John Carter returns to Mars! This time Dynamite Entertainment takes on The Gods of Mars in the next of the Barsoom series.
WARLORD OF MARS #13
Writer: Arvid Nelson
Artist: Edgar Salazar
Colorist: Maxflan Araujo
Letterer: Marshal Dillon
Covers: Joe Jusko, Stephen Sadowski, Lucio Parrillo
Editor: Joseph Rybandt
Publisher: Dynamite Entertainment
Cover Price: $3.99
Previously in Warlord of Mars: John Carter saved the day, the planet of Mars, and all of the inhabitants. And just when he thought it time to settle down with Deja Thoris and raise a family, he’s zapped back to Earth.
TEN YEARS LATER
Dynamite Entertainment did a great job with their adaptation of the Princess of Mars, and with the first big adventure done, the next logical step is to jump on The Gods of Mars – still in public domain in the United States of America.
John Carter awakens to find himself back on Mars, in a lush valley, with no idea where he is. When plant creatures begin attacking a group of Green Martians, led by long time friend Tars Tarkas, Carter knows there’s only one thing to do – kick some alien ass. A quick escape finds the duo in a hidden palace, where Carter ends up rescuing Thuvia of Ptarth (soon to be Princess Thuvia, and soon to be the star of her own book if Dynamite takes it that far).
There’s not much of a story that happens in this first chapter. The hero returns, fight and flight, and a sexy lady are all par for the course when it comes to John Carter, and each of those elements are here in the first chapter. As far as adaptations go, Dynamite Entertainment once again captures the spirit and the general plot of the opening chapter of The Gods of Mars, and though this is far from my favorite Barsoom tale, Arvid Nelson does a very good job. An exploration of false and misleading religions and race relations is a touchy subject, and may push readers away if this goes for twelve issues, but I say stick with it, it does get interesting.
NEKKID BODIES EXPLAINED
Throughout the series, artist Edgar Salazar has done an excellent job in dealing with naked people running around. Generally his art has been stellar, and though we do get to see nubile young slave girls, plant monsters and giant white apes, when it comes to the male form, Salazar shows us once and for all why we never see the male bulge when heroes are wearing skin tight costumes.
Though it would be fun to think that all comic book characters get their genes from Ken Dolls, this is clearly an inking error, as the normal Dynamite Heavy Inking style isn’t present in this issue, and it really should be an embarrassment for the publisher. This is the second Warlord of Mars book that I’ve read in the last month that has printing errors in it. Considering the cover price, the company might want to have a sit down with their printer and make sure these kinds of mistakes don’t happen again. That or they need to up the mature rating to adult and let the freak flag fly.
BOTTOM LINE: ANOTHER GOOD ADAPTATION
Warlord of Mars #13 is another good first chapter in adapting an Edgar Rice Burroughs property. The Gods of Mars deals with some heady subjects, but the quest for the hero to be reunited with his love, should pull the series through. Though there is quite a humorous/embarrassing art gaff in this issue, Warlord of Mars #13 holds strong and earns 3 out of 5 Stars.
[rating:3/5]