Almost the end.
Creative Staff:
Story: Amy Chu
Art: Pasquale Qualano
Colors: Valentina Pinto
Letterer: Thomas Napolitano
What They Say:
Danger is everywhere, even in the air! Outgunned and outmanned, Dejah Thoris and the crew of the Xataxian battle the legendary Black Pirates of Barsoom.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
With Dejah Thoris wrapping up her fourth volume in the next issue there’s a little frustration that comes into this installment because, once again, it’s just hard for this character to get stories to tell that covers any amount of time. Amy Chi has had a mixed run but there’s so much potential with what she’s worked with here that it leaves me wanting more. Particularly paired with Pasquale Qualano as I’ve really enjoyed his artwork in how it has a kind of old school feeling to it but capturing the power of the characters. Especially with what Valentina Pinto does with the color work to give our favorite Helium folks a chance to shine and look great.
With this issue, it’s pretty much everyone on the run because of the encounter with the First Born. They have their larger plan going on here within this world that is at war but it feels slippery and elusive here to me, not a focal point to latch onto beyond wanting the ship and whatever else they can either capture or destroy from all those that they consider enemies. The lack of a strong defined protagonist is what’s slowing things down some but it, in turn, lets us keep most of our focus on Dejah and Keel as they figure out the best approach to dealing with the enemy. The closest that it feels like we get to having someone to really distrust and see as the bad guy is Dekana but it continues to feel like we’re getting just slivers of her story and there may be more to what’s going on than appears.
Keel has been an interesting character in this arc because there’s a kind of classic element to who he is and how he operates which naturally grated on Dejah a bit. You could see how there’s a kind of being groomed for bigger things to him combined with the attitude and slickness that would bother her. But she also recognizes when someone will go the distance and do the right thing for the bigger picture, which makes for some good material as he comes up with a plan to deal with the threat of this ship and all those that it can capture. That it requires sacrifice is not something easily thought of but it even in this quick and tightened pace it delivers something that works very well to show him to be on the right side of events and willing to put himself where he needs to in order to protect the greater good. I plainly did not expect his arc in this storyline would land him here.
In Summary:
I continue to like Dejah Thoris and what she brings to the stories on Barsoom because we get some interesting angles to play with and dimensions that we don’t from John Carter. This storyline has been fun overall with what it’s been exploring and I’ve really enjoyed the expansion of my understanding of this world and all that it has in it since I’ve only had smatterings of it. Amy Chu keeps things moving well here and Pasquale Qualano has some great layouts and some really sweet moments for both Keel and Dejah that makes me want more and more of it. I’m looking forward to seeing how this arc ends and for years more of Dejah stories ahead of us in one form or another.
Grade: B
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: October 17th, 2018
MSRP: Free
