Celebrate 150 years of Edgar Rice Burroughs and his fantastic creations on his birthday today! He has had an incredible career; enlisted at Fort Grant, Arizona, but discharged for a heart condition, cowboy, gold prospector, railroad worker, pilot, and later war correspondent! All of these experiences forged him to finally become a novelist. This will all be covered with the upcoming release of Trailblazer: The Autobiography of Tarzan’s Creator!
His prolific writing began with “Under the Moons of Mars” (1912) serialized in the magazine, All-Story Magazine. This was turned to the novel, A Princess of Mars (1917), beginning the Barsoom stories. The novels continue with this year’s Gauntlets of Mars by Chris L. Adams. The Barsoom stories finally came to film, officially, with John Carter (2012)! Taylor Kitsch played the lead character with Lynn Collins portraying Dejah Thoris!
An iconic and enduring character was next created by Burroughs in the novel, Tarzan of the Apes (1912)! Just six years after the publication, Tarzan first appeared on film with the silent movie, Tarzan of the Apes (1918) played by Elmo Lincoln! Many actors followed and one of the most famous was Olympic swimmer, Johnny Weissmuller, who started playing Tarzan in Tarzan of the Apes (1932). The famous Tarzan yell started with Weissmuller.
The latest Tarzan was played by Alexander Skarsgard in The Legend of Tarzan (2016). Tarzan of the Apes reached television screens played by Ron Ely in Tarzan (1966-1968). Wolf Larson also played Tarzan in the 1991-1994 series. Larson is the Vice President of ERB Entertainment bringing Burroughs’ work to film and television! In animation, Filmation produced the series, Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle (1976). Later, Tony Goldwyn was the lead in the feature, Tarzan (1999). This led to the Broadway musical, Tarzan, in 2006.
In 1929, master artist, Hal Foster, adapted Tarzan of the Apes to newspaper comic strips. Tarzan appeared in comic book form with Four Color Comics #134 (1947). It featured art by Jesse Marsh. The Lord of the Jungle had his own series by Dell Comics starting with Tarzan #1 (1948). Many publishers followed and noteworthy was the DC Comics run with art by Joe Kubert that continued Dell’s numbering with Tarzan of the Apes #207 (1972).
In 1919, Burroughs and his family moved to California, he purchased what he named the Tarzana Ranch named after his creation. In 1930 with the formation of a post office the city was officially named Tarzana! In 1914, two years after Tarzan and Barsoom, Burroughs created another incredible world with At the Earth’s Core (1914). This featured the hero, David Innes, in the hollow Earth world of Pellucidar! In 1929, Tarzan crossed over to Pellucidar in Tarzan at the Earth’s Core, a shared universe!
The latest Pellucidar novel is the Red Axe of Pellucidar (2022) by John Eric Holmes! On film, Doug McClure played Innes in the adaptation, At the Earth’s Core (1976). It was the last of a Burroughs trilogy directed by Kevin Connor. The lost land of Caspak was published as The Land That Time Forgot (1918). Mike Wolfer, author and artist of many Burroughs based comics, wrote the recent Caspak novel, The Land That Time Forgot: Fortress Primeval (2025)!
Another McClure classic was the adaptation, The Land That Time Forgot (1974)! Then, the last of Connor's trilogy, The People That Time Forgot (1977), adapted the second Caspak novel! Pirates of Venus (1934) was the beginning of yet another series and world. Venus or Amtor as it is known is explored by another hero, Carson Napier! Carson of Venus: The Edge of All Worlds (2020) by Matt Betts began the Edgar Rice Burroughs Universe that continued his works with new creators!
Burroughs also covered the moon with The Moon Maid, a novel of future history! The story continued in the comic book limited series, Moon Maid: Three Keys (2021) written by Wolfer and illustrated by Miriana Puglia. The 2020 Carson of Venus novel also introduced a new character, Victory Harben, created by Christopher Paul Carey. He is the Director of Publishing for Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc.
A new novel, Victory Harben: Fires of Halos (2022) by Carey concluded the Swords of Eternity super-arc that ran through books and comics! Burroughs left the boundaries of our galaxy with the novel, Beyond the Farthest Star (1964). The story continued with Victory Harben lost in Beyond the Farthest Star, a comic book limited series. Edgar Rice Burroughs has created a legacy of characters and worlds that are memorable and still making new adventures today! Happy Birthday Edgar Rice Burroughs!
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