First things first. I may be the only grown man in America who will admit to loving the movie John Carter. Sure, the story was imperfect, the whole thing a wee bit too long and no doubt puzzling to anyone not familiar with the origins of the original Edgar Rice Burroughs superhero. Oh, and Disney erred mightily in dropping “… of Mars” from the title. That might have distinguished the title character from John Carter of… accounting, let’s say. But I thought the movie kicked ass in much the way Star Wars did the first time I saw it more than 35 years ago.

  SCOTT TRACY GRIFFIN audio excerpt: “Edgar Rice Burroughs was extremely intelligent… He wasn’t particularly outgoing or extroverted, however. He was self-effacing and humble.”

You can LISTEN to this interview with writer SCOTT TRACY GRIFFIN, author of TARZAN: THE CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION, by clicking the audio player above! So I was a good candidate to be interested in Scott Tracy Griffin’s new illustrated book, Tarzan: The Centennial Celebration. It’s a stunningly attractive piece of work, bringing together a century’s worth of the art, films and stories that make Burroughs one of the Western world’s most remarkable creative minds.

In one place you can now find the book covers and interiors by Frank Frazetta and Roy Krenkel, the comic book work of Joe Kubert, the comic strips of Hal Foster, and movie stills from all the great – and not so great – Tarzan films. TV’s Tarzan, Ron Ely – who will always be Doc Savage to me – even wrote the introduction.

Watch the exclusive Mr. Media interview with Scott Tracy Griffin, author of Tarzan: The Centennial Celebration