Here was swordplay, swashbuckling, and adventure in the grandest style. John Carter, his rugged hero, was a Civil War veteran who stumbled into a mystical cave and was transported through space and time to an ancient version of Mars (Barsoom) where various races of Martians (some obviously descended from Native American stock, some wholly alien in design) battled constantly for survival among the remains of a fallen civilization. In 1912, Edgar Rice Burroughs published A Princess of Mars, his first novel. I’m thinking of Edgar Rice Burroughs and his most original creation John Carter of Mars. I’m thinking of ancient cities crumbling across dead sea-bottoms, tusked green warriors standing ten feet tall, snake-haired plant-men, four-armed white apes, ten-legged lions, flashing swords, and blasting radium pistols. I’m thinking of BARSOOM, the title the red planet bore a long, long time ago. No, not the red dustball of our modern age, where tiny robots scour the dunes for microscopic life. I’m listening to the ancient, pattering rhythm of the rainsong and thinking about Mars. It’s a sublimely gorgeous rainy day here in Napa.
The setting is one of Mars' ancient ruined cities, home to the savage green Tharks. That's John Carter and Dejah Thoris in the midst of all the savage beasties. A great painting by Joe Jusko featuring a convergence of Barsoom's most memorable elements.
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