The Thrilling Adventure Hour: Martian Manhunt

The Thrilling Adventure Hour

by Ben Acker, Ben Blacker, Scott Newman (Cover Art)

Shine your astro spurs and don your robot fists! Justice rides a rocket steed across the crimson plains of the fourth planet, where one man brings hope to humans who make this frontier world their home. He is...Sparks Nevada: Marshal on Mars. Alongside his trusty Martian sidekick Croach, Sparks protects Mars from robot outlaws, alien invaders, and any galactic threat foolish enough to target the red planet. Written by the creators of the wildly popular Hollywood stage show and podcast, Ben Acker and Ben Blacker (Deadpool, Star Wars Adventures), and illustrated by J. Bone (Batman: The Brave and the Bold), The Thrilling Adventure Hour: Martian Manhunt is a rip-roaring adventure that harkens back to the heyday of old-time radio entertainment. Collects The Thrilling Adventure Hour Presents: Sparks Nevada: Marshal on Mars #0-4.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Science Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics, Fiction, Westerns, Humor

98 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 19, 2019

About the author

Aka: Benjamin Acker

Reviews

[A. Nixon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very pretty graphic novel collecting the individual comics I've already read. I thought it would be something new and was a bit disappointed that it wasn't.

It's fun to see Croach and Sparks "in the flesh" so to speak but it feels a tiny bit flat. I think some of the quick wit or the Marks's delivery and banter were missing.

If this was my first time reading it, I'm sure I would have loved it. It does bring to life a colourful, fascinating landscape of Mars-meets-Western, and it's nice to have it all in one graphic novel.

[Bill Coffin · Rating 5 out of 5]

The fun continues in this installment of the Thrilling Adventure Hour, which delightfully mashes up old-time Westerns, John Carter from Mars and the astro-retro-futurism of 1950s pulp fiction. The writing is really funny, the artwork is just perfectly suited for the story, and the whole thing comes together in such a way that the whole is much greater than the sum of its parts. There's no deep story here, no piercing moral. Just a thrilling adventure hour that is so perfectly done, you want to re-read it immediately after finishing. Bravo.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the Thrilling Adventure Hour podcast, so I was excited to see the graphic novel adaptations.

This was a fun, quick read that provided background information on the meeting of Croach the Tracker and Sparks Nevada. It's also nice that you don't actually have to have any context about the storylines from the podcast in order to make sense of what is happening in the graphic novel.

[Ian Banks · Rating 4 out of 5]

A terrific collection telling a piece of backstory to one of the more obscure episodes of the podcast/ stage show that this is based on. I'm stupidly invested in these characters and their situation anyway, so I loved it. The best part is being able to imagine Mark Evan Jackson (Sparks) and Mark Gagliardi (Croach) saying the lines so easily. Roll on a regular series, please!

[Mateen Mahboubi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had read this in single issues years ago. A big fan of the podcast, the visuals do not make up for the loss of the interesting voices and characters that had been developed in the live show. The story is interesting enough but even as a fan I found myself losing interest as it went on. Not sure how much someone unfamiliar with the characters would connect with it.

[Jennifer Kubenka · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bought this on a clearance rack at my local gaming/comic book store. Didn't know a thing about it, except that "Sparks Nevada" is a great name for a marshal located on Mars, the planet.

Easy to read, I laughed right out loud in several places, the characters have me hooked and I'll be searching out and buying other volumes in this series.

[Eujean2 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sparks Nevada & Croach the tracker backstory! Like Beyond Belief, this translates well to the comic media.

[Kyle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm curious how this would read to somebody not hearing Marc Evan Jackson's voice.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Still a hella fun ride, even if it is awkward to read on phone screen...

[B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was perfectly fine but I’m guessing the podcast comes across as a more enjoyable experience. I’ll have to listen to it someday!