Dynamite Publications has added another title to its Warlord Of Mars comic book series with this past week's issue #1 debut of Warlord Of Mars: Fall Of Barsoom. As I mentioned in my review earlier this year of the Dejah Thoris: Princess Of Mars title, the series is based on Edgar Rice Burroughs's classic John Carter: Warlord Of Mars pulp novels, in which the late 19th-century American is transported to Mars and has exotic action adventures within the Martian civilization, whose residents refer to the red planet as Barsoom. The new title is scripted by Robert Place Napton with art by Roberto Castro and colors by Alex Guimaraes.

The issue #1 inside cover establishes the story setting as 100,000 years before John Carter's fictional arrival on Mars. Entitled "Book One: The Tide Of Battle", the plotline establishes political thriller maneuvering in a science fiction setting by alternating two plotthreads. In one storyline, a reckless Martian emperor dissolves the political alliance that has united three humanoid races in peaceful co-existance for eons. All three races begin to clash, while two additional barbaric races of red and green warriors decide to jump into the growing chaos. The second subplot weaves planetwide environmental catastrophe into the storyline, as Martian scientist Tak Nan Lee documents an unexpected speed-up in the depletion of the planet's oceans and breathable atmosphere. The two storyline's merge in an issue-ending cliffhanger, when Lee stumbles-upon a chaotic battle while out in the wilderness and rescues a barbaric red princess, who appears to be an early version of the well-known Princess Deja Thoris.

This is an interesting addition to the ever-widening Dynamite Publications grouping of John Carter story universe titles. The artwork is exquisite, as the artistic team goes to great pains to visualize this exotic planet in which multiple alien races co-exist in a lush setting that combines pulp fiction art deco style with old-fashioned royalty trappings. I was also very entertained by the political thriller approach to structuring a new Barsoom adventure title. There are so many colorful alien races and individual characters enlisted in this tale, that there's a great opportunity here for future monthly issues to entertain us with a wide range of storylines and adventures. My one constructive criticism centers on scientist Tak Nan Lee; from his wardrobe to his jetfighter to his 21st century American style of speech, he seems somewhat out-of-place in this very exotic science fiction otherwordly setting. I have a theory that future issues of this title may reveal that he's an out-of-time travelor from Earth, similar to the John Carter storyline.

But irregardless of that one point, this is a fun and fresh addition to the wide-ranging John Carter/Barsoom story universe, and well-worth reading from the very beginning with this month's kick-off premier issue #1.

A new comic book publishing house called Sea Lion Books has just released issue #1 of a new comic entitled "Richelle Mead's The Dark Swan: Storm Born." For the uninitiated, this is a comic book adaptation of popular writer Richelle Mead's Storm Born novel series. The fantasy/magic title stars Eugenie Markham, a "freelance shaman" living in Arizona who assists regular folk who have problems with otherwordly creatures (demons, bad spirits, etc.). The comic book is written by Mead herself in partnership with Grant Alter. The art is produced by Dave Hamann with colors by Nelson Cosentino De Oliveira.

Issue #1 quickly establishes Eugenie's fictional world situation for the reader with an entertaining six-page scene in which she assists a man who's favorite running shoe is inhabited by a bad demon. The remainder of the issue balances two intersecting plotlines. In one, we're introduced to the characters in Eugenie's private life, including her fellow-shaman stepfather, mother, eccentric roommate and a guy she quickly falls for in a bar. The second plotthread entangles Eugenie in the evil side of the world of magic, as she seeks to assist a client who's young sister has been supposedly kidnapped by bad-guy fairies. Our heroine's personal and professional world's collide in an issue-ending cliffhanger, as Eugenie and her new boyfriend are attacked by an ice demon.

This is an extremely entertaining and fresh addition to the ever-growing inventory of magic realism comic book fiction on the market these days. It rises above the pack with a wonderful mix of humor and drama, along with a successful balance between story narration and magical action-adventure. The real slam-dunk success here is the in-depth quality of writer Richelle Mead's plot. Obviously adapted from a successful novel series, the comic book truly reads as a graphic adaptation of a fictional world that was originally constructed in novel format. The writer's narration of the tale is at least three times the amount of detail usually imported into a comic book storyline, with the result that it successfully adds a richer-than-normal story narration in balance with the character dialogue.

Those writing highlights aside, the two very best features of this new comic book title are the artwork and humor. The art team's work is top notch, with pleasing colors, graphic style and excellent command of character's facial features. I particularly enjoyed the range of humor in this comic book, from the little touches such as the possessed running shoe to the broader comedic strokes, such as Eugenie's oddball roommate who passes as a Southwest Native American to pick-up chicks at bars. One word of caution: this is not a comic for kids, with its at-times graphic sexual depictions of Eugenie's growing relationship with her new boyfriend. As such, the publisher might wish to toss a "some adult-themes" warning on the front cover of future issues. That point aside, my thumbs-up positive recommendation is for all good comic book readers to rise above the fray of the many youth and teen-oriented magic fantasy offerings such as the Harry Potter and Twilight series, and enjoy this excellent graphic presentation of a very entertaining magical fantasy series written for the adult fan.

The Marvel Comics five-issue mini-series entitled "Captain America Corps" is up to issue #2 this month. Given that this is the summer of Captain America, both at the movies and in various comic book titles, I was curious to see how this limited edition series stacked-up with the other Captain America venues out there right now. This series is scripted by Roger Stern with art by Philippe Briones and colors by Matt Milla.

The issue #2 story segment is entitled "Enemies Of The State." A quick two-page introduction summarizes the issue #1 story segment. Set in an unspecified future timeframe in New York City, our main character is Shannon Carter, the Avenger known as the superhero American Dream. Shannon is the niece of SHIELD agent Sharon Carter and is following in Cap's Avenger footsteps. A Watcher-like being called The Contemplator assembles Shannon with four versions of Captain America from four alternate realities, in order to counter someone who is erasing the many Captain Americas from across the multiverse, thereby threatening the nature of reality itself. The Contemplator transports our five heroes to one of those altered realities, in order to impress upon them the bleakness of a world order without Cap's influence. Without being a detail spoiler, our team battles federal police state forces to try and redress the altered mess. By issue's end, they've freed several Marvel hero characters from imprisonment and set themselves up for further conflict in next month's story segment with that reality's version of a band of superheros who are still loyal to the police state.

I was drawn into this story more than any other alternate reality-themed comic book that I've read in the past few years. The title's creative team have put a huge amount of thought and effort into incorporating a very wide range of alternative/what if versions of Captain America into a single storyline. Its fascinating to read the details of each Cap's personality and style differences, from the female future Cap embodied in Shannon Carter, to a Golden Age-styled Cap and even an alternate Cap who embodies many of Wolverine's raw personality traits. However, the quality home run here is writer Roger Stern's brilliant idea to give each separate Cap limited personality segments drawn from our well-known hero's complex personality. Separately, they're each limited and somewhat flawed in their abilities and behavior, but when our five heroes work together, they literally combine into one multi-talented Cap and succeed in their efforts.

A final shout-out has to go to the art team's simply stunning, poster-worthy two-page spread on pages 4 and 5 of the story, in which our fivesome battle the police state's giant bad robot version of Cap. All in all, this is the freshest alternative story spin on a well-known A-list superhero that's out there in this summer's new issue reading stacks. I'm planning on back-reading last month's issue #1 to fully experience the five-issue unfolding of this wondrous "what if" tale, and I'd suggest that all fanboys and fangirls out there do the same!