Friday, May 7, 2010

Barsoomian Tradition

There is a proud lineage of illustrators handling the vision of Edgar Rice Burroughs. I know there are lots of names over the years, but the most involved and loved and linked with ERB are J. Allen St. John, Frank Frazetta and Roy Krenkel.

Who is there to carry on the Barsoomian tradition? Well, there's Mark Schultz, Frank Cho, Joe Jusko, Michael Whelan and William Stout, among others. Each brings their own vision to the saga, but personally I think Stout comes closest to the traditional lineage of style. I know that Mr. Stout is very busy these days, but I hope Barsoom is still part of the mix of what he does. Here are some examples of Stout's Barsoomian sketches:












2 comments:

E.G.Palmer said...

Wow, these are excellent,Thom! I see what you mean about Stout's work being in the traditional line of Barsoomian art. I see hints of Krenkel in the lines and Frazetta in the figures, but Stout still has his own touch bringing them together.
I hadn't seen any of these before, thanks for posting them.
I do really like Frank Cho's Mars art as well. Have you been to his Apes & Babes forum? It's Apesandbabes.com You have to sign up to access the forum, cause of the nudidity, but it's well worth the time.

fate said...

I hope some of this is being used for the John Carter film now in the works.