Review: Warlord of Mars: Dejah Thoris #1

Written by:   Arvid Nelson

Artist:   Carlos Rafael

Colorist:   Carlos Lopez

Publisher:  Dynamite

Released:  March 9th, 2011

There’s no other explanation.  Arvid Nelson is the re-incarnation of Edgar Rice Burroughs.  He has to be – because no writer since ERB has managed to capture John Carter’s Mars as well as Nelson has with Warlord of Mars and now this Dejah Thoris mini-series.

Have I mentioned that the cover art is magnificent? I love it that all the Martian women dress like strippers – sporting little more that thongs and metal pasties.  The interior art is variable – but Rafael gives up plenty of eye candy and Lopez’s colors really bring Mars to vibrant life. 

In the books, Dejah Thoris was all too often the kidnapped and held for ransom damsel in distress.  Nelson has obviously seen the warriess potential of the character – and combined with her ample feminine attributes – no red blooded male with a love for tough sexy women will find her resistable in this prequel to the John Carter story taking place some four centuries before John Carter arrived on Mars.  Dejah finally gets to stand out as the star of a series and I say it’s about damn time!  I only hope she gets a follow up series to this one.

The story has enough sex, violence, and royal court intrigue to satisfy any connoisseur of high fantasy action-adventure stories.

Buy this series guys.  It’s definitely on the high fantasy end of the cosmic spectrum – but it’s consistently one of the best cosmic books on the shelves today.

Rating:  4 Stars

Article by:  Timelord