Edgar Rice Burroughs' 100 Year Art Chronology

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Pop Up on the Hill 2014 Halloween on Park Hill 2008 From Arkansas to the Dutch West Indies 2007
All images © 2007 by Michael Tierney

The Dell Tarzan® issues #1 through #100 shown above can be seen in their full color glory in Volume 3 of the ERB Art Chronology.

Interior pages from Wild Stars® The Book of Circles -- Recalibrated graphic novel are shown above without text.

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Edgar Rice Burroughs 100 Year Art Chronology

by Michael Tierney

Reviews:

Bud Plant featured the ERB 100 Year Art Chronology on the cover of his Summer 2018 catalog, and gave it his Highest Recommendation!

Average Customer Review on Amazon: 5 out of 5 Stars

"Spectacular Collection! Beautiful!"

"To put it in simple terms, those books are masterpieces! ...works of art. Extremely detailed, Amazingly illustrated and so worth it."

"...the 100 Year Art Chronology is comprehensive, in-depth, personable, insightful, and awesome...
the reader is hypnotically transfixed."

"The Edgar Rice Burroughs 100 Year Art Chronology is an amazing collection of images...
the text reveals a tremendous amount of information. Michael's knowledge of the art of this period is astounding...
great work."

"This set of books is everything I've dreamed about...
entertaining and informative articles... wonderful books.
Absolutely enjoyable in every way"

"The Greatest collection of fantasy artwork that I've ever seen.
This set of books is truly amazing.
And there is a ton of art from the UK that I've never seen before."

"Awesome Collection! Beautiful!"

September 5th, 2019 Update

The first part of my two-part interview with Chris Adams at DMR Books just went live,
released in celebration of Edgar Rice Burrough's birthday this week.
Next week's part two will focus on my upcoming Wild Stars 35th Anniversary book releases.

Michael on Southern Fried Geekery podcast

July 16th, 2018 Update!

Did an over 40-minute podcase with Southern Fried Geekery.
Here you can learn first-hand all about the making of the ERB 100 Year Art Chronology!

June 20th, 2018 Update!

On June 19th a great article ran on the front page of the Style section of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette newspaper.

Reporter Sean Clancy did a great job! June 4th, 2018 Update!

The Edgar Rice Burroughs 100 Year Art Chronology continues to ship out.

One retailer upped his order so many times it was a quarter-ton skid of books by the time it shipped!
But these are pretty heavy sets -- 15 lbs. each!
That means 3 sets weigh as much as a bag of concrete -- and should last as long or longer.

ERB Art Chronology in slipcase

June 1st, 2018 Update!

Well, the word SOON was becoming a four-letter word to me in more ways than one, so I've been waiting until I can say the following:

THE SLIPCASES HAVE FINALLY ARRIVED AND SETS OF THE ERB ART CHRONOLOGY STARTED SHIPPING TODAY!

Three years ago I pitched the idea.

Spent a year writing and researching all four volumes.

Spent another year laying out the pages and processing and repairing the 5,000 images included in the 1200 pages of the 4 volumes.

Spent the last year with proof readers and the production process.

Now this three-year project is complete!

The Quest has become a Conquest!

Michael Tierney -- June 1, 2018

May 25th, 2018 Update!

A video and an update from the publisher in the same day: Edgar Rice Burroughs 100 Year Art Chronology Update
Posted by Chenault & Gray Publishing

Greetings from Chenault & Gray,
Well apparently all I had to do was send the update out and wait for the news to roll in.
The slip cases are scheduled to ship tomorrow (Friday, May 25)! So we should get them, minus memorial day, sometime next week, probably Thursday/Friday.
As was aptly pointed out to me we can and will start sending single volume and non slip case sets to backers on Tuesday (thanks Philip! ).
Thank you all for your understanding and patience!
Steve
May 24th, 2018 Update!

Greetings from Chenault & Gray,

I can feel your frustration through the internet! And I share it. So where are we?

We are done. With everything but the slip case. The cards are here. Novels. Posters. All of it. We are buried in thousands of copies of books, signed, dust jacketed up. All ready to go. But we are still missing the slip case.

I have talked to the manufacturer a number of times. They are very good people and do fantastic work, however they are not being as prompt on this job as they normally are. We were supposed to have these about 2 weeks ago and then last week for sure. But still no slip cases. I've called a number of times and trying to pin them down and as soon as I do I will let you all know. I will say this, that one of the delays was the board, the books are so heavy they booted the standard slip case board up from 80 weight to 100 weight. So that is good, however, the delays are frustrating.

I will keep pressing them (I'm secretly hoping they are already en route) and let you know as soon as I know.

Thank you all for the continued patience.

Stephen Chenault

May 8th, 2018 Update!

As the ship date continues to sneak ever closer, here's a piece of Chronology trivia that few would probably notice.

Shown here are two maps.

The one on the left is ERB's own map of The Empire of Pellucidar, reproduced from the May 1, 1915 issue of All-Story magazine.
On the right is the Kickstarter bonus map.

The key difference between them is one island.
Pellucidar by ERB

The 1915 map shows an Indiana (Hoosa's) Island, while the modern, bonus map shows it as Hooja's Island.

