Long before Batman’s gravelly voice waxed poetic about the dichotomy of good and evil (get a lozenge, Mr. Bale); before Spidey webbed his way through a skyscraper village in color-blocked spandex; and even before our favorite six-packed alien wooed a star reporter with his chivalry and nerdy glasses, there was John Carter. Who? Yeah, that’s what folks at the UofL Library expected, too. The literary sibling to the more famous (but less clothed) Tarzan, the character of John Carter is appealing to a fresh audience now with a new and modern cinematic adaptation. Want to get a feel for the roots before he makes his splash on the silver screen? The University of Louisville is hosting an exhibition about the world’s first superhero during the month of March in the Ekstrom Library.
The brainchild of Edgar Rice Burroughs – also the father of Tarzan, as mentioned above – the character of John Carter took to his first adventure in 1912, debuting in a series of pulp fiction magazines. Although Burroughs’ Tarzan novels would prove to be more popular over the test of time (it must have been the loin cloth), Carter’s superhero hijinks followed a similar high action story line of early daring and ka-pow moments.
In light of the recent incarnation of the character on the big screen, the University of Louisville’s Ekstrom Library is now inviting a new generation of adventure-seekers to explore the memorabilia of this early hero. Borrowing pieces from Ekstrom’s internationally recognized Edgar Rice Burroughs Memorial Collection, UofL has assembled an exhibit featuring a display of books, magazines, posters and figurines related to the grand Carter story over the past century. The exhibition is currently available for curious eyes in the lower level of Ekstrom in the Rare Books Room and is free and open to the public. Drop by anytime between 9am and 5pm through March 23rd .
The University of Louisville’s Ekstrom Library is located on the Belknap Campus at 2301 South Third Street. For more information, call UofL Special Collections at (502) 852-6752
Image: Courtesy of www.erbzine.com
