I almost added
“Unauthorized” to the title of this post, given the recent
lawsuit
that I referred to in my just previous post, but frankly as I see it
Dynamite doesn't need authorization to use these public-domain
characters and ideas, so I left it off....
Jumping right into
them:
Lord of the Jungle
#2
“2:
The Forest God” (Previous
issue here)
Dynamite
continues its fairly faithful adaptation of Tarzan
of the Apes.
It's well-written and -illustrated, but frankly for me the gold
standard, defining, iconic
Tarzan
will be my first exposure to the “real” Tarzan
(as opposed to the Ron Ely TV series or movies) via Joe Kubert's
masterful adaptation for DC Comics back in the early 1970s.* Getting
past that seemed harder this issue than last, for whatever reason,
but this remains a fine effort. It's been several years since I last
read Tarzan of the
Apes.
I don't really remember Tarzan fighting the crocodile to save his
(unknown to him) cousin William Clayton. I do like Tarzan's written
rendition of his ape-name as “White Skin” rather than “Tarzan”
although the latter is how he speaks his name to Clayton. Remember,
the only spoken language he knows is that of the great apes, although
he taught himself to read and write English from the books in his
parents' cabin. Although if I recall correctly he suspected that the
language he reads and writes represents a spoken language, he has no
idea how it should be pronounced and has in fact devised his own
rather cumbersome pronunciation.
 |
| Art by Joe Kubert |
As far as this second issue goes, it was reviewed here, along with some commentary on the aforementioned lawsuit: http://comicsforge.com/2012/04/lord-of-the-jungle-2/
*
Joe Kubert is scheduled to be at Comicpalooza,
the Houston Comic Book Convention, late next month. As soon as I saw
that I pulled the trigger on ordering the only two of the three Dark
Horse archive volumes reprinting his DC Tarzan
work, which I'd been considering literally for years. The first
volume adapts Tarzan
of the Apes.
It is my intention to have Mr. Kubert sign that book, and possibly
to get a sketch from him.
Warriors of Mars
#2 (of 5?)
(Previous
issue here)
Dejah
Thoris' tale of her mother's first love continues: Gullivar of Earth
manages to make his way to the southern lands of the Thither People,
and rescues Princess Heru by convincing her captor that he's a ghost
come to haunt him. Some of what reportedly is a theme in the
original novel comes through as Gullivar finds that “right” and
“wrong” in the Hither and Thither Peoples' conflict is not so
well defined. Nevertheless, he brings Heru home to great acclaim.
But soon after he inadvertently declares his love for her – calling
her “My Princess!” – and meets a more positive reaction than
her daughter Dejah Thoris would give John Carter in A
Princess of Mars (through
cultural misunderstanding of the implications), the Thither People
attack Seth, having discovered Gullivar's trickery. The Thither
People's king and Heru's father are both killed in the battle, but
the city is destroyed. Gullivar manages to get Heru away but is
himself trapped in the burning palace, never to be seen again
according to Dejah Thoris, but passing into Barsoomian legend. And
there her tale to John Carter ends ….
… But
not this story. In an epilogue, we see that Gullivar managed to
protect himself by rolling himself in the magical rug, but is
unconscious when a scavenger rummaging through the ruins carries it
away.
I
have no idea how far this second issue departs from the book,
although from the cited review below I gather that a great deal is
condensed presumably toward getting Gullivar of Mars past the events
of his own book into the real point of this series, bringing him into
contact with the later Earthman on Mars, John Carter. I doubt (by
which I mean “I'm certain”) that the original book had Gullivar
briefly encountering the green men of ERB's Barsoom as he does here!
I
found it interesting that during the course of her tale Dejah Thoris
refers to a time when people would die naturally before being
consigned to the River Iss. Is that from ERB's novels? I never can
remember if Barsoomians die naturally, or ultimately weary of life
(if they don't die from some unnatural cause, most typically war) and
voluntarily take the River Iss.
Incidentally,
this series is not the first time that Gullivar and John Carter have
met in the medium of comics. Alan Moore brought them together in the
first few pages of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen,
Volume II, as allies fighting
against the “Martians” of H. G. Wells' War of the
Worlds who are actually aliens
who first attacked that world before proceeding to Earth.
Warlord of Mars
#15
“Gods
of Mars Part 3! Issus, Goddess of Life Eternal”
(previous issue here)
John
Carter and Phaidar, having been captured by the black pirates, are
taken via the “submartianean” (as opposed to “subterranean”)
Sea of Omean to the Land of the Firstborn. Phaidor shows herself to
be mercurial, deranged, and insecure … perfectly capturing her
characterization from the book. John Carter is imprisoned and
eventually brought out to die in the games before Issus – where he
meets his son, Carthoris.
Another
solid issue retelling the story of The
Gods of Mars.
The major discernable departure from the original is that Nelson –
probably wisely – abandons the charmingly unlikely misunderstanding
in which John Carter and Carthoris do not realize each other's
identities for such an interminably
long time, ERB teasing us with them almost making the connection then
some new crisis interrupting them. It comes off rather trite even in
the original novel.
