The Creators – Dan Abnett – Writer, Vasco Georgiev – Artist, Dearbhla Kelly – Letters

The Players – Dejah Thoris, Kantos Kan, Tars Tarkas, Sola, Tara of Gathol, Llana of Gathol, Kurz Kurtos, Sabal Than

The Story – Dejah Thoris and her dynasty no longer rule Mars, making everything new and in particular for her and her kin, dangerous.

The Take – Dan Abnett along with Vasco Georgiev takes the world of Dejah Thoris in a new direction, still familiar to those who have visited before, but changed due to the time period the book now finds itself in. No longer does Dejah Thoris find herself a princess of Mars, but merely as a scientist, looking to fix the planet even though it might be beyond saving at this point. Not only do those of Barsoom have a new Jeddak, but so too do the Tharks and they find themselves in an even more precarious situation than many others as they are starving and the Thark that overthrew Tars Tarkas is ineffectual as a leader at best which makes finding a solution to the problem unlikely at best. Like many of the stories that have preceded this one involving Dejah Thoris, there is intrigue aplenty as she still has many enemies who want to see her gone including the new Jeddak and Abnett weaves his story deftly, introducing not only this one villain, but another as well. One person which readers will notice is missing is John Carter, the man’s whereabouts not even hinted at, but his daughter Tara is present as is hers in Llana and it is good to see Abnett bring so many characters into the book, setting up what looks to be a big story. There is a bit of action present throughout, but not so much as to detract from all the moving parts that Abnett has put in play. The artwork by Georgiev is quite good, the man a perfect fit for the book and hopefully if Dynamite is smart about it, they will keep him on the title for as long as it runs. The only downside to the issue is that it is over before the reader knows it and wanting more the second that last panel hits. While Dejah Thoris has had some good titles in the past, this might be the most interesting one yet and seeing where it leads is going to be exciting to say the least.

Worth It? – Yes.