Dynamite Entertainment 2019
Written by Jeff Parker
Illustrated by Dean Kotz
Coloured by Omi Remalante
Lettered by Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
“The Lost Hero”
John Carter is back on Earth! Unfortunately, there’s also a seemingly-unlimited army of lil’ green dudes here, hell-bent on killing every woman/man/dog/llama/vegetable in sight. Can our intrepid sci-fi hero get his head wrapped around the madness and strike back, or has he arrived just in time to see his home-world’s destruction?
Last issue I said I was surprised that I liked this as much as I do and ya know what I am going to say that again because this is so much fun and so well done and it just has this crazy good vibe about it. The writing that Jeff is doing here is spectacular as he manages to infuse the wackiness of the Mars Attacks franchise with a seriousness that is unexpected and works beyond what I thought possible. The opening here is fantastic as it shows well how the world would respond to this invasion from the news to the guy online fishing for likes it is something to see and the White House response is classic.
The book has a great flow to it and the way that the book is set up we get to see a lot in a short amount of time. This gives us a nice broader look at what is happening while still allowing for some of that tongue-in-cheek humour that the Mars Attacks has associated with it. Meanwhile we see what Dr. Norman is up to with his two, we'll call them hostages for now, as they find themselves in the midst of the invasion. Watching them try to get to wherever it is Dr. Norman wants them to go is truly an outrageous ride. This is a well planned and executed book and the structure is strong as it shows us this great story & plot development with the character development woven throughout.
Another aspect of the book that I am really enjoying here is that we get to see things from the Martians point of view. How they woke up, their feelings about hu-mans and the desire to wipe them all out and take over the planet. Well that's the plan right in any Mars Attacks invasion right? Still they have a humour all their own as well which is all kinds of sensationally well done. The characterisation here is so good and there really isn't anything I can fault in.
the interiors here are great. I like the linework and how we see the varying weights to create some of this attention to detail. There are little personal and pop culture jokes in the art as well if you can find them, they are like little Easter Eggs and when you see one you'll know. I like the individuality that we see in the characters and the fact that the Martians have very little variation in them and only their accoutrements set them apart, such a cape or their chest pieces. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a solid eye for storytelling. The way we see backgrounds utilised here is superbly done. They manage to really enhance the moments and bring a size and scope to the story. The colour work is a great as well, I mean I would like to see the colour differentiation in the Martians brains be more prominent but that's really minor. The use of colour blocking and how we see light sources utilised to create the shading and shadows is nicely rendered.
Ya know if the ending of this book wasn't so damn cool I wouldn't be as happy as I am with it. The revelations and twists and turns that the last part of this story takes really is where things take a new turn. If there were time I would love to see a story based on and in this underground, fortified lab of his, Dr. Norman that is. The potential there is unlimited and the fact that Jeff takes us there and shows it's purpose well it could be the basis of a whole new book. Plus it could just house all the things that could help them defeat the Martians in addition to John Carter, Warlord of Mars, wait of Earth.
Dynamite is killing it with how they get these creators to do stories like this one and making them seem like everything about it is completely and utterly normal. I love them for letting them do this and the creators for having the Chutzpah and know-how to do it this well.