John Carter Hits the Big Screen

March 9 is the opening day for John Carter, the Disney-made epic science fiction film featuring John Carter, the heroic protagonist of Edgar Rice Burroughs' 11-volume Barsoom series. The film marks the centennial of the character's first appearance in 1912. 

 This 100-year-old novel is based on the first book of Martian Tales by Burroughs, who also created Tarzan of the Apes.  John Carter is an ageless soldier who is mysteriously transported from Earth to Mars (aka "Barsoom"). Gravity is lighter on Mars; Carter discovers that he has superhuman strength, and is "able to leap tall buildings in a single bound." What follows is a classic planetary romance: boy meets princess (of Mars), boy loses princess, boy swordfights his way around an alien world and rescues princess.
 
In his heyday, Burroughs was one of America's wealthiest and most popular authors. In the 1960s, Burroughs's stories gained a new following of baby-boomer boys when his works were reprinted as inexpensive paperbacks, with colorful covers depicting half-naked heroes and buxom heroines battling monsters of every description. However, educators discouraged children from reading his "trash," and his books were banned from some libraries. Despite such attempts at suppression, the influence of Burroughs's stories goes far and deep into American pop culture.

John Carter's "super powers" inspired the creators of Superman, the granddaddy of all modern superheroes. Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers, two classic newspaper comic strips and movie serials, borrowed heavily from Burroughs's Mars series. George Lucas and James Cameron have listed the Martian Tales among their influences. Pulitzer Prize-winning author Michael Chabon (a local author) lived one of his childhood dreams when he co-wrote the screenplay for Disney's John Carter film.

Drop by Bay Books to find books in this series.

 
To learn more about Edgar Rice Burroughs

To watch the movie trailer