Four Color #375
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeFour Color #375 marks the first time John Carter received his own standalone comic book title, bringing Edgar Rice Burroughs' 40-year-old Barsoom mythology to the standard comic format for a new generation. The issue delivers the first comic book appearances of nearly the entire core cast of 'A Princess of Mars' — Dejah Thoris, Tars Tarkas, Sola, Woola, Kantos Kan, Sab Than, Tal Hajus, and Than Kosis — establishing in sequential art form characters who would anchor every subsequent comics adaptation of the property, from DC and Marvel through Dynamite. Its decision to update Carter's backstory from Civil War veteran to Korean War soldier reflects how mid-century publishers routinely re-contextualized pulp heroes for contemporary readerships, making the editorial choice itself a document of the era. The book also introduced Jesse Marsh's interpretation of Barsoom, a visual vocabulary that would define the look of the planet's inhabitants across all three Dell issues and their multiple reprints.
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Dell's Four Color anthology series had long been Western Publishing's vehicle for licensing illustrated adaptations of popular novels, films, and characters, and John Carter had already appeared in Dell's 'The Funnies' back in 1939. By 1952, Western assigned Jesse Marsh — a former Disney story artist who had spent years honing his style on Dell's Tarzan comics — to adapt 'A Princess of Mars' as Four Color #375. Marsh produced both the cover and interior art, and the adaptation made a notable editorial choice: rather than beginning with Carter as a Confederate veteran, the prologue transplants him into the Korean War, tying the character to the contemporary conflict in a way that would have resonated with readers in February 1952. The issue launched a three-part series that continued with Four Color #437 and #488, together adapting the first two Burroughs Barsoom novels.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Published February 1952 by Dell Comics as part of the long-running Four Color anthology series (Vol. 2, #375).
- First John Carter solo title in standard comic book format — the indicia identifies it as Four Color #375.
- First comic book appearances of Dejah Thoris, Tars Tarkas, Sola, Woola, Kantos Kan, Sab Than, Tal Hajus, and Than Kosis.
- Adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs' novel 'A Princess of Mars,' with the prologue updated from the American Civil War to the Korean War.
- Cover and interior art by Jesse Marsh, a former Disney story artist and animator best known for his long run on Dell's Tarzan comics.
- First of three Dell Four Color John Carter issues; followed by #437 and #488 (1952–1953), which together adapt the first two Burroughs Barsoom novels.
- Reprinted by Gold Key Comics in April 1964 as John Carter of Mars #[1] (out of original publication order).
- Reprinted again in 2010 by Dark Horse Comics in a full-color hardcover archive edition titled 'Edgar Rice Burroughs' John Carter of Mars: The Jesse Marsh Years.'
Cast · 9 characters
Full credits
Reprints
Reprinted in John Carter of Mars #1 (1953), Edgar Rice Burroughs' John Carter of Mars #[1] (1964), Edgar Rice Burroughs' John Carter of Mars: The Jesse Marsh Years #[nn] (2010)
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