Category Archives: 2012 Releases

Four major book releases featuring the work of Canadian creators scheduled for next Wednesday. June 6th.

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THE LOXLEYS AND THE WAR OF 1812 from Renegade Arts Entertainment. Written by Alan Grant, pencils and inks by Claude St. Aubin, colours by Lovern Kindzierski, edited by Alexander Finbow, letters by Todd Klein. Celebrate the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812 with this 175 page, beautifully colored, hardback graphic novel features a 101 page historically accurate comic strip about a Canadian family caught up in the war and a 64 page summary of the war and itʼs implications for Canada and America written by acclaimed Canadian military historian Mark Zuehlke, includes maps and illustrations. $19.99 Age 10 and Up.

ED THE HAPPY CLOWN by Chester Brown. In the late 1980s, the idiosyncratic Chester Brown (author of the much-lauded Paying For It and Louis Riel) began writing the cult classic comic book series Yummy Fur. Within its pages, he serialized the groundbreaking Ed the Happy Clown, revealing a macabre universe of parallel dimensions. Thanks to its wholly original yet disturbing story lines, Ed set the stage for Chester Brown to become a world-renowned cartoonist. Ed the Happy Clown is a hallucinatory tale that functions simultaneously as a dark roller-coaster ride of criminal activity and a scathing condemnation of religious and political charlatanism. As the world around him devolves into madness, the eponymous Ed escapes variously from a jealous boyfriend, sewer monsters, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and a janitor with a Jesus complex. Brown leaves us wondering, with every twist of the plot, just how Ed will get out of this scrape. The intimate, tangled world of Ed the Happy Clown is definitively presented here, repackaged with a new foreword by the author and an extensive notes section, and, as with every Brown book, astonishingly perceptive about the zeitgeist of its time. Hardcover, B/W, 240 pages.$24.95

BACK ALLEYS AND URBAN LANDSCAPES by Michael Cho. Drawn and Quarterly. Michael Cho began creating drawings of the back alleys near his Toronto home in 2008. With this book, he has amassed a collection that speaks to the beauty of the urban landscape: sometimes grittily citified, sometimes unexpectedly pastoral, and always bewitching. Cho is a skilled draftsman, and Back Alleys and Urban Landscapes shines with lovingly rendered details, from expletive-filled graffiti splayed across backyard fences to the graceful twists of power lines over a bend in the road. Back Alleys and Urban Landscapes meanders through the city, functioning as a sort of caught on-paper psychogeographical Jane’s Walk. With each season’s change, different color schemes become dominant, and a whole range of moods and moments are articulated. Cho lets the reader visit his city as a virtual flaneur, lingering equally over dilapidated sheds and well-groomed gardens in a dazzling tribute to the urban environs. Paperback, 9.75 X 7.5, full colour, 80 pages. $19.95.

PRINCE VALIANT VOL. 5: 1945-46 by Hal Foster. Fantagraphics Books. Fully half of this latest volume of Hal Foster’s epic masterpiece — again scanned from superb syndicate proofs — is devoted to the remaining chapters of “The Winning of Aleta,” a 20-month (!) epic in which Valiant obsessively pursues his bride to be. Not surprisingly this is followed by a sequence called “Matrimony,” which ends with a newly wed queen adjusting to the luxurious, exciting court life at Camelot. But Val’s marriage does not signal an end to his adventures, quite the contrary. In “War in the Forest” Val is sent out to spy on encroaching Saxons — unknowingly aided by Aleta, who, disguised as a small knight (and dubbed “Sir Puny”) helps prevent disaster. But the 1946 strips end with Val and Aleta unable to return to Camelot and the displaced couple journeying to Thule… Half the strips in this volume also include the delightful “The Medieval Castle,” Foster’s chronicle of two young boys growing up during the time of the First Crusade — but by the end of the 1945 strips this series has ended and the Valiant portion resume its full-page glory. This volume also features a Foreword by P. Craig Russell, a gallery of Hal Foster’s commercial illustration work and an essay titled “Aleta: Water Nymph of the Misty Isles” by Brian M. Kane. With stunning art reproduced directly from pristine printer’s proofs, Fantagraphics has introduced a new generation to Foster’s masterpiece, while providing long-time fans with the ultimate, definitive version of the strip. Hardcover, 112 pages, full colour. $29.99

