Traveling To Mars #11 Review

 

Writer: Mark Russell

Artist: Roberto Meli

Colorist: Chiara Di Francia

Letterer: Mattia Gentili

Cover Artists: Roberto Meli; Gabriele Bagnoli; Ciro Cangialosi; Brent McKee

Publisher: Ablaze

Price: $3.99

Release Date: April 3, 2024

 

Roy arrived on Mars with his robot companions. While Leopold and Albert's lives will continue, Roy's oxygen is nearly gone. He received his final message from the Easy Beef Corporation and a surprise missive from his ex-wife Candace. What can Roy accomplish in his remaining hours on the Red Planet? Let's put on our spacesuits, take a giant leap into Traveling To Mars #11, and find out!

 

Story

Traveling To Mars #10 ended so satisfactorily that this issue came as a surprise. Sometimes, a comic series goes on too long. But Roy, Leopold, and Albert make such charming companions that I couldn’t begrudge sharing more time with them.

 

In Mark Russell’s story, Roy has accomplished his mission. He’s staked his claim to mining rights on behalf of the Easy Beef Corporation. So what if Vera lied about discovering natural gas deposits, and all the machinery and people sent from Earth will accomplish nothing? There’s nothing Roy can do about that.

 

Like the animals in the pet shop where Roy worked, Albert and Leopold became part of his family. Each abandoned rover in Vera's community has a life to lead. Roy isn't a model spokesperson. Yet he's there. Roy cared for his animals on Earth. He spends his final hours caring for the robots on Mars.

 

In Traveling to Mars #11, something Roy didn’t do on Earth still plagues him. Ticking that box on Mars comes as a welcome surprise. Maybe Roy was a zero on Earth. Who cares? Since when did you have to be Somebody to give your life meaning or help others?

 

Like many science fiction readers, I’ve long been fascinated by our Red neighbor. I've read countless stories and novels about Mars. Some are fantasies like Edgar Rice Burroughs' John Carter Of Mars novels. Others offer thoughtful scientific extrapolation, such as Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars trilogy. Perhaps it was Russell's flowing prose. It may be his sociological musings. Whatever the reason, as I read Traveling To Mars #11, my thoughts returned to Ray Bradbury’s novel The Martian Chronicles. Like this issue and Roy's accomplishment, discovering a comic that evoked a childhood favorite proved an unexpected but welcome bonus.

 

 

Art

As the sun sinks toward the distant hills, Roy sits on a boulder in his spacesuit and strums his guitar. The rover community surrounds a glowing lamp as Roy's loyal robot friends discuss their favorite movie. Roy steps onto a makeshift dais, envisioning great orators from Human history. Roberto Meli shows a shantytown of homes constructed from abandoned equipment in the background. The rovers' sensors gaze up as Roy talks and gestures. After his speech, Roy returns to Vera in Traveling To Mars #11. Then he kneels before a small robot and shakes its hand.

 

Purple fills a sky dotted with white beneath an orange-red landscape. Blue dominates Roy’s memories of holding Candace. Beneath his visor, his face fades to blue as a convoy of spacecraft travels through panels overlaying his features. Chiara Di Francia splashes the morning sky with yellow, orange, and magenta. Even though the rovers' metal bodies look gray and silver, the glowing, colored lights of their optical sensors grant them individuality.

 

Mattia Gentili's uppercase black letters fill white dialogue balloons. Smaller, italicized lowercase letters roam colored narrative boxes. The robots' machine-like font evokes signage in Buck Rogers In The 25^th Century. No sound effects distract from Roy's flowing memories and musings or the heartfelt conversations in this series-ending issue.

 

While I wrote this review, my wife glanced at my computer and said, "That looks like Scotty." I hadn't connected Roy with the Enterprise's Chief Engineer. Still, Roy becomes the robot community’s miracle worker in Traveling To Mars #11. Thanks to Ablaze Publishing and Arancia Studio for providing a copy for review.

 

Final Thoughts

A man passed over in life finds peace, and a slave community embarks on an odyssey in Traveling To Mars #11.

 

Rating 9.4/10

 

For more cover art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.

