Artist Thomas Yeates reports that he has been hired by Barnes & Noble to illustrate a John Carter book which is due in bookstores by September of this year. They are publishing the first three Mars books in one volume, so artist Yeates drew 60 black & white interior illustrations, as well as one color illustration for the front cover.

Yeates also asked that we correct a statement in the “Editor’s Preface” of Burroughs Bulletin #78 mentioning that he had been hired by Pixar to work on the John Carter movie. It was actually Barnes & Noble, not Pixar, which hired him for the 3-in-1 John Carter book, thanks to a strong recommendation from artist Gary Gianni who had to turn down the offer due to prior commitments. 

The book will be sold exclusively through Barnes & Noble bookstores and is a volume in their new Library of Wonder series published by Fall River. 

Thomas Yeates was interviewed for Comicon by Jennifer M. Contino and stated that his vision of John Carter was based primarily on Burroughs' description of him, as well as upon the splendid depictions of artists like Reed Crandall, Roy Krenkel, J. Allen St. John, and Frank Frazetta.

Although he had read the Barsoom books in the 1970s, he listened to taped readings of the stories while he was sketching Martian scenes, to keep the images fresh in his mind. 

When questioned about the literary analogies to John Carter, Yeates recalled that Alex Raymond created his Flash Gordon along similar lines. 

ERB's John Carter was created before Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers, so he was a natural pace-setter for the genre. The complete interview as well as more pictures can be seen at www.comicon.com

... "Ye Editor"

 

Schoonover Catalogue Raisonné Published

The Frank E. Schoonover Catalogue Raisonné was several years in the making, but worth the effort expended in giving us a complete reference source for the artist who illustrated ERB's first story. We corresponded with the artist's granddaughter, Louise Schoonover Smith, for many months, making sure she got in touch with Burroughs fans who owned original Schoonover paintings, or were likely to have information on provenance. The six Barsoom paintings are listed separately in their time slots, giving the dates they were painted, the publications which contained reproductions of the paintings. (For example, A Princess of Mars lists 14 publishers of one or more illustrations.) When known, the current owners are identified. In researching the six paintings for "Princess" and "Gods," four current owners were named:  Danton Burroughs, 
Bob Barrett, 
the Harley Family of Arizona, and the
Free Library of Philadelphia. The remaining two Barsoom paintings were merely listed as "sold by the artist to private collections."

This two-volume set comes in a sturdy slipcase with color dust jackets and illustrated endpages, with 831 numbered pages. I counted 1,379 color photos, with twice that many more in black & white, so we are getting our money's worth of beautiful illustrations. Every known drawing or painting from Schoonover’s student and professional days is accounted for. The set was published in association with the Schoonover Fund by Oak Knoll Press for $195.00; ISBN 9781584562382. 
For more information, visit their website at www.oakknoll.com, or call them at 1-800-996-2556.

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Frazetta Rides Again Vanguard Publications has recently come out with The Definitive Frazetta Reference by James A. Bond and Dr. David Winiewicz, edited by J. David Spurlock. 

It covers the artist's life and works thoroughly, including 28 pages of Burroughs reproductions. We got our large paperback edition from Bud Plant for $29.95. 

A regular and a deluxe hardcover were also published at $39.95 and $59.95, respectively.

Order from your local or online bookdealer (ISBN 978-1-934331-08-8 softcover; 978-1-934331-09-5 hardcover) or call Bud Plant at 1-800-242-6642.