It’s coming… Scott Pilgrim in Colour

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This August, Oni Press and Bryan Lee O’Malley will be bringing the uber-popular Scott Pilgrim series back to store shelves, but this time as an ultra-swank, 6 X 9, full-color hardcover edition. Scott Pilgrim Color Hardcover, Volume 1 reprints the Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life for the first time in full color. The digital coloring is by the Shuster Award-nominated (and WINNING) artist Nathan Fairbairn, the colorist for Batman Incorporated and Swamp Thing, and the whole thing is capped with a new cover from O’Malley.

“Everybody loves Bryan’s black-and-white artwork,” series editor James Lucas Jones explained, “but after seeing the few color stories he did with Scott and the gang, it was hard to avoid imagining a ‘what if?’ scenario. Now those wild dreams have come true. And to have one of the best colorists in the industry at the helm, that just seals the deal.”

“It’s been eight years since the first Scott Pilgrim book was published,” Oni marketing director Cory Casoni added. “Since then, the series has seen over twenty first reprints of the original format, with over a million copies of the first volumes sold. Scott Pilgrim Color Hardcover, Volume 1 takes the familiar story from the original Scott Pilgrim series and gives it a new look. Plus it includes previously unpublished extras and bonus materials making this mighty tome one that’s required reading for Scottaholics everywhere!”

Scott Pilgrim Color Hardcover, Volume 1 will be the first of six hardcover reprints to be published bi-annually. Scott Pilgrim Color Hardcover, Volume 2 is currently scheduled for an October 2012 release.

Each volume will be sized at 6” x 9”, making it bigger than the original versions, as well. “We’re upgrading the presentation in every way,” Jones said. “The traditional black-and-white versions will be there for those who still prefer that option, but now everyone can have a choice. One, the other, or both!”

Scheduled for a August 8th, 2012 publication date, Scott Pilgrim Color Hardcover, Volume 1 will retail for $24.99.

Help “Little Heart” Anthology get published! Featuring Emily Carroll!

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Here’s another great project that needs your help! Little Heart is a comics anthology created to show support for marriage equality. It was initially created to raise awareness of a coming referendum in Minnesota, but it’s spread much wider. It also happens to feature JSA winner Emily Carroll and her fiancee Kate Craig, as well as many other great artists, plus a forward written by TCAF co-founder Christopher Butcher. The campaign is doing quite well so far but needs all the support it can get. Head over to Kickstarter to donate!

Help Publish Murder Book Vol. 3!

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I’m a big fan of crowdsourced comics, and here’s a chance to help out a JSA nominee! Ed Brisson’s fantastic Murder Book series has already had two issues published, and now Volume 3 is coming out in March. You can help out for $7 and get a fresh, signed copy when it’s printed, shipping included! Or even better, throw in a few dollars more and you can get the back issues of Murder Book as well as Ed’s amazing Acts Of Violence anthology.  It’s a great way to get money directly to the creators. Check it out at Indie Go-Go and choose your level of support.

New DC projects announced for Marcus To and Bernard Chang

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With the Huntress mini-series coming to it’s conclusion in March, DC Comics has announced that artist Marcus To will be taking over the artistic reins on Batwing with the 9th issue.

Batwing #9 - cover by Marcus To

Bernard Chang returns as artist of DC Comics Presents with it’s 9th issue, for a story arc that focuses on the daughter of DC villain Vandal Savage, written by James Robinson.

 

So it’s true…. DC Announces “Before Watchmen”

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Rumoured for months, DC has officially announced the 2012 initiative to revive the Watchmen as an expanded franchise beyond the original Alan Moore/Dave Gibbons/John Higgins mini-series and best-selling graphic novel with a series of interconnected prequel mini-series.