ThunderCats #2 Review

 

Writer: Declan Shalvey

Artist: Drew Moss

Colorists: Chiara Di Francia & Martina Pignedoli

Letterer: Jeff Eckleberry

Cover Artists: David Nakayama; Lucio Parrillo; Declan Shalvey; Jae Lee & June Chung; Ivan Tao; Drew Moss

Publisher: Dynamite

Price: $4.99

Release Date: March 13, 2024

 

The Mu’Tants craved the Eye Of Thundera. They destroyed the ThunderCats' homeworld to get the jewel. Mu’Tant leader Lord Slithe tracked the lone escaping ThunderCat vessel to Third Earth. Yet while battling Lion-O, Lord Slithe's mighty axe shattered the Sword Of Omens adorned with the precious gem. What reason have the Mu’Tants and the ThunderCats to continue fighting? Let's leap into ThunderCats #2 and find out!

 

Story

Lion-O looks up to Jaga. After Jaga’s death, Lion-O seeks his mentor in his dreams. He awakens to mourn Jaga. Of all the ThunderCats, Lion-O feels the most alone. He lost his childhood and camaraderie with WilyKat and WilyKit to a faulty stasis pod. Years and responsibilities separate them. In ThunderCats #2, Lion-O quickly assures WilyKat and WilyKit of their safety. Then Lion-O bids the children leave his presence so he can use Sight Beyond Sight to spy on the other adults.

 

After the destruction of their ship, the Mu’Tants seek a new stronghold. A pyramid guarded by four obelisks seems too good to be true. While Lord Slythe's soldiers journey through the desert, their leader enters the forest. Lord Slythe lost his ship to children, suffered defeat despite his larger army, and shattered what he most desired. Slythe seeks renewal of mind, body, and purpose, yet the forest may not offer the tranquility it promises.

 

 

 

Declan Shalvey builds his story upon cracked pillars. Perhaps the most stressed is Panthro. He is a general. Yet his forces number a handful. Half of them are children, and Lion-O rejects his leadership. In their first conflict, Lion-O shattered the Sword Of Omens while WilyKat and WilyKit's exuberance deprived Panthro of a valuable asset. Like Lion-O and Lord Slythe, Panthro’s failure has led his people to ruin.

 

Interlopers intrude upon all their lives in ThunderCats #2. One meets the Mu’Tants in the desert. The ThunderCats welcome another into their crashed spaceship. A third deprives Lord Slythe of his solitude. How many more dangers inhabit the Third World?

 

 

 

 

Art

Drew Moss brings us into the characters' concerns with closeups. Backgrounds fade as characters argue over plans or share their fears. WilyKit and WilyKat sit on a ledge on the hull of the pitted and scarred Thunderan flagship. As they converse, moons rise above distant hills on their new homeworld. 

 

Lion-O's hair is in constant motion in ThunderCats #2. Bald, elfin-eared Panthro wears a perpetual frown. Like lightning, direction lines flash through panels when Cheetara bursts into motion. Rocks bounce along the ground, and dust rises as she speeds through the desert.

 

A green horde disturbs the blue-gray sands. The Mu’Tants march beneath an angry red sky, evoking Sauron’s Orc armies in The Lord Of The Rings. A gray mist obscures the lower portions of the black pyramid and obelisks they find. As red sinks beneath the hills, Chiara Di Francia & Martina Pignedoli color the night sky ultramarine. Lord Slythe walks between green trees near a blue lake. Yet moonlight pierces the forest, illuminating the Mu’Tant leader as he treads upon clumps of green grass and passes brown tree trunks.

 

 

 

 

Lowercase black letters in colored narrative boxes relate character thoughts and off-camera dialogue. Black uppercase words in white dialogue balloons grow bold for inflection and swell for shouts but rarely shrink. Peering into the Eye Of Thundera can make any day a Red Letter Day. Jeff Eckleberry adorns memories of the Sword Of Omens shattering, the commencement of Sight Beyond Sight, and a battle in the darkness with colorful, enlivening sound effects. Yet a cloaked figure speaks with cloud-like dialogue balloons, promising more dangers in ThunderCats #2.

 

Thanks to Dynamite Comics for providing a copy for review.

