A 5 out of 5 Review of Andy Briggs’ “Tarzan: The Jungle Warrior” in The Guardian

Posted on May 28, 2014

New Adventures of Tarzan Book by Andy Briggs

The second Tarzan book in the series sees Tarzan, Jane and Robbie on the trail of a team of brutal poachers, when Karnath is snatched from his home in the jungle. The chase takes them out of the Jungle as they frantically try to rescue Karnath before he is sold, or worse killed.

I loved this book. Tarzan is great because he is so stubborn and mistrustful of people who disrupt his life in the jungle. The end bit of the book was fantastic because of the action. I would absolutely recommend this book because it is action-packed and exciting. A huge 5/5 stars.

Original Review here

And you can purchase the book right here

John Carter featured in RogerEbert’s “The Unloved” series

Posted on May 27, 2014

When “John Carter” came out a couple of years ago, most critics hated it or were indifferent to it, and audiences stayed away; but it did have a few defenders, including me and Scout. We recently spent a half-hour on the phone talking about what a buoyant and sweet film it was to be so gigantic, and how the complaints that it was “derivative” of “Star Wars” and “Avatar” seemed ignorant of the fact that Burroughs wrote the original tales almost a century ago, when Mars was not just a nearby planet but a red blank slate upon which fantasies could be projected. Burroughs captured the imaginations of generations of future storytellers who cherry-picked his themes and images, and in so doing, unfortunately made them less remarkable. (Trivia note: the movie was originally called “John Carter of Mars,” but Disney dropped “..of Mars” when it became convinced that films about Mars never made money. Since “John Carter” was a box office failure anyway, I wonder what the studio executives told themselves—that if “..of Mars” had stayed in, it would’ve done even worse?)

Read the full article at: RogerEbert

Fantastically Wrong: One Astronomer’s Quest to Expose the Alien-Built Canals of Mars

Posted on May 26, 2014

Wired just posted this fascinating article about Mars and its atmosphere:

“Mars ain’t the kind of place to raise your kids,” Elton John once said. “In fact, it’s cold as hell. And there’s no one there to raise them if you did.” Wrong, American astronomer Percival Lowell would have said if he hadn’t … I guess … died 100 years ago. Also, what do you mean there’s no one there to raise them? What about you, dummy?

Our man Lowell, you see, was quite convinced that an alien race occupied Mars, though he never directly commented on their potential as babysitters for human astronauts. And he even had the evidence to prove they existed: an immense network of canals carved into the Martian surface that he spied through a telescope.

Read the full story here!

For Your (Re)Consideration: Andrew Stanton’s John Carter (2012)

Posted on May 20, 2014

One hundred years after its original serialization in The All-Story magazine, Edgar Rice Burroughs’ pulp classic A Princess of Mars found itself in an incredibly strange position when the film adaptation finally reached movie theatres. The movie was saddled with a terrible, bland title that makes sense only to people who’d read the book and a marketing campaign that utterly failed to stir viewers’ interests. According to Hollywood lore, the director, Andrew Stanton, thought that the character John Carter was much better known than it turned out he was, and also that teen males wouldn’t want to go see a movie called “A Princess of Mars” (which, for the record, was a really stupid idea). In addition to this bungling, the book’s storyline had been so influential since its publication, referenced by dozens of works like Flash Gordon, Dune, Star Wars and, most recently, 2009’s Avatar, that the audiences who actually did end up seeing it must have thought they were being ripped off.

Full Article at The Pulp Press

Edgar Rice Burroughs Classics nominated in Retro-Hugo Prize to Honor Science Fiction of 1938

Posted on May 17, 2014

Have you ever found yourself engrossed in a science fiction classic – say, John Wyndham’s “Sleepers of Mars,” C.S. Lewis’s “Out of the Silent Planet” or Edgar Rice Burroughs’s “Carson of Venus” – and thought what a pity it is that they were published before 1953, when the Hugo Awards, one of science fiction’s most prestigious prizes (along with the Nebula Awards) were first given?
You are apparently not alone. The World Science Fiction Society, which awards the Hugos annually and also runs Worldcon – formally, the World Science Fiction Convention, at which the prizes are given – decided in the mid-1990s that the creators of great sci-fi in the pre-Hugo years should have a shot at the prize. Their solution was the Retro-Hugo, a prize the society has awarded only three times – in 1996, 2001 and 2004, in each case honoring works published 50 years earlier.

Full article at New York Times

New Tarzan Online Strip – Read Golden Age Comics Online!

Posted on May 14, 2014

Just added the lasted Tarzan Sunday Comic, among all the other strips and Bonus Material original art added over the weekend. The King of the Jungle is once again back for savage adventures and romance!

comics online

Online Comic Book Subscriptions

Numerous Golden / Silverage comics inspired by Edgar Rice Burroughs classics and Bonus Materials such as artist sketches and older comics are available immediately online for just single subscription of $1.99/ month or $21.99 /year!

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Carson of Venus Comic Book nominated in 1939 Retro-Hugo Awards

Posted on May 3, 2014

Edgar Rice Burroughs “Carson of Venus” is one of five books nominated last month for best novel in the 1939 Retro Hugo Awards. The winner will be announced at Loncon 3 in London, U.K., on August 14.

I think this is a real credit to ERB’s staying power, especially considering that “Carson”–unlike “Princess” and other ERB works–isn’t generally considered particularly influential in the genre.

See the full nomination at The Hugo Awards!

New Comic Book Art added to Bonus Materials!

Posted on May 2, 2014

As always we strive to make our online comic service better and better, and we’ve just added new artist sketches in our Bonus Materials!

A few early drafts of the Mucker characters, as well as an early work-in-progress drawing of a full strip! Something to chew on as you wait for the weekly comic update tomorrow. If you’re already a subscriber, make sure you check out the Bonus Materials / Artist Sketches!

Not subscribed yet? What are you waiting for!

Read Comics Online

If you want to see more of the comic book art and are a fan of silver age comics or golden age comics, head over to our Comic Book Subscriptions page and sign up!

Elephants photo drunk on native fruit at South Africa’s Singita Sabi Sand

Posted on April 26, 2014

The abundance of the Marula fruit around Singita Sabi Sand, South Africa, this winter proved to be a great excuse for some elephants to party. Like apples on the ground, Marula fruit ferment after they fall off a tree. An African legend describes the results, and these photos provide the evidence, showing the massive pachyderms as they get hammered. In fact, eyewitnesses described the elephants stumbling, falling over and otherwise displaying signs of boozing familiar to humans.

Read full story at: Yahoo News

Daybreak: Kellan Lutz on becoming Tarzan

Posted on April 24, 2014

How many times can Aled Jones say ‘loincloth’ in an interview? I ended up losing count…
The presenter was talking about the iconic outfit worn by Tarzan, who is again being brought to life in a new 3D digital movie, with ‘Twilight’ star Kellan Lutz creating the motion capture and voicing the titular character.
Lutz proved that he was ready to joke with the ‘Daybreak’ presenters, despite an early start, as he mocked Ranvir Singh for getting the time wrong. Singh is used to presenting the earlier news segment of the show and, as a result, she got the time wrong quite a few times this morning when she covered the rest of the programme. The ‘Daybreak’ team are used to correcting puzzled viewers on Twitter when they don’t realise they’re watching the show on itv1+1, but I’m sure they didn’t expect Ranvir to get confused!
When Lutz finally stopped teasing her, he spoke about his happiness at getting the opportunity to portray two popular figures in films this year. He said, “For me, growing up, I loved watching Disney movies… It’s a little boy’s dream come true playing Tarzan and Hercules.”

Read the full story at: Yahoo News