J. Allen St. John was the first person to draw a Mahar. The original All-Story publication did not feature one of these conniving female-only rhamphoryncuses on the cover. ERB described them thus:
“Involuntarily I shrank back as one of the creatures approached to inspect us. A more hideous thing it would be impossible to imagine. The all-powerful Mahars of Pellucidar are great reptiles, some six or eight feet in length, with long narrow heads and great round eyes. Their beak-like mouths are lined with sharp, white fangs, and the backs of their huge, lizard bodies are serrated into bony ridges from their necks to the end of their long tails. Their feet are equipped with three webbed toes, while from the fore feet membranous wings, which are attached to their bodies just in front of the hind legs, protrude at an angle of 45 degrees toward the rear, ending in sharp points several feet above their bodies…” (At the Earth’s Core by Edgar Rice Burroughs)
As the dominate form of life in Pellucidar they should garner more respect. They ruled with the help of the sagoths. Gilaks or humans are mere cattle to them. There are no male Mahars. They breed through a cloning process called The Great Secret. They are also one of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ coolest inventions, despite his innate anti-feminism.
Frank Frazetta produced the quintessential images of the Mahars, making them more menacing than St. John. Let’s not forget what happen in that hot tub at meal times.
In the early 1970s DC Comics had the rights to ERB’s many worlds. In the late 1970s it was Marvel.
1975 saw the Amicus productions release At the Earth’s Core starring Doug McClure and Peter Cushing. McClure had done The Land That Time Forgot (1974) and would go on to do The People That Time Forgot (1977). Peter Cushing around this time would appear in Star Wars as the Grand Moff Tarkin.
Trendmasters would produce this Tarzan and Mahars in 1995. Wish I had one…
