Warlord of Mars

Well Xmas 2009 came and went. As did the New Year.

Here I am, my first post for 2010

(the year we make contact...he he).

I have long been a fan of Edgar Rice Burroughs' John Carter series. I was first introduced to the world of Barsoom in the Marvel Comics' version in the 1970s. Beautifully penciled by Gil Kane and superbly inked by Rudy Nebres, I found the stories both enchanting as well as genuinely original.

It wasn't until much later that I read the actual books. I think a lot of modern sci/fi, space opera owes much to Burroughs' work...'Jeddaks' and 'desert seas', for example.

There is something hauntingly tragic about this story of a highly civilized and beautiful culture gasping for it's last breath against the backdrop of a dying world.

When I heard that there was finally to be a film in production I got all inspired to do a scribble. I used the likeness of the actual actress cast to play the 'incomparable Dejah Thoris' as my starting point. Dejah (for those who don't know) is the title character from the first book of the series 'Princess of Mars'. Naturally she ends up falling for our hero, John Carter.

Man, I usually don't fret too much about film versions of books. This is the first time I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this will turn out to be a decent version of Carter.