Barsoomian Expedition

It only takes a simple Krenkel sketch to spark the imagination . . .

Roy G. Krenkel — Barsoomian Expedition

Shneak Peek

Last post, I mentioned a sneak peek I had at concept art for Disney's John Carter, and Erik asks if I can share that. Unfortunately no, the person who showed it to me would get in trouble if I even described what I saw, but it was very cool.

In the meantime, here is some material you've undoubtedly seen already, but I'm posting it up just for the record.

I have great hopes for this movie. So far, it looks like it will be rustic high adventure — truly in the spirit of Edgar Rice Burroughs.

I'm already looking forward to the DVD.

Princess Factory

I've seen a quick glimpse of conceptual art for the Disney Studio's John Carter movie, and it actually looks good so far. We can only cross our fingers and hope that a princess of Mars, Dejah Thoris, will get a decent treatment from the fairy tale princess factory.

William Stout — A Princess of Mars — 1992

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: