The trials of young Dejah Thoris!
Creative Staff:
Story: Amy Chu
Art: Pasquale Qualano
Colors: Valentina Pinto
Letterer: Thomas Napolitano
What They Say:
Dejah Thoris, obsessed with finding the legendary Gardens of Mars, recruits her own expedition team of scientists. But once outside the palace walls, things don’t go as planned, and the Princess learns the hard way just how dangerous Barsoom really is.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
With the fourth series launch for Dejah Thoris, the previous zero issue that came out for free or cheap depending on your version helped to set the stage for this one. With it taking place pre-John Carter, it allows us to see a more wild and inexperienced character, comparatively speaking, and explore some of how she became who we know. Amy Chu did a solid job on that issue and largely carries it over to here, though the pacing just feels a bit off in places as it leaps to and fro with locations rather than digging into more dialogue and character moments. What helps is that Pasquale Qualano does some great stuff here once again to give us these visions of characters that’s kind of like Greek mythology writ across the Barsoom landscape.
Dejah’s desire to find a new way to deal with the ongoing war that she’ll inherit someday, one that will be in a worse position than it is now, has her seeking out more on the legend of Ephesyium, a city from a long time ago that may not have really existed but had the unique technology to make water. With the world gone dry and resources strained and fought over, finding it and figuring out what they were doing makes sense. Of course, her father and grandfather have no time for fantasies such as this, the same as other men, and those are huge roadblocks in her path. Which is frustrating because you can see how this would be an ideal time to let her gain some experience leading and dealing with the discovery of heartbreak when it fails to provide results, and it doesn’t require much in the way of resources. But, the men “know better” and want her to focus elsewhere.
Dejah does find some ways to get some information and set up for things to come, initially going to one of the lesser royal libraries for information and getting some students assigned to her for help before she’s ratted out by others. It’s a kind of quick and fast approach that doesn’t work well for the flow of the story as nobody really gets some time to be explored, but it puts everything in motion for Dejah’s sneakaway journey. It’s a simple group that she draws in for this, young and old alike, and I’m hopeful that the upcoming installments will flesh them out more while giving Dejah more as well. What helps is that Qualano really does a great job of making these characters distinct and working within the framework of how this world is so that it has that kind of Greek physique element of legends and placing it all in this almost Arrakis-like experience.
In Summary:
Dejah Thoris and the whole John Carter world continues to feel like there’s a lot of enthusiasm from writers to be involved and it has a whole lot of potential but it has a hard time being fully realized. Amy Chu’s story is a familiar one but it has plenty of that potential, especially if Dejah can be really brought to life as I think she’s going to be able to, but exploring and explaining this world always feels like it’s not something that’s done well by most writers. That’s an area that I’m hoping improves and that it allows Pasquale Qualano the chance to really stretch his wings a bit with some creative locations and creatures, particularly since he’s got the character designs down so well so quickly here.
Grade: B
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: February 7th, 2018
MSRP: Free
