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Grand Master Of Adventure: The Drawings Of J. Allen St. John compiled by J. David Spurlock
01/04/2006 . Source: Geoff Willmetts 
publisher: Vanguard. 176 page illustrated softcover. Price: $24.95 (US). ISBN: 1-887591-61-3. Buy from Amazon US - Buy from Amazon UK
nb: US titles may only be available from Amazon US, and UK titles from Amazon UK. check out website: www.creativemix.com/vanguard
There are times when you pick up a book and don't know what you're expecting especially when it's devoid of colour. The most you've got is red lettering and a picture in gold relief on the cover. You have to really look inside to see what its about.
When you get down to looking at the artwork inside there are two things that amaze. The fabulous linework and the fact that this is work from the 1920s through to the 1940s, much of it based on the works of Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan and his Venus and Mars stories. It's a shame that there is no indication of the scale they were originally drawn but undoubtedly the reproduction here is much larger than used in the first or second editions of ERB's, presumably American edition, books. There is also a selection of oil paintings, purely in black and shades of grey.
Looking at all this work, and there is some none-ERB work at the back for some early SF mags, its not hard to see how such work could have influenced the work of Hal Foster and later, even Frank Frazetta. The sheer dynamism of the figurework here clearly shows J. Allen St. John to be an excellent craftsman and I doubt if he had models posing for him in the time allocated to get the work done.
Burroughs was always pleased with St John's work as it portrayed Tarzan as a sleek athlete rather than the muscleman look as often portrayed in the films. St John's linework could be as depthy as required. If there is any real comparison then it might be to Hogarth, who also did Tarzan but less fluid than here, but that was much later. St John is the definitive early work Tarzan. His aliens for ERB's other work also takes into account how muscles and bones work and they really do come to life on the page as if St John was there illustrating the scene and they are magnificent multi-limbed creatures.
Undoubtedly, if you are an ERB fan in any shape or form, this should belong in your collection. If you like the illustrated form then this book should be considered if for no other reason than dynamic and emotional art didn't start in the 60s but much further back. There is also going to be a colour artbook of St John's work available any time soon which has to make this a useful companion book to own.
GF Willmetts
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