February 29, 2012
February 26, 2012
John Carter, Warlord of Mars...
...In 1912 (100 years ago) the first John Carter story was published under the title "Under the Moons of Mars" since renamed "A Princess of Mars." Written by Tarzan creator Edgar Rice Burroughs, it is the first of 9 John Carter/Mars novels. The first is the swashbuckling romantic tale
of John Carter, a former civil war soldier who moves to Arizona after the war to search for gold. He is soon attacked by Native Americans in the desert and while hiding in a cave falls under a strange phenomena; where he is teleported by astral projection to the planet Mars. Mars (known as Barsoom to the natives) is a savage semi barren planet filled with dangers and deceptions. He arrives on Mars completely naked and is almost immediately set upon by the savage Green men of Mars. Incredibly tall aliens with 4 arms...
...The Green men capture him but, eventually John Carter is attacked and he manages to kill a Green Man. Discovering in the process that due to the lesser gravity of Mars; with his Earth muscles he practically has super strength and can leap great distances. The Green men respect killing and make him a member of their tribe and teach him their language and ways of the Green men. But they are almost total savages who when not fighting with each other, are warring with other tribes of Green men and the other races of Mars. John's only friends are his shark toothed toad like alien dog he names Woola, his multi-limbed horse like Thoat, and a few intelligent Green men who can see that constant war doesn't create much of a future for them...
...but all that changes after the Green Men capture Dejah Thoris the Princess of the capital city of Mars. She is of the Red men of Mars, a humanoid race. She is also the most beautiful woman on the planet and much prized. John instantly falls for her beauty as well as the fact that she is the only human being he has seen in months. She is proud and strong willed. She regards him as scum and beneath her. But even so she is the only glimmer of humanity on the planet and John would rather be with her than the savage Green men. So he frees her and they begin a daring escape. Fleeing from the Green men and facing new dangers in his effort to return her to her people, prevent a war and to win her heart by proving his worth to her...
...Some have drawn comparisons of this story to the film "Avatar." That's because elements of John Carter were ripped off it seems. That film used similar elements of tall aliens, multi-limbed horse like creatures, warring tribes brought together, a princess who thinks the hero is scum but he yearns to win her heart, all in an effort to prevent war, etc, etc, etc. Keep in mind Edgar Rice Burroughs wrote this story nearly 100 years before Avatar was released. It's safe to say it had time to influence that film in both style and substance...
...I'm glad this tale is finally getting it's big screen debut. Although, with 100 years of artists visualizing these characters and world, from the detailed descriptions of the 9 books. The new film seems to have thrown out those 100 years of artistry for a tame version. See if you can spot the differences in my previous post about the movie...
...These characters and stories have endured for 100 years, and will continue to inspire more artists and writers in the future. The timeless quality of fighting for the one you love, never grows old. If you've never read these tales before, you can find some of the 9 novels (some are out of print) available at your local bookstore and a few comic book adaptations are out there as well. It's a great read in the old fashioned poetic writting style of that era, that still delivers for today, and allows your imagination to run wild.
of John Carter, a former civil war soldier who moves to Arizona after the war to search for gold. He is soon attacked by Native Americans in the desert and while hiding in a cave falls under a strange phenomena; where he is teleported by astral projection to the planet Mars. Mars (known as Barsoom to the natives) is a savage semi barren planet filled with dangers and deceptions. He arrives on Mars completely naked and is almost immediately set upon by the savage Green men of Mars. Incredibly tall aliens with 4 arms...
...The Green men capture him but, eventually John Carter is attacked and he manages to kill a Green Man. Discovering in the process that due to the lesser gravity of Mars; with his Earth muscles he practically has super strength and can leap great distances. The Green men respect killing and make him a member of their tribe and teach him their language and ways of the Green men. But they are almost total savages who when not fighting with each other, are warring with other tribes of Green men and the other races of Mars. John's only friends are his shark toothed toad like alien dog he names Woola, his multi-limbed horse like Thoat, and a few intelligent Green men who can see that constant war doesn't create much of a future for them...
...but all that changes after the Green Men capture Dejah Thoris the Princess of the capital city of Mars. She is of the Red men of Mars, a humanoid race. She is also the most beautiful woman on the planet and much prized. John instantly falls for her beauty as well as the fact that she is the only human being he has seen in months. She is proud and strong willed. She regards him as scum and beneath her. But even so she is the only glimmer of humanity on the planet and John would rather be with her than the savage Green men. So he frees her and they begin a daring escape. Fleeing from the Green men and facing new dangers in his effort to return her to her people, prevent a war and to win her heart by proving his worth to her...
...Some have drawn comparisons of this story to the film "Avatar." That's because elements of John Carter were ripped off it seems. That film used similar elements of tall aliens, multi-limbed horse like creatures, warring tribes brought together, a princess who thinks the hero is scum but he yearns to win her heart, all in an effort to prevent war, etc, etc, etc. Keep in mind Edgar Rice Burroughs wrote this story nearly 100 years before Avatar was released. It's safe to say it had time to influence that film in both style and substance...
...I'm glad this tale is finally getting it's big screen debut. Although, with 100 years of artists visualizing these characters and world, from the detailed descriptions of the 9 books. The new film seems to have thrown out those 100 years of artistry for a tame version. See if you can spot the differences in my previous post about the movie...
...These characters and stories have endured for 100 years, and will continue to inspire more artists and writers in the future. The timeless quality of fighting for the one you love, never grows old. If you've never read these tales before, you can find some of the 9 novels (some are out of print) available at your local bookstore and a few comic book adaptations are out there as well. It's a great read in the old fashioned poetic writting style of that era, that still delivers for today, and allows your imagination to run wild.
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