Dejah Thoris and the Green Men of Mars #11 Review

As this mini-series begins to deliver its final moments, is there enough to justify your attention? Read on to find out.

The official description from Dynamite:

The penultimate issue of the hit miniseries that was extended twice! Dejah Thoris is under cover as a slave girl with her Dirty Half-Dozen Thark force to destroy a powerful weapon. But can she trust them to destroy it and not her? Or does she want to die?

If I had to sum up my perspective on this yarn it would be to say: the upward trajectory of this volume is unmistakable, as the creative team eagerly delivers something that goes beyond simple eye candy. It’s not a release that revolutionizes what we know but rather shows the heights the protagonist can rise to given the right circumstance and obstacle.

Mark Rahner is the architect of these festivities on Barsoom, and in many ways he nails exactly the right tempo in order to make this tale worthwhile. He takes our known princess and weaves just enough events into this odyssey to get emotional investment in her current predicament. I imagine the literary master would do quite well on Warlord of Mars, but as of right now, he gives us a gift that may not feel completely relevant to the franchise but still remains as a romp that’s interesting to follow.

The visual component is a mixed bag but for the most part Jethro Morales handles his task well. He gives us renditions that meld with what’s come before and I applaud the illustrator for not using physical poses to overly inflate the assets of our female players. But the jagged realizations from the line work left me a bit underwhelmed, as his cadence seemed at odds with the text. The overall display does enough right to make things sturdy especially thanks to the colors by Aris Aguiar.

Dejah Thoris and the Green Men of Mars #11 is an imperfect jaunt that makes use of its time even if it does suffer from some inconsistencies. Still there’s enough here for me to give it a recommendation.