 

 

 

 

Final Thoughts

Danger threatens a retreating army, a despondent leader seeks renewal, and a mysterious figure deploys nefarious plans as a power struggle brews in ThunderCats #2.

 

Rating 9.4/10

 

For more cover art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.

 

 

Red Sonja Vol. 2: Mother Review

 

Writers: Mirka Andolfo & Luca Blengino

Artists: Giuseppe Cafaro

Colorists: Chiara Di Francia

Letterers: Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou & Jeff Eckleberry

Cover Artist: Mirka Andolfo

Publisher: Dynamite

Price: $19.99

Release Date: February 7, 2024

 

Baroness Drang threw Red Sonja in her dungeon. A thief named Kebra took Sitha under her wing. Will Kebra help Sitha rescue Red Sonja before the Baroness executes her? Let's hack and slash into Red Sonja Vol 2: Mother and find out!

 

Story

Baroness Drang holds her village—The Feud Of The Seven Gallows—in a reign of terror. Her soldiers regularly arrest people for unspecified crimes. No one survives more than seven days in her dungeon.

 

Kebra steals food for the children orphaned by Baroness Drang’s cruelty. While planning the ultimate heist, Kebra chews grass and leaves for sustenance. If Sitha helps her, Kebra promises to help Sitha rescue Red Sonja. Can Sitha trust the thief to do as she’s promised?

 

The She-Devil has refused food or water for seven days in Red Sonja Vol 2: Mother. Soldiers bring her to Baroness Drang’s Playroom. The tyrant suggests Red Sonja accept death meekly. Yeah, like that’s going to happen!

 

 

 

In Red Sonja Vol 1: Mother, Setubai told Sonja and the carpenter Samosh that the demigoddess Xamul lived inside Sitha. Fear and anger allow Xamul to burn anyone nearby. Kebra demands Sitha use Xamul’s power to break into Baroness Drang’s vault. But the more Sitha draws on Xamul’s power, the more power the girl gives the god.

 

Sitha hails from a mountain village in Kithai. No one’s paying Red Sonja to bring Sitha home. The girl’s not asking Sonja to transport her halfway around the world. Sitha would happily remain by the She-Devil’s side. But Red Sonja knows what it’s like to lose a family. She won’t let Sitha miss a chance to meet her kin.

 

In Red Sonja Vol 2: Mother, Sonja, and Sitha will board a Shahpur freighter and sail across the Sea of Vilayet. Red Sonja allows Captain Beylab to store her sword in his armory. But is Beylab more than a trader in oil and textiles? Can Sonja and Sitha trust him to protect them on a sea where the veil between worlds is as thin as silk?

 

 

 

Throughout this series, Mirka Andolfo & Luca Blengino have discussed the importance of family. While Red Sonja clings to the past, Sitha looks forward. The girl decides who she can trust and assigns them familial roles.

 

In Red Sonja Vol 2: Mother, the authors show how her father shaped Baroness Drang’s character. Sitha declares Samosh is her father, and one sailor becomes her uncle. After Sonja brings her home, Sitha insists that Sonja remains her mother. Is family restricted to blood and marital relations, as Sonja claims? Or is the term sufficiently malleable to include others? And if so, how do we differentiate between family and friends?

 

 

 

Art

Giuseppe Cafaro’s carefree, fluid style captures the energy of Red Sonja’s adventures. Scenes convey the natural beauty of the Hyborian world, the mythical landscapes and creatures of the Vilayet Sea, and the grandeur of a city perched on the slope of an active volcano. The drama never suffers, thanks to a wealth of vibrant characters imbued with warmth and charisma. While Red Sonja rarely lowers her guard, Sitha transforms in an instant. Flames erupt around her, and Xamul’s personality burns in her eyes.

 

Chiara Di Francia fills panels with soft, appealing colors. The She-Devil's eye-catching hair and the rivers of blood flowing through Red Sonja Vol 2: Mother contrast with the backgrounds. Anger fills Sitha’s white hair with red as yellow and orange surround her. Such vibrant colors energize negative silhouettes, coloring the characters and direction lines but leaving all else black. Blue and white speckles suggest the ethereal nature of the Vilayet Sea.

