If I hadn't looked it up, I would have thought Gullivar Jones was a knockoff of John Carter, Warlord of Mars. In fact, Edwin Lester Arnold's Gullivar predated Edgar Rice Burrough's Carter by six years. And yet, I hadn't even heard of him before picking up Creatures on the Loose #21, "Two Worlds to Win!" Written by George Alec Effinger, art by Gray Morrow; with a nice Steranko cover.
Although Gullivar seems to be stronger on Mars, just as John Carter was; he wasn't as popular. Burroughs and Carter would go on for eleven novels, but this would be the last for Arnold and Gullivar. Per the wiki, Gullivar was a little more hapless than Carter, who was kicking ass within 20 minutes of arrival, and Carter got the girl to boot. Marvel's adaptation makes Gullivar seem just as tough as Carter, though...but of course Carter would later get a Marvel comic, and this would be the last shot for Gullivar.
If the Asylum hadn't already done a John Carter movie, I'd bet they, or some studio, would get the bright idea of a Gullivar movie to block or compete or knock-off the upcoming big-budget film. As it stands...is John Carter public-domain? Maybe you don't have to settle for Gullivar, then.
I actually have this issue too. It's has good art in it doesn't it?
ReplyDeleteIt's not bad, although I always remember Gray Morrow for getting flak for drawing Batman with wrinkles in his bat-suit. I don't know what's up with the conjoined bad guy on the first page either, or if this is one of the earliest examples of that.
ReplyDeleteReally? I'm going to google that to see, but I find his art to fit period-type stories like this. I see him drawing Conan, Tor, or Warlord(a favorite of yours I know)
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