With more room to move for this narrative, are there enough elements to this tale to hold the gaze of curious onlookers? Read on to find out.

The official description from Dynamite:

Now expanded to 12 issues!!! Race hatred stoked by terrorists threatens to drive Heliumites and Tharks back to war. Everything the trauma-exhausted Dejah Thoris does only seems to worsen it. And her last-ditch plan brings her face-to-face with the disfigured Thark who triggers her worst fears!

It would be very easy to walk into your local shop then simply ignore this release.  The obvious reasons center on the clearly exploitative outfit of the heroine.  It is Dejah Thoris of literary fame, she’s still a warrior princess, but much to the title’s detriment our icon is barely clothed.   That said, the creative team still delivers on some levels but there are plenty of problems for this franchise.

Mark Rahner works hard to craft something that’s more than a simple text that exists to fill the pages of a book that’s designed to garner the attention of eager singles.  He gives our primary character more than enough serviceable depth to sell us all on her qualifications when facing this grave threat.  There’s a lot of context here, and this author easily garners my praise especially when he delivers that rather shocking turn of events right before the close.  In short: grab this issue and get lost in the unexpected depth that’s easily makes this worth a look.

The art by Lui Antonio is not as impressive as it should be.  There’s quite a bit of mishandled sequences that detract from the atmosphere but more to the point I found his depictions of Dejah to be less than appealing.  Especially when it came to a pivotal sequence where her over amplified form cheapened what was meant to be a moving moment.  To put it lightly I’d say that the overall work just didn’t fit what the text was striving to achieve.

Dejah Thoris and the Green Men of Mars #8 is a release with a spark held back by lackluster visuals.  Slightly recommended.

3/5