Darwyn Cooke is involved and is doing a six-issue Minutemen mini-series, as well as writing a 4-issue Silk Spectre mini-series for artist Amanda Connor.

For Immediate Release:

This summer, DC Entertainment will publish all-new stories expanding on the acclaimed WATCHMEN universe. As highly anticipated as they are controversial, the seven inter-connected prequel mini-series will build on the foundation of the original WATCHMEN, the bestselling graphic novel of all time. BEFORE WATCHMEN will be the collective banner for all seven titles, from DC Comics.

“It’s our responsibility as publishers to find new ways to keep all of our characters relevant,” said DC Entertainment Co-Publishers Dan DiDio and Jim Lee. “After twenty five years, the Watchmen are classic characters whose time has come for new stories to be told. We sought out the best writers and artists in the industry to build on the complex mythology of the original.”

Stepping up to the challenge is a group of the comic book industry’s most iconoclastic writers and artists – including Brian Azzarello (100 BULLETS), Lee Bermejo (JOKER), Amanda Conner (POWER GIRL), Darwyn Cooke (JUSTICE LEAGUE: NEW FRONTIER), John Higgins (WATCHMEN), Adam Hughes (CATWOMAN), J.G. Jones (FINAL CRISIS), Andy Kubert (FLASHPOINT), Joe Kubert (SGT. ROCK), Jae Lee (BATMAN: JEKYLL AND HYDE), J. Michael Straczynski (SUPERMAN: EARTH ONE) and Len Wein (SWAMP THING).

BEFORE WATCHMEN includes:

RORSCHACH (4 issues) – Writer: Brian Azzarello. Artist: Lee Bermejo

MINUTEMEN (6 issues) – Writer/Artist: Darwyn Cooke

COMEDIAN (6 issues) – Writer: Brian Azzarello. Artist: J.G. Jones

DR. MANHATTAN (4 issues) – Writer: J. Michael Straczynski. Artist: Adam Hughes

NITE OWL (4 issues) – Writer: J. Michael Straczynski. Artists: Andy and Joe Kubert

OZYMANDIAS (6 issues) – Writer: Len Wein. Artist: Jae Lee

SILK SPECTRE (4 issues) – Writer: Darwyn Cooke. Artist: Amanda Conner

Each week, a new issue will be released, and will feature a two-page back-up story called CURSE OF THE CRIMSON CORSAIR, written by original series editor Len Wein and with art by original series colorist John Higgins. There will also be a single issue, BEFORE WATCHMEN: EPILOGUE, featuring the work of various writers and artists, and a CRIMSON CORSAIR story by Wein and Higgins.

“The original series of WATCHMEN is the complete story that Alan Moore and I wanted to tell. However, I appreciate DC’s reasons for this initiative and the wish of the artists and writers involved to pay tribute to our work. May these new additions have the success they desire,” said Dave Gibbons, WATCHMEN co-creator and original series artist.

“Comic books are perhaps the largest and longest running form of collaborative fiction,” said DiDio and Lee. “Collaborative storytelling is what keeps these fictional universes current and relevant.”

Rich Johnston is collecting quotes from the creators involved over at Bleeding Cool.

Jeff Lemire to take over the writing duties on Justice League Dark for DC

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Just announced by DC Comics

Following the JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK/I,VAMPIRE crossover in issues 7 & 8, JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK will have a new writer.

Beginning with issue #9, superstar Jeff Lemire (ANIMAL MAN, SWEET TOOTH) will be taking over the reins. We asked Lemire about following the sage Peter Milligan and what he’s got planned and here’s what he has to say:

“This is my dream gig at DC Comics, no doubt about it. The characters in Justice League Dark are my absolute favorite in the DC Comics stable, and I can’t believe I’m actually getting a chance to write John Constantine, Zatanna and Deadman (as well as a few new team members!).

I have a huge amount of respect for Peter Milligan. I’ve loved everything he’s done since his original SHADE run in the pre-Vertigo days of DC to his current run on Hellblazer and JL Dark. It’s a bit daunting to take over this title from someone who I revere as much as Peter, but at the same time I can’t help but be inspired by the work he’s already done with this book.

