A.D. and E.R.B.

[DavidMiller]

Mr. Davis, I share your fondness for the Mars books of Edgar Rice Burroughs.

Just wondering: The Giant Green Men of Mars are described as being 15 feet tall. I've always found that height cumbersome when drawing them next to John Carter. I cheat it by drawing the Green Men as 12 feet tall (only twice the height of JC).

So, when you draw the Green Men, do you draw them at the full 15 feet or do you make them closer to John Carter's height?

Inquiring minds would like to know before they are sucked out of their skulls by invading Martians.

The Dave-Thing.

[Alan Davis]

This is a very interesting question for two reasons Dave.

Firstly, scale and proportion can offer all sorts of interesting design opportunities but they can also create massive problems. A few feet difference between characters adds interest but if the difference increases, as in the classic example of the bug sized Wasp buzzing around the giant sized Goliath, the interaction between the two can become quickly fragmented-- Which is also the case if Tars Tarkus is almost three times John Carter’s height. It is interesting to study how artists have attempted to solve this problem in the past.
The second point is in regard of translating visuals descriptions in a novel (or script), especially something from the pulp period, into a ‘contemporary’ visual. In my opinion the artists who have illustrated John Carter in the past follow ERB’s descriptions (or of the artists who drew the pulp illustrations) too closely so they can look clunky, dated and impractical. If I ever had the opportunity to do a version of a Mars book I’d like to try to rationalise the designs— staying true to the essence of the ERB descriptions but applying an evolutionary rational and consistency. I don’t know how this would be received by ERB purists but I think it is a valid approach. John Carter is a fighting man, not a biologist. Discounting the possibility that Carter might be exaggerating, his chronicles are written to describe what he has seen on an alien world, and knowing the forms with which his audience is familiar, he makes the nearest comparison to describe something outside their experience. Mythological theory suggests that the Unicorn originated from the description of a Rhinoceros by a sailor, who had seen it, to an artist who romanticised the image.

Alan

[DavidMiller]

Wow, Alan. Thanks!

Those were some great observations. I never stopped to consider that JC could be exagerating his exploits in his chronicles (a notion that is rapidly growing on me).

And I'm sure that by the end of it all he was experiencing some form of post-traumatic shock that many war veterans go through. He couldn't love fighting that much!

Thanks, again!

David Miller

[DavidMiller]

Alan,
Have you heard that film-maker John Favrue is currently slated to helm a John Carter of Mars film?

Any opinions on this matter?

Do you find it interesting that he is also slated to helm the Iron Man movie?

Just wondering.

Dave

[Alan Davis]

Dave,

I was told about a Carter on Mars film that was proposed four or five years ago-- I don't know who was involved then and didn't really bother to investigate further.

I tend not to get overly excited about movie adaptations because they rarely measure up to the source material.

Alan

[DavidMiller]

Unfortunately, Alan, I just read on Fauvre's blog that the pitch/presentation at Paramount was passed on.

He said the artwork and presentation was very well recieved, but because Paramount is gearing up for another Star Trek movie, they felt they had too similar a product already in production.

Yeah, right . . . John Carter = Star Trek.

Dave