This raised the question of: was this a mistake made in 1915, or was this subtle humor from the Master of Adventure?

ERB's century-old map was made long before NCAA tournament brackets, so if this was a joke, it probably went right past everyone like a ninja.

And Indiana Island is right next to the Island of Trees, as basketball players are often referred.

While discussing all this on Facebook, ERB enthusiast Jess Terrell quoted a chapter from Pellucidar where Abner Perry referred to an attacking tribe as Hooja's and marked their island on the map as Indiana in reference to the nickname of Hoosiers, which far predates any basketball team.

The end result is that the Kickstarter bonus map that ships with the ERB Art Chronology will perhaps be the first accurately marked map of Pellucidar, correctly showing the island as Indiana (Hooja's) Island. April 27th, 2018 Update!

The slipcases are in production and will hopefully arrive in time for the Edgar Rice Burroughs 100 Year Art Chronology to start shipping next week! April 20th, 2018 Update!

Thought everybody might like a sneak peak at the limited leather-bound editions (with the non-Chrononogy spelling on the spines) and the three bonus books shipping to Kickstarter supporters.

I really like what the publisher did with the foil-stamped image.
Tarzan and the Golden Lion have never looked so Golden!

April 17th, 2018, DOUBLE BONUS Announcment!

The results of the polls were UNAMIMOUS!

Because of the misspelling of the word Chronology as Chrononogy on the spines of the Edgar Rice Burroughs 100 Year Art Chronology, the publisher will be adding free dust wrappers with the correct spelling!

This wrapper will NOT be reproduced on the second printings, which are already being planned.

Despite requests from several purchasers for us to continue using this term for a list of dates, which is an integral part of the Chronology, the Chrononogy spine will NOT be reproduced on the second printing.

The first printings, which are close to selling out, will officially be variant editions!

It looks like the Edgar Rice Burroughs 100 Year Art Chronology will be putting two new words into the dictionary. At some point Wikipedia will probably add the following:

Chrononogy: A scientific term used to describe a list of dates and/or times, first used in popular culture as a variant title on the spines of the first edition hardcovers of the Edgar Rice Burroughs 100 Year Art Chronology.

What's the second word?

Nemophilist: A rarely used term for someone who spends a lot of time in the woods, first used in popular culture to describe Tarzan of the Apes in Volume Two of the Edgar Rice Burroughs 100 Year Art Chronology/Chrononogy. Friday the 13th Triple Feature Update!

I've done a poll on an ERB Facebook fan group, asking if they thought we should ship the Chrononogy variant covers
(shown below), or return them to the printer, strip the covers off and replace them, resulting in a significant delay.
The reaction was unanimous, but I won't tell you the results here.
Not yet.

Instead, just to be all-inclusive, I'm running that same poll again on a Facebook page that the publisher set up for the Edgar Rice Burroughs 100 Year Chronology.

To vote, or just visit, click this link. or click on either of the photos shown below.
Friday the 13th Double Feature Update!

Just finished signing copies of the Chronology!

Now all that is left to do is to start the countdown to delivery!

Whether it will be the (never to be reprinted) Chrononogy edition of the Chronology . . .
depends on the poll above!

Click the photo or this link to vote! April 13, 2018 Update!

Had a Friday the 13th scare today!

When the publisher posted the photo above, a sharp-eyed Kickstarter backer noticed there was a typo that got past everybody on the spines for the Hardcovers (but NOT the leather editions).
Chronology was misspelled as Chrononogy!

A Chrononogy is a rarely used term for a list of dates and times.
Since that is an important aspect of the series, it's not a complete whiff and does apply.

In Volume Two, I talk about how ERB loved to infuse his work with rarely used terms, and applied the rarely used term of Nemophilist to the first chapter.
A Nemophilist is someone who spends a lot of time in the woods -- which describes Tarzan perfectly.

So this MIGHT be considered as a bonus?
Only purchasers of the first printing get copies of the Chrononogy edition! April 4, 2018 Update!

As you can see by the photo above, the books have arrived!

That's publisher Stephen Chenault on the left (obviously very pleased with the final product), Layout and Design assistant Mark Sandy in the middle, and myself on the right.
The reason I'm so red-faced is because we'd just finishing unloading the several tons of books that I'll be signing for Kickstarter supporters!
Once those are signed, and the slipcases custom fitted, the Edgar Rice Burroughs 100 Year Art Chronology will ship to everyone who ordered a copy and arrive on their doorsteps this April!

Great news!

The only bad news is that the pre-order window, in which the publisher offers an advance 10% discount, is rapidly closing.

Here's the link one last time, or click on the picture above.

But hurry! You've only got the time it takes for me to sign my name -- on literally tons of books!

March 8, 2018 Update!

The publisher told me that the first printing of the ERB Chronology has already sold over 70% of the run -- and it doesn't even ship for another month!

To say THANKS for the overwhelmingly positive support, here's another sneak peak!

In his day and age, P. J. Monahan was THE artist for Edgar Rice Burroughs.

From the teen years to the early twenties of the 20th Century, Monahan's artwork graced the pulp covers featuring the stories of Edgar Rice Burroughs more than any other artist.

