La of Opar in all of her murderous, bad girl glory.

Joe Jusko is pretty cool. At the age of seventeen, while still studying at NYC's High School of Art & Design, he sold his first cover to Heavy Metal Magazine during the height of its popularity. He went on to do plenty of covers for…just about everybody. He’s been a fan favorite for years and is just generally a good guy. Read his full bio here.

Another cool thing about Joe is that he was born on September 1, 1959. Exactly, to the day, eighty-four years after Edgar Rice Burroughs’ birthday. One could argue that Jusko was born to illustrate ERB.

We first saw major evidence of that when Joe put out his Art of Edgar Rice Burroughs collectible card series back in 1995 to wide acclaim. Jusko didn’t just fixate on Tarzan and Barsoom, either. He painted scenes from a plethora of ERB’s novels. He spread that Jusko goodness around.

I’m sure that Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. had that in mind when they tapped Joe to do all the covers for the Edgar Rice Burroughs Authorized Library, which presents the complete literary works of ERB in uniform hardcover editions. This is the first time in history that every Burroughs novel, from A Princess of Mars to The Oakdale Affair will be published in uniform editions, all with covers by the same artist.

ERB, Inc. announced all of this back in 2018 to thunderous approval from Burroughs fans. As Joe said at the time:

“I remember marveling at the Tarzan covers by Adams and Vallejo, as well as the Mars covers by Whelan way back in the late ’70s when I first broke into the business, wondering if my work would ever reach a level of respect where so prestigious a commission would be afforded me, I’m still pinching myself that the day has arrived, and I cannot thank ERB, Inc. enough for the wonderful opportunity! I’m picking September 1 as my official start date as it’s both my and Edgar Rice Burroughs’ birthday. How much more karmically charmed can this project be?”

Jim Sullos, President of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc., said:

“We’re excited to be working with Joe on this historic project. Joe’s association with Edgar Rice Burroughs has already produced an extraordinary body of work, and we look forward to sharing this project with new generations of Burroughs readers.”

The first volume in the series, Tarzan of the Apes, hit the streets in late 2019. Since then, seven more volumes have been published, all with beautiful Jusko covers. Get on over to the ERB, Inc. store. They’ve got a sale going on as we speak.

I’m really short on time, but I wanted to throw in two of my absolute favorite ERBian paintings from Jusko—both Barsoom-related—which can be viewed below.

Happy birthday and thanks for all the great Burroughs art, Joe.