Dynamite Entertainment 2017
Written by Brian Wood & Alex Cox
Illustrated by Hayden Sherman
Coloured by Chris O’Halloran
Lettered by Thomas Napolitano
MARS AT WAR. After crash-landing on the ravaged planet, circumstances separate John Carter and Dejah…both literally and ideologically. Despite their centuries of marriage, can a born warrior and Queen survive this most desperate challenge?
I’m more than a little enamoured with this story. I love the fact that it is a more fully realised science fiction story than a fantasy one and that this takes place like four hundred years in their history’s future. This is kind of just crazy to me but seeing the scenery, the city and the way it’s so alien and yet familiar with the indigenous species of Mars still at war and still struggling to survive a dictator it just has all the right feel to it.
I have to say that the way this is unfolding is fascinating. That John kept from Dejah the fact that the boy lived and the selfishness that is involved there is yet another rift to push them apart keeps the story rotating at angles that you don’t expect. So it really shouldn’t have come as a surprise last issue when Dejah ran off leaving John there where the ship crash landed but it kind of does at the same time.
I’m taken with Hayden’s vision of this era and this world and these people. His unique style and the way he presents his vision on the page using the layouts through angles, perspective and backgrounds really has this unexpected emotional impact. His ability to get you to feel the power in his work is surprisingly good and it makes the writing just that much better. The creativity and imagination on display here is amazing to see and we need more people like this who’s work is so strong that it touches and moves us.
I like the one who summoned John to Mars to help them out. The fact that this would be the last time the two would be able to see each other like this is outstanding. The circumstances and the way the Greens are threatened and the way we learn of their evolutionary path there is so much potential here as well. There’s this way that we learn things throughout the story that keeps you on your toes as you read because you never know what’s going to be revealed. Whether it’s from John’s point of view or Dejah’s they come at you fast and unexpectedly so that we have to pay attention to what we’re reading is phenomenal.
Even if you’ve never been more than a casual fan of John Carter Warlord of Mars this is something you should be reading. This is something that everyone from longtime fans to those casual acquaintances can read and enjoy in such totally different ways. It doesn’t feel like the end of the story just the story about the end of a journey and that is something amazing to see right now. I’m truly thrilled and enthralled by this story already and can’t wait to see how it goes from here.