Tagged: John Carter

Another Martian Classic Reprinted

Another Martian Classic Reprinted

With a lot of attention focused on Pixar’s attempts to adapt John Carter of Mars to film, the small publisher Paizo has been exploring a different take on the Red Planet.  They announced a release of Otis Adelbert Kline’s The Swordsman of Mars. The 1933 tale was first serialized in Argosy Magazine, which also ran Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Under the Moons of Mars in 1912.

The serial was finally collected in hardcover by Avalon in 1960.  Later that year, Ace published a paperback edition as part of their growing SF line. According to Paizo, though, “entire chapters are missing, key character and location descriptions are completely absent, and the final product cuts a slash across the chest of Kline’s literary reputation that would be totally invisible to readers unable to assemble the original Argosy serial and compare the two texts.”

The publisher, under their Planet Stories imprint, is finally releasing the complete and unabridged tale of swords and monsters on a world not our own this month.
 

Stanton Reimagines ‘John Carter of Mars’

Stanton Reimagines ‘John Carter of Mars’

Pixar’s Andrew Stanton said that he and Mark Andrews are spending the rest of this year on the script adaptation to Edgar Rice Burroughs’ John Carter of Mars. The director told Sci FI Wire that their approach is more about taking what they recalled best from the epic science fiction tale rather than a literal translation.

"I’m going to do what I remember more than what they exactly do," Stanton told a group interview yesterday.

Pixar’s General Manager, Jim Morris, commented, "Everything that’s been out there has been an attempt to kind of capture this Deco-esque [Frank] Frazetta vision of John Carter, which I think feels old and stale. And where Stanton is going — from what we’ve seen so far — is very different than that. And I think that the people who really love the essence of the books will really dig it, but so will audiences in general."

As for the new look, Morris said, "John Carter is in its very early stages and there is much to figure out about that so we’d be premature. We are looking at a variety of different approaches and techniques for that … We’re kind of a bit early in the development of that.

"I’m sure I speak for all of the science fiction geeks, fans and aficionados when I say it’s finally time to see that movie. And I, for one, am delighted that Andrew Stanton is the guy that’s making the movie, because he’s a story-driven guy."

Despite an abandoned attempt by Disney to animate the story of a Civil War soldier somehow transported to Mars, the film has been repeatedly option for film but never getting in front of the cameras.  The stories have been adapted for comic books throughout the years with interpretations from both DC Comics and Marvel Comics.
 

April’s Fool round-up

April’s Fool round-up

Man, I’m disappointed in you guys.

We were expecting lots of joke entries from all over the web — you know, Joe Quesada buys Forbidden Planet, Jenette Kahn buys down coat filled with Donald Duck’s feathers, Classics Illustrated adapts Portnoy’s Complaint, Rob Liefeld reads an anatomy textbook — but no. Nothing from the regular comics haunts.

C’mon, I know April Fool’s day was the same day as Palm Sunday, but we all know it’s all Jews in the comics industry anyway. (And stop trying to convince us that Macdonald isn’t a Jewish name, Heidi.)

Luckily, we were able to find a few items:

And we tried to do what we could, but sadly, we accidentally put a real piece in with our April Fool’s coverage. We’re sorry, and promise to do less real news next year.