'John Carter of Mars' blasts back to Barsoom in new comic series from Dynamite

Dynamite Entertainment is releasing a new “John Carter of Mars” comic book title in spring 2022.
Dynamite Entertainment is releasing a new “John Carter of Mars” comic book title in spring 2022. (Image credit: Dynamite Entertainment)

Before Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers, and long before "Dune," "Star Trek" and "Star Wars," there was famed sci-fi writer Edgar Rice Burroughs' cosmic adventurer John Carter of Mars.

First appearing in 1912 within serialized tales in The All-Story magazine titled "Under The Moons of Mars," this stalwart Virginian and former Civil War captain was magically teleported to the exotic world of Barsoom (Mars) when hiding out in an Arizona cave from Apaches while hunting for gold. 

The story was first published in novel form in 1917 as "A Princess of Mars." The heroic character went on to star in a series of epic Burroughs novels all set on Barsoom, where John Carter is elevated to the status of immortal warrior and savior of the planet’s alien inhabitants.

A Princess of Mars: $7.99 at Amazon
$7.99 at Amazon US

A Princess of Mars: $7.99 at Amazon

See the book that introduced John Carter of Mars to Barsoom in this Edgar Rice Burroughs classic. 

Cover art for the new John Carter of Mars comic series coming from Dynamite in April 2022. (Image credit: Dynamite Entertainment)

Now following decades of tie-in books and spinoff comics, and 10 years after an ill-fated $250 million "John Carter" feature by Disney starring Taylor Kitsch, Lynn Collins, and Willem Dafoe, the charismatic Martian warlord is charging back into a new ongoing comic book series this spring from the folks at Dynamite Entertainment.

Written by the Eisner Award-winning Chuck Brown ("Bitter Root," "Aquamen") and joined by acclaimed illustrator and colorist George Kambadais ("Firefly"), "John Carter of Mars #1" lands in comic shops this April with a new slate of adventures in the realms of Barsoom and Earth.

Cover art for the new John Carter of Mars comic series coming from Dynamite in April 2022. (Image credit: Dynamite Entertainment)

The plotline takes place in 1919 as a strange asteroid made up entirely of the elemental substance "Ninth" streaks toward Earth. Its mysterious effects start to uncannily blend and switch the inhabitants on both Earth and Barsoom. 

John Carter, The Warlord of Mars, discovers himself torn from the bedrock of his life and loved ones. He struggles to make sense of this cosmic conundrum while he's abruptly transported back to Virginia where he clashes with Martian apes. If these bizarre events are occurring on his home planet, then what odd calamities might be befalling his beloved Barsoom?

"I've always been a huge fan of sci-fi and adventure," said writer Chuck Brown in a Dynamite press release. "Like many of us, as a kid I was obsessed with Mars and the other planets in our solar system. Barsoom has such amazing characters and backstories. So it’s a huge opportunity for George and I to play in this world."

Cover art for the new John Carter of Mars comic series coming from Dynamite in April 2022. (Image credit: Dynamite Entertainment)

Dynamite's "John Carter of Mars #1" arrives in April with special variant covers by Junggeun Yoon, Jonathan Case, and two more by "Dejah Thoris" veteran Joseph Michael Linsner and series interior artist Kambadais.

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Jeff Spry
Contributing Writer

Jeff Spry is an award-winning screenwriter and veteran freelance journalist covering TV, movies, video games, books, and comics. His work has appeared at SYFY Wire, Inverse, Collider, Bleeding Cool and elsewhere. Jeff lives in beautiful Bend, Oregon amid the ponderosa pines, classic muscle cars, a crypt of collector horror comics, and two loyal English Setters.