"A Princess of Mars"

In 2006, Joan Bledig and I recorded the Hardcover Theater production of "A Princess of Mars" in Minneapolis.

Dateline Jasoom Episode 50

Dateline Jasoom: Joan Bledig on Princess play

In 2006, Joan Bledig and I traveled from Chicago to Minneapolis to see “A Princess of Mars” performed on stage by Hardcover Theater. This is our discussion of the play on the drive home. My friend of more than 25 years died Jan. 18, 2024. RIP, Joan – J the V.

Thanks to the Burroughs Bibliophiles

I'm proud to join a long list of oustanding fans of Edgar Rice Burroughs who have received this award. They are far more deserving than me.

Erbania No. 4

April 1958 Cover Art: Jim Cawthorn Back Cover art by Mike Thompson A Visit With ERB by Forrest J. Ackerman Beyond the Farthest Star review by John Harwood Burroughs Confidential by Joseph W. Miller Two Sought Adventure review by Albert E. Gechter Kaor Beyond Thirty and the Man-Eater reviewed by PO

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ERBANIA No. 3

July 1957 ~ 26 pages Cover Art: W.O. Daniels Burroughs Confidential by Joseph W. Miller J. Allen St. John by Peter Ogden Under Serveillance by D. Prince & P. Ogden Resurrection of Jimber Jaw review by John Harwood F.A.M. Webster: Creator of Mwana, Lord of Leopards: Ogden Introducing Bantan by Peter Ogden Kaor: Letters Column The Round Table by Peter Ogden

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ERBANIA No. 2

December 1956 ~ 20 pages Cover Art: WO Daniels Case of the Spanish Tarzan Books by Darrell C. Richardson English Artists No. 2 by Peter Ogden Tarzan and the Champion review by John Harwood C. T. Stoneman, Creator of Kaspa by Peter Ogden

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ERBANIA No. 1

ERBANIA 1: April 1956 - 20 pages Cover Art: Peter Ogden The American Tarzan Strip by Peter Ogden G. P. Miclewright by Peter Ogden Bibliography of the Original Appearance of the Novels of ERB

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Planet of the Mahars

"Ten years!" he murmured, at last. "Ten years, and I thought that at the most it could be scarce more than one!" David Innes, “At the Earth’s Core”

“Six months in deep space - by our time, that is. According to Dr. Haslein's theory of time, in a vehicle traveling nearly the speed of light, the Earth has aged nearly 700 years since we left it, while we've aged hardly at all.” George Taylor, “Planet of the Apes” (1968)

By Jeff 'Elmo' Long

I love the 1968 movie “Planet of the Apes,” starring Charlton Heston as that cynical astronaut, George Taylor. And I love “At the Earth’s Core” by Edgar Rice Burroughs, featuring that intrepid explorer of Pellucidar, David Innes.

The Apes screenplay was written by Rod Serling and Michael Wilson, based (loosely) on the novel by Pierre Boulle. Serling created the Twilight Zone. His influence on the script is obvious.

I’ve never heard that Serling was a Burroughs fan -- or specifically that he had read “At the Earth’s Core.” But I sure do see some similarities in the overall arch of the two tales.

Serling, born in 1924, grew up during the height of ERB’s success. ERB’s novel first appeared in All-Story Weekly in 1914. It was published as a book in 1922 and remained in print for decades after that. I’d be surprised to learn that Serling never read it. How could he have not been very familiar with much of ERB’s work? We all know ERB inspired many creative careers.

None of the similarities I see in the two works suggest that Serling stole anything. I just note them because I get a kick out of that sort of thing.

The strange passage of time in both works is highlighted in the quotes above.

“Core” has the talking gorilla-men, the Sagoths. “Apes” has, well, talking gorillas, chimpanzees and orangutans. In the “Apes” movie, the gorillas are gruff warriors, much like the Sagoths are in the Inner World. The orangutans are the ruling class and spiritual leaders, while chimps are the scientists. For this comparison, try thinking of the reptilian Mahars in “At the Earth’s Core” as the orangutans and chimps of “Planet of the Apes.” In each, humans are at the bottom of the social rung. And the rulers’ religious beliefs help keep them there.

Each has the beautiful savage girl that our heroes fall in love with: Taylor’s Nova, and Innes’ Dian the Beautiful.

