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| Cover C (25%) by Ardian Syaf |
(See
this post
for something that I just realized about this series, but discussed
there and will do no more than make a referral here....)
Hearing
more Justice Party propaganda spewing forth from the radio, the main
heroes still at Wentworth's home make plans and head out on separate
missions. Richard Wentworth and Ram Singh head for Albany to
investigate the governor's office. Britt Reid and Kato go to consult
with a newspaperman friend of Britt's. “Spooky,” Wentworth's (?)
name for the Shadow, heads out to “serv[e] justice.” Elsewhere,
in hiding, Anthony Quinn discovers that he's blind. He and Rafael
Vega recall previous vigilantes – the Clock
and Zorro. Quinn utters the fateful words, “Blind as a bat...”
Miss Fury and Green Lama fall into a trap laid by the Black Police,
are taken, and discover that the many captives of the new regime are
being railroaded out of the City. While Reid is fruitlessly trying
to get some information out of his friend, Kato ends up in a fight,
where he is joined by the Black Terror. Margo Lane and the Shadow
interrogate a fat cat supporter of the Justice Party. And on the way
to Albany, Wentworth and Ram Singh pass a concentration camp.
 |
| Cover A (25%) by Alex Ross |
I am a
bit disappointed I didn't get Cover A (25%) by Alex Ross, however.
It's thumbnailed on the inside back cover, but luckily Dynamite's
collections contain full-page “virgin art” versions of all
covers, so I'll get the art there … eventually.
The
last few pages contain a several-page preview of a new, original to
comics Dresden
Files
miniseries. As much as I love that series, and even though this is
at least plotted by Jim Butcher himself, I'm holding off for the
collection. It looks good, even if I was sceptical regarding a
pistol firing underwater. Apparently it can,
however.
 |
| Art by Lucio Parillo |
“The
Return of the Jungle Lord, Part 3 of 6: Gorilla Warfare”
You
know, I am sceptical that this can even properly be called an
“expandaptation” of The
Return of Tarzan,
it's departing from that story's narrative so radically. Here right
off the bat Jane and Cecil land at the old Lord Greystoke cabin,
along with M. Thuran. There is no extended period lost at sea in an
open life boat with the horrific description of thirst and starvation
that's present in the original. I was about ten years old when first
I read it, and it made a deep impression on me. Once landed, Thuran
takes them prisoner. Meanwhile, Tarzan helps the Waziri slaughter
Europeans who are also looking for the gold of Opar and who massacred
the Waziri village, after which he is accepted into the Waziri tribe
by their new chief Busuli, who takes the tribal name “Waziri.”
Overall,
even without the lost-at-sea sequence, this is more explicitly bloody
and brutal than ERB's original, what with two execution-style head
shots. It's riveting, no doubt. I am disappointed that the inside
back cover is given over to an advertisement for Vampirella
rather than the customary thumbnails of alternate covers.
Reviews:
http://jcomreader.blogspot.com/2013/02/comic-review-lord-of-jungle-11-12.html;
http://www.comicbookroundup.com/comic-books/reviews/dynamite-entertainment/lord-of-the-jungle/11
 |
| Art by Lucio Parillo |
“The
Return of the Jungle Lord, Part 4 of 6: Treasure Vaults of Opar”
Jane
raises the ire of Rokoff – the real name of Thuran, of course –
and his henchman Paulvich when she realizes she's insurance against
Tarzan's interference in their mission and tells them how big a
mistake they are making. Later, Cecil gets loose and considers
abandoning Jane to escape, but his conscience won't let him and as he
tries to free Jane they are both caught. Tarzan and the Waziri find
Opar and barrel right in, Tarzan throwing caution to the winds which
seems very out of character. He should have been more cautious
because he's almost immediately captured by beastly men – are these
the same as the ape-men surrogates for black cannibals from the first
story arc? – that's not clear. He is to be sacrificed to the
Flaming God until La appears and is obviously taken with him to the
rage of the head honcho beastly man – who drags her off after
killing his fellows. Tarzan gets free, kills head honcho, who turns
out to be La's hated mate – but she is, of course, taken with
Tarzan. Along the way, she has told him of Opar's history, descended
from a great civilization, but whose men have degenerated into beasts
and even speak the language of Tarzan's great apes. She helps Tarzan
escape from Opar, scoffing that she's in any danger and expressing
scepticism regarding organized religion that I can't decide if it is
or is not very authentically Burroughsian. On the one hand, there
are the Mars
tales and the cult of Issus, which contains that theme, but it just
doesn't sound right in this context. Whatever, even though it's
still a gripping story, sometimes the effect of an “off”
characterization and a bulkier Tarzan we're getting from Dynamite
makes me feel more like I'm reading a Conan
the Barbarian
comic than Tarzan.
