1866 Arizona, Confederate officer John Carter, Gentleman of Virginia, forever aged 30, wakes naked on Mars. Low gravity increases his speed and strength exponentially, so he impresses green alien Thark captors with fighting, wins high rank. He frees Dejah Thoris, Princess of red men in Helium, only to lose her to the Prince of opposing red Zodanga.

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      Former Confederate soldier John Carter is trapped in an Arizona cave and then wakes upon Mars, known to the natives as "Barsoom". Because his body is built for Earth's gravity, he has tremendous strength on Mars and can leap great distances with little effort.

     He quickly wins the respect of Tars Tarkas, the ferocious leader of the six-limbed, green Martian Tharks. But when the Tharks capture the beautiful humanoid princess Dejah Thoris, Carter almost immediately falls in love with her and begins plotting their escape.

    With the help of Dejah Thoris, the princess of another clan on Mars, John Carter fights for their freedom and love and to save the entire planet from destruction as the oxygen providing Atmosphere Factory slowly grinds to a halt.

      A Princess Of Mars is a product of another age, an adventure written to entertain an unsophisticated readership. Scientifically impossible and often soddenly narrated, it is too old-fashioned. But the book has been hugely influential, displays a good-natured innocence and certainly doesn't lack for action.

• I like the way Edgar Rice Burroughs wrote about the following things:
• The way a writer portrayed the value of feelings and emotions in life and how love and kindness conquers all.
• The faithfulness of animals no matter on whichever planet they are whether its Mars or Earth. I liked Woola (the loyal friend & dog of John Carter)

Okay, first off, I have a confession to make. I haven't read any of the Edgar Rice Burroughs Barsoom novels in a very long time, and honestly don't remember much about them. I know that I enjoyed them, back in the day, but I'm not what you would call a hardcore fan. So, when I spotted Dejah Thoris and the Green Men of Mars Volume 1, it was really nothing more than a whim that made me revisit the world.

To be honest, while it was an okay read, I didn't feel like it was anything special. It didn't make me want to dig out the old paperbacks in my basement, but it also didn't make me desperate to revisit the original material in defense of Mr. Burroughs.

My main problem with the series is that it really stretches a simple story line pretty thin, with nothing really happening. You've got Dejah Thoris captured by the Green Men of Mars, and John Carter wandering around wondering where she is, but not really doing anything to find her. Really, that's about it - the entire series is basically Dejah getting beat up, trying to escape, and getting some payback.

Having said that, there were some great scenes in the comic, particularly when we get our first glimpse of the Tharks' rather hungry plans for Dejah. Similarly, there's a lot of violence here, some of it rather bloody, and it does make for a great bit of pulp fun. The story also does a decent job of attempting to address the evolution of Burroughs' world, complete with lingering distrust and the intricacies of forming alliances with old enemies. Most importantly, of course, there's a lot of flesh on display, and Lui Antonio is to be commended for his skill in capturing the essence of those old pulp-era adventure covers.

One flaw I found with the series - and this, to be fair, may be a deliberate limitation in the digital galley - is that the artwork is a little rough, almost as if it's out of focus. The dialogue blurbs are crisp, as is the lettering, but they almost seem to float above the page because of the difference in quality. Like I said, it may be a deliberate sort of copy-protection, but I did find it distracting.

Overall, Dejah Thoris and the Green Men of Mars Volume 1 didn't leave me clamoring for second volume, but it was a pleasant enough distraction.


Originally reviewed at Beauty in Ruins

Dejah Thoris and the Green Men of Mars is a thrilling return to the old school, sword and sci-fi era personified in Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Mars books, and it is without a doubt a worthy successor to those novels in every way.

 

The story that comes to life so vividly through Lui Antonio’s art and Mark Rahner’s writing centers on the beginning of a new era on Barsoom, for the relationship between the red people of Helium and their warlike, six-limbed, green-skinned neighbors, the Tharks, has changed.  A relationship that before John Carter’s arrival upon the red planet was best described as mutual hatred has now transformed into one of understanding and acceptance.  But while the wise among both people have embraced this vision of a new Barsoom, even they realize that erasing millenniums of enmity will not be easily accomplished or without its detractors.

