John Carter, Warlord of Mars #16 - Sept. 1978

"John Carter is Dead!" by Chris Claremont, Ernie Colon, and Rudy Nebres.

This first issue of John Carter, Warlord of Mars under a new writer stars with what would seem to be a dead end:

Obviously we can only guess what Daria said, exactly, since obviously someone in Marvel's Production Department goofed up (damn faulty rubber cement!). But I think we get the idea. Anyway, back to the fight:

John Carter's body lies in state so the people of Helium can pay their respects. A massive funeral procession follows, as if they were burying a god.

That night, Carter's dear friend Kantos goes to visit the tomb, and is wracked with despair over his friend's death. He is more than a little shocked when a hand reaches out from the shadows, the hand of...John Carter!

Tars Tarkas hears Kantos cry out, and comes in. He finds a pulse in Carter's collapses body--this is no ghost--and takes him to the palace. It turns out that Carter's body was able to withstand the poison, a dose that would have killed anyone else.

Carter asks where Dejah is, and Sola reveals that she has gone off to find the Guild of Assassins to get revenge. That inspires Carter to rise from his bed and follow after his wife! He hops in a flier and takes off:

...to be continued!


Ernie Colon (who didn't do all that much work for Marvel) and Rudy Nebres make an interesting combo. Nebres' heavy style tended to make every artist who drew this book look similar, giving the series a generally uniform look. But as we'll see next issue, there was more change coming!

John Carter, Warlord of Mars #15 - Aug. 1978

"The History Holocaust!" by Marv Wolfman, Walt Simonson, and Rudy Nebres.

This issue opens on a man named Tallus who is busy with a grim task:

John Carter, always ready for a fight, no matter where he is!

Carter finds himself face-to-face with the Attila the Hun, whom he attacks and knocks to the ground, engaging in hand-to-hand combat, until:

Yes, this story ends a little quickly, even by 1970s comics standards (only 13 pages!). In a first for the series, there's a back-up story:

Carter relates the origin of life on Barsoom, as told to him by Xodar of the Black Pirates. Four different tribes developed--the green, the white, the red, and the yellow--and of course they came to fight one another, almost destroying them all before civilization had barely begun.

...woo! Yet another John Carter story that ends with he and Dejah about to have lots and lots of sex. Kind of a fun little extra, though at five pages its over before you know it.


As the blurb at the end of the main story indicated, this was Marv Wolfman's last issue as writer/editor of the series. A lot of changes were in store for John Carter, Warlord of Mars...

John Carter, Warlord of Mars #14 - July 1978

"Tonight Is The Night Helium Dies!" by Marv Wolfman, Carmine Infantino, and Rudy Nebres.

John Carter is the prisoner of the evil fiend Zhuvan D'Ark, whose use of the Dark Arts has made him nigh-immortal:

The voice from under the rubble is John Carter, who later explains to his friends what happened.

But this is not really John Carter! Turns out Zhuvan used his powers to switch bodies with Carter, while ordering his skeleton army to tuck Dejah Thoris away so Zhuvan can use her body to house his beloved wife.

Later:

Zhuvan uses his powers to switch Dejah and Adanna, and sics his skeleton army at Kantos, Grogg, and Tars so they can't interfere!

The transformation completed, Kantos gets free of the skeletons long enough to throw his sword into Zhuvan's chest, which reduces him to ashes. As he screams in agony, Adanna crumbles into nothing as well, returning Dejah back to normal.

Kantos throws her a sword, and she hacks at the remaining skeletons with a mad fury. Moments later, she, Tars, Kantos, and Grogg have crushed every single undead warrior.

Back in Helium:

...hotcha!


A repeating element through this series--taken from the books, of course--is just how much physical passion Carter and Dejah have for one another. Sure, it only makes sense--these two are very physical people, in the prime of their lives, but in 1978 it was still fairly unusual to write two comic book characters as having such vibrant sex lives, and not shy about discussing it.

DC's Adam Strange and Alanna were similarly passionate; makes me think that dynamic was at least partly inspired by the original John Carter books, bringing us full circle!

John Carter, Warlord of Mars #13 - June 1978

"The Story of Dejah Thoris" by Marv Wolfman, Carmine Infantino, and Rudy Nebres.

When last we saw John Carter, he was held down by a pack of skeletons, ready to be killed by his friend Tars Tarkas!

Carter rescues Sola, not knowing they are being watched.

They put Tars Tarkas' unconscious body into their flier, and head home to Helium. Doctors take possession of Tars in a desperate attempt to save his life.

Meanwhile, back in the City of Skulls, the half-dead being that zapped Tars is commanding his skeleton army, preparing them for an assault on Helium!

Back in Helium, while they wait to see if Tars will recover, Carter and Kantos climb back into their flier to return to the City of Skulls. On their way there, they see the skeleton army on its way towards Helium!

Carter and Kantos do their best to hack and slash their way through the army of skeletons, but they are overwhelmed. They are trussed up, and dragged across the sand as the skeletons keep marching towards Helium.

Carter frees himself just as the skeletons reach the city, and then helps free Kantos. As Kantos helps fight against the army, Carter goes after their leader, who was hoping Carter would do just that!

He zaps Carter the same way he did Tars, and in an instant Carter learns who this being is: he was once a man named Zhuvan D'Ark, sentenced to a slow, agonizing death for murdering women and children. But Zhuvan didn't die in the dark pit he was consigned to--using his skill at the Dark Arts to stay alive even after his body gave out!

...to be continued!


With this storyline, John Carter veers more into typical Marvel Comics territory: Zhuvan is very similar to a supervillain, someone you could picture tangling with any number of Marvel heroes. But its still fun to read, and whole skeleton army-thing reminds me of a Ray Harryhausen movie (who would have made an awesome John Carter movie, come to think of it).

This is the second issue drawn by Carmine Infantino, who does a nice job--he could do those futuristic cityscapes in his sleep!

John Carter, Warlord of Mars #12 - May 1978

"City of Skulls!" by Marv Wolfman, Carmine Infantino, and Rudy Nebres.

With this issue, we're back to the present, with John Carter and Dejah Thoris about to separate, albeit temporarily:

Hmm...I think we know. But this is a Code-approved comic, after all.

Later, Carter is practicing with his friend Kantos. Their games are interrupted when Dejah asks if either of them has seen Sola, who was due back days ago. Carter hops into an air flier to search for her.

He heads for Thark, consulting her father Tars Tarkas. But Tarkas says he has not seen her in a long time. Carter resumes his search, but Tarkas insists on coming along.

While in their air flier, a huge sandstorm whips up, causing Carter to lose control, and tossing the ship about. When the storm subsides, Carter and Tarkas find themselves in front of an unbelievable sight:

The flier crashes into the sand, but luckily both Carter and Tarkas survive (Tarkas even mocks Carter's ability to constantly cheat death). They make their way into the imposing castle, and find it is made entirely of bone and skulls!

The aura of death is so pervasive it unnerves both Tars and even Carter. They want to search for Sola, and then quickly depart. They separate to cover more ground, and while Tars' back is turned, a half-dead looking being rises out of the floor, zapping Tars with beams from its eyes!

Meanwhile, Carter is similarly attacked, but by animated skeletons who have suddenly come to life!

...to be continued!


This issue features the first two-page spread of the series; a nice way to reveal the awesome spectacle that is the City of Skulls.

On the letters page ("Barsoomian Chronicles"), letter writer R.E. Miller states there isn't a single good thing about this series, moaning that John Carter is "[D]oomed never to be adequately presented in comic book form." I wonder what he thought of the Sabato/Lords movie?