I obviously have my own ideas for the title as well, and can’t wait to share them with readers. One of the things I’m anxious to explore is just why the name “Justice League” is in the title of this book? I want to explore and create new connections between this team of mystical misfits and Geoff and Jim’s big guns in The Justice League. On that note, Geoff and I have had many discussions on how to link our two books and make the Justice League franchises connect in new and unexpected ways. More on that in the near future…

So, what else can you expect from the “New” Justice League Dark? Well, you’ll see an old haunt becoming the team’s new HQ. Constantine, the master manipulator that he is, will emerge as the clear leader of the team, and there will be 2 new members as well! (Hint one’s a man and one’s a woman. One uses magic, one doesn’t.) Not enough….hmmm…how about a classic Justice League villain re-imagined as The Justice League Dark’s new arc-enemy? And that’s just the start. I have a huge storyline planned with implications across the Dark line of books.

I would also be remiss if I didn’t mention that the amazingly talented Mikal Janin will be staying on board to draw all of this fun stuff, and I couldn’t be happier about that. I’ve loved Mikal’s work since I first saw it in the Flashpoint: Deadman mini-series and I think Mikal is the perfect artist for this book. And I can already tell by our initial talks that this will be the start of a great partnership. And we’re both lucky to have the incomparable Ryan Sook making us look good.

I’m pretty damn excited to be writing Justice League Dark. And I hope you’ll join me as I take you and these characters into the darkest, strangest corners of the DCU and beyond!”

UPDATE: This means that Lemire will be leaving Frankenstein, Agent of S.H.A.D.E. His final issue will be #9 and the replacement writer for that title is Matt Kindt.

Cover and solicitation for Richard Stark’s Parker: The Score by Darwyn Cooke – Coming April 2012

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Richard Stark’s Parker: The Score
Darwyn Cooke (w & a & c)
Fresh from his Eisner Award-winning efforts on The Hunter and The Outfit, Darwyn Cooke now sets his steely sights on The Score, the classic Richard Stark Parker novel from 1964. â€¨Parker becomes embroiled in a plot with a dozen partners in crime to pull off what might be the ultimate heist—robbing an entire town. Everything was going fine for a while, and then things got bad. Considered one of the best in the Parker series, The Score is the perfect vehicle for Darwyn Cooke to pull out all the stops and let loose with a book that has all the impact of a brutal kick to the solar plexus!
HC  PC  $24.99  160 pages  6” x 9” • ISBN 978-1-61377-208-9

New Comics – In stores 1/25/2012

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PREVIEWSworld.com New Releases

Shipping 1/25/2012

Every Wednesday, PREVIEWSworld.com provides a list of comics, graphic novels and other pop-culture merchandise arriving this week to your local comic shop.

Please check with your retailer for availability, as not all new releases may be on sale in all areas at the same time.

Note: Canadian covers and notations will be added later today

Continue reading →

Industry Night follow-up and Prophet 21 news

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Last night’s Industry Night was fantastic. Probably one of the best attended events we’ve held so far at the TCW space. All the copies Archaia sent up of A Tale of Sand sold out in under two hours and the reaction from those seeing it for the first time was priceless.Ramon’s art is stunning in person!

The big announcement last night was the continuance of a comics retail space on College Street. Dragon Lady subscribers who wish to continue with the new store will have their pull files move to the new store. Feedback from the industry pros at the event last night was overwhelmingly positive, and there are a lot opportunities to do interesting things at the new store, especially as it will be sharing space with the TCW and Guerilla Printing. From my perspective the most positive thing is that my friend Joe Kilmartin will not be unemployed, will be under less pressure and hopefully have more fun with the project. There’s a solid foundation there on which a new type of retail / community space can be built.

The big release for the week – which was majorly under-ordered by nearly every retailer ever burned by Rob Liefeld (i.e. all of them) was the re imagined Prophet #21 from Image Comics, released yesterday and consumed faster than you can say “by Vancouver-based creators Brandon Graham and Simon Roy” aloud. Hopefully Image will rush release a second printing of the book as a lot of people are talking about it.

