the movie is even a slightly faithful adaptation of Burroughs’ novel, there’s sure to be a lot of bloody violence (swordplay has a tendency to draw blood) and near-nudity. It was easy for Burroughs to get away with that stuff with a pulp audience. If the movie is an accurate depiction of what Burroughs describes in the books, that stuff BETTER be in there. Have yiur ever seen a Frank Frazetta painting?
@positronic Easy does it. It’s listed as rated “all-ages” in the official solicit.
I’ll probably be skipping this, then. Sounds like a sanitized version. Guess I’ll stick with Dynamite. Nothing against all-ages titles, I read plenty of them. I’m a huge fan of anything from Bongo.
Is CONAN an all-ages title? I know, it doesn’t matter anymore, since Dark Horse doesn’t rate their books. But the spirit of these things is in the blood and guts men’s adventure pulp tradition. I guess it’s possible to do watered-down mythology too, it just isn’t very interesting to me.
@positronic I was not aware of the reprinted DC stuff. I may take a look if I can stumble across this at a local store, but I think I would much prefer the Marvel stuff. Those are the ones I recall reading. But not so big on B&W. I checked the sample on amazon, it pales in comparison to the color books.
So, any word on what all this means for Dynamite’s series? The article says that Marvel is working with Burroughs’ estate, which kinda suggests that Dynamite isn’t. True? Is Dynamite able to publish their series due to the novels being in the public domain? And why did DH publish the collected edition of Marvel’s John Carter series? I know none of this has anything to do with whether the comics are good or not, but I find it all curious…
@SkipSpacer
1. Dynamite’s WARLORD OF MARS (TM) is not licensed from ERB, Inc. The first 5 Barsoom novels are in the Public Domain. Although in the public domain, apparently nobody applied for the trademark before them. It’s a different issue than copyright, and that’s why ERB’s name is not on the cover.
2. Dark Horse has a license from ERB, Inc. to reprint classic comics based on ERB properties (doesn’t matter whether they were published by Dell, Gold Key/Western, or DC or Marvel). We see a similar situation with IDW publishing reprints of Marvel’s G.I. JOE and TRANSFORMERS material from the 1980s and 1990s. In the late 1990s Dark Horse also published new material based on ERB properties.
3. Presumably Marvel’s new association with ERB, Inc. is a result of their being owned by Disney, who are the producers for the licensed movie adaptation (through Pixar) of JOHN CARTER coming in 2012.
Hope that answers all your questions, Skip.
@positronic – Questions answered! Thanks!