He was the equivelant of Frank Frazetta at the time, and his Tarzan was the definitive vision -- receding hairline and all.

Here's are some sneak peak images from the ERB Art Chronology: Volume One chapter which focusses on Monahan's art.
To see even more of Monahan's work, either click this link or any of the images below!

March 4, 2018 Update!

Since several Kickstarter supporters expressed disappointment after learning the manufacturing process for the slipcase covers will delay the Chronology's shipping until April, I thought I'd share a previously undisclosed bonus!

Unannounced until this moment, all the leather-bound editions will carry a foil stamped image on their covers! Made with black leather and gold foil, the image shown here should look extra special.

The image shown on the upper right hand corner of this page is the alternate image that I pitched to the publisher.

Based on the P. J. Monahan interior illustration for the Argosy serialization, this image was also presented as that issue's painted cover. Monahan's iconic design has been largely forgotten because J. Allen St. John reproduced it in his own style for the first edition hardcover, which has been reproduced many times since. Years later Roy G. Krenkel made his own version. But now Monahan's original design has been rescued from obscurity!

March 2, 2018 Update!

Since this project was created in my spare time between owning and operating two comic book specialty stores, like a marathon runner who doesn't want to wait for the starting gun, I started writing the Edgar Rice Burroughs 100 Year Art Chronology once I had permission from ERB, Inc.

One publisher was interested in my words, another in the pictures, but no one seemed ready to mix the two together along with multiple narratives. Normally publishers do either one or the other.
Another publisher considered doing the first two volumes staggered six months apart, and would then decide later about the final two.

After I finished researching and writing all four volumes a year later, I spent the next six months processing all the images and built the pages for Volume One.
With so many images being 100 years old, this was the volume that required the most restoration.
Many images took 20 to 40 hours restoration each!

When asked why did I do so much advance work, since most writers are loathe to do one book on spec, let alone four, my reply was that if a publisher were interested in simultaneous release, then we'd have that option.
And that was how we got the offer we were looking for from Chenault & Gray.

They loved the concept, wanted to release the set as a whole, and didn't ask me to change a single thing!

The only difficult part about their offer was that I needed to complete the next 3 books, with over 1,000 pages still to build and 5,000 images to process, in 5 months.
Didn't get much sleep during that time, but I met the deadline.
I will add by the end of processing so many images in such a short time, that my index finger was swollen twice normal size from all the computer mouse work.
Like a baseball player after a game, I was icing it down every night those last couple of months!

Here's a sneak preview of the wraparound cover art for Volume Four!

February 19, 2018 Update!

On May 11, 2015, I posted on my website "Tarzan's British Heritage," the 3rd of three pages examining the creations of Edgar Rice Burroughs. A couple of days later, I thought; "This is as good a time as any to pitch my ERB Art Chronology idea." Sent a publisher an inquiry email and got a positive response within hours!

Next, I needed permission from ERB, Inc., whom I was already very familiar with, having spent most my paperboy money with them back in the 1960s, and was friends with ERB's grandson, Danton Burroughs. But when Danton died tragically on the very same day he became President of ERB, Inc., I lost all contact.

When cold calling current President Jim Sullos, his reactions were an understandable; "Who are you, what is it you want to do?" When I told him about the new page I'd just put up on my website, he was already familiar with it and we had an agreement in principal by the call's end.

Without the wonderful support of Jim, who has got to be one of the hardest working Presidents in any corporation, and all the other wonderful folks at ERB, Inc., this Chronology would never have happened.

Here's the wraparound cover for Volume Three, which deals with all the Tarzan comics made in the U.S.

Double Teaser Thursday!

Here are the virgin covers for two of the bonus books that will ship to the Kickstarter supporters: A Princess of Mars by Michael Whelan and At the Earth's Core by Frank Frazetta.

Next to them is the Neal Adams cover for the bonus book of Tarzan of the Apes.

By contract with ERB, Inc., there will be no future sales of these limited editions.

As the printing presses start rolling, here's a sneak peak at the wraparound cover for Volume 2 : The Books -- Literature with Sharp Cutting Edges (referencing John Carter's sword, Tarzan's hunting knife, and so many other blades used by ERB's characters).

What makes this cover so special is that it will be the best reproduction ever made of Frank Frazetta's cover that was originally made for the first Ace Books edition of Land of Terror. The great folks at ERB, Inc. have this painting hanging on the walls of their offices and made a very high resolution scan for this cover. You'll see intricate details that you never saw in any previous reproduction. Plus, no previous reproduction was sized 9" x12"!

February 5th, 2018 Update!

Now that it's been shared with the Kickstarter supporters, I can share the news with everyone else -- everything is at the printer, and we are still on schedule for a March release!

Here's a look at the full wraparound cover for Volume One:

Things That Didn't Make It In . . .

While working on the Edgar Rice Burroughs 100 Year Art Chronology -- I made a lot of discoveries of lost and unknown books and comics.
One area of ERB collectables that I barely touched on was that of the Tarzan model kits, and then only to show the comic that went with the original Aurora kit.
What I did not discuss was how that Aurora kit was actually the second kit made for Tarzan. The first sculpt was not approved, and was then refurbished into Hercules and the Lion.
The second model was definitely the superior.