The Start of an Era? As Dragon Lady Comics closes — “The Comics Lounge” opens

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For a number of readers and collectors, Dragon Lady Comics was their local comics outlet – they placed their orders and picked up their new comics and graphic novels there every week or every couple of weeks, and it was also a popular haunt for the many creators based in the area.

Dragon Lady  stayed open successfully as a viable comics retailer for 33 years (half on Queen Street the other half on College) — and managed to maintain a full time manager, as well as many part-time employees. All of whom were going to be jobless in a couple of weeks.

Thankfully, we have some good news in that a form of the store will continue on College Street, just steps away from where Dragon Lady was located:

“THE COMICS LOUNGE”

(A working title but one that outlines a philosophical approach)

587A College Street (2nd Floor)

60 Metres (just shy of 200 feet) East of Dragon Lady Comics (609 College). At the intersection of College and Clinton.

This new store will be managed by JOE KILMARTIN (soon to be the former manager of Dragon Lady Comics).

As Dragon Lady closes on Wednesday, February 1st, “THE COMICS LOUNGE” will be opening on Wednesday, February 8th for the next week’s new releases.

“THE COMICS LOUNGE” will start as a subscriber based new comics business so that Dragon Lady customers can continue to pick up their books with the same reliable service that Joe and the Dragon Lady staff have been providing for years.

The end result will be a combination of comics store (with an emphasis on graphic novels and art books as well as a selection of back issues and related merchandise), lounge area, gallery space (for the display and sale of original art) and event space (for signings, book releases, talks and other events).  “THE COMICS LOUNGE” will be something new to the comics retail landscape in that it will be both a retail space AND an event space.

It will share the location with the TORONTO CARTOONISTS WORKSHOP, who will continue to operate classes on evenings and weekend afternoons, and GUERILLA PRINTING, experts at providing comic book self-publishers and artist’s needs such as prints, sketchbooks, display signs and posters.

In addition, the store will be working with CGC to make the store a submission centre for collectors in the downtown core who wish to get their comics graded, and “THE COMICS LOUNGE” will host a number of Signature Series signings and events throughout the year and at other events both locally, nationally and internationally.

Note: It is possible that the store name may change before opening day, and one of the leading contenders is still “SINGLE BOUND COMICS, GALLERY & LOUNGE” – a name that was released today to the Dragon Lady customers. The name will be finalized by the weekend.

Nord to illustrate relaunched X-O Manowar

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Just a quick note, Cary Nord (Conan) has been tapped to illustrate the new Valiant Comics summer relaunch of a 90′s favourite: X-O Manowar.

Robert Venditti (The Surrogates) is the writer for the relaunch, which will feature the return of fan-favourite Aric of Dacia, the Visigoth warrior who returns to earth with a powerful alien armour some 1600 years after he was abducted.

Often referred to as “Conan-in-a-can” and probably the strongest character in the Valiant stable (certainly my personal choice), Albertan artist Cary Nord’s solid pencils on X-O Manowar will definitely make this a book that a lot of comic readers will want to check out.

Friday the 13th Update

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Sorry about the lack of updates this week, so much has been going on with… well, everything this week.

Between the announcement of the guest list for the March Toronto ComiCon, plans and coordination for Fan Expo Vancouver in April, the Dragon Lady closing and all of the related press coverage that has been getting, rumours of what is going to happen next with the Silver Snail, coordinating some shipments I have coming in and going out, and so on (not to mention my research work during the day)  I haven’t had time to do much posting. Robert has been working on more regional retailer round-ups.

Next week:

- we’ll be posting the Eligible Creators List for 2011 that we’ll be looking for feedback on. 2012 Nominating committee will be finalized and we can get on with selecting the list for 2012. Andrew completed the updates to the Webcomics list last weekend so if you haven’t had time to check it out, please take a look and discover some great comics.

