Over on his Drums of Nyumbani blog, Charles R. Saunders has posted an entry entitled, “In Memoriam: Frank Frazetta.” Mr. Saunders reminisces about his discovery of Frazetta’s work, depictions of blacks in Frank’s art and also speculates about what a Frazetta cover for an Imaro novel might have looked like. CRS does an admirable job covering the latter two topics, but I have few more factoids and opinions to add. Feel free to click the link above, read the post and click back here.

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Only a short while after I did an overview of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ The Land That Time Forgot for the anniversary of his death, it seems that the tale of Caspak–or at least, the first two parts–will be adapted into the comic medium. When dinosaurs are involved, you don’t have to twist my arm particularly vigorously, particularly if they’re based on a classic author’s interpretation.

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History is littered with examples of brands trying to reinvent themselves to appeal to a new generation, but for one of literature’s most successful franchises, all that’s required is a return to its roots – literally. Since he first swung onto the world stage in 1912 the bare-chested, savage yet principled character of Tarzan has struck a chord with generation after generation as he fights to protect the jungle, its resources and its inhabitants. Now, almost a hundred years later, a partnership between the Edgar Rice Burroughs estate and one of Britain’s hottest writers is set to bring Tarzan the Eco Warrior to the PlayStation generation, with a new series of Tarzan novels.

Above is the first paragraph of an article posted on Bill Thom’s Coming Attractions website last weekend. I assume it all originated as a press release from Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. The ERB estate would seem to have big plans in store for the iconic Lord of the Jungle.

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Friend of The Cimmerian G.W. Thomas is publishing Masters of Adventure, a public domain anthology. It is fully illustrated by M. D. Jackson and the multi-talented Mr. Thomas himself.

The title isn’t exaggerated since the line-up is simply incredible, as you can see for yourselves in the table of contents. I think that ‘Grandmasters of Adventure’ would not have been a too strong a superlative.

“Ms. Found in a Bottle” by Edgar Allan Poe
“Smith and the Pharaohs” by H. Rider Haggard
“The Brazilian Cat” by A. Conan Doyle
“The Grove of Astaroth” by John Buchan
“Tarzan Rescues the Moon” by Edgar Rice Burroughs
“A Thousand Deaths” by Jack London
“A Tropical Horror” by William Hope Hodgson
“The Breath of Allah” by Sax Rohmer
“The People of the Pit” by A. Merritt
“Wings in the Night” by Robert E. Howard

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While civil rights leaders are justifiably outraged that Gov. Robert F. McDonnell’s proclamation declaring April 2010 to be Confederate History Month in the state of Virginia fails to mention slavery, Martian science fiction fans are irked that the proclamation mentions famed General Robert E. Lee but does not mention legendary Captain Jack Carter of Virginia, a courageous Confederate cavalry officer who served the South in the War Between the States and who is better known as John Carter of Mars.

That’s the entry for April 7, 2010, which can be found at the web log, Marooned — Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror books on Mars. Helmed by the mononymous “Paul,” Marooned maintains an admirably Mars-centric focus as the blog post above amply demonstrates. Paul’s breadth of coverage and commentary is as vast as the dusty Martian sea-beds, ranging from suggestions that Rob Zombie should direct a remake of Mars Needs Women to news about the publication by Haffner of Edmond Hamilton’s The Magician of Mars. Of course, Leigh Brackett and ERB get regular shoutouts.

With all kinds of Martian-related fiction seeing print and the production of John Carter of Mars in high gear, Marooned is a much-needed clearing-house for newcomers (and old Martian hands) to check out cool updates on the Red Planet.

Oxford University Press will release Tarzan of the Apes on April 15, the first novel featuring John Clayton, Lord Greystoke written by Edgar Rice Burroughs. First published in the pulp All-Story Magazine in October 1912, ERB’s novel introduced a character who would become iconic, so popular that Burroughs would write more than two dozen sequels about “White-Skin.” Robert E. Howard had more books by Edgar Rice Burroughs in his bookshelf than by any other author. The Bard of Cross Plains thought that ERB was a “highly imaginative writer of fiction.”

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—The best steel goes through the fire

Ronnie James Dio, Hide in the Rainbow

If you’re a fan of heavy metal music, you’re probably aware that legendary frontman Ronnie James Dio, aged sixty-seven, is in the midst of a grim battle against stomach cancer. On November 25, 2009, Dio’s wife broke the news and announced that he was starting immediate treatment at the Mayo Clinic. Her message: Dio was ready to fight back, tooth and nail, to achieve victory against this dreaded disease:

After he kills this dragon, Ronnie will be back on stage, where he belongs, doing what he loves best, performing for his fans. Long live rock and roll, long live Ronnie James Dio. Thanks to all the friends and fans from all over the world that have sent well wishes. This has really helped to keep his spirit up.

