John Carter, Warlord of Mars #19 - Dec. 1978

"The Valiant Die But Once!" by Chris Claremont, Ernie Colon, and Frank Springer.

With the Tars Tarkas solo adventure now out of the way, the series returned to the main story, which found John Carter in the remote city of Karanthor, and Dejah Thoris but a mere slave!:

Chan Tomar never lets Dejah get too far without reminding her she is his slave/. As he puts his hands on her, Dejah seethes...and plots revenge.

Outside in the garden, John Carter and Garthon talk, where Garthin explains how this city came to be: the original city of Karanthor was destroyed in a massive series of earthquakes (marsquakes?) and fires, leaving a tiny band of survivors to look for a new home.

They made one outside a tiny cave, where they could rest and grow crops. With most of the terrain outside this area now impassable, the men began to grow wings(!), and build a civilization amid the stalactites. Eventually, red-skinned Barsoomians began to arrive, and they were quickly turned into a slave class.

Just then, a slave girl named Hira arrives, carrying a message that Garthon's father wants to see them both. Carter notices the way they act around one another, and deduces they are in love. Garthon admits this, but says he cannot admit to being in love with a lowly slave.

John Carter and Garthon reach the mouth of the cave, where a defense is being prepared:

...to be continued!

Ernie Colon and Frank Springer are a so-so combination, art-wise: Springer (as most inkers did) sanded down some of Colon's rougher edges, which is one of my favorite things about Colon's work! But overall its not too bad, and I'm still really enjoying Colon's work on this series.

John Carter, Warlord of Mars #18 - Nov. 1978

"Meanwhile, Back in Helium!" by Chris Claremont, Frank Miller, and Bob McLeod.

Most series at one time or another decide to devote an issue to a side character. It was John Carter, Warlord of Mars' turn, in an issue starring Tars Tarkas:

Tars leaps off his steed, and sneaks amid the shadows of Marahn. He hears a creak, and is attacked by his chieftain, Barak Sol. Tars quickly finds himself a bit outmatched. They both tumble off a nearby ledge, and Tars ends up with a sword in his gut.

Their battle is halted when the ground below them heaves mightily, and under the surface they find...water?!? Yes, water!

Out of the water comes a series of red, groping hands, which catch Sol's legs and begin to drag him down. Despite their battle, Tars immediately leaps to help Sol escape:

The end...for now!


Interesting to see then-newcomer Frank Miller try his hand at this series; under McLeod's inking you don't see much of the gritty looseness that became Miller's trademark; that of course would come soon enough!

John Carter, Warlord of Mars Annual #2 - 1978

"Gale!" by Bill Mantlo and Ernie Chan.

John Carter, Dejah Thoris, Tars Tarkas, and others find themselves caught in a massive sandstorm:

What in the Holy Hell is this place? Headless slaves?!?

Carter immediately decides to try and help free the slaves, but first stops to eat some fruit dangling from a nearby tree. While doing so, he sees a Martian warrior about to be attacked by a She-Banth (a lion-type creature)!

As Carter fights it off, he sees that the warrior's head has come completely off his body! The head then grows a set of spindly legs(ewww!), waddling back over to its host body and reconnecting itself.

A pack of She-Banths, alerted by the noise of the battle, begin to approach. Carter kills the first attacker, throwing its corpse at the rest, who get distracted by the more easily-available meat. Carter prepares to escape to safety, when he is grabbed by a Giant White Ape!:

...man, who knew Bill Mantlo could write something this ghoulishly crazy? This is like John Carter crossed with Re-Animator!

Anyway, the brain operation is performed, and the new hosts awaken with their new brains. The original brain of Tal Tarag was then put into the body of the white ape.

Awaking to this realization, Tal went mad, stealing the brain of his beloved Vala Dia (kind of understandable, really, given the circumstances), hopped in a flier and set a course for Bantoom, hoping to force the mad scientist to return them to normal.

Carter, horrified at this tale, vows to help:

Carter and his allies continue fighting, but the Kaldanes outnumber them. He then jumps above the fray, apprehending the two red-skinned transplantees. Hiding in a nearby room, they take a moment to regroup and plan.

But before they can even do that, they are met by another horror: Taak, the King of Bantoom, who is nothing more than a giant head with tendrils coming out of it, headed right for them!!:

...man, the guys back in Helium are never gonna believe this!


As you can see from the pages I posted, this is one batsh*t crazy story, something that I could have seen if Marvel had done a John Carter black and white magazine (oh, if only...). While dressed up in sci-fi trappings, the horror quotient of this story is pretty graphic, and a little surprising it made it past the Code (although of course we don't know what, if any, material got changed).

Sure, this story is very similar to the plot of the first Annual (i.e., John Carter ends up in a faraway corner of Mars, disconnected from any of the goings on in the main book's storyline), that can be forgiven when the story is as profoundly weird as this one. It moves at a great clip, and is well rendered by Ernie Chan.

John Carter, Warlord of Mars #17 - Oct. 1978

"What Price Victory?" by Chris Claremont, Ernie Colon, and Bob Layton.

Last issue of John Carter, Warlord of Mars ended with Carter and Dejah unconscious from their flier crashing. Now he has awakened to some unwelcome visitors:

Carter finds himself in a lush garden, decorated with statues and reminding him of Kyoto, Japan. He is startled by a warm welcome from a man named Garthon, who claims to have taken care of Carter and Dejah once they reached the city.

Before he can say anymore, someone calls out to Garthon, which makes him hastily depart. The voice comes from a hulking, winged man named Gar Karus who guides Carter to a banquet room. Carter's very existence creates a problem for the people of this city, who believe there is little or nothing on Mars outside its walls.

Those with red skin are considered little more than animals, so Dejah has been put into slaves' quarters. For once, Carter does not act with uncontrolled rage, preferring to quietly listen to his host's racist beliefs while deciding what to do.

Gar whisks Carter to the royal palace. Once they arrive, Carter's winglessness causes others to mock him, which tests Carter's patience. Its tested even further when he learns that he is to present for a slave auction, including his beloved Dejah!:

...to be continued!


This is my probably my favorite issue of John Carter, art-wise at least: I've always been a fan of Ernie Colon's work, and to me its perfectly suited for this series. Bob Layton's inks are much less heavy than Rudy Nebres', so this issue is much more of a showcase for Colon. I wish he could have done the rest of the series!