 

The large, uppercase black letters that inhabit white dialogue balloons grow bold for inflection. Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou & Jeff Eckleberry's energetic, colored sound effects enhance swordfights, bear attacks, arrow strikes, falls into the deadly waters, and the awakening of an ancient god. Yet what lingers is how Xamul’s dialogue balloons turn yellow, orange, and red.

 

In addition to an extensive cover gallery in Red Sonja Vol 2: Mother, inked drawings introduce each issue in the collection. Stylized borders and geometric imprints impart a historic feel, aided by the brown coloring that evokes leather. Splashes of blue adorn the lower portion of each character, while yellow lines near their heads suggest the elemental nature of Red Sonja and Sitha’s power.

 

Thanks to Dynamite Entertainment for providing a copy for review.

 

 

 

Final Thoughts

As they battle mad magical monarchs, meet savage sailors, get carried away by winged wonders, and discover a city of women, Red Sonja and Sitha explore the boundaries of family and how it confuses, distorts, and enriches us in Red Sonja Vol. 2.

 

Rating 9.2/10

 

For more cover art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.

 

If you missed my review of the first volume, or wish to refresh your memories of Sitha's early adventures with Red Sonja? Read my review of Red Sonja Vol. 1: Mother.

Traveling To Mars #10 Review

 

Writer: Mark Russell

Artist: Roberto Meli

Colorist: Chiara Di Francia

Letterer: Mattia Gentili

Cover Artists: Roberto Meli; Romina Moranelli; Fernando Proietti; Brent McKee

Publisher: Ablaze

Price: $3.99

Release Date: February 7, 2023

 

Vera's reports of natural gas deposits on Mars bolstered a society teetering on the brink of collapse. The Easy Beef Corporation funded a mission to send a human to Mars. There was only one problem: they couldn't send the resources to keep the astronaut alive indefinitely. So they sent Roy, a man with an imminent expiration date, to stake their claim. Unfortunately for Earth, Vera lied. Somehow, the rover attained sentience and craved communication with others. So, the Easy Beef Corporation will fund the infrastructure for natural gas extraction and an intrasolar delivery system. Human society will still collapse when it consumes its remaining natural resources.

 

Cancer won’t kill Roy. Nor will he live to see the Easy Beef Corporation land on Mars and watch other companies and nations battle over its nonexistent resources. He’ll consume his remaining oxygen today and die. How will Roy spend his last day on Mars? Let's put on our spacesuits, take a giant leap into Traveling To Mars #10, and find out!

 

Story

What would you eat for your last meal? How about steak? Sounds great, right? Thick, juicy, and imitation meat. Still, it tastes great, so who cares?

 

How about afterward? One final moment of entertainment? Roy watches the Kangaroo Kid movie again. Leopold and Albert sit beside Roy. Their optical sensors glow while watching. The robots rock on their wheels at the movie’s climax. So, the man who devoted his life to animals made his robot companions happy one final time, thanks to Hollywood's CGI magicians.

 

Now it's time for one last walk. Roy likens hiking around Mars to tramping through Arizona in a beekeeping outfit, but it's what he came here for, right? Isn't that the grand dream: exploring an alien planet? Yet Roy's thoughts remain tethered to Earth.

 

In earlier issues, we glimpsed Roy's courtship with Candace. We saw them marry and survive the storm that destroyed their town. In Traveling To Mars #10, Mark Russell returns us to Eufaula, Alabama, in the year of our Lord, 2024.

 

Roy and Candace live in a FEMA trailer. Thanks to his job at the pet store, he's filled their trailer with animals. Candace wants to start their family. Roy wants to wait to have children. Hey, aren't animals family? The choices he makes define their relationship. Candace argues that life will try to curtail your potential, but he can't embrace bigger dreams. Ultimately, Roy achieves his career goal, but at too great a cost.

 

Mark Russell forges a link between Roy and Vera in Traveling To Mars #10. Life consigned the rover to the scrap heap, just as it threw Roy's marriage onto the rocks. Both seek meaning and purpose in their lives. Like Roy, Vera cared for others and became a leader. As with Candace, the rover's journey will continue, while Roy's will end.

