Warlord of Mars Annual #1 – Review

By: Mark Rahner (writer), Stephen Sadowski (illustrator), Adriano Lucas (colorist), Joseph Rybandt (editor), Edgar Rice Burroughs (creator)

The Story: “Shell Shock”: After some sparring, John Carter and Tars Tarkas, two old warriors who have become best friends, go over a tale from Tars Tarkas’s past, one that took place just before Carter arrived on Barsoom.

The Review: It is very hard to capture the mood of Barsoom with an economy of words. The pulp tradition, born in the baroque written style of the late Victorian, is part of the charm. This was the first thing that struck me in this book. It is a story told by Tars Tarkas, so it marches in his reflective, expository style. At first, being so different from the post-Hemingway, post-Frank Miller styles of writing, it took a bit to switch gears and accustom myself to the different rhythm of story-telling. Once I was there, I was delighted, feeling like I’d immersed myself in an unearthed Burroughs tale. The story intrigued in that we open a window into the notoriously closed Thark Jeddak and see what he and Carter interpret first as a mid-life crisis, but slowly revealed itself as a philosophical angst that laid the emotional groundwork for the friendship the now exists between Carter and Tarkas. The narrative drive is powered by a crime and a mystery, with social tensions, but the heart of the story is emotional and satisfying. The icing on the cake for me was the end of the story, with the moment of laughter between the two good and great friends, one that I got to share in too.

Warlord of Mars: Fall of Barsoom #4 – Review

By: Robert Place Napton (writer), Roberto Castro (illustrator), Alex Guimaraes (colors), Joseph Rybandt (editor), Edgar Rice Burroughs (inspirer)

The Story: General Van Tun Bor makes some hard choices about what kind of man he is and how far he can follow the Jeddak of Horz. In the meantime, the Jeddak is sponsoring some lurid biotech through his cannibal mad scientist. And, the great scientist Tak Nan Lee reaches a crossroads not that different from the General’s.

The Review: Napton had pretty firm control of the plotting, emotional moments and the reveals in this issue. All parts of the story were competently done, but some shone. For example, although the wistful sense of loss associated with a dying planet had been communicated in many ways, both in words and pictures, in the first three issues of this series, Napton nailed me with a powerful, personal, emotional moment with General Van Tun Bor. The immediacy, intimacy and suddenness of Barsoom’s fall was surprising. The Jeddak’s arrogance and Bor’s struggle, as well as Tak Nan Lee’s were well developed, with the growing sense of tension as the Jeddak started making his moves. The other powerful emotional high of the book was the passing of the symbolic and thematic torch from white man to red woman. Very well done. The story is now set to conclude.

Warlord of Mars #4 – Review

By: Arvid Nelson (writer), Lui Antonio (artist), Adriano Lucas (colors), Edgar Rice Burroughs (creator), Joseph Rybandt (editor)

The Story: John Carter, prisoner of the Tharks of Mars, observes the Thark ambush of a strange flying fleet.

What’s Good: Nelson, Antonio and Lucas have crafted something great. Nelson continues to adapt Burroughs’ classic Princess of Mars to comics. He’s caught the formal, southern gentleman mood of the original in the narrative text boxes without having the dialogue sound stilted or Victorian. And he’s also found a way to keep the pace quick and adventurous without losing the reader in a medium that doesn’t have the space for a whole lot of explanation. Any adaptation is tough, and Nelson is walking the narrow path of doing justice to both the original story and the new medium.

Artwise, Lui Antonio delivered some awesome action, emotion and ancient Martian setting. This is no change from the last three issues. One thing I loved in the visuals this issue though was the reimagining of the flying ships of Helium. For almost a hundred years, the flying ships of Barsoom have been depicted as flying yachts, from the early book editions, through the excellent Ballantine editions (art by Michael Whelan) through to Marvel’s 1977-1979 series. Antonio brings a Star Wars feel (think Jabba the Hutt’s hovercraft) with insectoid accents. Very cool. And while we’re on the Star Wars feel, I have to say that Antonio’s finishes feel a lot like Cam Kennedy’s work on Dark Horse’ Star Wars series.
The other visual that just blew me away was Dejah Thoris by Antonio and Lucas. Oh. My. God. Stunning. Jaw-dropping. I’ve trashed a few comics here and there (as have my colleagues at WCBR) for gratuitous T&A, but the beauty here is that Dejah Thoris is close as you can get to Burroughs’ original conception of her. Gratuitous is when sensuality or violence isn’t necessary to the story. Barsoom is a world of natural beauty and ever-present danger. Antonio and Lucas delivered Burroughs’ vision in a way that felt honest. This begs the question of where beautiful Martian women aren’t honest. Let me put it this way, I had the choice between Campbell’s cover (which struck me as over the top) and Parrillo’s stunning scene of Carter fighting a white ape and chose Parrillo’s.