DEJAH THORIS GALLERY

"And the sight which met my eyes was that of a slender, girlish figure, similar in every detail to the earthly women of my past life... Her face was oval and beautiful in the extreme, her every feature was finely chiseled and exquisite, her eyes large and lustrous and her head surmounted by a mass of coal black, waving hair, caught loosely into a strange yet becoming coiffure. Her skin was of a light reddish copper color, against which the crimson glow of her cheeks and the ruby of her beautifully molded lips shone with a strangely enhancing effect. She was as destitute of clothes as the green Martians who accompanied her; indeed, save for her highly wrought ornaments she was entirely naked, nor could any apparel have enhanced the beauty of her perfect and symmetrical figure."

So declared John Carter when he gazed upon the ravishing Dejah Thoris, princess of the great Martian city-state/empire of Helium on the planet Barsoom (aka Mars).

Edgar Rice Burrough's martian series began with a serialization in THE ALL-STORY magazine from February-July 1912 as UNDER THE MOONS OF MARS. After the success of Tarzan it was published as the novel, A PRINCESS OF MARS in 1917.

John Carter is mysteriously transported to the red planet after hiding in a cave from Apache warriors in post-Civil War Arizona. The series included 11 books:

• A Princess of Mars (1917)
• The Gods of Mars (1918) 
• The Warlord of Mars (1919)
• Thuvia, Maid of Mars (1920)
• The Chessmen of Mars (1922)
• The Master Mind of Mars (1928)
• A Fighting Man of Mars (1931)
• Swords of Mars (1936)
• Synthetic Men of Mars (1940)
• Llana of Gathol (1948)
• John Carter of Mars (1964) (a collection of two earlier stories)

As with many of Burrough's tales, the books are filled with characters, and Dejah Thoris is among the most memorable. She is depicted as both a strong female character and a stunning beauty. As a result, innumerable artists have seized on her description to create their own interpretations. Most recently, beginning in 2010, Dynamite Entertainment published a run of comics featuring John Carter and Dejah Thoris. Not surprisingly, the artists--such as Joe Jusko and Arthur Adams--paid particular attention to Dejah Thoris with a few results you see below. 

FANTASTIC WORLDS OF EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS

In the news for ERB fans: Just published by Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. are new, authorized editions of all 24 Tarzan novels with new cover art by Joe Jusko.

For complete info click HERE.

BONUS! Here is the second issue of THE FANTASTIC WORLDS OF EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS fanzine from the British Edgar Rice Burroughs Society, published in 1976.

Read the first issue HERE.

NEW MOVIE: 'TARZAN THE TRAVESTY'

It was bound to happen sooner or later; might as well get it over with now. Allow me to wax social and political for a moment: The revisionist revolution has reached its slimy tentacles far and wide to reform the planet (well, mostly here in the culturally crippled U.S.) into its idea of the new normal, erasing established tradition in its path (if you haven't noticed this, I've got a bagful of nouns adjectives to use, but won't) and leaving scorched earth in its wake. This is no more apparent than in education, entertainment and literature. Let's just stick with movies for now.

A glaring example is superhero movies that have been fodder for gender-bending and social flip-flopping because they have been under the influence of filmmakers who assume this will appeal to the wider viewing audience and screw the rest of us that grew up with these beloved characters. Another twisted viewpoint is the self-proclaimed anarchist and occultist masquerading as a comic book writer, Alan Moore, who has recently declared that adults who get immersed in comic book culture are "infantile" and this trend will "lead to fascism". Sounds really profound, Alan, but the truth is, your hypocrisy is showing -- in case you haven't noticed you're an adult writing comic books and guess what -- you're stories are not usually aimed at -- nor should be read by -- kids these days. Sanctimonious and subversive stances like these permeate the entertainment industry like so many poisonous mushrooms in a dank forest, but hey, don't worry, the media's got your back.

And now to today's topic: I heard that -- wait for it -- a new Tarzan movie is under development. I briefly thought, Cool!, and then my senses returned a moment later. Based on what has gone before, I shuddered to think what they might end up doing to Edgar Rice Burroughs' jungle lord. Of course, it will be just another great opportunity to "re-imagine" another male-centric, white-privileged, world famous character written by a misogynistic, bigoted and xenophobic white man, so have at him, guys.

The particular studio in question is Sony Pictures, whose only major successes for a number of years have been superhero movies. They not only plan to re-imagine the character, but create a "total reinvention" of him. This quote from ActionNewz.com pitifully sums it up:

"Throw in the fact that recent years have seen Burroughs' books come under scrutiny for their ideas of colonialism, white saviour, and racial and gender stereotypes that are no longer acceptable today, and it's easy to see why Sony is looking to completely overhaul the classic character and property. 

It will be no easy task, that's for sure, and Sony has something of a spotty track record, so only time will tell how this new take pans out."

I, for one, am not looking forward to this and personally, I hope it stays forever in the flames of development Hell.