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Dynamite's Barsoom
John Carter: Warlord of Mars Vol. 1: Invaders
John Carter, the Confederate soldier transported to distant Mars, must save his adopted world from an adversary who is every bit his equal on the Red Planet: Captain Joshua Clark, formerly of the Army of the Potomac and now the strategist for a species of star-hopping conquerors. While Carter and his staunch ally, the Thark chieftain Tars Tarkas, lead a legion of united Green Men and Red Men against the alien assailants, Dejah Thoris - the princess of Barsoom - is held captive by the bloodthirsty Clark in the fallen city of Helium. The "Invaders of Mars" storyline is cosmic-scale action and adventure, courtesy of Ron Marz, the groundbreaking writer of Green Lantern!
175 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 22, 2015
49 people are currently reading
65 people want to read
About the author
Ron Marz
1,643 books122 followersMarz is well known for his work on Silver Surfer and Green Lantern, as well as the Marvel vs DC crossover and Batman/Aliens. He also worked on the CrossGen Comics series Scion, Mystic, Sojourn, and The Path. At Dark Horse Comics he created Samurai: Heaven and Earth and various Star Wars comics. He has also done work for Devil’s Due Publishing’s Aftermath line, namely Blade of Kumori. In 1995, he had a brief run on XO-Manowar, for Valiant Comics.
Marz’s more recent works includes a number of Top Cow books including Witchblade and a Cyberforce relaunch. For DC Comics, he has written Ion, a 12 part comic book miniseries that followed the Kyle Rayner character after the One Year Later event, and Tales of the Sinistro Corps Presents: Parallax and Tales of the Sinestro Corps Presents: Ion, two one-shot tie-ins to the Green Lantern crossover, The Sinestro Corps War.
His current creator owned projects include “Dragon Prince” (Top Cow) and “Samurai : Heaven and Earth” (Dark Horse).
Photo by Luigi Novi.
Marz’s more recent works includes a number of Top Cow books including Witchblade and a Cyberforce relaunch. For DC Comics, he has written Ion, a 12 part comic book miniseries that followed the Kyle Rayner character after the One Year Later event, and Tales of the Sinistro Corps Presents: Parallax and Tales of the Sinestro Corps Presents: Ion, two one-shot tie-ins to the Green Lantern crossover, The Sinestro Corps War.
His current creator owned projects include “Dragon Prince” (Top Cow) and “Samurai : Heaven and Earth” (Dark Horse).
Photo by Luigi Novi.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
December 2, 2025
Over all not a bad storyline for the 1st half of this series. Good art. Recommended
March 27, 2016
Decent but unexceptional read. The art was OK, but nothing to write home about. Your standard licensed story were everyone is in danger but at the end the status quo remains the same.
September 27, 2015
I have incredibly fond memories of reading the John Carter books as a child, and they remain to this day my Platonic version of "pulp," and I love them for their great, immature sense of adventure, as well as for their many absurdities. So this means that I'm a sucker for all things John Carter, because it's always a little trip to childhood. So of course I have to read the Dynamite series. But, and perhaps this isn't surprising, this is entirely average. I think fans of Barsoom will find some stuff here to like, but everything is pretty mediocre. The writing is ok, it does the job without really challenging anything or pushing into any new territory. The art is also solidly ok. It looks great at times and really awkward at other times. So: a quick trip to childhood, but not a particularly good trip.
November 24, 2017
The quality of the writing is comparable to the very first Warlord of Mars comics. You have the same older-sounding speech, over-the-top battles mostly centered on Carter's superior abilities and scantily-clad characters. Too bad there was only one female character, Dejah. The artwork is beautiful, but it could have included more Martian vistas. An old enemy of Carter's returns leading an army more than capable of conquering Barsoom. His need to take revenge on Carter will lead to an honorable duel where Barsoom is at stake.
The Kahori, a race of conquerors, are invading Barsoom. They are led by Carter's old enemy, Union Captain Joshua Clark.
The Kahori, a race of conquerors, are invading Barsoom. They are led by Carter's old enemy, Union Captain Joshua Clark.
March 11, 2021
Pretty good story
Fantasy space opera
John Carter is heroic yet oddly Clark's his equal. Dejah, too, is heroic and defiant, even interfering in her husband's duel, but easily overwhelmed. It's as if writer can't decide whether to make her a damsel in distress or not. John Carter is more famous but Kenneth Bulmer wrote a modern space opera (Dray Prescot) that gave equal play to the wife (Delia of Vallia). Supposedly Dejah her father and grandfather are still alive but the only members of the city are unnamed extras who quickly die at the hands of Clark. There may be more than a few happy to see the Union portrayed by as despicable a man, and that somehow Carter wins with his Southern honor and breeding. In real life, much of that was posturing while the men played and dealt with politics and business and the women managed the household. And naturally, John Carter and Dejah Thoris spend a night together -- chastity, of course -- before returning to face Clark for the final showdown. The story has all the melodrama of two buddies who fight together against their enemies and none of the institutional might of a city-state; Helium is captured but there is no underground, no rebellion brewing. Without the MC, the wife to save and the buddy to lead countless green hordes to the MC's rescue, Helium and Barsoom are helpless. Great stuff for young teens with plenty of cleavage to get excited about. Never mind Dejah the warrior, the research scientist, or the politician, she is a Princess and that means she needs to be rescued. It's a nice walk down nostalgia-lane, but bigger boys want a love-interest who is willing to fight beside him, or if not fight, run the country and rally the citizens, or organize medical care. Be John Carter's partner. Give him a reason to come home other than to look pretty, have sex with behind the scenes, and then run off and do buddy things with Tars Tarkas.