 |
| Cover A (50%) by Paul Renaud |
Dejah
Thoris and Gunbor conveniently escaped just in time from the
explosive cliffhanger ending of last issue, and link their glimpse of
brains in jars to a wave of disappearing prostitutes. So Dejah
Thoris goes undercover as bait and is eventually taken. She was
recognised, however, so not killed right off. Gunbor was taken as
well, but we're not told immediately what his fate is. Mortus is
really the Jeddak of Yorn, believed killed at the end of the first
story arc, but whose head was somehow wedded to a mechanical body,
and who is now harvesting brains to create an army of robotic
cyborgs. In the last scene, Dejah Thoris meets the newest cyborg
warrior – Gunbor.
While
this story is a bit better than the just previous arc, I'm not really
enjoying it that much and frankly it's only my obsessive-compulsive
collector's mentality as well as the odd pre-order system governing
this hobby that are keeping me with this series at this point.
Ironically,
Dejah Thoris' prostitute disguise is actually more modest than her
usual attire which amounts to a skimpy bra – or more often pasties
that could barely cover the nipples – and gee-string.
 |
| Art by Joe Jusko |
This
review is coming very late – my understanding is that the comic was
released months ago, but I only just got it. Interestingly enough,
my colleague here who also pre-ordered it also
did not get it, and it was only our contacting our mail-order
merchant that got us copies, with no real explanation as to why we
did not get them originally. One of our pre-orders being overlooked
could be happenstance, but both? – in the same town? He rather
ironically questioned me, “Wouldn't it be funny if we were the only
two customers of said mail-order merchant who ordered the book in the
first place, and that's why they
forgot to order copies 'way back then...?”
One
thousand years in the future, USN Lt. Gullivar Jones emerges to find
a terraformed Mars complete with oceans. Earthling invaders capture
and interrogate him. Despite his being manifestly human, they
believe him to be an agent of the native Martian rebels, so they
implant him with a “worm” – some kind of surveillance device
that transmits back to them everything he sees and hears – and
literally dump him on the ruins of Helium. He's in no better
situation there, being captured and considered a Jasoomian spy. He
meets Dejah Carter and has to accept that John Carter and Dejah
Thoris are long … dead? – gone? – it ends up being unclear.
The worm transmits back to the humans the intel they need to attack.
Jones ends up saving Dejah Carter and enabling the attack to be
repulsed, then swears himself to the Barsoomian resistance, against
his own people. There is, of course, the implication that here, in Heru's granddaughter, Dejah Thoris' daughter (I presume, although I'm not sure that is specified rather than just a vague descent), Gullivar has found his own Princess of Mars. The End?
Even
though “The End” is followed by a question mark, I'm pretty sure
it is. It's been a somewhat interesting expansion of the precursor
of far inferior quality that nonetheless helped to inspire Edgar Rice
Burroughs in the creation of his own tales, here managing to tie it
into his work – but it is otherwise an absolutely forgettable
series.
Cheers,
and Thanks for reading!
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