“A Princess Of Earth, Part 4”
Creative Staff:
Story: Dan Abnett
Art: Lee Ferguson, Marc Deering
Colors: Dearbhla Kelly
Letterer: Simon Bowland
What They Say:
Only one issue to go on Dan Abnett’s spectacular run on DEJAH THORIS! Secrets of The End Winter will finally be revealed! By Abnett (Guardians Of The Galaxy) and Sebastian Piriz (Disaster Inc)!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Dejah Thoris has been a wild ride with this series and it’s been a big boon to it that Dan Abnett moved it forward decades into the future and worked with an expanded lineage from our title character. He’s been able to build something really interesting in a place we’ve seen a lot of things play out in the past and that’s not always easy. This issue brings in Lee Ferguson and Marc Deering on the artwork and it’s definitely a solid piece all around with how it looks, but I’ll admit to missing a bit of Piriz’s artwork from the last couple of issues and his sense of style that had a nice uniqueness to it when it comes to this series.
The opening pages are really quite good as we get Dejah making her case to Tul Harka as the Thark Jeddak to realize that they’re all being manipulated and used for a grander scheme. It’s not something that he’s ready to listen to but when he realizes that she’s the first one outside of his clan to be understandable in language in some time, it gives him a reason to listen. And through help from the others that Dejah’s working with, she’s able to bring him up to speed on what’s happening in Helium and what the Longborn are up to. It’s a quick fill-in kind of moment overall but at the same time, it reshapes the battle in a huge way, bringing her to work alongside not just the Tharks but the Warhoon as well as they’re able to be convinced.
That has Kurz Kurtos, the Jeddak of Helium, really panicking now that everything is coming at them and it was the last thing expected. With word of troops deserting and the potential for the walls to fall, he’s in a panic. Even worse for him, in a way is the arrival of Sabal Than of Zdoanga, making it clear that she and Kurtos have been working together. Only one other learns of this and is horrified by the reveal, but the Jeddak is in charge and it becomes clear that she’s why they’ve been winning so much for so long. It’s a great little bit of politics and how it’s revealed here and having it play out while Dejah and a small elite crew are just below in secret tunnels not used in ages makes it all the more worthwhile. There’s some great dialogue there about how she worked these tunnels as a child – and how they held back the Thanks at times over generations in being able to move troops throughout it – which really delights before we get to the final confrontation.
In Summary:
If there’s a series that I’m depressed that it’s about to come to an end, it’s this one. Dan Abnett has crafted a strong series here that takes much of what came before but builds it out to some really interesting areas taking place far down the future so that it’s not just another repeat of what we’ve been through. The way things come together here may be a little quick but it’s standard third act material and hits a good pace to really build the excitement and set us up for the finale. With Ferguson and Deering turning in some solid artwork for it, the whole thing builds just right to where it needs to be.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: February 10th, 2021
MSRP: $3.99
