Dynamite Entertainment 2017
Written by Brian Wood & Alex Cox
Illustrated by Hayden Sherman
Coloured by Chris O’Halloran
Lettered by Thomas Napolitano
As John retrains with his old friend his wife the Queen has gone to see her son. Brian and Alex right off the bat show how different husband and wife are and they do live up to their reputations as a Warlord and a Queen. Though the real question and interest here is why has blood of their blood become a tyrant that people would travel to Titan to bring them back to deal with? Also can she forgive John for not telling her their child did live?
The way this story is written has been outstanding from the start and yes I realise that this is only the third issue but i’m truly astonished by what we’ve seen thus far. The level of complexity here really took me by surprise and as the story continues it really brings back old elements that made the original such a classic. It’s like everything old is new again only this time around things are much more complicated in their origin. The greens need freedom, the people have a tyrant for a leader and there’s too much bloodshed it’s like we are discovering this place for the first time all over again.
Another thing about this that has really grown on me with each issue is the interior artwork. What Hayden and Chris do here is spectacular. I love the unique stylised work we see and that while he’s training with the Tarkis that John’s naked. The use of page layouts through their angles, perspective and utilisation of backgrounds really helps the flow of the story. I am enjoy the emotion, mood, tone and feel that the work brings.
Aside from that the story has that feeling of coming full circle it’s really done in this manner that captures the mind. I mean when we got to the end of this issue I wasn’t expecting anything like what was revealed. Suddenly things started to make more sense as to why they were happening in this manner well at least on Mars. Then with that realisation the way the two are going about figuring out what is happening could be one of those inadvertent two-pronged attack that would free the world once and for as well as reuniting the entire family.
The level of storytelling here is worthy of Burrough’s original writing of the tale. It already has that sweeping epic feel to it where’s it’s destined to be a classic. With an amazing story, stellar characterisation and some high quality stylised interior artwork this surpasses anything you could have expected from it!