Brian Wood and Alex Cox have plotted an interesting tale for the former rulers of Helium. We are used to seeing them at the top of their powers and coming at the problems ahead of them from positions of strength. For John Carter, it means that he not only has to lead the army rebelling against his many times grandson, but he has to acknowledge that though immortal, time is beginning to weigh on his body and his is not the man he used to be.
Dejah Thors has begun to realize that all is not as she has been told. She knows that Den Thorkar’s advisers are hiding the truth from him and she decides to see what her grandson’s rule really means for the people of Barsoom. It is a truth that she has been unwilling to acknowledge so far.
I like that Wood (DMZ, Rebels) and Cox (Godzilla, Adventure Time) have pulled out a deep cut from Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Barsoom stories when the ultimate villain is revealed.
Hayden Sherman’s (The Few, Avengers Origins) brutal and stark art remains effective in this book, but in many cases it is hard to determine one character from another when they all have the same squared off faces. But, overall I like it. We are used to seeing the long slow decay of civilization on Barsoom, but here we are confronted by the precipice of a brutal dictatorship. We feel that we are on a world facing its final act.
I am interested in seeing where this story leads. It is an interesting take on the ideas that Burroughs presented in the Barsoom stories without being a complete retread of the more traditional swashbuckler takes.
[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]
Writers: Brian Wood & Alex Cox
Artist: Hayden Smith
Colors: Chris O’Halloran
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- Sent from the future by our Robot Ape overlords to preserve the timeline. Reading and writing about comics until the revolution comes. All hail the Orangutan Android Solar King!
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