(lead in line goes here)
Creative Staff:
Story: Amy Chu
Art: Pasquale Qualano
Colors: Valentina Pinto
Letterer: Thomas Napolitano
What They Say:
The untold story of the Red Martian princess! After learning of the legendary Gardens of Mars from her grandfather, Dejah Thoris, Princess of Helium, sets off on a dangerous scientific expedition to save her dying planet. But things don’t go the way she planned when she encounters a mysterious Green Martian prisoner… A prequel to Edgar Rice Burroughs’ beloved book A Princess of Mars.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Dejah Thoris is getting another shot at a series with this fourth volume getting underway where the first issue comes in at free digitally and I believe twenty-five cents in print, following a trend to get people to sample books from Dynamite. I had enjoyed the last series overall and I like the whole Barsoom world but still struggle to find really good books within it. This series has Amy Chu settling in to write it with Pasquale Qualano handling the artwork. I’ve enjoyed some of Chu’s work and am curious to see how this adventure style series will go and I’ve dug a lot of Qualano’s artwork on some recent Bombshells books he’s worked on so there’s definitely some good use of his style here to give the book some life – especially with Pinto’s color designs.
A decent chunk of what’s here, taking place in a pre-John Carter phase, introduces us to the world of Barsoom. The first pieces gives us the world that was, lush in life and beauty in so many ways before it all fell apart and turned to alliances that went bad and the need to consolidate to try and retain something of culture before it was consumed by the desert. The tale being told to Dejah by her grandfather as a young child shifts to her desire as a young woman wanting to find the lost city that’s likely more made up than anything else but speaks to her curiosity and desire to understand the world that she’s to rule someday, long after her father and grandfather pass. We see some of her minor rebellious nature here but mostly she comes across well and we get a solid understanding of the basics of the foundations of this world.
Dejah’s world begins to change with us here, however, as her father has returned with a White Ape that’s to be killed, stuffed, and mounted, and that has him showing more of what it means to rule, such as taking her to the dungeons to understand that they really do have enemies. It’s no surprise that her curiosity gets the better of her when one of the Green Martians down there talks of the lost city as though he knows where it is and she helps to orchestrate his escape, intending to go with him. While we’re used to her more refined and commanding ways from other series it’s always fun to go back to a less certain and confident young woman that we get here and see her make the mistakes she must in order to learn from them and be what Barsoom needs to lead it forward. There’s a lot of predictable moments here for her but they’re all well-executed and it sets up the series easily enough.
In Summary:
And that’s the main point in trying to make it clear what the main book will be like when it gets underway, making it cheap and accessible to try out. Amy Chu puts all the right pieces into the pot and it’s coming together well based on what’s here so far and I’m definitely curious to see what twists and turns are ahead, particularly of Qualano is on board for a good run of the art. I’ve really enjoyed his work elsewhere and it fits in very well here, whether with young Dejah or the teenage one that’s ready to get out into the world. With a bit more worldbuilding in terms of visual design while still keeping things manageable I think this’ll be a great looking book that helps to carry and elevate the stories forward.
Grade: B
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: January 10th, 2018
MSRP: Free
