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ERBmania! Column: T ANGOR RRRESPONDS http://www.erblist.com MASTER ASSASSINS OF MARS A Review of Marvel Comic's John Carter Warlord of Mars Issues 16-27 DAVID BRUCE BOZARTH Copyright 2007 Images copyright by Marvel Comics 1978-1979 In the mid 1970s the name Edgar Rice Bur- roughs was still going strong in the American comic book market. For many decades the author's most famous character—Tarzan—had graced the pages of Dell, Gold Key, and National (DC). After a grand tour of the ape-man's jungle— spanning generations 1 ERBmania! Column: T ANGOR RRRESPONDS http://www.erblist.com of readers—Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. began li- censing other characters and worlds created by Edgar Rice Burroughs: Carson Napier's Venus, David Innes' Pellucidar and John Carter's Mars (Barsoom). All are worthy of an examination, but this particular article will focus on Marvel Comics' version of John Carter Warlord of Mars... expressly the last 12 issues before the licensing agreement ended/terminated/ceased. Marvel, always known for super heroic charac- ters such as Spider-man, Hulk, Fantastic Four, Submariner and more, applied their expertise in comic book publication to the saga of John Carter, gentleman adventurer of Virginia, late of the Con- federate Army and his advent upon the arid dead sea bottoms of Barsoom, the war-like fourth planet. And the results were met with luke warm reception by both Marvel collectors and Edgar Rice Bur- roughs fans. The Barsoom premise seems ideal for an ad- venture comic: Mid-Nineteenth century soldier is transported to a savage world where super-science clashes with barbaric culture and then rises to the highest ranks, winning the love of a beautiful princess. Sounds like great stuff, right? It is...if carried off properly. To be fair, the Marvel adapta- tion of Carter's arrival to Mars is not bad. The script worked, though some characterizations were decidedly different than ERB's. Then followed a number of one off's, two issue arcs, that introduced supernatural themes not found in the original works. Even Marvelites of the period were not 2 ERBmania! Column: T ANGOR RRRESPONDS http://www.erblist.com impressed as JCWOM was neither an adventure comic or mystery comic or horror comic—it wasn't something to get a grip on, to like...though the art work was always top notch and those Barsoom babes were hot! Still...without an engaging story there's no audience. Thus with issue #17 Marvel embarked on an updated John Carter Warlord of Mars. The entire story arc of 12 issues, ending with #27, is collec- tively known as THE MASTER ASSASSINS OF MARS. I liked it. I hated it. I had to leave it alone for nearly 30 years before I could take another look at it and see—if I could—what the Marvel editors and writers had been intended. After this second read, so many years later, I find I like it better and hate it less, and even then the "hate" is based on the smallest of sub-themes—Dejah Thoris' inexplicable behavior which is eventually explained way too late to avoid a sour taste for a Barsoom novels reader's mind. For comic fans who have never read Edgar Rice Burroughs' Barsoom series I doubt they noticed a thing. Why? The story line was similar to dozens of others in comics from all the major publishers, not just Marvel. Unlike my previous Tangor's Comics Review of the Comics series, this will contain a lot of words and fewer pictures. Section titles below are the Marvel Issue Titles. The events in MASTER ASSASSINS OF MARS appear to take place shortly after John Car- ter is made Warlord of Mars by a grateful red human society and before the birth of his son 3 ERBmania! Column: T ANGOR RRRESPONDS http://www.erblist.com Carthoris. It is interesting to note that the Zodanga Assassin Guild, as portrayed in the Marvel comics, was not introduced by Edgar Rice Burroughs until Swords of Mars , the eighth book in the series. The script for MASTER ASSASSINS OF MARS was by Chris Claremont. It relies primarily on the first person accounts of John Carter, Dejah Thoris, and Tars Tarkas. The charming bravado of Edgar Rice Burroughs' Virginian is generally well- done in respect to Carter's occasionally brash state- ments regarding his physical abilities and warrior prowess. Additionally Claremont keyed upon the affection between Carter and Dejah Thoris—though at times credulity regarding that affection is some- what strained. Liberties are taken with Barsoom and its inhabitants; entire cultures are created that do not exist in ERB's Barsoom series. In general, however, these liberties are acceptable and, within the context of the MASTER ASSASSINS arc, reasonable. What Claremont did, which was