John Carter: Warlord of Mars #2

by RobertJCross on December 10, 2014

Written by: Ron Marz
Art by: Abhishek Malsuni

This comic is pretty spectacular. I'm blown away by the quality of everything, from the writing especially. In this issue we pick up with Carter and an adversary running from a giant white ape with four arms, eventually they take care of their mutual problem (in true John Carter fashion) and discuss the revelation at the end of the last issue. Then we meet the "bad guy" and his dialogue isn't the greatest in the world, but it's better than some I've read lately, so I gave it a pass. After that, Carter gets into another sticky situation which doesn't end the way he wanted and we're off to another adventurous issue next time. It's paced extremely well for a 22-page comic and I'm in love with the atmosphere so far.

Marz (again, can't get more ironic than that) writes another great issue with little to no exposition (which I like), except for the big baddy. Carter's dialogue drives the surroundings and teaches us the reader what they need to know for the full ride, the bad guy's dialogue just tells odd stories that don't really fit in the situation he's currently in...except if he's trying to intimidate everyone around him...which is apparent already. My favorite parts were what was written between Carter and his enemy-companion, it was thick with metaphor about war and the feelings of both sides. It reminded me of Enemy Mine a little bit, which is not a bad thing. Unfortunately, there is a line after the whole ordeal that kind of negates the entire thing, but I didn't pay much mind to it. Great writing that had me thinking far beyond the back cover.

The art by Malsuni is pretty awesome. The atmosphere is amazing and he draws such rich landscapes and action shots that each panel moves with great fluidity throughout. I love how he captures the creatures as well, you can tell that he's a big JC fan. In the last issue I was mad at him for drawing the bad guy in the background with little to no discretion, but his drawing of him in action was pretty spot on. 

Great issue, pick it up if you're a fan!

Our Score:

8/10

A Look Inside