  

Art

Roberto Meli begins and ends Traveling To Mars #10 with Roy confronting Vera and the other surviving rovers. He divides the remainder of the tale between life on Earth and Roy's final morning in the shuttle. Roy looks charmingly ridiculous in his cowboy hat as he sits at a table and eats his fake steak with one hand. Meli portrays the purposelessness of his mission and life in one glimpse of the town Roy left behind. He also shows us a final sketch from Roy's notebook, as the lone Human on Mars commits his thoughts on the meaning of life to paper.

 

Under the glowing starfield, Roy sleeps in his illuminated shuttle. Sunrise fills the sky with red. Light streams through the shuttle windows. Like Leopold and Albert, Chiara Di Francia paints the shuttle interior in blue and orange. Highlights and shadows convey individuality to wall tiles and interior furnishings. I don't know its origin, as I've not followed this series since its inception, but a child's handprint-turkey drawing on yellow paper sparks the most vibrant color in Roy's present.

 

Mattia Gentili relates Roy's reminiscences with uppercase black letters in white dialogue balloons. The yellow/orange narrative boxes—which match the faded color schemes of life back on Earth—feature small lowercase handprinted font. Gentili fills tan paper strips with tiny lowercase handprinted font in Traveling To Mars #10. The coloring of the tiny lettering seems faded, closer to brown than black. A solitary sound effect announces something unexpected that brings a sense of completeness to Roy's final day.

 

Thanks to Ablaze Publishing and Arancia Studio for providing this copy for review.

 

Final Thoughts

Bittersweet and satisfying, Traveling To Mars #10 delivers a poignant reminder to live our lives to the fullest, cherish those closest to us, and nourish others' beliefs and values.

 

Rating 9/10

 

For more cover art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.

ThunderCats #1 Review

 

Writer: Declan Shalvey

Artist: Drew Moss

Colorists: Chiara Di Francia & Martina Pignedoli

Letterer: Jeff Eckleberry

Cover Artists: David Nakayama; Lucio Parrillo; Declan Shalvey; Jae Lee & June Chung; Ivan Tao; Drew Moss

Publisher: Dynamite

Price: $4.99

Release Date: February 7, 2024

 

Lion-O entered his stasis pod as a boy. He awakened as an adult. Birth makes him the leader of the ThunderCats. But he has much to learn. Can Lion-O lead his people and wield the Sword Of Omens despite his lack of education and experience? Let's leap into ThunderCats #1 and find out!

 

Story

With their homeworld destroyed and their fleet ravaged, the only surviving ThunderCat ship crashed on Third Earth. Lion-O’s friends WileyKat and WileyKit are cubs. His journey into adulthood begins with no friends his age among the skilled and experienced adults Tygra, Panthro, and Cheetara. Lion-O has no peers. Can he lead and protect his people?

 

Lion-O seeks solitude in the desert. Instead of answers, he discovers an arriving spaceship. The Mu’Tants tracked their damaged ship! Desperate to prove himself, Lion-O unsheathes the Sword Of Omens. The Eye of Thundera, embedded in the sword, unleashes its power. The adults at his crashed spaceship, the troops aboard the Mu’Tant vessel, and a dark figure who inhabits the Black Pyramid realize Lion-O is in trouble.

 

In ThunderCats #1, Declan Shalvey introduces a cast of colorful and appealing characters. He paws lightly over their history to focus on the crucible Lion-O must pass through.

 Lion-O fled Thundara as a frightened boy. Now, Lion-O must guide and protect an endangered species. Lion-O can look to Tygra for guidance. Panthro can teach him how to wield the Sword Of Omens. But like Paul Atreides, Lion-O must discover his birthright amid a trial by fire.

 

Art

The ThunderCats leave their damaged ship to explore the alien desert of Third Earth. As Lion-O runs up a slope, a shape emerges from the darkness overhead. A beam of light streaks up from the Sword Of Omens, revealing the ThunderCat symbol to the arriving spaceship. Their leader, Lord Slythe, cringes at its intensity. In the Desert Of Sinking Sands, a giant skull perches on a vine-covered stone floor before a pit within the Black Pyramid.

 

Drew Moss packs pages with panels that convey history, character, and reactions. Splash pages and double-page spreads introduce and show the cast in action. Backgrounds give way to speed lines amid motion and conflict. Smoke rises from a battlefield when WileyKat and WileyKit surf the air currents on spaceboards and drop capsules onto the combatants.