January 3, 2018 Update!

For all of you who participate on Facebook, publisher Chenault & Gray has started a Facebook page for the Edgar Rice Burroughs 100 Year Art Chronology!
To join in on the conversation about all things Edgar Rice Burroughs, simply click this link. January 1, 2018 Update!

The final edits and art tweaks go into Volume Three and Four this week, and then they are off to join Volumes One and Two at the printer.

We're now shooting for a March delivery date!

I'm eagerly anticipating everyone's reaction once these books are out. At last year's Coldwarter, Michigan, gathering of Edgar Rice Burroughs fans, the response was pure excitment. The retail market is apparently feeling the same way, as the ad copy on Bud's Art Books indicates:

"Without seeing the finished product, we can only imagine this is best compared to Russ Cochran's ERB Library of Illustration, the fine set of three volumes that came out over the span of about ten years some time back. Sets of that now sell for $600 or so, and individual volumes (we offer one or two in our Rare Books) for $175 to $250 each. This seems to have many more images, albeit smaller than the usually full pages in the Cochran sets, and MUCH more descriptive text. A much more inclusive set that seeks to cover the entire history of ERB illustration. What an ambitious project!"

Having purchased Russ Cochran's ERB Library of Illustration when it was released, I can answer Bud's speculations about how the two compare.

The 4-volume ERB Art Chronology has the same page dimensions as the ERB Library.
With the Chronolgy you will not have to wait ten years between the first and final volumes -- you get all four at once with the Chronology.

While Russ Cochron only reproduced artwork when he could find the originals, the Chronology reproduces EVERY cover made in the U.S. and U.K. for the hardbound books, paperbacks, and comic books -- making for a quantum leap in the quantity of contents. There will also be far MORE full-page illustrations than were in the Library.
All of the pages are packed with images and information from border to border.

There are no interviews in the Chronology, but there is detailed information about the artists, publishers and editors, plus the related histories of the printing, book, and comic industries. You'll also learn new things about Edgar Rice Burroughs, read some of his previously unpublished work, and see previously unpublished art.

When Bud says this Chronology is much more inclusive and ambitious, he hammered the nail on the head!

Thank you for the kind words, Bud!

December 8, 2017 Update!

Volumes One and Two are at the printers.
Volume Three was sent to ERB, Inc. right before Thanksgiving for final approval. Volume Four pages have finally started coming in after a computer glitch corrupted all the page files. The proofreading edits are very few and we hope to have the final volume in ERB, Inc's hands next week.

The bad news is today's date.
Publisher Chenault & Gray conceded to the Kickstarter backers today that it looks like holiday shipping isn't going to happen.
But progress is really rolling now and we should see the Chronology released very soon!

The good news is the covers have been finalized.
We made a switch from wraparound covers back to single image front covers.
Here's your sneak peak!

October 27, 2017 Update!

Swords of Mars Blue Book

As Volume One is going through the final preparations to be sent to the printer early next week, I wanted to address one example of possible controversy before there are any.

One of the things I ran into mutliple times during the proofreading process was editors saying that I had things wrong. Almost always these were tied to erroneous information in print, or more often on the internet. Someone got something wrong 50 years ago and it's been repeated ever since. So, if a previous mistake is now accepted as gospel, you know that many an ERB afficiano might think the same thing as the proofreaders.

What I've done in the preparation of these books was to not look at any of this old intormation, and started from scratch on everything by referring to the actual books themselves. That's where all the images came from. So every time a question was raised, I'd say "Let's go back to the source," and looked at the original publication.

One perfect example of this that EVERYBODY got wrong was the Blue Book Magazine serialization of Swords of Mars.

Swords of Mars Blue Book

Shown to the upper right is the Swords of Mars cover that ran with the first installment, which everybody misses because no one can believe that is supposed to be John Carter of Mars! But if you also look to the left at the header illustration for that same issue, you'll see that they both illustrate the same scene.

In the story John Carter appears from out of the dark and into the light of a lantern, standing naked in front of author Edgar Rice Burroughs. So in each case the artist had to come up with their own visualization of the Warlord's clothing required for the print market. Header artsist Robert Fink adopted the traditional warrior's harness in his double-page spread, whereas cover artist Henry Soulen made the Warlord of Mars look like a skulker lurking outside a masquerade costume party.

Swords of Mars March 1935 Blue Book

This is why everyone misses identifying this cover as being a Burroughs cover. There is no other story inside this issue that this cover could have been for. It was just two different interpretations of the same scene.

Another cover for the same serial that is often misidentified as being a Burroughs cover is the March cover for Swords of Mars. People see two primitive people fighting and think it's got to be ERB. But it is not. This cover is actually for that issue's Arms and Men story by H. Bedford-Jones, which chronicles the history of human conflict.

Because this was so much to explain, one thing I didn't point out in the book is that both of the November illustrations for the Swords of Mars (shown here) are also the ONLY pulp appearances of Edgar Rice Burroughs! In the story it is the master storyteller himself that sees John Carter revealed by the light of a lantern -- interpreted as a flashlight by Henry Soulen.

Like ERB on the cover, I hope this shines some light on the matter!

