Weird Worlds #7

History

Weird Worlds was conceived under editor Denny O'Neil as a dedicated vehicle for DC's licensed Edgar Rice Burroughs properties after DC's page-count reduction made it impossible to fit the 'John Carter' and 'Pellucidar' backup strips into the now-slimmer Tarzan and Korak books. The series assembled a roster of largely young talent — Marv Wolfman on John Carter scripts, Denny O'Neil scripting Pellucidar, with Dan Green on Pellucidar art and Sal Amendola handling the final John Carter installments — all operating under O'Neil's editorial hand. By mid-1973 the Burroughs licensing costs had made continued publication economically untenable, and issue #7 was produced knowing it would be the last ERB-adapted issue; the GCD notes that the John Carter story's plot 'shows signs of being hurriedly put to an end,' consistent with an abrupt creative wind-down. O'Neil simultaneously used the issue's editorial column to tease Chaykin's incoming Ironwolf feature, framing the transition openly for readers.

Trivia · 8 facts

• Cover dated October 1973, published by National Periodical Publications (DC); cover art by Howard Chaykin.
• Contains the final 'John Carter' story in Weird Worlds — 'Reunion!' — scripted by Marv Wolfman with art by Sal Amendola (uncredited in the issue but confirmed by The Comic Reader #97); loosely adapted from Edgar Rice Burroughs' novel The Gods of Mars.
• John Carter's 'Reunion!' resolves his arc: he escapes the Temple of Issus, reunites with Tars Tarkas and Dejah Thoris, destroys Issus and her temple, and is crowned Warlord of Mars and married to Dejah Thoris.
• Contains the final 'Pellucidar' story in Weird Worlds — 'The Trap' — scripted by Denny O'Neil with art by Dan Green; adapted from Burroughs' novel Pellucidar; depicts David Innes's final confrontation with the villain Hooja the Sly One, with Abner Perry and Dian also featured.
• Includes a Howard Chaykin preview pin-up of Ironwolf — the character's first published appearance in any form — with an editorial column by O'Neil announcing the incoming feature beginning in issue #8.
• Both ERB features were subsequently reprinted: the John Carter story in Dark Horse's John Carter of Mars: Weird Worlds trade paperback (January 2011) — timed to coincide with the 2012 Disney film — and the Pellucidar story in Dark Horse's Edgar Rice Burroughs' Pellucidar: At the Earth's Core (March 2017).
• After this issue, John Carter briefly returned in Tarzan Family #62–64 and the Pellucidar/David Innes strip returned in Tarzan Family #66.
• There is an unresolved debate in the collector/scholarship community (documented at the Grand Comics Database) about whether a second inker was involved on the cover alongside Chaykin; one researcher noted the female figure's style resembled Joe Staton's work, while another countered that Staton was working exclusively for Charlton at the time.

Cast · 11 characters

Full credits

Key issues in Weird Worlds

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#1 1st appearance — Ghak

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#10 1st appearance — Shebaba O'Neal