Reading Room: GULLIVAR JONES "Long Road to Nowhere"

The John Carter movie is only a week away (March 9th)...

Art by Gil Kane and Frank Giacoia

Meanwhile, we're continuing the adventures of his swashbuckling predecessor on Mars, Gullivar Jones, as we present, from Creatures on the Loose #19 (1972), the fourth chapter of the short-lived, never-reprinted, comic adaptation...

To be continued HERE!

The artist round-robin continues as long-time Superman artist Wayne Boring steps in for an issue, inked by long-time Supergirl artist Jim Mooney!
At this time, Boring also did the first three issues (#22-24) of the 1972 revival of Captain Marvel.
George Alec Effinger goes solo on the scripting and continues to the end of the series in Creatures on the Loose #21.

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YouTube Wednesday: The John Carter Movies that Never Were...

You might have heard about a new John Carter of Mars movie...

...bud did you know about the movie versions that went as far as having test reels produced?

In 1931, legendary animator Bob Clampett worked with John Coleman Burroughs (Edgar Rice's son) to create the following piece...

No movie studio was interested in backing the project.
Most told Clampett that their audiences has no interest in "realistic" animation!
(The Fleischer Brothers proved them wrong with Superman in 1941...)

In 2004, Kerry Conran pitched a John Carter movie done in almost total CGI...

...like the movie he just completed, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow!
If Sky Captain had done better business at the box office, Kerry undoubtedly would have been given the green light.
But, it didn't, and he wasn't.

The film that finally was produced after years of delays, rewrites, and changes in writers, directors, and cast, opens March 9th...

Looks good, and I'm hopeful it'll begin a franchise...

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Reading Room: GULLIVAR JONES "Wasteland on a Weirdling World"

The John Carter movie is only a week away (March 9th)...

Art by Gil Kane and Joe Sinnott

Meanwhile, we're continuing the adventures of his swashbuckling predecessor on Mars, Gullivar Jones, as we present, from Creatures on the Loose #18 (1972), the third chapter of the short-lived, never-reprinted, comic adaptation...

To be continued HERE!

Ross Andru, right before beginning his stint on Doc Savage, came on for a single issue, replacing Gil Kane, who continued to do covers.
Gerry Conway and science fiction writer George Alec Effinger take over the scripting from Roy Thomas, who plotted the story and remains as editor.

One of the major problems this series faced was only having 10 pages every two months to tell the story.
And, because it was a bi-monthly, the writers felt compelled to recap not only the previous issue, but the entire story, which ate into the page count for a given issue's tale!

Had Marvel given the series a 15-page or full-book page count to work with (or 10 pages in a monthly title), the series might have gained more of an audience.
As it is, we're already midway thru the too-brief color comics run.

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PussyCat, PussyCat, I Love You...

Mentioning Bill Everett in our recent Gullivar Jone of Mars posts reminded me of this...

...the centerfold for the one-shot 1968 PussyCat b/w magazine for which Bill also did the cover...

Everett, besides being a talented writer and illustrator, also did coloring and production work from time to time, including graytone work (usually listed as "special effects") and spot illustrations for both Marvel and Skywald's b/w magazine lines!

Truly a Renaissance man...

Plus, PussyCat will return shortly...(hey, we've been busy)!

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Flash Gordon #7 Cover Preview

There's no Flash Gordon like a "classic" Flash Gordon.

 Have you noticed that all the attempts to "update" the character modify him so much as to be unrecognizable?
(Remember the Smallville-ized Sci-Fi, er, SyFy version? YUK!)
Thankfully, Dynamite's current series goes back to the basics, combining the best of Alex Raymond's (and successor Mac Raboy's) original strips with the movie serials, 1980 feature film, Filmation tv series, and Al Williamson's contributions in the '60s and '80s, to make a kool pastiche almost on the level of the Dini-Timm-McDuffie DC Animated universe.
Top it off with superb covers like this one for #7 by Francesco Francavilla, and it's a must-have package for high-adventure fans of all ages.

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