Comics With or Without Pulp Talkback: Episode 4

Pants

It's a Thark, It's a Lotharian, It's a Red Martian...No, It's John Carter! To coincide with the 100th anniversary of the creation of the character, we look to bring the Virginian center stage in episode 4. Guest Host Al Sparrow (Torchsong on the forums) helps astral project us into the world of John Carter of Mars. (1:44:13)

Listen here.

Greg

See what happens when you don't close the door all the way, all manner of wayward deviants can sneak into the place.

I kid Al, I kid. Can't wait to give this a listen.

Greg

Good show gents, well done. This a great listen for those that that know a lot to nothing at all about the John Carter stories.

Ever since the movie was released I've been playing teacher to a lot of people when it came to John Carter. Nearly everybody thought it was a comic book movie. When they learned otherwise and how many other stories it has influenced, it peaked their interest in the movie and/or the books.

My biggest problem when I first tried to read Princess of Mars was the first person narrative, which I absolutely despise. I don't care how great a story might be, if it's in first person I will not read it. First person for me is best done in a visual or audio medium. Until audiobooks came around I got my fill of John Carter through the 70's Marvel run which I want a collected edition of.

The movie was not bad. It was fun and even my mother liked it and that is saying a whole lot because she does not like much of anything that is sci-fi outside of Star Wars. She was one of those people that once she learned the history and everything that Carter influenced, she went into the movie with a whole different expectation.

@Matt and @Torchsong, again, well done.

Chuckzilla

I, too, regret that we probably will never see a sequel because of Disney's lousy marketing choices. It also likely kills the chance of seeing a decent Pellucidar (earth's core) film in my lifetime.

Very good show, gentlemen!

rebis

One of my Daughter's college marketing classes used John Carter as an example of what not to do.

raven

note: all the john carter books are public domain you can download digital copies for free.

NKQ

I was interested in this episode because I've been reading Burroughs' Tarzan of the Apes. He's a great writer and that book was a page-turner for me. After the episode, I downloaded a free John Carter book from Amazon and yes, Burroughs style was similar and a page-turner too. I live in Arizona so his description of the Arizona landscape in the rugged high country was right on. I figured he used Arizona as a backdrop when the book was published because the state was still considered a bit exotic. Great episode Matt. How about a Tarzan episode? I recall the Tarzan movies with Johnny Weissmiller, but they're nothing like the book. The film, Greystoke was a far better rendition of the book and includes "cruelty of man" theme.

Kilmarock

Great episode! It brought back lots of good memories. I enjoyed the first few books but I also have fond memories of some of the later books like Chessmen of Mars, Mastermind of Mars, and Synthetic Men of Mars.

I read the entire series in the early 80s. I found it thanks to the recommended reading list in the back of the Dungeon Master's Guide. If I had any doubts about reading them they were dispelled after I saw Michael Whelan's cover to A Princess of Mars. I thoroughly enjoyed the John Carter/Martian Tales series along with many of Edgar Rice Burroughs other books. I haven't re-read the Martian Tales in quite some time but this podcast has me thinking about doing so.

Bibliomike

Really enjoyed your conversation, guys. I had heard of John Carter before the Disney movie, but (I know, reduce my geek rank two steps at least!), I'd never bothered to read them until I saw the film and absolutely fell in love with Barsoom. I've now read Princess but am finding Gods a little bit of a slog; still, I will eventually read all of them. I suspect I'll always be partial to the way Stanton brought it to the screen, but I do appreciate what ERB accomplished in the original texts. Such a shame that Disney didn't recognize the true potential blockbuster it had on its hands - it is such a beautiful film, in every regard.