Scott Tracy Griffin on the Tarzan Panels at Comic Con

Michael Sellers Tarzan of the Apes, The Tarzan Files

Scott Tracy Griffin is an actor, author, and adventurer and is an internationally recognized authority on  Edgar Rice Burroughs and his literary characters, including Tarzan and John Carter of Mars.  He is  the author of Tarzan: The Stories, The Movies, The Art, the official Edgar Rice Burroughs Inc centennial celebration book on 100 years of Tarzan.  The book will be released on October 2, 2012 — you can preorder it now at Amazon on this link.  Tracy was one of the participants in the panels and he’s provided us with a report:

100 Years of ERB in the Spotlight: The Tarzan Panels at Comic-Con

Edgar Rice Burroughs was well represented at Comic Con International in San Diego, July 11-15, 2012.  The Centennial of Tarzan and John Carter was commemorated with a Tarzan cover on the events guide with art by Joe Jusko, several articles and original art commissions in the souvenir program book, and two panels.

The first panel, at noon Thursday, Jul. 12, featured David Lemmo, Thomas Yeates, Joe Jusko and Ron Ely, moderated by Mark Evanier. Every chair was filled, as eager attendees waited a half-hour for seats to become available. Ely regaled the capacity crowd with anecdotes from his years playing Tarzan for Banner Productions’ 1966-68 television series, while Yeates discussed his work on the Barnes and Noble Fall River Press edition of the Princess/Gods/Warlord of Mars trilogy and Lemmo gave a guided tour of the ape-man’s history via slide show. The finale of the panel was the unveiling by Jusko of an original Tarzan painting commissioned by Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc.

The second panel included Yeates, Jusko, novelist Robin Maxwell (“Jane: The Woman Who Loved Tarzan”) and author Scott Tracy Griffin (“Tarzan: The Centennial Celebration”), moderated by Jim Sullos, President of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Incorporated. Sullos introduced the panel and recapped the corporation’s role in licensing books and art to commemorate the centennial. The panelists then presented a slide show covering the Tarzan franchise’s history in books, films, and art. In addition to Ron Ely celebrity contributors to the Tarzan franchise signing autographs at Comic Con included Casper Van Dien (Tarzan in “Tarzan and the Lost City”) and Olivia D’Abo (Jane in Disney’s “The Legend of Tarzan”).

Comic Con Guests of Honor included artists Jusko, Yeates, Mark Schultz, Gary Gianni, Larry Hama, Rudy Nebres, and writer Mark Evanier, all contributors to Tarzan and John Carter’s comic-book and prose adventures.The “Take Me Back to Barsoom” drive to incentivize a sequel to Disney’s feature film John Carter was also a prominent part of the convention, with a prime location at the convention hall’s entrance-way B. Cosplay attendees included a pair of Dejah Thorises, a Disney Jane, and a “Steampunk” Jane. Perhaps next year some Tarzans and John Carters will join the festivities to provide Burroughs fans with even more photo opportunities.

 

Dotar Note:  And in case you missed the link in the intro — click on the image below and go to the Amazon page for Tracy’s book….

6 comments

  • Thanks for the link MCR! Not a lot of information, but the presence of a Cheeta seems to indicate that it will not be that faithful to Burroughs. We’ll see.

  • Looking forward to Scott’s book! I would have loved to have been there. I’ve not had the chance yet to meet Ron Ely. He’ll always be “my Tarzan” since I grew up with the TV show and it was my first exposure to the character. That he also played Doc Savage is the cherry on top (although the less said about THAT movie the better…).

  • I was hoping to have some news about the next Tarzan movie projects, but it was perhaps too soon for that. I wish I could have been there!

  • My sis and I had just put together the “Take Me Back To Barsoom” petition table on Thursday, so we unfortunately missed the noon-time panel which featured our era’s favorite Tarzan, Ron Ely. Pity–it would have been nice to see him, though in my mind’s eye, he’ll always remain that gorgeous, long-haired and buff-bodied fellow who using to swing with the chimp. We did, however, make it to the second panel on Saturday and very much enjoyed the slide-show presentation of the history of Tarzan, particularly the gorgeously rendered Elmo Lincoln era cinema posters. Well done indeed!

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