Bulging thews

Richard Corben's style is distinctive.

I like them glutes and I cannot lie.

Thews? I can't even thee hith feet.

Oh no, another one that was on my shelf till recently. In defense, Mr. xn bought it before we met.

Also #weird pecs #weird everything else and #font abuse.

>4 GSSex-noob: and you married him anyway? That's true wuv, right there.

>5 haydninvienna: I might not have seen the cover till it was too late. Just the spine.

But yes, it's worked out despite that.

Hm.

Methinks ol' John Carter there has a Rock Hudson-ish cast to his features in this picture.

Knowing what we know about Rock now, I can see why he's more interested in stabbing the green guys (I should remember their race - I have the librivox.org recording of "A Princess of Mars" on my tablet for lulling me to sleep at night) than the possibly unconscious/maybe dead Llana of Gathol at his feet.

>7 Hammy_JLK: Tharks?

He does look very like Rock in the face, but if that face was stepped on and then attached to a sort of Orange Hulk.

>8 GSSex-noob: Tharks, yes. Thank you for reminding me.

I can imagine that trip from Earth to Mars by whatever teleportation method caught John Carter might have some effect on one's features and physique. Kind of like that one ERB John Carter cover that shows him dangling off the ship with a pistol in his face....

Edit: It was "Gods of Mars". This one... https://www.librarything.com/work/56147/covers#

>9 Hammy_JLK: Is that John Carter in a blond wig or a Thern?

Quite a bit of ting! on that cover.

>10 bam2001: As I recall, it could be either - "Gods of Mars" does involve the Therns, but there is a bit in the book where John Carter impersonates a Thern, so it's hard to know which is being portrayed on that cover. Methinks, though, it's a bit too muscular for a Thern, but I can't be sure.

As I recall, someone commented on that cover at the Mother Lode that it should have Looney Tunes-style "Ulp!" word balloons....

>9 Hammy_JLK: I've an ebook with that art, only in monochrome, which reduces the goofiness a bit.

The one where he's dangling off a spaceship in orbit is ridiculous even for this genre.

ERB never mentioned John Carter's physical reaction to being back on Earth; he must have really felt the increased gravity. And having to wear clothes over the mighty thews and everything else.

Of course he got to go back (what with Llana being his granddaughter) yet I'm told Mars ain't the kind of place to raise your kids.

If he was any more lantern jawed, he'd be a Hapsburg.

Closest contact with ERB: a late friend who lived in Tarzana.

@bam2001: At least things are going Ting! in a fairly logical way, and not as brightly TING!!! as many other covers we've seen.

>13 GSSex-noob: Mars ain't the kind of place to raise your kids.

In fact, it's cold as hell!

>13 GSSex-noob: Mars ain't the place to raise your kids, true. Though I don't think John Carter was there to raise *his*
kid - I think Carthoris was hatched while JC was back on Earth and ERB does have him mention how many years passed between the end of "A Princess of Mars" and "Gods of Mars"....

And let's hear it for the modesty police - I don't think a red woman of Mars would even think of wearing a bikini top. And why blue? So humans looking at the cover are able to identify it as a bikini top?

@paradoxosalpha: Exactly! Although Dejah was there to raise Carthoris.

The bikini top mystery is as nothing to whatever's going on with her rib cage and torso. If that even is a "her". Could also be a bikinied dude, judging by the face, which leads back to "then why a bikini top?"

This is one cover where the leather jockstrap is actually useful. It might chafe, but that beats having the Carter family jewels flap around while he's covering ground in giant leaps, near a lot of swords and knives. Although why it has to be suspended from his shoulders, nobody knows.

>16 GSSex-noob: I noticed the torso just after I posted. It looks like she has some kind of scars on her ribcage centerline/sternum and right abdomen. This doesn't make sense in Barsoomian terms - ERB goes into great detail (surprise, surprise) about the Martians' abilities with medicine that allow such a long life, basically saying that unless death is immediate, the Martian healers will heal you.

As far as the jockstrap is concerned, I can tell you that bib cycling shorts (not like bib overalls, exactly, just with shoulder straps) are far superior to normal cycling shorts. No drawstring or elastic to constrict one's waist when all bent over in that racing cyclist posture. I'm sure that same sort of freedom when one is swordfighting four-armed creatures is welcome.

>16 GSSex-noob: Richard Corben faces are often hit or miss.

>18 bam2001: Well, *someone* hit this one....

>19 Hammy_JLK: GSS!

I don't recall ERB ever writing about how mis-formed his "uncle" was.

>20 GSSex-noob: It was too tempting a straight line to resist....

ERB wrote more about the character and success of "Uncle Jack" than appearance, though it didn't come across as thinking John C. an ugly man. It's been a while since I read the book, and I often misremember things like that.