 

Reds, yellows, and blues dominate ThunderCats #1. Chiara Di Francia and Martina Pignedoli's limited palette breathes life and drama into each page. The yellow explosions accompanying the ship’s flight from Thundara and the fiery streak of their ship hurtling through Third Earth's sky match the glow inside the stasis pod that robs Lion-O of his teen years. Highlights enrich characters with individuality, while shadows enhance the drama of this opening installment.

 

Lowercase black letters in colored narrative boxes introduce the characters, relate their thoughts, and tell of the dangers facing them. Black uppercase words in white dialogue balloons grow bold for inflection and swell for shouts but rarely shrink. Jeff Eckleberry infuses training, hunting, and battle scenes with energetic sound effects. When Lion-O raises the Sword Of Omens, his giant white-edged black shout echoes through the remaining pages of ThunderCats #1.

 

Thanks to Dynamite Comics for providing a copy for review.

 

Final Thoughts

Robbed of his teen years, a young hero struggles to lead the hunted survivors of his race with the strength of his adult body and a mythic sword in ThunderCats #1.

 

Rating 8.2/10

 

For more cover art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.

Traveling To Mars #9 Review

 

Writer: Mark Russell

Artist: Roberto Meli

Colorist: Chiara Di Francia

Letterer: Mattia Gentili

Cover Artists: Roberto Meli; Michele Benevento; Dario Tallarico; Brent McKee

Publisher: Ablaze

Price: $3.99

Release Date: November 1, 2023

 

In leaving the spaceship, Roy Livingston signed his death warrant. Already terminally ill, he’s got a few days on Mars before his shuttle and suit’s air runs out. Was his flag-planting exercise worth it? Let’s warp into Traveling To Mars #9 and find out!

 

Story

After six months, Roy reached Mars with his companions. Leopold and Albert talked, felt emotions, and enjoyed movies with him. The robots found new friends in the rovers from previous missions. Foremost among them is Perseverance II, which Roy calls Vera. The rover reported the natural gas deposits that excited energy companies back on Earth. Yet when Leopold and Albert introduced it, Vera admitted that it lied.

 

In Traveling To Mars #9, Mark Russell invites us to share Vera’s journey. It’s a story of heartbreak as the rover struggled to understand why its creators fell silent. What did it do wrong? How could it repair the damaged relationship? As it sought answers, it met more of its kind. Abandoned by their creators, Vera welded the scattered rovers into a community. Eventually, Vera conceived a way to become valued once more and get the answers it desperately craved.

 

As in previous issues, Roy’s thoughts return to the past. A hurricane caused him to doubt God's existence. The fragility of life taught him to value it more. He’s tempted to spend his remaining days avoiding Vera, Leopold, Albert, and the other robots. After all, they’ve done him and Humanity wrong. But as a former pet store manager, can he ignore these aging, mechanical beings who look to him for hope?

  

Art

When he met Vera, Roy sensed cruelty and indifference. Roberto Meli details the weathering, surface imperfections, and brokenness of the rovers in Traveling To Mars #9. As Vera rolls across the regolith, testing shale, sending radio signals, repairing its robot brethren, and gazing upon a member of the species that created it, we sense something more. We feel the pain, longing, and determination that earned it the name Perseverance II.

 

Roy likened trekking across Mars to exploring Arizona in a beekeeper suit. Chiara Di Francia brings light to this red planet with the dust Roy and the robots kick into the thin Martian atmosphere. Blue seeps into objects not bathed in the distant sunlight, whether a crater wall, a pile of mechanical debris, or Roy's transparent helmet. Light speeds across pages, following prescribed pathways, forming a circuit-like backdrop as Vera regales Roy. Mauve lines streak panels showing the rover's journey, while yellow circles make radio signals visible. Umber shadows roam orange dunes, darkening each wheel's tracks. A stained component deemed unsalvageable lays in a bluish shade while the robot community seeks its next temporary home in Traveling To Mars #9.