 

Dejah Thoris of Helium herself is one of these wise leaders; a red-skinned princess who has whole heartedly embraced the Tharks in friendship but is plagued by feelings of distrust of her new green-skinned allies.  Her misgivings fueled by vivid flashbacks of her own abuse and brutalization at the hands of Tharks.  No matter Dejah’s personal feelings however, she moves ahead with a grand Red and Green celebration to memorialize the dawning of a new era of peace upon Barsoom, and it is then that things fall apart in a most disturbing fashion, as a dark side of Thark society rears its distasteful head.  And the tale that follows is pure Burroughs’ Barsoom in all its unique glory.

 

Without a doubt, this graphic novel is well worth a read whether a person is a longtime John Carter fan or new to the world of Barsoom.  While the beautiful artwork - full of scantily clad and well proportioned women and men! - is pure eye candy, it is the seamless coupling of those images with an entertaining and revealing story that sets this apart from other sword and sci-fi yarns.  The simple fact is that  Dejah Thoris and the Green Men of Mars is pure, sugarcoated entertainment, full of interesting back story, filled with intense violence, and chopped full of old school sci-fi fun.  Pick it up and enjoy!

 

Netgalley provided this book to me for free in return for an honest review.  The review above was not paid for or influenced in any way by any person, entity or organization, but is my own personal opinions.

I've followed Dynamite Entertainment's various comic series based upon "Warlord on Mars" and this is one of the better adventures I've come across in a while.  The last volumes I perused had Dejah Thoris, one of the main characters, really not doing much of anything and being something of a damsel in distress in environments that really went for show rather than being anything remotely that I could believe.  Suffice to say, I was more than disappointed perusing those.

 

Thankfully, that changes with this particular volume, a compilation of four issues in the "Dejah Thoris and the Green Men" line.  Dejah Thoris, Tars Tarkkas, and John Carter all make appearances in this volume, but Dejah's taking the reins as she's captured by a rogue group of Green Men who torture and brutalize their prisoners, auctioning off body parts of their victims to the highest bidder. Dejah's on the run and fighting for her life. Fair warning for graphic violence and torture scenes.  

 

The consistency of the artwork is much better in this particular installation, and the story held my attention for all of the thirty minutes it took for me to read it.  The volume also contains a full color risque cover gallery, which I appreciated from an artistic rendering perspective (warning: contains graphic nudity).

 

In sum it was a well written compilation written by Mark Rahner and illustrated by Lui Antonio.  I would read future installments of the series based on this one, and I hope the momentum of the storylines and the artwork quality continue with it.  It was a quality compilation for what it offered.

 

Overall score: 3.5/5 stars

 

Note: I received this as an ARC from NetGalley, from the publisher.

I've followed Dynamite Entertainment's various comic series based upon "Warlord on Mars" and this is one of the better adventures I've come across in a while. The last volumes I perused had Dejah Thoris, one of the main characters, really not doing much of anything and being something of a damsel in distress in environments that really went for show rather than being anything remotely that I could believe. Suffice to say, I was more than disappointed perusing those.

Thankfully, that changes with this particular volume, a compilation of four issues in the "Dejah Thoris and the Green Men" line. Dejah Thoris, Tars Tarkkas, and John Carter all make appearances in this volume, but Dejah's taking the reins as she's captured by a rogue group of Green Men who torture and brutalize their prisoners, auctioning off body parts of their victims to the highest bidder. Dejah's on the run and fighting for her life. Fair warning for graphic violence and torture scenes.

The consistency of the artwork is much better in this particular installation, and the story held my attention for all of the thirty minutes it took for me to read it. The volume also contains a full color risque cover gallery, which I appreciated from an artistic rendering perspective (warning: contains graphic nudity).

In sum it was a well written compilation written by Mark Rahner and illustrated by Lui Antonio. I would read future installments of the series based on this one, and I hope the momentum of the storylines and the artwork quality continue with it. It was a quality compilation for what it offered.

Overall score: 3.5/5 stars

Note: I received this as an ARC from NetGalley, from the publisher.