“A Princess Of Earth, Part 1”
Creative Staff:
Story: Dan Abnett
Art: Sebastian Piriz
Colors: Dearbhla Kelly
Letterer: Simon Bowland
What They Say:
New arc, new artist, new jumping-on point for new readers! Dejah awakes in a mysterious cave, on a confusing planet, full of strange aliens known as “humans…”
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Dejah Thoris has been moving along at a very good pace for me in how the story has progressed. A lot of things are going on and Dan Abnett always makes it feel like each issue has a layer of progress to it. This issue isn’t exactly a new arc but a new storyline within the larger arc of what’s going on with Barsoom. What’s new here is that Sebastian Piriz has come on board for the art duties and it works well because it’s a transitional piece that puts us in a new location for the duration, so shifting the visual design some hits a certain sweet spot. Piriz’s work comes across pretty well here even if it has a touch of a flat look to it but some of that is the coloring in order to present the world of Jasoom different from Barsoom.
Dejah’s having been sent through to Jasoom is something that surprises her but she manages to pick up on it quickly enough instead of being muddled for the whole issue. For the reader, we learn that she’s landed in 1945 in Arizona outside of a military base near the end of the war. Which means she gets picked up pretty quickly by military police as a potential threat, particularly because of her outlandish clothes and her inability to speak the local language. It’s a delight watching her handle being interrogated since she experiences the same frustration as her interrogator over the language barrier, though he thinks she’s playing a part rather than actual incapable of English. Misunderstanding her to be a Native American and then potentially French if not something else, it’s a lot of miscommunication fun.
Dejah’s so used to the natural telepathic link that exists on Barsoom that when things do kick in here it’s a delight in how fast both sides try to talk. I really loved the design for the different languages here, Dejah’s colored in green bubbles instead of white, as it avoids trying to do anything really complicated and unnecessary. Of course, the reason she can suddenly be understood is because Lallah and Morokh followed her through from Barsoom to bring her back. Morokh is a delight as a “head in a bag” that Lallah carries around but is exhausted from all the help so far. It’s a good action sequence that follows and sets them on the path back home, at least until Dejah makes clear she intends to go to New York because she’s convinced a lot of this larger mystery is tied to Jasoom.
In Summary:
While I’ll easily admit I want to keep going with the events on Barsoom as we’ve seen in the first six issues, a side story to expand on it with a trip to Earth is welcome. Bringing Dejah and Lallah into 1945 and now on a road trip to New York was the last thing I expected at this point. Abnett delivers a lot of good encounters here to play out that are well-scripted and engaged, especially with how Bowland opted to handle the language barrier problem. Sebastian Piriz will do solidly on the book for its earthbound adventure as I like the look of the main characters and combined with the different feeling that comes from being on Earth it has a good color design as well.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: August 5th, 2020
MSRP: $3.99