October 17, 2017 Update!

My final edits for Volume Two have been turned in and should be soon on their way to ERB, Inc. for the very final edit before heading to the printer.

Expecting Volumes Three and Four to show soon!

October 5, 2017 Update!

The folks at Chenault & Gray continue the process prepping the over 1200 pages of the Edgar Rice Burroughs' 100 Years Art Chronology for print.
I've turned in my final edits for Volume One.

Here's a peek at what will be the final covers of Volumes One and Two.
Volume One is my proposal image. I've since hyper cleaned the actual image that will be used.
Volume Two needed no cleaning, being made from a high definition scan of the original painting that hangs in the offices of ERB, Inc.
You can see a peak of the front covers for Volumes Three and Four being held by ERB, Inc. President Jim Sullos in the August 7 update (Volume Four is on the left).

Click on either of the above images to go directly to the publisher's order page.

August 7, 2017 Update!

In Tarzan's jungle world, a gathering of the great apes who raised him is called a Dum-Dum, so it's only natural that of gathering of fans raised on the Tarzan novels written by Edgar Rice Burroughs would also be called a Dum-Dum.

Over this last weekend the annual 2017 Dum-Dum was convened in Coldwater, Michigan, and I managed to attend the final day to give a sneak peak of the upcoming Edgar Rice Burroughs' 100 Year Art Chronology. Publisher Stephen Chenault and I worked up some new experimental covers for Volumes Three and Four, and the reactions received were phenomenal -- and not just for the covers.

These new covers are shown below by ERB, Inc. President Jim Sullos (left) and myself (right) in the first photo (by Cathy Wilbanks), along with Kickstarter supporters Jim Thompson (left) and Burroughs Bibliophiles editor Henry G. Franke III (right) in the second, plus Melisa and Chris Adams in the third.

I should also note that the books shown in the pictures are one inch narrower and one inch shorter than what the actual book size will be.

Feedback from the crowds that often gathered all came in a variation of three responses:

"How soon will I get my books?"

"How do I order copies?"

"Are these samples for sale?"

I heard that last one so many times that once when I was asked to hold one of the books, I immediately started explaining how they weren't for sale, thinking he wanted to buy it at a later time, before realizing that he actually wanted to take a picture of me holding the book.

It was a great event, and I had a wonderful time meeting so many dedicated ERB fans and incredible Kickstarter supporters of the Art Chronology!
It was well worth the 25 hours of driving time.

Michael Tierney, August 7, 2017

August 7, 2017 Addendum

For all those who asked How do I order copies?, or anyone else who missed out on the Kickstarter offering, Chenault & Gray has your solution.

The set is now available to pre-order on their website!

Just click on this link.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Little Rock, AR April 18, 2017
Chenault & Gray Publishing teams up with Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc.

Michael Tierney's Edgar Rice Burroughs' 100 Year Art Chronology is a multi-volume collection that captures the vast illustrative history of Edgar Rice Burroughs. Chenault & Gray Publishing and ERB, Inc. are working together to bring this project to life.

In close to 1200 pages of content, the series explores the art used in the manifold publications of the vast Burroughs body of work for the past century and more, including the novels, comics and pulps! Mr. Tierney has worked hard to collect the art, from multiple sources, that decorated Mr. Burroughs' work for the past century. From the Boris Vallejo and Neal Adams covers of the Tarzan novels published by Ballantine Books in the 1970s, to the P.J. Monahan covers for the early pulps back in 1913.

Michael Tierney has been a student of the Burroughs material for years. "The Edgar Rice Burroughs' 100 Year Art Chronology is not just a nuts and bolts reference book with dates and data -- there is also a narrative, actually several of them. The career and works of ERB and the artists who illustrated him are examined, as well as the histories of the printing, pulp, book, comic, and retailing industries that put them into the hands of readers."

When discussing the project, Stephen Chenault, of Chenault & Gray, remarked, "Burroughs has been a part of my life since I picked up Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar back in the mid-70s. Burroughs opened up a world of imagination for me ... more than a world, a universe. This project is a no brainer. His many stories, from Tarzan's jungles to the Earth's core, are a part of the fabric of our culture, making this series both a piece of history as well as a part of popular culture."

For more information on how you can help bring this project to life, or on the project itself, please sign up for our mailing list here: http://bit.ly/cngerb
You'll receive notifications of the project's progress as well as unique opportunities to get your copy long before it arrives in book stores!

Chenault and Gray Publishing, the parent company of Troll Lord Games, the proud publisher of a vast array of role playing games, is perhaps best known for their work with Gary Gygax, co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons. They have been in business since 1999.

Contact
Tim Burns
tim@trolllord.com
1818 North Taylor, Box 143
Little Rock, AR 72207
501-379-8990

The Edgar Rice Burroughs 100 Year Art Chronology set went on sale TODAY AT the lowest price possible and with a bonus item only available to first day purchasers. Here's where:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/600766964/edgar-rice-burroughs-100-year-art-chronology

The Bonus book is a special limited hardcover edition of Tarzan of the Apes, with a cover by Neal Adams, originally published on the mid-Seventies Ballantine Books edition.

