Back To Barsoom With Warlord Of Mars Attacks #4
by Josh Davison
[*Mild Spoilers Ahead!]
The leader of the Martian Moonheads finds John Carter resting in the mists, waiting to be taken back to Barsoom. The Moonhead leader takes the opportunity to disintegrate John Carter. Meanwhile, Dr. Norman, Mave, and Ramon arrive on Barsoom through the portal. They’re being pursued by half the Moonhead fleet and are surrounded after a failed evasive maneuver. It seems to be over, but the Moonhead ships suddenly disappear. Shortly after, John Carter himself wakes up on Barsoom, fully alive. However, the Moonheads are still pursuing him as well, and he’ll need one last miracle if he’s going to save both Earth and Mars.
Warlord of Mars Attacks #4 brings the battle back to Barsoom, with John Carter, Norman, Mave, and Ramon taking one last big gamble to stop the Moonhead invasion of Earth.
This issue is a lot more fast and fun than the previous. John immediately gets to fighting the Martian Moonheads once he gets to Barsoom. He jumps, stabs, and gets the Moonheads to fire at one another.
That said, I’ve well and truly lost the thread on how the rules of this story work. Technically, Mave, Norman, and Ramon should be functionally super-strong on Barsoom, but that’s not been acknowledged or alluded to at all. Also, there’s a chance that all of John’s comrades and friends from Barsoom could still be alive, and that adds a time travel element when it was previously said there’s just two different versions of Mars/Barsoom in the present.
Bringing back Dejah Thoris and the others at least means that the story will be more fun and a little less depressing; the narrative is also extremely convoluted as a consequence.
Dean Kotz artwork is still the strongest aspect of the comic series. It’s an appealing aesthetic that relies more heavily on linework than shading. Carter looks heroic, the Moonheads look ugly, and the other humans are expressive and visually interesting. Omi Remalante’s color work gives a bright and fairly well-balanced palette to it all to further invigorate the visuals.
Warlord of Mars Attacks #4 isn’t the smartest or most coherent comic in the world, but it is a good bit of fun. We finally get back to Barsoom and John Carter fighting the Martian Moonheads head-on, and Kotz and Remalante do a good job on the visuals. I can give this one a recommendation. Feel free to pick it up.
Warlord of Mars Attacks #4 comes to us from writer Jeff Parker, artist Dean Kotz, color artist Omi Remalante, letterer Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou, cover artist Dave Johnson, and variant cover artists Marc Laming, Ramon Villalobos, and Ben Caldwell.
Final Score: 7/10