Warlord of Mars: Dejah Thoris #6 – Review

By: Arvid Nelson (writer), Carlos Rafael (artist), Carlos Lopez (colors), Joseph Rybandt (editor), Edgar Rice Burroughs (creator)

The Story: The Pirate Queen of Mars, Part 1 of 5: Water has ceased to flow from the south polar pumping stations to the newly united twin cities of Greater and Lesser Helium. This is a big deal, but the Jeddak and his son must deal with the destruction left by the Colossus of Mars. So Dejah Thoris, the Princess, leads a mission to the south pole to get the water flowing again.

What’s Good: The best pieces of this book were the introduction of the pirate queen, and her mysterious moon people. One of the exciting things in Burroughs’ Mars series was the strange alien races to be found there: green, red, yellow, white, black, plus others that were less humanoid. This new race to play in Barsoomian affairs felt totally like a tip of the iceberg, because I don’t remember it being part of the official canon (although, I only read the 10th and 11th books once, so maybe my memory fails me). I loved the strangeness and the strange steam-punky dress of the saboteur and the whole mysterious concept of pirates from Phobos or Deimos. I already know that Phobos and Deimos are tiny moons with, at best, microgravity, but I’m totally open for a steampunk revisioning of their role. Burrough did it with Jupiter, Mars and Venus, right? In terms of plotting and story, Nelson gave this first issue of the Pirate Queen of Mars arc a good launch, with plenty of mystery, intrigue and adventure. And, it turns out that Dejah Thoris got to keep some of the cool kit she got in the last five issues (those wings and that twin-bladed sword). This is good, because the extra kit will give some flexibility to where the stories can go and what Dejah can do (as if there wasn’t enough scope for adventure with flying warships).

Artwise, our trusty pair of Carloses delivered the goods. There was a lot of Barsoomian design to be done in this issue. For example, on the splash page, Rafael is doing a closer view on the Heliumite architecture than we’ve recently seen, and at the same time, he’s designing the sabateur’s clothing (an odd thing for Barsoom) and it comes off very successfully with a steampunk/pulp flavor. And on the old school feel, I loved how they switched on the power at the pumping station – in retrospect, it makes total sense, but I was expecting Martian super-science, so I was pleasantly surprised. And except for a some stiff moments, the characters were dynamic and the action and momentum of the panels drove forward on subtle postural choices (check out the saboteur leaping for the trailing anchor rope).

Warlord of Mars #2 – Review

By: Arvid Nelson (writer), Stephen Sadowski (illustrator), Adriano Lucas (colorist), Joe Rybandt (editor), based on the stories by Edgar Rice Burroughs

The Story: A Tale of Two Planets, Part Two: John Carter’s friend Powell is captured by Apache warriors in Arizona. Tars, a nameless, unproven Thark on Mars, is challenged by Tarkas, an ambitious green warrior eager to make a kill and gain honor.

What’s Good: Sadowksi and Lucas again make this visual experience come alive. From the opening splash page staring into an Arizona canyon, to the splash page at the end with one green warrior standing over another, the dynamism of the movements and the emotions on the faces are there. Nelson is really lucky to have an artist like Sadowski who can transmit nuanced emotion so Nelson’s words don’t have to. Fear, rage, pride, cunning, disdain and confusion are all there, without any need for words or dialogue. Carter’s supplication to Mars, that red point of light in the sky, is close to religious, and is narrated in silent body language. Carter’s expressions throughout the book would have fit on the poster of any old western. And, while I don’t usually give a thumbs up to gratuitous sensuality, Campbell’s jaw-dropping cover reminds me of why boys and men love Dejah Thoris. No wonder I wanted to be John Carter.

On the plotting side, Nelson’s obviously got a roadmap to follow, and I have read the Princess of Mars so many times that even the slightest deviation is noticeable. That being said, where Nelson does deviate, I like what he’s doing. All of Tars’ story is new and intriguing. Carter’s exploration of the cave and the pictures on the wall tie later events more closely together, without the coincidence that Burroughs so often resorted to. Nelson did the same thing last issue by giving the Apache warriors a motive to hunt the white men.