IR Graphic Novel Review: DEJAH THORIS & THE WHITE APES OF MARS [Dynamite]

The aspect of John Carter and the personification of the story myth reflects very specifically to the Egyptian structures of the same timeline. With the new graphic novel "Dejah Thoris & The White Apes Of Mars" [Mark Rahner/Dynamic Forces], the resistance comes in the forms of John's wife, the princess Dejah, who has survived him on his quest with their sons in tow. With her faithful handmaidens, she seeks to show her mettle in exploring and attaining the unknown on the planet. Against her advisers wishes, she heads out. Their perception is that her position is better spent heeding and leading the calls of the politicians. When she finds her way to some abandoned ruins on the edge of an archeological dig, she and her team are attacked by a gang of ravenous white apes bent on destroying them. Their thirst is one for blood so their is no reasoning with them across the board. The blood in the art is vicious and mixed with the fleshy sexuality of these warrior women in much the same way "Heavy Metal" portrays. It is a sense of society that filters through, not of belittlement. The visuals are overtly aggressive but with a beauty that balances its rage. The princess' handmaidens give their lives to protect Dejah but she herself must show her superiority to the apes finely shown in her attack of the lead alpha before eating his brain as a show of power. The narrative ultimately leads to the uncovering of the massacre at the Grand Mons. The turn of the apes in understanding their possible destruction points to a black and white tendency of storytelling but fits well into the structure of this world.B