Never trust evil.
Creative Staff:
Story: Dan Abnett
Art: Alessandro Miracolo
Colors: Dearbhla Kelly
Letterer: Simon Bowland
What They Say:
The epic continues! Dejah takes a calculated risk, and trusts someone that could aid in defending against the dreaded Longborn. Little did she anticipate the arrival of THE BLACK PIRATES! Sweeping sci-fi action by DAN ABNETT (Justice League Odyssey) and ALESSANDRO MIRACOLO (Red Sonja)!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
As the series cemented some of how it wanted to proceed in the opening issue, there’s a lot to like here in what it wants to do. Taking that to the end with the Longborn certainly helped to paint a bigger picture for Dan Abnett to work with while still keeping it small and personal thanks to the group that Dejah is operating with, one where John Carter is on the outside for the moment. It also continues to look as rich as the story is thanks to Alessandro Miracolo’s artwork. There’s such a great angular look to the designs that really hits a sweet spot for me in making it engaging and stylish. The opening pages with the monsters as well show some great creativity that really helps to set the tone.
The bulk of the issue focuses on Dejah and her group as they finally get in front of Rotak. The other people has John trying to absorb information to catch up on what he’s missed while seeing how Tars is doing with his people. That eventually gets John back in the game more formally, and is likely to upset a delicate balance that Dejah is operating with, but his heart at least continues to feel like he’s coming from the right place. Dejah’s meeting with Rotak is one that’s not going to go well big picture no matter what, but I don’t think anyone expected him to be humble. He does try to go for the whole approach of being controlled by Sabal in order to remove himself from any real accusations, but that’s not what Dejah is after here as she’s trying to figure out what it is he’s produced with the former leader.
The verbal sparring for much of this is a delight and Rotak definitely comes across as a character quickly here, one that you know not to trust in the slightest. Which, of course, ends up happening when he takes them to see his creative but instead seems to just capture a couple of them and slow down the potential for any of their plans. You expect Rotak’s’ heel turn and I appreciate that it comes early, and that his frustration is in that Dejah has accomplished so much and ruined so many plans that he’s not getting paid for now. The scale of what the previous Jeddak was attempting to do is teased out again with what was left behind and it’s setting up well with just how dominating events will become.
In Summary:
Though our two tiles characters aren’t actually fighting each other at the moment, things are being nudged in directions that will make this a reality down the line. I like the little bits that we get with John and what it portends but the main focus is all on Dejah Thoris. And she does deliver here in interacting with Rotak and giving us a look into the bigger world that is not going anywhere in a direction that others are going to like. It’s a solid issue with great artwork that moves the storyline forward really well.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: August 25th, 2021
MSRP: 3.99
