Which is your favorite

[ericcoleman]

I'e been delving into my past, going back and re-reading some of my favorite books, mostly SF and Fantasy. One of the things that I really dearly love are what I call displaced earthman books. Probably the best known example is the John Carter Of Mars books by Edgar Rice Burroughs. My favorite is the Carson Of Venus books by ERB. What I like best about him is that he isn't some perfect specimen of humanity. While brilliant, he's a screwup, and still is the hero.

So, is there anyone else out there who loves this sub-genre, and if so what are your favorites?

Comments

[ericcoleman]

Yeah, that would fit in perfectly ... there was another comic character who fit as well, but I can't think of the name ... it was pure displaced earthman stuff ...

Oh, and the Atom mini-series where he gets REAL small ...

[barondave.livejournal.com]

Many comic characters are "displaced aliens", from Kal-El to Howard The Duck ("trapped in a world he never made"). The genius of Stan Lee was that most of his characters were displaced humans even though they were still among us.

I also can't immediately think of another Terran comic character trapped on another planet. Would Voyager count? It was pretty dumb.

[ericcoleman]

I don't remember exactly, it may not have been a Terran character, but I think it was. High adventure sort of comic, swords and sorcery-esque. It may have been a Marvel character, but I'm not sure.

[barondave.livejournal.com]

DC did a lot of ERB, including John Carter of Mars as well as various Tarzans and a Pellucidar. It that what you're thinking of?

[ericcoleman]

Those I would know ... this was something different. I want to think late 70s early 80s.

[ericcoleman]

Warlord ... that was the title I was trying to think of.

[billroper]

Is the first one you're thinking of "Star Lord"? (Which also brings to mind the movie "The Last Starfighter"...)

The latter one is "Sword of the Atom". He actually doesn't get that small, but is living with a tribe of tiny people in the Amazon jungle, as I recall.

[ericcoleman]

I was thinking he was at some sub-atomic level in that one, but you're right ... I loved that one

and the comic I was trying to think of was Warlord !!!

[billroper]

Ah, ok. But I never counted Skartaris, because it was inside the Earth. :)

Star Lord was originally written by Steve Englehart. Then Chris Claremont got hold of it and turned it into wild space opera, which was tremendous fun.

Claremont took another run at the displaced Earthman theme with the Starjammers, who he introduced while writing the X-Men. In this case, the displaced Earthman was Cyclops' dad...

[ericcoleman]

I would count it as a displaced earthman environment, just like I would Pellucidar.