The Edgar Rice Burroughs 100 Year Art Chronology is tracking to be a huge success on Kickstarter.

You can keep up with the progress right here:

Edgar Rice Burroughs' 100 Year Art Chronology -- Kicktraq Mini

Is this a cast photo for a remake of the 3 Caballeros?
Um ... no.

This is the host of the Shane Plays radio talk show (Shane Stacks center) with ERB 100 Year Art Chronology creator Michael Tierney (left) and Stephen Chenault from publisher Chenault & Gray (right) after the airing of the May 27th, 2017 show dealing with the ERB 100 Year Art Chronology.

You can listen to a replay of the show here:
http://shaneplays.com/edgar-rice-burroughs-radio-show-podcast-ep-102/

And here's the unaltered picture:
shane plays 5-27-2017

The comics specialty news site, ICv2, put up a news article on June 2nd.
You can read all about it: HERE!

SNEAK PEAKS:

These volumes of the Edgar Rice Burroughs 100 Year Art Chronology will contain a cornucopia of artwork that few Burroughs fans have seen.

Remember Tarzeela?
Not many do -- unless they've read the early 1940s Tarzan daily newspaper strip illustrated by Rex Maxon.

She is shown here on the cover of Tarzan Adventues Vol. 5 #40, published in Britan on January 7th, 1956, with a cover by Robinson Studio Seven.

This Chronology is so packed with images and information, that there just isn't enough room to talk about it all.

One of those things are the 222 color movie stills taken during the filming of Tarzan's many movies and used as the covers of the UK's Tarzan Adventures in the 1950s.

While the Tarzan movies were black & white, these are COLOR stills that have never been seen in the US!

While I was assembling them for the Chronology, I sometimes wondered what they might be saying during these shots.
Too irreverent for inclusion in the Chronology, click on either the picture or the link below to experience:

Tarzan Fumetti!

Fred W. Small was one of ERB's earliest, and most often forgotten artists.

Here's Fred W. Small's cover for Cave Man, the sequel to Cave Girl.
It looks like an idyllic setting -- a pretty girl sitting in a tree -- until you see the menacing hand reaching for her from the right bottom corner and realize that she's clutching her hand to her chest out of fear.

Other than as a small thumbnail image, this cover has never been reproduced before.
It was lost in time -- until now.

With the Edgar Rice Burroughs 100 Year Art Chronology, you'll be able to view this (from Volume 1 -- The Pulps) and many other rare covers in all their wonderful color as full page images.

This sneak peak comes from Volume 2 and across the Atlantic!

In 1928, UK publisher Cassell released this dust wrapper cover of Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle.
Unseen by US readers -- until now.

This sneak peak comes from Volume 3 and is a proverbial hen's tooth.
Only an estimated dozen copies are known to still exist!

Tarzan to Color was published by Saalfield in 1929. It was a monster, bigger than even the Chronology itself, and contained Hal Foster strip artwork from the newspaper adaptation of Tarzan of the Apes. Examples of Foster's work were shown in color, next to a black & white duplication for the reader to try their own skills as a colorist.

Tarzan to Color is also a twofer. It's the first comic book with a Tarzan masthead, and is also the first Tarzan coloring book.
The back cover reprinted the front cover without text.

Here's another hen's tooth -- this time from across the Atlantic!

I'd started to wonder if this book really existed.
No one in the US, myself included, had this book.
You won't find this one on the Grand Comic Database. The Chronology is filled with a multitude of comics that you won't find on the GCD.

Even ERB fans in the UK didn't seem to have it -- until one collector finally stepped forth! He, and others who contributed books that I could not find are credited in the Chronology.

I was fortunate to find everything I went looking for, but this was one of the hardest of them all -- Korak #5 from Top Sellers/Williams Publishing:

Korak #5 Top Sellers/Williams Publishing

Interior illustrations are also included in the Chronology.

This particular Volume One: The Pulps image comes from the Red Book serialization of Tarzan the Untamed, which are some of the harder Burroughs Pulps to find. Right now a seller is asking nearly $15,000 for a set on Ebay.

Two things make this image unique.

The obvious one is the lion wearing a hoodie and mittens. Anyone who has ever been around cats can imagine the difficulty level of such an application.

This is also one of the rarest images in the history of ERB illustrations. It shows a bearded Tarzan!

This is the hairiest apeman you'll ever see!

In collecting, there is rare and there is scarce.
Rare is just what the name implies: something very difficult to find.
Scarce is a whole other level of hard to find.

This book from Volume 2: The Books is scarce, scarce.

This is the very first Tarzan paperback book ever made!
There were paperbound samples of the A.C. McClurg first edition, but they were for promotional purposes and never offered for sale.

This Tarzan of the Apes paperback was published by George Newnes, Limited, of London in 1929, with a cover by Harry Woolley (we go from a hairy apeman to a Harry Woolley).
It is also a pulp hybrid, having double columns of type like a Pulp magazine, and went through multiple printings -- few of which survived World War II.

My emphasis with this Chronology is doing things that have never been done before.

This includes showing the back covers for all the comics that featured new artwork there.

This teaser image is one of those double-spreads from Volume 3: The Comics.

