Not only do we get reprints of some of the classic comic adaptations of Burroughs'
John Carter, Warlord of Mars tales via
Dark Horse, we're also going to get some fresh material derived from the first five Barsoom novels that are in the Public Domain thanks to
Dynamite Entertainment. Let's hope that they're better than the movie...(Continued)...you know the one, with Traci Lords and Antonio Sabato Jr. Way low budget and a drastic revisionism spurred by how 'Modern science has ruined the old romantic assumptions,' which is a f*ing cop-out for not having read the original material thoroughly. Modern science and what we know now does Not ruin Burroughs interpretation of Barsoom. Hardly. Burroughs' Barsoom is situated in the distant past and may well be taking place on a finer, more spiritual plane of existence rooted in Theosophical speculations, if you look very closely to all the mentions of cliffs of gold, a lot of other hints scattered through Burrough's text. If you thought that H. P. Lovecraft was influenced by Theosophy, you really need to give Burroughs another look. The whole translation/transmigration to another world with attendent super-powers, etc. that features in John Carter's astral projection/bodily dislocation/vapor-induced dream-made-reality is suspiciously close to the whole ascended master stuff that Madame B. liked to peddle back in the day. If you accept that Carter went into the past, possibly millions of years into the past, it opens-up a lot of possibilities that remain viable and possible and plausible...at least as plausible as anything else people accept these days and far easier to swallow than others such as the whole Men Who Stare at Goats kind of stuff that actually received funding once upon a time.
As for the big-budget movie announced by Disney...it has a lot of good stuff going for it. Michael Chabon revising the script is possibly the biggest and best bit of good news I've heard so far. The
Unofficial Fan Site has a lot of news on how things are progressing, and there's a Wikipedia page on the whole
John Carter Movie phenomenon/process that leads off into some of the other, previous attempts, including the original animated project that Burroughs was personally involved with--fun stuff!
Oh, and while you're at the Dark Horse site, be sure to check out the
Tarzan/John Carter: Warlords of Mars miniseries. Tarzan and John Carter together on Barsoom. This is some very cool stuff. At least visually...