initially disappointing, is start with one premise then inject a number of unrelated story issues before getting back on track. It is my belief that if Marvel had not been warned of the withdrawal of licensing for the ERB products, the Marvel readers might have been left hanging with an incomplete adventure! It was finished, though a bit rapidly toward the end. Of the artists involved, all were quite capable. There was a consistency of costuming and support- ing artifacts (airships, weapons, architecture) which helped hold the 12 issue story together. Dejah Thoris, on the other hand, suffered a number of cos- 4 ERBmania! Column: T ANGOR RRRESPONDS http://www.erblist.com tuming changes—some good, some bad. A general style of clean line, open space, and moderate detail is pleasing. Ernie Colon, who penciled the largest number, set the tone which was emulated to the end. The colorists did a bang up job. Color, after all, is what makes comic books vibrant, and those in- volved were able to communicate emotion with pastels, hard colors, shadows, and textures. I'm not sure if the books I have are "off" or if the entire publication production suffered similarly, but all too often the Red Martians were orange/tan. Then again, that tone might be from the aging newsprint upon which these comics were printed. Lettering is lettering... if you can read it com- fortably, then a job well done. What I do have to say in regards to lettering has nothing to do with the hard work of the letterer: There are Words in MASTER ASSASSINS—a story that does not rely entirely upon pictures to tell. The scriptwriter, of course, had to supply those words, but it is also known that the letterer(s) often made suggestions as to what words would fit , or perhaps say it better. Whether that level of interaction occurred during the creation of these issues I cannot say, but I strongly believe it quite possible! Having set up the basis of the article and pro- viding some background information, it is time to get on with it. One thing before we get started, the synopsis of each issue will follow the main story without exception, thus some sub-plots and asides may get lost. Where asides are essential to world or 5 ERBmania! Column: T ANGOR RRRESPONDS http://www.erblist.com culture creation I will include those in comments. Where there's something that does not appear in ERB's books—or should have —look for those in footnotes. 6 ERBmania! Column: T ANGOR RRRESPONDS http://www.erblist.com John Carter is Dead! Ernie Colon (Pencils) Rudy Nebres (Inks) Mouly (Colors) John Costanza (Letters) 7 ERBmania! Column: T ANGOR RRRESPONDS http://www.erblist.com Celebrating his second anniversary with Dejah Thoris, John Carter quaffs a beverage and falls dead. Almost immediately it is determined that Daria, a slave, had served the wine which was tainted with the poison of a d'ath spider. 1 Daria, an assassin, flees through the palace. She has combat with several warriors and defeats them. Just as Daria is about to escape, Dejah Thoris does battle and, after some effort, wins when Daria falls to her death. Dejah Thoris, based on clues discovered, se- cretly sets out to avenge her husband's death by taking on the identity of Daria (they do look alike) and leaving in a flier. She is helped in this endeavor by faithful Sola, the daughter of Tars Tarkas, Jeddak of Thark. The princess of Helium intends to locate the assassins who ordered the death of John Carter and then dispense justice. Meanwhile, John Carter recovers long after Dejah Thoris has departed. His earthly metabolism is apparently proof against the alien spider poison. When all learn Dejah Thoris has departed, Kantos Kan does all he can to persuade the warlord against setting out alone to find Dejah Thoris. Carter counters with appropriate argument (at the time), and the father and grandfather of Dejah Thoris reluctantly agree. 1Does not appear in Barsoom novels. The only spiders specifically mentioned by ERB are found in the Valley Hohr near Ghasta. 8 ERBmania! Column: T ANGOR RRRESPONDS http://www.erblist.com Entering his specially souped-up personal flier John Carter departs Helium. Many hours later he sights his princess' flier. They join ships, and em- brace when the hatches are opened. That happy moment, however, evaporates in sudden terror as the joined ships (still flying) edge over an enormous canyon. Dejah Thoris, horrified, tries to explain why they must veer off, but even the Earthly strength of John Carter is insufficient. The ships are parted and fall into the canyon. By only the narrowest of mar- gins do they survive the crash. John Carter carries the unconscious Dejah Thoris out, then collapses.

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