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.
What’s Not So Good: I really think that this was an excellent piece of work and am going to have trouble deciding whether it or Batman and Robin become my best of the past week. That being said, I think that there are two small weaknesses to point out. The first is simply a roughness in the art around Carter himself, Woola and the white apes. It may be that Antonio is still getting a feel for these subjects. He has everything else down pat. The other is a criticism I would bring to any movie or comic adaptation of a novel, and that is that so much narrative and exposition has to be removed to fit the story in the confines of panels (or storyboards), that the finished product can have a bit of a stochastic feel.
Conclusion: I loved this issue. If you liked John Carter or Tarzan as a kid, you’ve got to pick up this gem of a series.
Grade: A
-DS Arsenault
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Filed under: Dynamite Entertainment Tagged: | Adriano Lucas, Arvid Nelson, comic book babes, Dejah Thoris, DS Arsenault, Edgar Rice Burroughs, John Carter, Joseph Rybandt, Lui Antonio, Mars, review, Reviews, Tars Tarkas, Thark, Warlord of Mars #4, Warlord of Mars #4 reveiw, Weekly Comic Book Review
