Do 'Warlord of Mars Annual' and 'Warriors of Mars' Have Us Seeing Red? [Dynamite Advance Reviews]

Are you ready to “get your ass to Mars,” with two comic books that have nothing to do with Total Recall? I hope so, as we’re pleased to give you reviews of two different Red Planet-centric comics from Dynamite. As usual, mild spoilers from here on out:

Warlord Of Mars Annual #1
Where the heck did this Mark Rahner guy come from? After last week’s excellent Green Hornet Annual #2, and this week’s Warlord of Mars Annual #1, Rahner has vaulted to probably the second best writer in Dynamite’s stable (the first would be Garth Ennis, you guys). It may be my exceedingly low standards for licensed or public domain properties, but Rahner, and his excellent penciller on this annual, Stephen Sadowski went above and beyond, making me into a fan of Mars... Well, their version, at least.

Without spoiling too much here, the comic starts with a dynamic fight scene between two friends: John Carter, and his four armed alien buddy Tars Tarkas. It’s engagely and fluidly drawn, like all the action sequences in this book - but it also makes a nice parallel to a slightly less friendly fight later in the book. From there, Tars tells a story, one that brings us up to the point where he first met John Carter when he landed on Mars. Along the way, we get meditative aliens, interstellar politics, and an exploration of what it means to be brothers.

It’s not nearly as progressive or exciting as the Green Hornet Annual was, but there’s something to be said for a good tale simply told... And that’s what Rahner delivers here. His writing is clear and simple, where a lot of the “...Of Mars” books get caught up in alien slang, or complicated syntax. And despite having only a passing familiarity with the franchise, it was easy to get right in and be engaged.

That’s amply helped by Sadowski’s art... His action sequences, as mentioned, are dynamic; but its the design work on Tars and others that’s an achievement: its tough to make aliens with generic features look different, but Sadowski does a bang up job making them all distinct through relative size and facial structure. Plus, his aliens look both totally, well, alien, yet also distinctly possible. If I was DC Comics, I’d snag him to start drawing some Green Lantern titles, ASAP.

Is this Warlord of Mars Annual going to change lives? Well, no, of course not. But given the strong writing from Rahner, and excellent art from Sadowski, it may change your mind about Mars.

Warriors Of Mars #1
...Not so with Warriors of Mars, though, which suffers from many of the problems I listed above. Unclear action, muddily written dialogue, and a plot which is literally recycled from previous stories (on purpose - its basically a prequel/sequel to the John Carter books, with the exact same circumstances having happened once before). Not the best starting point, though there is something thrilling about seeing a man in Civil War uniform on an alien landscape. And the central conceit - that he got there via magic carpet - is weird enough to make me want to know more, despite an uneven first issue.

Warlord of Mars Annual #1 and Warriors of Mars #1 both hit comic book stands from Dynamite Comics on February 1, 2012.

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IDW Releasing A 'Mars Attacks' Ongoing Comic in 2012

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Tags Dynamite, Warlord of Mars, Warriors of Mars