Fortunately for metal fans, it’s a battle Dio appears to be winning. The latest news according to Dio’s web site is that the man who made the sign of the horns a household symbol recently had his seventh chemotherapy treatment, and that the main tumor in his stomach has shrunk considerably. I hope it’s a fight he ultimately wins and that one day we’ll see him back on stage, belting out Holy Diver while wielding a two-handed sword.

At this point you may be thinking, that’s cool and all, but why write about Dio on a web site devoted to the works of Robert E. Howard, J.R.R. Tolkien, and other authors?

To which I would answer: Have you ever listened to Dio’s lyrics? They’re fantasy fiction set to music, man.

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"Swords of Mars" by Frank Frazetta

The Albin Polasek Museum and Sculpture Gardens in Winter Park, Florida is currently hosting “Maidens and Monsters: The Art of Science Fiction, Adventure, and Fantasy,” an exhibit of original illustrations from pulp magazines and book covers by some of the most renowned artists of the 20th century. Around fifty works by over twenty different illustrators are on display, including pieces by Frank Frazetta, N.C. Wyeth, John Allen St. John, Margaret Brundage, Hannes Bok, Virgil Finlay, Frank R. Paul, Alex Schomburg, Michael Whelan, Kelly Freas, and Roy Krenkel. All of the artwork in the exhibit is from the famous collection of Stephen D. Korshak, an Orlando-based attorney and the author of A Hannes Bok Treasury (1993), Grandmaster of Fantasy: The Paintings of John Allen St. John (2008), and From the Pen of Paul: The Fantastic Images of Frank R. Paul (2009).

Last weekend, I had the privilege of seeing the exhibit while I was in Orlando attending MegaCon and for a science fiction fan and pulp enthusiast like me it was an amazing experience. I was joined on the Saturday afternoon excursion by my wife and a few of my fellow REH fans and comic book and pulp collectors. The museum is located near downtown Winter Park, about twenty or thirty minutes north of Orlando, depending on traffic. The grounds are beautifully landscaped gardens accented by original sculpture and the staff was very friendly and enthusiastic about the exhibit.

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Those TC readers who have bothered to check the links I’ve posted in my ERB-related entries probably already suspect that I hold Bill Hillman’s ERBzine website in high regard. Such suspicions would not be unfounded. Mr. Hillman hath builded a mighty temple to the Lord of Tarzana that hangs amidst the æther in erudite splendor. 

This last January, Bill presented to his readership a most excellent symposium betwixt two major Edgar Rice Burroughs fans: Richard Lupoff and Michael Chabon. Mr. Lupoff, a long-time Friend of The Cimmerian, authored the first serious look at ERB and his works, Master of Adventure, as well as editing ERB volumes for Canaveral Press. Michael Chabon (a past recipient of the Pulitzer Prize) is on record as being a fan of of Robert E. Howard and Fritz Leiber. In his ERBzine interview (conducted by Lupoff), Chabon reveals his life-long love for the fiction of Burroughs.

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HERE LIES JOHN TIPPET ENGLISHMAN KILLED BY TYRANNOSAURUS

10 SEPT., A.D. 1916

R. I. P.

–The reader discovers the fate of Tippet in The Land That Time Forgot, and quite possibly the greatest epitaph I’ve ever read.

When I was nine months old, I discovered dinosaurs. So my mother tells me, at least: it all started that fateful day Mam got me an illustrated book of prehistoric life. She recited the names to me as I sat transfixed, wide-eyed and mouth agape, at these incredible creatures. While I think every boy goes through a period of going dinosaur-crazy–and, no doubt, many a girl too–my obsession went a bit beyond the average. I could pronounce the taxonomy of dinosaurs before I could read their names. I recalled the various time periods species lived in before I could do simple maths. Yup, I was a precocious little scamp at the best of times.

It was natural, then, that I would want to read more about dinosaurs beyond the old textbooks and picturebooks: what about fiction? Too young to read, I started off with the classic dinosaur films: King Kong, 1 Million B.C., The Valley of Gwangi, When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth, the Rite of Spring sequence in Fantasia, to more modern examples like The Land Before Time, as well as the fairly decent 1970s adaptation of The Land That Time Forgot. Even films with only a tenuous link to dinosaurs like One of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing were part of my diet.

However, as soon as I could read at a sufficient level to tackle real books, I was introduced to a vast range of dinosaur fiction. My first dinosaur book was Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Lost World (or, more properly, a children’s version which was actually rather faithful), and between the iconic Professor Challenger and the setting of Maple White Land, I knew this was what I want to read. Edgar Rice Burroughs wrote another great story of man meeting denizens of a younger earth: what better day than today, the 60th anniversary of his death, to discuss The Land That Time Forgot?

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