Comic Review: Dejah Thoris & The Green Men #3


Before someone asks, yes I missed issue 2. I'll try to catch up with a review of it as soon as I can get a copy. If this series gets better.

As this issue opens, Dejah is about to be carved up for supper by a nasty Thark when she luckily escapes thanks to another captive red woman who has developed a mystical power (a relative of a mystical energy field I think). Trapped in a series of caverns underneath Barsoom Dejah plays a game of cat and mouse with her captors while John Carter and Tars Tarkas try to piece together what happened to her.

I wasn't too thrilled with issue one of this series and sadly have to admit I'm not that crazy about this issue either. Part of it is just a nastiness I feel from the story, as it owes more to Jigsaw than John Carter of Mars, with its cut up female victims and blood spatter. Now I enjoyed the last Dejah miniseries, The White Apes of Mars as Mark Rahner and company I felt concocted a cool monster on the loose story. Here it just isn't working and turns into one of those I Spit on Your Grave revenge thrillers that I always thought were off-putting. Sorry folks but I have to call as it as I see it.

Which is sad as the artwork by Lui Antonio is a good reason to pick up this issue. He captures the dark catacombs Dejah is trapped under well, contrasted with the brighter outdoor scenes with John and Tars. He also makes the Tharks look like mean, nasty brutes. His work also carries the middle section-which actually works-where there is little dialogue or captions as Dejah flees and eventually fights for her life. If there is a reason to pick this up Antonio's work is it.

Beyond that though I feel that Dynamite, which has done really well with their other Barsoomian comics, just dropped the ball here. Some I'm sure will enjoy it but I would rather have more swashbuckler and less slasher movie here.

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