Ron Marz Discusses JOHN CARTER: WARLORD OF MARS

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inferiorego

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The newest John Carter volume at Dynamite is in fell effect and this time, it's being written by Ron Marz. Issue #4 of JOHN CARTER: WARLORD OF MARS recently came out and Marz talked to Anthony Del Col and Conor McCreery, the writers of SHERLOCK HOLMES VS HARRY HOUDINI about the series.

ANTHONY DEL COL AND CONOR McCREERY: The John Carter series is one of the most admired adventure stories of the last 100 years. Why do you think it has such a high standing by readers all over the world?

RON MARZ: These stories are really the basis of so much of our science fiction and heroic tradition. The roots of everything from Superman to Star Wars go back to John Carter. Ray Bradbury said Edgar Rice Burroughs was the most influential writer of the 20th century, and I think that's true. We think of these as classic stories now, and that's because they established so much of the fantastic literature tradition.

A&C: I’ve never read any of the original John Carter books (I know, I’m a heathen...) but I found it quite easy to get into this series. What tricks do you like to use (in this book and others) to get new readers up to speed in this world?

RM: Heathen indeed! I don't know what it would be like reading the original novels as an adult, because I discovered them when I was 11 or 12 years old, which I think is just the right age to be swept away by the stories. I think Andrew Stanton, who directed the John Carter movie, is about my age and discovered John Carter at just about the same age that I did. These stories obviously leave an impression. In terms of introducing the characters and concepts to new readers, I think it's always better to have an in-story way of doing that. To me, the most seamless manner is to have someone in the story who needs to learn the information that readers need to learn. You need a character to act as a proxy for the reader, so hopefully the process isn't didactic or obvious. To me, the worst bit of dialogue you can ever hear in a movie, or read in a comic, is, "As you all know..."

Our first issue needed to introduce all the characters, as well as the setting, which is an entire planet of various races and beasts. It's a lot, essentially an encyclopedia entry of information. So I decided to have all of it presented visually, when Dejah Thoris was forced via truth serum to tell all of her world's secrets. We got some great feedback from readers who said the sequence gave them everything they needed to know. Gail Simone actually reached out to me to say how much she liked the device.

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A&C: I assume you had to cut some parts of the original book for this series. What is the scene or sequence that you really wished you could have put in this comics adaptation?

RM: The stories we're telling in this series are original, rather than adaptations. I really wanted to put some new stories out there, as a number of the original novels have already been adapted, some of them multiple times. We're trying to remain true to the spirit of the original Burroughs stories and characters, and tell the sorts of stories he might have told had there been, say, two dozen books in the original series, rather than 11.

A&C: I think that artist Abhishek Malsuni, based in India, is a great artist and has the possibility of becoming one of the top comic artists here in North America. His work on the battle scene in the first half of the issue is great with so much detail. What sort of communication do the two of you have in the creation of each issue?

RM: We email and Skype regularly. Abhishek will get in touch when he has questions or just wants to discuss how to approach certain visuals. He'll send me different versions of panels or pages, and we go over which version works best. It's a partnership I'm very happy with, and I hope we continue to work together for quite some time. It's been a pleasure to see his work evolve since I've known him, and he just keeps getting better.

A&C: I believe you’ve worked with Indian companies and traveled to one or two Indian comic conventions before. What are your thoughts on the Indian comic arts scene?

RM: I visited Comic Con India in Hyderabad last year, and it was an amazing experience. That's where I got to meet Abhishek Malsuni in person for the first time, as well as Neeraj Menon, a colorist I work with on a number of projects. There's a wealth of comic talent in India, and I'm fortunate to work with some of that talent. By no means would I claim to be an expert on the Indian comics scene, but I can tell you that the work I've seen is as diverse as it is vibrant. It really feels to me like Indian comics are just starting to blossom. It's a burgeoning industry, and I want to stay as involved with it as I can.

Check out both JOHN CARTER: WARLORD OF MARS #4 and SHERLOCK HOLMES VS HARRY HOUDINI #4 both of which are on sale now from Dynamite. Check out the preview of JOHN CARTER #4 below.

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the_stegman

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#1 the_stegman  Moderator

That's the first John Carter cover I've seen that has John Carter on it and not his hot wife, lol.

I may have to go and pick up issue one. I've always wanted to read it, but never knew where to jump on.

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Jonny_Anonymous

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#2  Edited By Jonny_Anonymous

I need to catch up on this

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@the_stegman: A lot of those series were actually about Deja Thoris

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NightFang3

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#4  Edited By NightFang3

@jonny_anonymous said:

@the_stegman: A lot of those series were actually about Deja Thoris

Yeah, those series's felt more like they were coming from her positive rougher than Johns.

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Aliltron

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I think they were about her because of rights issues with John Carter. I could be wrong, this title has been a really fun read so far, looking forward to the next issue!

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@aliltron: Yeah that might be true with Marvel having some rights at one point

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JJ_Was_Here

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That alternate cover is awesome. GIVE BART SEARS MORE WORK!

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dshipp17

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#8  Edited By dshipp17

I'm about to check out issue 4 now. It's hard to find the spoilers for Dejah Thoris material. But, I'm enjoying this and look forward to each new issue.