Fantasy space opera
John Carter is heroic yet oddly Clark's his equal. Dejah, too, is heroic and defiant, even interfering in her husband's duel, but easily overwhelmed. It's as if writer can't decide whether to make her a damsel in distress or not. John Carter is more famous but Kenneth Bulmer wrote a modern space opera (Dray Prescot) that gave equal play to the wife (Delia of Vallia). Supposedly Dejah her father and grandfather are still alive but the only members of the city are unnamed extras who quickly die at the hands of Clark. There may be more than a few happy to see the Union portrayed by as despicable a man, and that somehow Carter wins with his Southern honor and breeding. In real life, much of that was posturing while the men played and dealt with politics and business and the women managed the household. And naturally, John Carter and Dejah Thoris spend a night together -- chastity, of course -- before returning to face Clark for the final showdown. The story has all the melodrama of two buddies who fight together against their enemies and none of the institutional might of a city-state; Helium is captured but there is no underground, no rebellion brewing. Without the MC, the wife to save and the buddy to lead countless green hordes to the MC's rescue, Helium and Barsoom are helpless. Great stuff for young teens with plenty of cleavage to get excited about. Never mind Dejah the warrior, the research scientist, or the politician, she is a Princess and that means she needs to be rescued. It's a nice walk down nostalgia-lane, but bigger boys want a love-interest who is willing to fight beside him, or if not fight, run the country and rally the citizens, or organize medical care. Be John Carter's partner. Give him a reason to come home other than to look pretty, have sex with behind the scenes, and then run off and do buddy things with Tars Tarkas.
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February 1, 2023Cheesy fun
A little contrived-but what story of Barsoom isn't? What did a good job of making the stakes personal, and Dejah not JUST a damsel in distress. Catches the spirit of the books pretty well.
A little contrived-but what story of Barsoom isn't? What did a good job of making the stakes personal, and Dejah not JUST a damsel in distress. Catches the spirit of the books pretty well.
August 18, 2025
Muy divertida lectura todo este arco de captura y liberación de la princesa Dejah Thoris.
El dibujo es sencillo pero aporta a la acción de la trama. La historia predecible pero se disfruta.
Es de tan rápida lectura que se agradece.
El dibujo es sencillo pero aporta a la acción de la trama. La historia predecible pero se disfruta.
Es de tan rápida lectura que se agradece.
June 16, 2018
I enjoyed the story and writing here, the art was well suited to the tone of the story and pulp writing in general. Great color palette and just a fun, original contribution to Burroughs' Barsoom
July 25, 2020
Σαν ιστορία, μάλλον κοινότυπη. Αλλά ο τρόπος της αφήγησης με τραβάει να πάω παρακάτω. Για να δούμε.
April 15, 2021
Amazing
I love the John Carter books and finding comics of more of their story was awesome, and enjoyed immensely. Very pleased
I love the John Carter books and finding comics of more of their story was awesome, and enjoyed immensely. Very pleased
January 17, 2022
Super fun
Great story and good background. This sync's with the EBR universe . Art work is very good. I look forward to more of these stories.
Great story and good background. This sync's with the EBR universe . Art work is very good. I look forward to more of these stories.
February 3, 2017
I generally stay away from Dynamite due to the cheesecake covers, but I decided to give one of the John Carter books a shot, this one is Invader of Mars ... I went for it since I'm sorta a Ron Marz fan.
I was pleasantly surprised... the story fit in decently well with the ERB mythos, featuring an alien race invading, and Carter fighting them off.. the kicker is the aliens have a human warlord too, a Union Cavalry officer with a history with Carter.
The art featured a good helping of Dejah Thoris nearly naked, but, in fairness, the men didn't wear much either.. it was only mildly distracting.
I was pleasantly surprised... the story fit in decently well with the ERB mythos, featuring an alien race invading, and Carter fighting them off.. the kicker is the aliens have a human warlord too, a Union Cavalry officer with a history with Carter.
The art featured a good helping of Dejah Thoris nearly naked, but, in fairness, the men didn't wear much either.. it was only mildly distracting.
July 4, 2016
I love the world of Barsoom that Edgar Rice Burroughs created beginning with A Princess of Mars, and was excited to discover the various comic book offshoots. As a first venture into this extended world this was mediocre but I'm willing to give subsequent volumes a shot.
July 31, 2016
I enjoyed this a lot. I doubt it actually an ERB story but the story flows well, if slightly predictably and the artwork is more than competent.
dnf
December 10, 2018Meh. Finished at 50%.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews