Saturday, April 30, 2011

John Carter, Warlord of Mars #25 - July 1979

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"Hide-'N'-Seek!" by Chris Claremont, Mike Vosburg, and Ricardo Villamonte.

When last we left John Carter and Tars Tarkas, they had escaped into the rafters of the Guild of Assassins' ship and were attacking their captors in secret:
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Back on the ship, Carter finally makes his move and gets the drop on Tal Mordin.

As Mordin tries to delay the inevitable, we see Tars Tarkas on a separate mission: to retrieve a cache of radium rifle shells, which he is going to use as explosives in the bowels of the ship.

Tal Mordin tries gamefully to distract Carter long enough so he can grab his sword and strike the first blow, but Carter manages to block it with his wrist gauntlet. The battle moves on into another room, and Carter sees he's outnumbered:
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...to be continued!


In what had to be the shortest cancellation ever, John Carter, Warlord of Mars was back just two months after it was announced cancelled in the previous issue!

There's no letters page in this issue, so other than the small "He's Back!" blurb on the cover, there's no acknowledgment that this is kinda unusual, or that John Carter had been gone at all!


Thursday, April 28, 2011

John Carter, Warlord of Mars #24 - May 1979

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"Betrayal!" by Chris Claremont, Mike Vosburg, and Ricardo Villamonte.

When last we left her, Dejah Thoris was face-to-face with a Green Martian, all part of a series of tests conducted by The Guild of Assassins. John Carter, chained up, can only stand by and watch:
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The head of the conspirators, Lord Mordin, gives up trying to chase the escaped Dejah. He then sends members of the Guild to check out an alarm signal coming from the bowels of the ship.

The head of a group, a woman named Lleila, and some technicians split off from the main group, but they are quietly attacked by John Carter and Tars Tarkas, who then slip away into the ship's duct work.

When the other members of the group find their leader and fellow crew mates suddenly gone, they start a panicked ship-wide search for the attackers, which is what Carter had intended.

Meanwhile, back in the skies:
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To be continued?


I put a question mark at the end of this post because, on the letters page, Marvel announces this is the last issue of John Carter, Warlord of Mars! Editor Roger Stern (or whoever was writing the letters page) apologizes for ending the book in the middle of a storyline.

Of course, this wasn't the last issue...be back in two days to see what the future had in store for Marvel's John Carter!


Tuesday, April 26, 2011

John Carter, Warlord of Mars #23 - April 1979

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"The Man Who Makes Murder!" by Chris Claremont, Mike Vosburg, and Ricardo Villamonte.

As if their death-defying climb up a mountain wasn't enough, now Carter and Dejah find themselves in the hands of the Guild of Assassins, the group that tried to kill Carter just a few weeks earlier:
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Back in Helium, Carter's friend Kantos reports to his friend Surbus, a royal guard, that no one has heard from Carter, Dejah Thoris, or Tars Tarkas in a long time, and Kantos fears the worst.

Surbus expresses dismay, but we see that he's actually plotting against Kantos, and is a member of the Guild of Assassins!

We then catch up with John Carter, who is led out of a cramped cell onto the deck of the Guild's ship. Carter pretends to be nearly crippled while he watches the members of the Guild train. When he dares to ask a question, he's given a harsh answer:
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To be continued!


All artists who have the opportunity to draw the comely Dejah Thoris always draw her as buxom and scantily-clad as was possible in a Code-approved book, but Mike Vosburg really short of pushed it here, making her (and the female assassins) especially pneumatic.


Sunday, April 24, 2011

John Carter, Warlord of Mars #22 - March 1979

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"Climb to Freedom" by Chris Claremont, Mike Vosburg, and Ricardo Villamonte.

John Carter and Dejah Thoris, attempting to escape the secluded city of Karanthor, are captured and sentenced to death:
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As night approaches on the cold, cruel mountain ledge, John Carter keeps Dejah's mind off her wound by telling her stories from his life on Earth, like when he was part of an expedition through the Himalayas.

The night passes, and the next morning they resume their climb. They reach another plateau, and find a cave that will provide adequate shelter for the night. But right at the moment, Dejah collapses from exhaustion! John Carter tends to her, checking her pulse, when a creature emerges from the shadows:
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It's always something! To be continued!


This issue features the debut of the new art team of Mike Vosburg and Ricardo Villamonte, who do a fine job, if a little generic. I liked how this issue feels a bit like a self-contained story--dealing almost entirely with Carter and Dejah's escape--even though its of course part of the much longer Karanthor storyline.