The apes and Mahars each perform vivisection on unlucky humans.

When Taylor discovers that his fellow astronaut, Langdon, has been lobotomized, he confronts Dr. Zaius: “You did it. You cut up his brain, you bloody baboon!”

Both Taylor and Innes appear before a tribunal to explain the outrageous tales they’ve been telling about being from another world. Neither are believed. Taylor is sentenced to castration and experimentation on the speech center of the brain. Innes is sentenced to the experimental pits.

Abner Perry explains to David: "They understand us no better than we understand the lower animals of our own world. Why, I have come across here very learned discussions of the question as to whether gilaks, that is men, have any means of communication. One writer claims that we do not even reason -- that our every act is mechanical, or instinctive. The dominant race of Pellucidar, David, have not yet learned that men converse among themselves, or reason.”

Cornelius, reading from the sacred scrolls of the apes: “Beware the beast Man, for he is the Devil's pawn. Alone among God's primates, he kills for sport or lust or greed. Yea, he will murder his brother to possess his brother's land. Let him not breed in great numbers, for he will make a desert of his home and yours. Shun him; drive him back into his jungle lair, for he is the harbinger of death.”

Dian: “Do you really mean that you do not know that the Sagoths are the creatures of the Mahars -- the mighty Mahars who think they own Pellucidar and all that walks or grows upon its surface, or creeps or burrows beneath, or swims within its lakes and oceans, or flies through its air? Next you will be telling me that you never before heard of the Mahars!"

Taylor is more cocky and cynical than Innes. But they have one thing in common. When the astronauts catch their first glimpse of the primitive humans, Taylor quips, “If this is the best they've got around here, in six months we'll be running this planet.”

Innes aspires to become Emperor of Pellucidar -- and eventually attains the title. His goal does seem a little more noble than Taylor’s.

"Why, Perry," he tells the old inventor, "you and I may reclaim a whole world! Together we can lead the races of men out of the darkness of ignorance into the light of advancement and civilization. At one step we may carry them from the Age of Stone to the twentieth century. It's marvelous -- absolutely marvelous just to think about it. … And while you are teaching them to pray I'll be teaching them to fight, and between us we'll make a race of men that will be an honor to us both."

Perhaps Taylor would have eventually led the humans in a revolt against the apes, too, if he hadn’t blown up the world at the end of “Beneath the Planet of the Apes.”

And of course each work has a “twist” ending that leaves the viewer or reader hanging, wishing for more. Both ERB and Serling were masters of that. “Oh my God,” Taylor says as he approaches the ruined Statue of Liberty. “I'm back. I'm home. All the time, it was ... We finally really did it. You maniacs! You blew it up! Ah, damn you! God damn you all to hell!”

Innes: “The thing beneath the skin was not Dian -- it was a hideous Mahar. Instantly I realized the trick that Hooja had played upon me, and the purpose of it. Rid of me, forever as he doubtless thought, Dian would be at his mercy. Frantically I tore at the steering wheel in an effort to turn the prospector back toward Pellucidar; but, as on that other occasion, I could not budge the thing a hair.”

After receiving a last letter from Innes, ERB as “ERB” closes the novel with:

“Did the Arabs murder him, after all, just on the eve of his departure? Or, did he again turn the nose of his iron monster toward the inner world? Did he reach it, or lies he somewhere buried in the heart of the great crust? And if he did come again to Pellucidar was it to break through into the bottom of one of her great island seas, or among some savage race far, far from the land of his heart's desire?

“Does the answer lie somewhere upon the bosom of the broad Sahara, at the end of two tiny wires, hidden beneath a lost cairn? I wonder.”

I wondered, too, when I first read those lines.

Luckily, “Pellucidar” was waiting.

Dateline Jasoom Bonus: "My name is John Carter" musical mix by Stiiv Ryan for Dateline Jasoom.

Episode 49. Bit: The ever-widening scope of the Red Mafia would become even more apparent over the next few years as federal agents began tracking the activities of a flamboyant Florida Red Fella known as “Tarzan.” Antiques Road Show features a piece of art by Frank Schoonover. Cartoon network, “My gym partner is a monkey.” Peter Cook and Dudley Moore routine: Actor has one leg too few for the role of Tarzan.

