Edwin Lester Arnold - Legacy

Legacy

Arnold's Lieutenant Gullivar Jones: His Vacation is considered important to 20th century science fiction literature, in that it may have inspired the Edgar Rice Burroughs Barsoom series, which was written six years later. Indeed, both Gullivar and Burroughs's character John Carter, first seen in A Princess of Mars (1917), are Southern United States soldiers who arrive on Mars and have numerous adventures, including falling in love with a Martian princess. The character of Carter, however, has more in common with Arnold's earlier creation, Phra. Critics would say that Arnold's Martian adventure was not as well written, and the fact that Gullivar doesn't quite defeat his enemies or get the girl in the end helps explain why his novel not as popular as Burroughs', which was followed by ten sequels.

Ace Books reprinted Arnold's Lieutenant Gullivar Jones: His Vacation in 1964, retitling it Gulliver of Mars . A more recent Bison Books edition was issued as Gullivar of Mars, adapting the Ace title to Arnold's spelling.

Marvel Comics did a brief comic version of Gullivar of Mars during the early 1970s, possibly as a reaction to DC gaining the rights to publish Burroughs' John Carter during this time. With art by Gil Kane, it ran in several issues of Creatures on the Loose. Marvel's Gullivar was a Viet Nam vet, and the series started in modern times. Though the series used many of Arnold's characters and concepts, the series was not a strict adaptation of the original book.

Both Gullivar and John Carter make an appearance at the beginning of volume two in Alan Moore's League of Extraordinary Gentlemen comic book series.