The Art of Dejah Thoris and the Worlds of Mars Vol. 2 HC

Dejah Thoris #a2

by Joe Rybandt (Editor), Joe Jusko (Contributor), J. Scott Campbell (Contributor)

Since the first serialized adventures in 1912 of the Martian Princess Dejah Thoris and her beloved hero, John Carter, science fiction and fantasy enthusiasts have dreamed of the faraway Red Planet, its wondrous sights and monstrous perils. In this second volume of The Art of Dejah Thoris and the Worlds of Mars, the finest artists of modern fantasy have brought the dying world of Mars to life, depicting scenes of brutal conflict with alien beasts, quiet moments overlooking Martian wastes, and enticing visions of an exotic princess at her most intimate. This magnificent hardcover collection features the talents of J. Scott Campbell, Joe Jusko, Frank Cho, Lucio Parillo, Tula Lotay, Mike McKone and many more!

Genres: Fantasy, Comics, Art, Science Fiction, Graphic Novels

280 pages, Hardcover

First published August 14, 2019

Reviews

[Rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick review for a quick read. Another quick review because the bulk of this book is simply compilations of covers from the Warlord of Mars/Dejah Thoris comic series produced by Dynamite over a number of years (starting with 2013 and onward) and different collections. Just as a general disclaimer to this review - this compilation of art is NSFW/mature as it features illustrations from Dynamite's adult interpretation of Edgar Rice Burroughs' stories. The comics feature graphic nudity and violence, and that's reflected in several of these illustrations as well. You have been very aptly warned.

I picked this up mainly because I was curious to see what this volume offered in comparison to the first one. Overall I think it's a better collection because the quality of artwork is more consistent for quality overall and less jarring. The first volume was a mashup of artwork/covers that were really good and representative to the world and characters versus...not at all, and I was surprised that some of them were actually chosen as covers for their collections. Volume 2's compilation's range stretches not only to the Warlord of Mars properties and Dejah Thoris herself, but also Dejah's feature in other stories, some of which feature Vamprella and Red Sonja of Conan fame. (I'm familiar with the Conan legends/comic series as well, which makes me think I should probably start reviewing that series too since I have picked them up and read them.)

I'm not going to get into too much detail as to how representative these covers were to their individual volumes - I could potentially dive more into that in my reviews of those volumes/omnibus collections individually - but at least this Volume of covers has more from it where I could say "Yeah, I think this is representative of the fantasy world and characters in these stories from a decent sized range of interpretations, and not just for show/objectifying." Also - I'm very happy to see cover illustrations from women artists in this collection. Tula Lotay's and Nicola Scott's interpretations of Dejah are absolutely stunning, to cite a few artists that I really enjoyed seeing the featured work for.

Overall, I'm actually glad to have this particular volume in my collection. I may include some samples of the art I loved if the formatting will let me in this review, but I would come back to peruse this volume over the previous one.

Overall score: 3/5 stars.

[Devero · Rating 2 out of 5]

Non c'è testo in questa collezione di variant cover e pin-up dedicate a Deja Thoris.
Proprio nemmeno una riga che tenti di narrare qualcosa della genesi di alcune copertine o altro.
Forse erano nel primo volume.

Tutto da guardare, devo dire che spiccano in bene alcuni autori, in generale quelli di una certa esperienza (leggi anzianità) come Joe Jusko, o anche più giovani come Jay Anacleto. Meno bene gente come McKone, Cho, Campbell e Parillo. Sarà anche colpa della colorazione, ma le loro interpretazioni risultano anonime e piatte. Interessante l'interpretazione di Nen Chang.

[wbforeman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Much better than volume one a wider variety of artists and not every piece of art is a pinup shot. Granted there’s a good chunk of them that are that but you get a much more wide variety in what is being drawn here and a wide variety of art styles

[Adam Meek · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful art from Dynamite comics.