In February of 1947, Tarzan made the first appearance of his long run by artist Jesse Marsh in Dell Comics' Four Color #134,
which included a Jesse Marsh Tarzan poster on the back cover.

This teaser image is another front and back comic book cover, this time coming from Volume 4: The Comics Part II.

Dell Four Color #437 was the second part of the trilogy of novel adaptations run in 1952.
All three comics had artwork on the back cover, but only this image was not reprinted as a front cover when Gold Key reissued the series in 1964.
So, up until now, the only people who have ever seen Jesse Marsh's artwork from this back cover were those who actually bought the book.

When most people think of ERB's Moon Maid, they think of Frank Frazetta's Ace cover of a nearly naked woman riding on the back of a bestial Va-gas. The 2nd Ace paperback edition which first featured that classic image is shown to the left -- and can be found in Volume 3: The Books.

But the Moon Maid had a completely different look when her serialization first began in the May 5, 1923 issue of Argosy All-Story Weekly.

This image of the Moon Maid taking flight with golden butterfly wings was painted by P.J. Monahan, who was the most prolific Burroughs artist at this time in history. Volume 1: The Pulps has a gallery of all Monahan's fine illustrations done for ERB's creations.

Ask readers today to identify an Edgar Rice Burroughs artist, and one of the first names that they'll say is Frank Frazetta.

The image below is from the 1965 Canaveral Press 1st edition of Tarzan and the Castaways, but is an alternate wrapper colorized by Philip Normand and authorized by ERB, Inc. in 2016.

Only 64 copies were made.

Phil has a number of fine ERB dust wrapper recreations at his website.
I highly recommend him, you can see here that he does excellent work, and he still has a very limited few of these left for sale!
Bettery hurry. That's not going to last!
http://www.recoverings.com

The Recoverings Alternate Timeline Dust-jacket design for TARZAN AND THE CASTAWAYS, along with the coloring of the Frank Frazetta cover drawing is ©2016 Phil Normand & Recoverings.
Frank Frazetta's artwork for Tarzan and the Castaways, and all other artwork on this page are © copyright Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc.

But in the days before Frank Frazetta become an international phenominon, readers would have said another name -- J. Allen St. John.

Tarzan's Quest from Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. in 1936 is a perfect example of J. Allen St. John's work.
There is an exotic locale filled with unique characters and with a panoramic background landscape.

Another facet of St. John's artistic skills that no other Burroughs artist ever matched was his calligraphy. St. John usually created the titles for the books he illustrated.

He not only illustrated books covers for ERB, Inc., but was also a prolific artist for the author's Pulp covers.
More on that later.

This teaser comes from Volume 3: The Comics -- Part 1, which concentrates on Tarzan's American comics.

Before Russ Manning captivated comics readers with his clean lines and clear storytelling abilities, Burne Hogarth had been considered the top Tarzan comics artist for decades.

Sparkler Comics commissioned him to do a series of original Tarzan covers in the early and mid-Forties.
Until now, these covers have never been reprinted in the U.S. -- and only two of the covers were reprinted in the U.K. during the early Fifties.
They were lost in time.

Presented here is Burne Hogarth's Tarzan cover for Sparkler Comics #21, dated April 1943.
As you can tell by this illustration, Hogarth gave Tarzan a violent edge that was lost when modern comics adopted the Comics Code of Authority and toned down the apeman's jungle world.

Here is one of those two Hogarth covers that was reprinted with some minor color changes for Tarzan #2 by Dependable Comics in 1950.

This scarce book is another hen's tooth.

Burne Hogarth's cover was first published on Sparkler Comics #28 in December 1943.
You can see the Sparkler Comics #28 version in Volume 3: The Comics -- Part 1 and the Dependable Comics Tarzan #2 version in the Tarzan's British Heritage -- Part 2 section of Volume 4: The Comics -- Part 2.

Tarzan Comic #2 by Dependable Comics 1950

As mentioned earlier, J. Allen St. John was a prolific cover illustrator for ERB's books.
He also did a number of ERB's Pulp covers.

From Volume 1: The Pulps, shown here is the very first ERB Pulp cover by J. Allen St. John for Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle on the January 1928 issue of Blue Book Magazine.
He would do many more.

Here is another great example of J. Allen St. John's work.

The A.C. McClurg 1st edition of The Son of Tarzan was released in 1917 with this wraparound cover that was unfortunately never reprinted in full.
All the subsequent A.L. Burt and Grosset & Dunlap reprints cut off the spine and back cover of St. John's wonderful landscape design.

So, up until now, only the fortunate few to own a 1st edition wrapper ever got to see the full scope of St. Johns cover.

During World War II, Grosset & Dunlap made a color variant of this book's front cover -- using gold and brown colors.
You'll also find that image inside the pages of The Edgar Rice Burroughs 100 Year Art Chronology Volume 2: The Books.

The Edgar Rice Burroughs 100 Year Art Chronology covers everything Burroughs from the last century -- old, modern, and everything in between.

This teaser is only 40 years old, and comes from Volume 3: The Comics -- Part 1.

Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle #1 was released by Marvel Comics in 1977.
This cover by John Buscema was a recreation of Clinton Pettee's very first Tarzan cover ever, done for the October 1912 issue of The All-Story magazine.

Sticking with Marvel Comics and the year of 1977, this teaser from Volume 4: The Comics -- Part 2 is John Carter, Warlord of Mars #1, with pencils by Gil Kane and inks by Dave Cockrum.

Tarzan at the Earth's Core was Edgar Rice Burroughs only crossover.

Blue Book Magazine serialized the story in seven parts from September 1929 through March 1930.
Each issue featured a Tarzan cover by Frank Hoban, who lavishly illustrated the interiors.

This was part of an incredible run where an ERB story appeared in every monthly issue of Blue Book Magazine for three and a half years!
That's 42 consecutive issues, with 29 of them featuring ERB on the covers!

Everyone one of them is a full page image in the Edgar Rice Burroughs 100 Year Art Chronology -- Volume 1: The Pulps!

Tarzan at the Earth's Core - Blue Book Magazine

Here are a couple more teasers from Edgar Rice Burroughs' impressive run in Blue Book Magazine.

Both covers are by Laurence Herndon.

Herndon's iconic May 1930 cover was his 2nd of five covers for A Fighting Man of Mars.

Another iconic Herndon cover is this May 1931 cover for The Land of Hidden Men,
which features a slender blonde-haired hero with a signature flip of the hair in front.
Herndon used this model for many of his covers, prompting the examination in Volume 1: The Pulps about the Tarzan/Tin Tin connection.

Another interesting thing about the Blue Book run was their occasional use of extra color for their interior artwork.

While Volume 1: The Pulps is far and away the smallest Volume in the Edgar Rice Burroughs 100 Year Art Chronology -- nearly half the size of the others -- it's the one which took the most time to complete.

Some of the images in this Volume took as many as 40 hours each to restore.
One example of that is the June 1913 New Story Magazine cover for The Return of Tarzan by N.C. Wyeth.
This rarely reprinted Tarzan cover needed extensive repairs to remove punch holes, browning tape, and the many flaws that come with great age and heavy reading.
But my goal was to make every image in the Chronology look the way they did when first purchased.
No artist's versions -- simply a return to a brand new looking covers that you can't tell have had any restoration work done at all.

Other Pulps required very little work, like my copies of P.J. Monahan's cover for the 1913 All-Story Weekly featuring The Son of Tarzan and Frank R. Paul's 1927 Amazing Stories cover featring The Land That Time Forgot, both of which were pristine copies to begin with.

Volume 2 of the Edgar Rice Burroughs 100 Year Art Chronology focuses on the books -- in both hardcover and in paperback, and in both the US and the UK.

These teaser images show the paperback history of Tarzan and the Lost Empire, starting with the US Dell Mapback and running through the many UK editions.

The history of each individual edition and their artists await you in Volume 2.

Every Tarzan comic book ever made to date in the United States is the topic of the Edgar Rice Burroughs' 100 Year Art Chronology -- Volume 3: The Comics -- Part 1.

Shown here from 1959-60 are three George Wilson covers for Dell issues #114, #116, and #121.

Some of the great things I always liked about the Tarzan comics from this age were the outdoor scenery, the animals, and the Dinosaurs!
Tough neighborhood, but Tarzan always had the coolest guest stars!

If you ever had that one Tarzan story that you always wanted to read again but couldn't remember which one it was, then Volume 3 will be your answer.

You'll get dates, creator credits, and a story synopsis for every comic.
It's like CliffsNotes for comics!

With over 5,000 images to choose from, these teaser images have only scratched the tiniest fraction of the surface that make up the massive selection contained within the Edgar Rice Burroughs' 100 Year Art Chronology.

Volume 3 focused on Tarzan -- Dell issues #1, #2, and #3 are shown below.

Volume 4 focuses on every other ERB character ever published in the US, and Tarzan's UK comics.
It is the largest volume in the set and has the heaviest selection of art.

The images shown below are by ERB's son, John Coleman Burroughs, and pre-date Dell's Tarzan comics.
John Carter was having original adventures in the pages of The Funnies years before Tarzan had his first original adventure in Four Color #134.

But Tarzan wasn't even the second ERB character to have original comics made about him.

That honor went to David Innes of Pellucidar, illustrated once again by John Coleman Burroughs in Hi-Spot #2, which was actually Red Ryder #2.
The explanation to that mysteriou statement awaits you in Volume 4.

So Tarzan came in third place.
But what the apeman did after that slow start was to become an international phenomenon!

I'll end this teaser tour where I began, with an image from the UK --
another Tarzan Adventures illustration by Robinson Studio Seven.

Shown below are my original mock covers, with book spines included, for each volume. These have since changed, so this is the only place you'll ever see them. Click on any of these images to visit the Kickstarter! page.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/600766964/edgar-rice-burroughs-100-year-art-chronology/description

Edgar Rice Burroughs' 100 Year Art Chronology

Home

Welcome to the WILD STARS!

Edgar Rice Burroughs 100 Year Art Chronology

by Michael Tierney

Reviews:

September 5th, 2019 Update

July 16th, 2018 Update!

June 20th, 2018 Update!

June 4th, 2018 Update!

June 1st, 2018 Update!

May 25th, 2018 Update!