John Carter: Warlord of Mars #12

Writer – Ron Marz, Ian Edginton
Artist – Ariel Medel
Colours – Nanjan Jamberi

Having woken the last Orovar completely by accident, our heroes and those that would oppose them now find themselves in a bit of trouble. While John and Dejah have come to find a way to save their world, others have come to pillage the Orovar fortress for riches. Now that they face a problem in common, namely the Orovar who thinks himself a god and everyone else as chattel, they must band together to defeat the sleeping giant or die beneath his heel. Ever since the latest reboot, Ron Marz, now joined by Ian Edginton, have been crafting exciting tales featuring Edgar Rice Burroughs’ classic characters with this one being no exception. The Orovars seem like a very interesting race, very much like those beings from Prometheus that seeded Ridley Scott’s universe in his Alien franchise. They are extremely advanced and had plans to colonize other planets until fate intervened and they went into hibernation. Waking up this last one now means that he can continue what they started long ago and that means bad news for Dejah and for John and even worse news for Mars. The dialogue and story are as good as ever with one really standout moment from Dejah Thoris who tells her beloved while they are being attacked that she can look after herself. It is both funny and telling of the differences between her and John, as he is used to the mannerisms and customs of the United States on Earth, whereas she grew up in a very alien land with far different practices. Though he has gotten used to it, John Carter’s gallantry still shines through sometimes and while Dejah might object to it once in a while, you can see that she loves it. So although our heroes were unable to accomplish their quest with this issue and hope might seem fleeting, if anyone is able to save Mars, it is John Carter and his princess, Dejah Thoris.

4 out of 5

Aquaman #45

Writer – Cullen Bunn
Artist – Trevor McCarthy
Inker – John Dell, Art Thibert, Vicente Cifuentes
Colours – Guy Major

Aquaman thought he was transporting himself to safety last issue after his encounter with Siren, and while that was true in a way, he never expected it to be to an alien world. Cullen Bunn continues to put Arthur through his paces and he brings along returning artist Trevor McCarthy to help him do so. At first, we find Arthur being challenged by the landscape and the need to find water, something that could potentially be impossible. Then come the local creatures which are not the friendliest of beings and then the resident populace as well who manage to patch him up after his encounter with said creatures. At first, the issue seems to be just something to pad the overall story with and yet Bunn manages to tie it into his plot about the Thule and the missing Atlanteans and we find out that maybe Aquaman has a bigger role to play than he thought. There has been criticism online as of late regarding this storyline, which seems a little unfounded because this story does what exactly what the title has always done – feature action and adventure, adversity meaning a challenge for our hero and it does something a little different than what has come before. It does not mean that things will not go back to the way they were before. The artwork is great, the story exciting and quite intriguing and it is written well which is the most important thing. It should be quite interesting to see how Aquaman overcomes the Thule and if he can reunite the two Atlantean civilizations, not to mention rescue Mera wherever she might be. Most stories and changes in continuity are temporary in nature when it comes to comic books and the characters that star in them and the same will be said of this particular story when it is all said and done. For now, Bunn and McCarthy are doing a great job and it is a shame that this will be the only story we will see from them starring Aquaman.

3.5 out of 5