Warlord of Mars
#16
“Gods
of Mars Part 4! Flight and Pursuit”
The
story dashes from John Carter and Carthoris' leading a gladiatorial
rebellion to their rescue of John Carter's one-time captor now friend
the black pirate Xodar, their escape from the Valley Dor, finding
Tars Tarkas without Thuvia who vanished during a Warhoon attack, their rescue by the flagship of the
Helium navy and discovery that Dejah Thoris has taken the River Iss,
to its culmination with Zat Arras' sanctimonious denunciation of John
Carter and his companions as blasphemers for their return from the
Valley Dor. Overall, this chapter seemed really crowded and heavy on
narration to drive it along, to the point that it often reminded me
of reading Prince
Valiant
where the illustrations were subordinated to the extensive narrative.
Overall it is, however, pretty faithful to the original – with one
glaring and I would say inappropriate
addition.
When
John Carter, Carthoris, and Xodar find Tars Tarkas without Thuvia,
Tars Tarkas launches off into a bizarre narrative and acting
out
of Thuvia's longing for John Carter: “You were all she would talk
about, Jawn Kar-turr. It was most annoying. … I still don't
understand this obsession you two-arms have with procreation. …
She said she wanted Jawn Kar-turr to do 'dirty
things'
to her. … That's what she kept saying, in her sleep, every night.”
– At which point John Carter throws up his hands – stop
– “Okay. Thank you, Tars. Thank you.” – But Tars Tarkas is
not finished – clasping his upper hands below his chin and looking
up to the heavens, he continues: “'Jawn
Kar-turr, I want you to do dirty things to me!'”
– “We get the idea, Tars,” John Carter continues trying to
stop him. – The Thark simply rolls his eyes another way, “'I
want you to do dirty things to me, for I am a dirty little girl!'”
– “Tars...”
– Carthoris (who is probably about ten years old, i.e. out of the
egg, right now, for all his fighting prowess) eagerly wants to know,
“What … kind
of dirty things?” (Xodar has a bit of a lecherous grin on his face
at this point.) – Tars Tarkas turns his hands up (all four of
them), puzzled: “That
is the strangest part!
Perhaps it is because of our tusks, but we Tharks would never
use our mouth-holes to stimulate our --” – “TARS!”
John Carter finally gets through to him, “We get the idea.”
Funny
enough on its own, in the context of ERB's Mars
tales, whose peoples are all portrayed as being very formal and
indeed – despite their customary lack of attire – straight-laced,
this just does not fit.
Seriously, between this and the portrayal of her words after she
kills her Thern master in issue #13, breaking down and telling John
Carter of the “shameful” things he made her do, Thuvia is not
coming off as anything like the character I know from the books,
especially the proper and heroic young princess of Ptarth who will
give her name to the fourth book in the series, Thuvia,
Maid of Mars (original
book reviewed here).
For all that Nelson generally demonstrates a real understanding of
and conveys the spirit and even feel
of the original stories, here
he does not.
And worse, descending into such ribald humor plays right into the
hands of the ERB, Inc., plaintiffs who already allege the portrayals
here to be “pornographic.”
It's
rare that I'm disappointed by anything in Dynamite's Warlord
of Mars
stories – but in this one instance I am.
“Pirate Queen of Mars, Part 5 of
5: The Death That Creeps Within the Ice” (previous
issue here)
This second story arc taking place 400
years before the advent of John Carter on Mars concludes under the
ice of southern Barsoom, beginning in the midst of the confrontation
with Xen Brega that ultimately leaves only Dejah Thoris, Phondari,
and Joktai alive with part of the treasure Hoard of Segotha.
Appropriately, Xen Brega ends up eaten alive by the ice worms – not
just once but twice; he doesn't survive the second time he's made a
meal of. Phondari upholds her end of the bargain and takes Dejah
Thoris hom, splitting the treasure with Helium. She and Joktai
retire rich and part ways with Dejah Thoris – if not friends then
no longer really enemies. Dejah Thoris' parting with Joktai is quite
a bit warmer. Can we hope that we'll see the renegade black pirates
again in this series?
This series, in no way canonical,
continues to be enjoyable if light and visually risqué
entertainment.
“The
Boora Witch, Part 1 of 4: Whispers in the Dark”
This
new story takes up sometime later, when Dejah Thoris leads a mission
into the Toonolian Marshes seeking critical minerals that Helium
needs to rebuild from the devastation suffered in the first story
arc. Dejah Thoris feels a psychic call that brings her into the
clutches of a hideous old woman who admires her body (she ain't the
only one) and declares she wants it for herself (…). Man, Dejah
Thoris sure can contort that luscious body of hers to best show off
her assets! She must be a practitioner of what blogger Fanboy Wife
has dubbed “Superhero Yoga” (posts here)
–
– the impossible poses that comic book women are depicted in, to
accentuate their sexuality to an eye-popping degree. Kantos
Kan is obviously smitten and devoted to Dejah Thoris in these early
stories, affording some humorous byplay.
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| Fanboy Wife Superhero Yoga |
Thanks
for reading! Cheers!
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