Edgar Rice Burroughs panel, San Diego Comic-Con 2019

New adventures, characters coming in Edgar Rice Burroughs Universe

Some people say that San Diego Comic-Con is the convention that Jack Kirby built. I’m sure that a lot of other creators had a hand in the source material that inspired this crazy pop culture event, but if we are being completely honest, this is the house, the con and the community that Edgar Rice Burroughs inspired.

That’s right, a line can be drawn from almost every superhero, science-fiction or fantasy icon that is celebrated at this very circus right back to Burroughs’ pulp creations of John Carter of Mars and Tarzan of the Apes.

These days this pop culture history is mostly glossed over and rarely mentioned, but for many of us, Friday is Burroughs Day at Comic-Con, the day of ERB, Inc’s rollout of everything new coming down the pike in the Edgar Rice Burroughs Universe, as today’s panel revealed is the actual name of the brand going forward.

So, what’s new and coming soon?

Near the end of 2019, Tarzan will appear in a new Virtual Reality video game from Fun Train and Stonepunk Studios. The creators promise the game will feel like stepping inside the pages of a Tarzan comic book. They showed a teaser trailer to the crowd and you can view it yourself at TarzanVirtualReality.com.

The Edgar Rice Burroughs Universe will feature upcoming novels based on Burroughs’ worlds and characters, but with cohesive new stories that will expand on the original tales and be a part of official canon.

The new books will be authored by talented storytellers and will be connected by what is being called, “The Super-Arc.”

Book one will be written by Matt Betts and will be called, Carson of Venus: The Edge of All Worlds.

The second book will be, Tarzan: Battle for Pellucidar, written by Win Scott Eckert. Mister Eckert was present at the panel and promised his tale would include the Ape Man fighting WWII Nazis riding dinosaurs.

Book number three will be, John Carter of Mars: Gods of the Forgotten, written by Geary Gravel.

Book four will introduce a new character, Victory Harben, in a tale called, Victory Harben: Fires of Halos, written by Christopher Paul Carey, who is also spearheading the book series as ERB, Inc’s new Director of Publishing.

The new books will be published in 2020 and Mister Carey will also be overseeing the publication of new canonical ERB comics featuring Carson of Venus and the world of Pellucidar.

Also on the horizon (this August) is a new hardback edition of Fritz Lieber’s Tarzan and the Valley of Gold. The first hardback edition of Philip Jose Farmer’s Tarzan and the Dark Heart of town is available now.

It was announced that Burroughs’ The Land That Time Forgot has been optioned for a potential television show. A script has been written and it sounds good; let’s keep our collective fingers crossed.

There is a tabletop role-playing game currently available, John Carter of Mars – Adventures on The Dying World of Barsoom, as well as several new comics, like Vampirella / Dejah Thoris from Dynamite.

And on top of all the new stuff, I want to remind you that there are dozens and dozens of Burroughs’ original books out there, with incredible stories that make up this newly branded “universe” and inspired the popular culture we enjoy today. Give ’em a try.

Don’t miss ERB-Fest in Willcox, Arizona, August 1-4, 2019. Read more about it HERE!