By: Arvid Nelson (writer), Carlos Rafael (illustrator), Carlos Lopez (colors), Marshall Dillow (letters), Edgar Rice Burroughs (creator)
The Story: Colossus of Mars, Part 1 of 5: Five hundred years before John Carter arrives on Mars, Helium is not the legendary twin cities, but two cities at war, the lesser of which is commanded by Dejah Thoris’ grandfather (only a Jed at this point). Dejah Thoris’ family is about to win when their liege lord tells the two cities to stop fighting, in part because he wants Dejah Thoris to marry his son. The other part of his reason is a lot more surprising.
What’s Good: Rafael and Lopez knocked the artwork out of the park. The first splash page was just beautiful with the rearing thoat foregrounded against weird aircraft firing on Greater Helium, while radium pistols and cannons wreak havoc where swords were too far from their enemies. Subsequent pages are filled with not only the pitched battle, but evocative, human faces. Mors Kajak especially is young and dynamic. The envoy from the Jeddak of Yorn and the son of the Jeddak were pricelessly done, with subtly applied ironic realism. And Dejah Thoris, of course, is beautiful. I don’t know how much Nelson is in cahoots with the two artists for Dynamite’s Mars books, but there are some beautiful Barsoomian touches that cross the two series. I’m just going to congratulate the whole creative team for the banners, flags, pikes, Barsoomesque helmets, and other cultural details. They were delightfully unexpected to a lifelong Barsoom fan like myself (I discovered Barsoom early through the novels and the Marvel comics). Lopez’ colors are also worth applause. He had a heavy task of finding the right tones to make sandy red Mars filled with red-skinned people come to life without appearing alien or gaudy. He used the perfect palette touches to make our Martian brothers and sisters come alive.
Storywise, Nelson’s got the big job of making something exciting of a character that never had the center stage under Burroughs, having only been the romantic interest to Burroughs’ hero John Carter. I had some doubts about what he’d be able to pull off, but he’s launched the series right. We have (a) peril for our heroine, (b) adventure with a swashbuckling flavor, (c) a powerful enemy, and (d) a big mystery (no pun intended). He set the stage, introduced the characters with a deft hand and then dropped them right into the fire. His character work on Mors Kajak, the envoy and Dor Valian was intriguing, while I felt that he’d laid enough of a base for us to discover more of Tardos Mors and Dejah Thoris next issue. I have to say that I wouldn’t mind seeing a young Mors Kajak taking center stage. The plot twist at the end, under the light of the radium lamps, was the kicker for me and sealed this issue perfectly.
What’s Not So Good: I couldn’t complain about a thing in this issue. I enjoyed every part of it.
Conclusion: Arvid Nelson has got Barsoom down, and his art team is spectacular. This is the right time to get on board this series. I am anxiously looking forward to issue #2.
Grade: A
-DS Arsenault
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