In 2012, during the runup to the John Carter movie released by Disney, Dynamite was sued by the estate of Edgar Rice Burroughs over their Warlord of Mars and Lord of the Jungle comics that featured some of Burroughs’ most famous creations: John Carter, Dejah Thoris and Tarzan.
Dynamite’s counter-argument was that the Burroughs characters had fallen into public domain. Two years later, Dynamite and Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. have settled the lawsuit and both parties will be teaming up for a new line of Burroughs inspired comics.
As part of the comprehensive publishing deal, Dynamite will now be able to access the Burroughs stories that were not in the public domain and use John Carter and Dejah Thoris in the titles of their new series. It’s not clear if Lord of the Jungle will be rebranded as Tarzan, but it will be a part of the relaunch.
Dynamite also picked up the rights to reprint earlier John Carter comics, including a John Carter comic strip from the early ‘40s that was written by Burroughs’ son, John Coleman Burroughs.
In a brief statement, Dynamite CEO Nick Barrucci said “I can’t express how happy and excited everyone at Dynamite is to be working hand in hand with everyone at ERB, Inc..”
