Is this really the end of the exciting franchise crossover? Or the start of something more? Read on to find out.

The official description from Dynamite:

At last, John Carter and the Ape-man are fighting side-by-side amidst the aeons-old ruins of Mars. But their enemies, the evil, treacherous and downright sleazy therns, have a few surprises left for our heroes, including a plan to sterilize half the planet. A death-defying flight through midair, a bittersweet reckoning, and a horrific revelation about the true reach of the therns awaits all those who dare in “The Eye of the Goddess”, the glorious final installment of Lords of Mars!

From the beginning I had mixed feelings about this whole affair. Taking the works of Edgar Rice Burroughs, as they’re currently interpreted, and blending them into a narrative whole just seemed too odd a concept to work. But somehow this creative team succeeds, and they do so with only minor blemishes.

Praise must go to the talented scribe, Arvid Nelson, who took the core mechaincs of Lord of the Jungle and Walord of Mars and mixed them into an engaging concoction. He understood the heroic nature of both franchises, but grappled with the journey that both inevitably needed to be on. With all that said, within the confines of this script there were cornball moments that detracted from the whole affair. Truth be told the occasional bouts of wonky spurts did not stop my own enjoyment, as the action and high adventure carried this to an intriguing end.

The illustrations from Roberto Castro brought this franchise a strong visual component. The talent captured both the positive and negative features of both of these worlds but there were some hiccups that bothered me. I found that the facial formations suffered from inconsistency, as the backgrounds bathed in just enough depth to sell the authenticity of this yarn. To sum up: the pictures were more than functional but I wish they were a bit more sturdy in their final implementation.

Lords of Mars #6 is certainly a fitting finale, that’s fun in all the right ways. Recommended.

4/5