 

Mattia Gentili reveals the characters’ speech with black uppercase words in white dialogue balloons. Vera accompanies her illustrated past with black words in yellow narrative boxes. Roy’s thoughts appear as lowercase words written on scraps of beige journal paper. The latter may strain the eyes more than the robots’ conversations. Yet sound effects enliven Vera's story, and Roy's emboldened words swell as he attempts to come to grips with the robot community's leader.

 

Thanks to Ablaze Publishing and Arancia Studio for providing this copy for review.

 

Final Thoughts

Do you ever feel unwanted? Traveling To Mars #9 reminds us of the pain of abandonment and how those who work hardest are often deemed inconsequential and needy.

 

Rating 9.2/10

 

For more cover art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.

Traveling To Mars #8 Review

 

Writer: Mark Russell

Artist: Roberto Meli

Colorist: Chiara Di Francia

Letterer: Mattia Gentili

Cover Artists: Roberto Meli; Mili Montlló; & Emanuele Gizzi; Brent McKee

Publisher: Ablaze

Price: $3.99

Release Date: September 20, 2023

 

Twenty years hence, dwindling resources drive people into the streets. As states invoke martial law to quell riots and corporations battle to control Earth’s remaining resources, can one man succeed where governments failed? Let’s warp into Traveling To Mars #8 and find out!

 

Story

Roy Livingstone is a dying man. Unlucky in love and business, he faces his final days alone. Why not do something for his planet before his cancer kills him? So he boards a ship with two robots and shoots into space. If he can stake claim to Mars’ mineral wealth, perhaps he'll feel like he contributed to a better future and can bask in the glow of reaching another planet. That is until his oxygen runs out.

 

It's been six long months, but Roy’s finally arrived. As he prepares to leave the Erimhon, Roy indulges in a final morning of escapism. Packing up prompts reflections on what drives Human progress. A chat with folks back home grants insight into how we chart our journey through life. As his shuttle descends, Traveling To Mars #8 suggests that knowing you will die soon doesn't rob fear of its power.

 

Perhaps it’s unrealistic to believe we could build a space elevator in the next two decades, let alone set up an interplanetary supply system. Mark Russell dreams big in his satire-laced Traveling To Mars #8, even suggesting we could terraform Mars in a few generations! With corporations in the United States regularly traveling outside Earth's atmosphere and other countries getting into the Space Race, perhaps Russell's vision isn't impossible. Should Humanity realize his vision, let's hope the situation on Earth isn't as dire as he paints it.

 

Art

Roberto Meli delivers action aplenty, with kangaroos punching cowboys, a drone racing toward an oil platform, and Roy's shuttle hurtling through Martian skies. Even smaller moments—like the glances Roy shares with his robots—shine thanks to lifelike portrayals and attention to detail. We see how life has ground Roy down through his expressions and movements. Yet the Martian future he imagines inspires awe.

 

The red planet casts a warm glow into space as Traveling To Mars #8 opens. Stars twinkle as the Erimhon travels through the multi-hued vacuum. The blue-and-white robot Albert plants a flag in the yellow, orange, and red regolith while Roy stands bemused beneath a textured lavender sky. Light sources gleam, and highlights and shadows ground characters and structures. Pages shine thanks to the depth and nuance Chiara Di Francia creates with his vast array of appealing colors.

 

Mattia Gentili reveals the characters’ speech with black uppercase words in white dialogue balloons. Roy’s thoughts appear as lowercase words in colored boxes. The latter may strain the eyes as Mark Russell dishes out an ample serving of narrative-driven drama. Yet balloon and box sizes scale nicely within panels. Like Roy, we're amazed he arrives in one piece, thanks to the colorful and expressive sound effects that convey the shuttle's high-speed descent.

 

Final Thoughts

As Roy reaches his destination, Traveling To Mars illustrates the coming apocalypse and hints there's still time to make our future brighter.

 

Rating 9/10

 

For more cover art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.

