Dejah Thoris versus John Carter of Mars #03

Dejah Thoris versus John Carter of Mars #03

Dynamite Entertainment 2021

Written by Dan Abnett

Illustrated by Alessandro Miracolo

Coloured by Dearbhla Kelly

Lettered by Simon Bowland

John and Dejah are captured! Despite this, Dejah is delighted that John cared enough for her to attempt a rescue…perhaps their love is not lost! But John, headstrong as ever, has handed their enemies exactly what they want…

It is books like this one that make me wish I had read these novels as a kid or at least in school. I was just never introduced to them and never really knew they existed so I missed out on a lot during my early and late teen years. This for me not only embodies the idea of who John Carter is but it also creates this amazing dynamic with Dejah and Gall that shows how a once great civilisation has fallen to times that remind me of the middle ages on Earth. Sure the names have changed and the species are different but the world needed to be reunited and language needed to be restored and it just all has such a historically epic feel to the story. This is the kind of story that thrills fans of the series and can make new fans of those who thought that this isn’t up their alley, provided they give it a good solid chance.

I am a massive fan of the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented exceptionally well. The character development that we see through the dialogue, the character interaction as well as how we see them act and react to the situations and circumstances which they encounter keeps their personalities evolving and growing. The pacing is excellent and as it takes us through the pages revealing more of the story the more intriguing and exciting things become.

I really appreciate how we see this being structured and how the layers within the story continue to emerge, grow, evolve and strengthen. The layers within the story open up different avenues to be explored and while some will be and some won’t be, they all do the same thing and that adds such great depth, dimension and complexity to the story. The way we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is impeccably achieved.

The interiors here are fantastic. The linework is clean, crisp and strong and how we see the varying weights and techniques being utilised to create the detail within the work is both subtle and in-your-face bold. The creativity and imagination that we see is phenomenal and it really expands this world and its universe. I’d like to see more backgrounds because when we do they expand and enhance the moments beautifully. They also work within the composition of the panels to bring out the depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a remarkably talented eye for storytelling. The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work show a solid eye for how colour works.

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There is so much craziness that is going on here that it is absolutely delicious and very much reminds me of Dynasty in how it plays out. Sure it’s a superhero style story at its core but the politics, manipulation and sheer hatred of one another play out in ways that would make the most seasoned villain envious. With some spectacular writing and crazy good characterisation alongside these really interesting interiors make Barsoom thrive.