Episode 48. Opening clip: Your Flight Patrol membership card will get you a free bag of jumping beans. The Chicago Blackhawks are “Muckers and grinders,” according to a Chicago sports radio show. The Chicago Muckers chapter of the Burroughs Bibliophiles discusses favorite “minor” ERB characters. Jim Hadac likes the dogs that appear in the tales. Greg Phillips mentions Phaidor, the “La” of Barsoom. He also likes Kar Komak, the phantom bowman. Joan Bledig likes Ben, King of Beasts. Elmo likes Sven from “Beasts of Tarzan.” Ken Manson likes Paul d'Arnot. 2020 Elmo announces plans for a reboot of Dateline Jasoom.

Promo: New episodes of Dateline Jasoom coming soon.

Episode 47. Opening clip: From the Tarzan radio show, “Congo Christmas.” This is Dateline Jasoom's 2007 interview with Alex Simmons, who wrote the Sunday Tarzan comic strip in the early 2000s. Alex also talks about his original creation, Black Jack. The discussion includes Alex's perspective as an African American on Tarzan – or “White Skin” of the Apes. One storyline for the Tarzan strip was to have Tarzan meet Black Jack, a 1930s era soldier of fortune. “I really enjoyed working on the story,” Alex says. Read the Tarzan/Black Jack strip at http://www.blackjackadventures.com/blackjack-tarzan/

Episode 46. Opening bit: An expedition into the Carrion Caves at the frozen North Pole of Barsoom is foiled by Rudolph's nose. Francisco M. Camas of the Spanish National Biotechnology Centre in Madrid creates Tarzan yells via pan flute, clarinet and oboe. Dateline Jasoom talks to Steve “Korak” Allsup, who audited Paul Yoder's class at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, which explored literary icons: Frankenstein, Dracula, Sherlock Holmes – and Tarzan of the Apes.

Dateline Jasoom Bonus: The Tarzan Yodel Song Elmo mixed Dr. Awkward from the old Podsafe Music Network with various Tarzan yodels.

Episode 45. Opening clip from the Tarzan radio program. Dateline Jasoom interviews Paul Yoder, an associate professor at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock about his graduate seminar exploring the literary icons Frankenstein, Dracula, Sherlock Holmes – and Tarzan of the Apes. This wide-ranging discussion includes an examination of the apeman's inner conflict between heredity versus environment. “He does have that moment where he asks himself, 'Are you a man or an ape?'” Yoder says. Is Tarzan a literary icon? “He's obviously a cultural icon,” Yoder says. “There's something about that story that appeals to us.” He compares the end of “Tarzan of the Apes” to “A Tale of Two Cities” and “Gulliver's Travels.”

Episode 44. Opening clip: “Super Argo and the Faceless Giants.” 2007 Louisville Dum-Dum discussion of local chapters of the Burroughs Bibliophiles. James G Huckenpöhler talks about the National Capital Panthans. Bill Ross also talks about the benefits of forming a local Burroughs group.

Episode 43. Brazilian TV commercial clip: “The chimp who drank Coke became a very close friend of Tarzan. The chimp who drank Pepsi became a very close friend of ...” Dateline Jasoom researches the archives of the Chicago Daily Tribune and finds references that almost certainly helped inspire “The Mucker.” A soundbite from “His Girl Friday.” Comedian Sean Cullen sings, “The chimp and the woman.”

Episode 42. Opening clip: “Tarzan, Silver Screen King of the Jungle,” featuring ERB fan and scholar Tracy Griffin. Tracy joins Chicago Muckers Jim Hadac, Joan Bledig and Elmo for a tour of Oak Park and Chicago sites related to Edgar Rice Burroughs. Elmo interviews Frank Lipo, who heads the Oak Park historical society. Burroughs lived in four homes in Oak Park and rented an office there during his early prolific period. Tracy and some of the Muckers use the same bathroom ERB would have used in that office building. They also visit 414 Augusta Avenue in Oak Park, where Burroughs wrote Thuvia, Cave Girl, Mad King, Pellucidar, The Mucker and others; and 700 Linden, where he wrote The Oakdale Affair and The Land That Time Forgot. In Chicago, they visit Billy Byrne's neighborhood and 3 Tree Studios, a former artists colony where J. Allen St. John worked.