Red Sonja Vol. 1: Mother Review

 

Writers: Mirka Andolfo & Luca Blengino

Artists: Giuseppe Cafaro, Salvatore Cafari, Valentina Pinti,Francesco Paciaroni, Nathan Ramirez, Chiara Di Francia, Giovanna La Pietra & Fausto Michelotti

Colorists: Chiara Di Francia, Nicolò Laporini, Gianluca Papi & Francesca Carotenuto

Letterers: Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou & Jeff Eckleberry

Cover Artist: Mirka Andolfo

Publisher: Dynamite

Price: $19.99

Release Date: August 23, 2023

 

Scavengers find poor pickings among the dead. They blame their leader Three-Eyed Shezem for placing them among the stragglers of his war party. Then a woman clad in a chain mail bikini and a fur cloak rides into the burning village. Have the gods finally smiled upon them? Let's hack into Red Sonja Vol 1: Mother and find out!

 

Story

Pirates kidnapped Sitha from her cradle. Years later, her parents learned she was in Hyperborea. Zondryak, the King Of The Slums in Messentia, commissioned Red Sonja to find her. It’s taken her two months to travel here from the capital city of Argos, only to find this remote village burning and looters searching the corpses.

 

  

Suddenly, like a gift from the gods, Sitha emerges from the flames. The girl is just as Zondryak described her: ritualistic signs of her lineage mark her arms. Sitha’s eyes glow when she sees Sonja. The exhausted girl rushes into her embrace and insists that Red Sonja is her mother!

 

Red Sonja will find returning to Messentia as difficult as shaking Sitha’s assertion. After a battle leaves her injured, she’ll awaken to discover a man tending her. How dare Samosh touch her so intimately, even to nurse her back to health! Worse, Sitha believes that they should continue living together as a family! Red Sonja’s spirits ebb further when she finally delivers the girl to Zondryak and collects her fee. Sitha feels betrayed. Red Sonja feels like she’s just sold her daughter!

 

 

 

Red Sonja Vol. 1: Mother will take Red Sonja and Sitha across the Hyborean world. From Hyperborea to Argos, thence into Shem, and eventually to faraway Khitai, they will meet soldiers, thieves, and an evil baroness. They'll battle blind priests and monsters, visit the castle of a mad king, and find friendship with an aging servant named Setubai. Yet the most intense battle of all will be the battle for their souls, as Red Sonja wrestles with her conscience, and Sitha battles the raging spirit inside her.

 

If you find yourself confused regarding Sitha’s background, don’t worry. The pieces of that puzzle will come together by the end. And while Red Sonja Vol. 1: Mother ends on a cliffhanger, Red Sonja and Sitha grow as people while they battle the dangers life throws into their paths. It's the adventure of a lifetime, and you'll be glad you shared it with them.

 

 

 

Art

Giuseppe Cafaro’s characters often appear angular and wear exaggerated expressions. Backgrounds—and characters in long shots—may look barely sketched in. Yet there's also an organic, flowing feeling to his work, such as when the wind whips Red Sonja's hair.

 

His dynamic style relates action well, sometimes faster than the eye can see. There's over-the-top silliness, such as when a man's severed head flies through the air screaming, and battles suggest a George Lucas-like love of lopped-off limbs. At times, dialogue refers to people and objects that only appear in later panels. Yet I like his sense of symmetry, page composition, and how he frames scenes. I particularly like a statue in Samosh’s home that presages Sitha’s transformation in later issues.

 

 

 

Chiara Di Francia enhances Cafaro’s images with bright colors full of richness and depth. They show shadows and highlights, enliven action scenes, and convey realism. Flashbacks—such as when Zondryak commissioned Red Sonja—appear sepia toned. Like Giuseppe Cafaro, he allows other artists to contribute to issue #5. But then he returns to sole coloring duties to follow Sitha’s struggle to survive when separated from her flame-haired guardian.

 

Large, uppercase black letters usually inhabit dialogue balloons. They give way to small font and lowercase lettering for lowered voices. Red Sonja Vol. 1: Mother boasts a wealth of lettering styles, from immense time-and-space markers to irregularly shaped balloons with backgrounds that gradually shift from white to red. Balloon arrangement takes on beauty, particularly in the early issues, before the action heightens and situations intensify. 

 

 

 

Final Thoughts

Red Sonja Vol. 1: Mother explores our responsibility toward others, our craving for power, and how much we long for a sense of family. This six-issue trade paperback—filled with action, sorcery, and Hyborean myths and legends—also packs a forty-page cover gallery.

 

9.2/10

 

To preview interior art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.