- on Wednesday night in Toronto it’s the Jim Henson’s A Tale of Sand Industry Night release party at the Toronto Cartoonists Workshop with Ramon Perez. It looks like we have copies of the book available for the event so come on down and check it out of you can.

- Finally, I’ve been working on something top secret that I hope to be able to share the news about with you as early as next Monday.

Koyama Press in 2012

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PRESS RELEASE (Courtesy of Robot 6 @ Comic Book Resources)

2011 was a breakout year for Koyama Press that saw the publisher win 2011’s Joe Shuster Award for Outstanding Comic Book Publisher, in a field of nominees that included Canadian publishing luminaries such as Drawn & Quarterly, and several of the publisher’s titles won major industry awards and made a number of “best of” lists. The year finished off on a high note with the launch of a beautiful new website designed by Squidface & the Meddler.

2012 looks to be an equally exciting year for the innovative publisher. Spring 2012 will see a new release from artist and illustrator Jesse Jacobs whose book Even the Giants (AdHouse, 2011) marked his major publishing debut after several award-winning self-published titles. Jacobs describes his new comic work, By This Shall You Know Him, as coming “out of the darkness of oblivion.” Within the book’s confines, Jacobs states that the reader will “bear witness to the limitless ambitions of a gang of celestial beings as they fiddle and fuss with all sorts of molecular arrangements, creating infinitely detailed patterns and strange new worlds brimming with bizarre life forms. Part art-book, part graphic novel, By This Shall You Know Him depicts all manner of beast running, crawling and slithering towards death’s cold embrace.”

Tin Can Forest (aka Pat Shewchuk and Marek Colek) whose Koyama Press debut Baba Yaga and the Wolf was nominated for the 2011 Doug Wright Award for Best Emerging Talent, and won the duo the 2011 Joe Shuster Award for Outstanding Comic Book Cartoonist will release Wax Cross also in spring 2012. The artists describe the new work as “an alchemical folk-tale set in the twilight of the modern age, when the moon has devoured the sun, the mechanical ocean has evaporated into silence, and the decaying corpse of electric current sleeps eternally in a casket of orange lichen. Featuring a cast of characters as familiar as the faded Polaroids in a photo album salvaged from the flooded basement of a condemned church, Wax Cross presents illustrated transcriptions of ectoplasmic revelation, fibrous and grainy folklore, and unbridled bestial merriment, accompanied by textual incantations and occult decoration.”

The New Year will also see Koyama Press publish Lose 4, the most recent issue the critically acclaimed, one-man anthology by Michael Deforge who Rob Clough of The Comics Journal has called “the most startling, fully-formed young cartooning talent to burst on to the scene since Dash Shaw.” 2012 will also see new work by cartoonist Julia Wertz, author of the autobiographical comics The Fart Party and Drinking at the Movies. Her work has received praise from a number of outlets including, Bust, LA Times, USA Today, The Comics Journal, and New York Magazine. Dustin Harbin’s children’s comic The Playground War will debut in the spring as well.

These books are just some of the new titles that are set to be released by Koyama Press in 2012, a year that promises to maintain the publisher’s momentum as they continue to promote and support a wide range of emerging and established artists.

Tom Fowler on Hulk: Season One, Ramon Perez on John Carter: The Gods of Mars in 2012

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Tom Fowler will be illustrating the Fred Van Lente written Hulk: Season One graphic novel. Comic Book Resources caught up with Fowler and Van Lente for some details.

Tom Fowler: Personally I’m a huge fan of the OGN model. The idea of getting a book and a larger complete story is very, very appealing to me because I’ve done things in the past where I’ve come in in the middle of a story line and I’ve left before it’s over. You never get a real sense of ownership that way. You don’t get a sense of, “This is a thing that I did.” It’s more a, “These are parts of a thing that I did part of.”

Hulk: Season One is expected in stores in September 2012.

Ramon Perez, fresh off the A Tale of Sand graphic novel, will be illustrating the five part mini-series John Carter: The Gods of Mars for Marvel Comics, which is set to debut in March 2012. The mini is written by Sam Humphries (Sacrifice), and is an adaptation of the novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs.