Warlord of Mars: Dejah Thoris #33 Review


Warlord of Mars-Dejah Thoris Banner

Is there enough meat to guarantee a worthwhile adventure on Barsoom, or has this series grown stale?  Read on to find out.

The official description from Dynamite:

Recently, Dejah discovered she had an older brother she never knew existed. Bent by his harsh upbringing as a slave, Kajak Thoris is determined to destroy the family that he feels should have been rightfully his. Will Dejah have to spill her family’s blood in order to save it?!

Warlord of Mars-Dejah Thoris 33_CThe latest yarn sees some emotional depth in a title that attempts to dance a line between the overly exploited and subtle substance.  To the creative team’s credit what we’re getting is some of their best work to date, as old demons bubble to the surface in predictable but important ways.  In short: this is a very sturdy comic book that offers up enough to garner attention and praise.

Robert Place Napton pens the script and the author still delivers a body of text that’s a rather heavy load.  To his credit when he needed to dial back the dialogue to nail the emotional resonance of a very specific set of panels, he did.  And when the time came to have some honest interaction about the thoughtless attack on civilians he handled our heroine’s reaction quite well.  But there were moments both in the beginning and near the end that felt unnecessarily wordy as the characters came off as stuffy.  That lack of fluidity did detract from the overall experience, but not enough to hamper the greater arc that’s forming.

The art by Debora Carita is sleek and simple, with a delicate touch that fits the forms within this narrative.  I still have my issues with the exploitative poses and unnecessarily skimpy garments, but the illustrator handled each panel with a level of professionalism and care that made quite a few moments work.  These renditions may not raise or lower the bar for how women are represented in this medium but it does enough to make the experience engaging.

Warlord of Mars: Dejah Thoris #33 is a solid entry that by Issus earns a recommendation.

3.5/5

threehalfstar

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