Warlord of Mars #3 – Review

By: Arvid Nelson (writer), Lui Antonio (artist), Adriano Lucas (colorist), Troy Peteri (letterer)

The Story: Continuing one of the classic sci-fi stories of all time, John Carter wakes up on Lowell’s dying Mars of canals, deserts and the warring races struggling to survive. John Carter meets the awesome Tharks.

What’s Good: Where the frak has Lui Antonio been hiding? OMG you *have* to check out his Martian cities (starting at the double splash-page about a third of the way through). I’ve looked at Michael Whelan’s Barsoomian art, seen Gil Kane’s take on Barsoom, but Antonio blew me away. The architecture is *weird* (in a great way), almost like Jack Kirby mixed with John Byrne’s Attilan. The level of detail in the cities (always high on my rating system) was fantastic, with ornate geometric decorations and a soaring stadium for Lorquas Ptomel’s council chamber. The brilliance of the scenery goes on. Antonio drew an entire tiled mural (Greek Byzantium style) just to give the right feel of awe to a single panel. And the lurid red of the night sky outside of Carter’s window was captivating. I was ready for the draftsmanship on the bodies and faces to be a little less than stellar. That was absolutely without reason. Antonio draws a *very* muscular, proportioned (for comics) John Carter, with a very assertive jawline, and evocative expressions to carry the story along. The fight scene (where Carter clocks his first Martian) was surprisingly brutal, with the consequences drawn out (no pun intended).

The Immortal Iron Fist: The Origin of Danny Rand #1 – Review

By Matt Fraction, Roy Thomas, Len Wein (writers), Kano, Gil Kane, Larry Hama (artists), Dick Giordano (inks), A. Crossley (colors)

I was wondering if or when Ed Brubaker or Matt Fraction would take it upon himself to retell or retcon the origin of Danny Rand. Looking back on their run it’s surprising how Danny Rand was left out of their series of big origin stories. After all, he is the star of the series. But after reading this issue, it all makes perfect sense: why ruin a good thing?

For those looking for a fresh story, look elsewhere. This book is essentially a reprinting of Marvel Premiere #15 and 16 with a few pages of new story by Fraction which acts as little more than window dressing. What impressed me is how well the origin of Danny Rand still holds up. Sure, some of the dialogue and thugs are cheesy (the guys who ambush Danny in New York look like a bunch of frat boys), but for the most part it’s a pretty entertaining story with just a tad of Marvel 1970s goofiness thrown in for good measure.

Reading these two reprinted issues, it becomes very obvious how these stories inspired Brubaker and Fractions run on the books. If you’ve read their run, the narrative will be all too familiar; you’ll feel right at home. Another thing I enjoyed is how the old 1970s art by Gil Kane and Larry Hama has been completely recolored with computers. Normally, I would be against this sort of thing, but the coloring work by A. Crossley isn’t intrusive. Instead, it enhances the artwork in a subtle and respectful manner. If Marvel wants to do more of this stuff in the future, I wouldn’t be against it.

Sure, this book may just be a reprint, two stories for $3.99 ain’t a bad thing these days. (Grade: B+)

– J. Montes