Mars

by Marc Hempel, Mark Wheatley

Reprinting Mark Wheatley's (Frankenstein Mobster, Fables) and Marc Hempel's (Sandman, Gregory) ground-breaking Mars series, with a brand-new cover and 32 additional pages of bonus artwork and extras.

The entire volume has been re-colored for this special edition.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Comic Book, Science Fiction

288 pages, Paperback

First published September 20, 2005

About the author

Librarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name

Marc Hempel is an American cartoonist/comics artist best known for his work on The Sandman with Neil Gaiman.

Reviews

[Steven Feldman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has remained a high point in my memories of twenty-five
years of comic book collecting. A feminist sci-fi fantasy
psychodrama starring a paraplegic heroine with cybernetic legs
and a robot doppelganger. More deserving of attention than
Tank Girl, by a long shot.

[Brent · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sometimes revisiting something I enjoyed as a kid is a bad idea.

[Clay · Rating 3 out of 5]

First, I did read the series as it was being published 40 years ago. I also remember buying this collection (~20 years ago) and thinking that the $40 price tag was rather stiff. Now, twenty years after publication of the collection, I found this book in my library and decide to read it. As one reviewer said, revisiting something from my youth may not have been the best idea. Especially if I could not recall practically anything from the story or the art. Thus, it's more like reading a brand new book.

As if it were new to me, I was rather disappointed in some of the details of the story. There seemed to be jumps in plot or logic that would have explained a little better, like who those new things/people were, how were they able to see/know those things (and what were those other things), how did characters get to some place, and how much time had elapsed, usually between issues. Yes, the original arc was planned for 14 issues, but was cut down to 12 and the major finishing plotlines were included; thus, there would likely be some kinds of holes, but I was getting lost even in the earlier issues. It was almost like my mind was wandering and then some relevant plot detail was just there. Should I go back and see if I could pick it up, in case I had read over something too fast?

Overall, I did like it. It reminded me of "Alice in Wonderland" with Morgan in the role of Alice exploring her current Mars where she encounters some natives, knows almost none of the rules (and we expect there are some), tries to make sense of it all, and getting out of a jam to continue on her explorations. As such, the "cartoony" nature of the art was a perfect match, especially in the mind boggling, almost psychedelic episodes.

[Laura Ess · Rating 5 out of 5]

While this entry is for the reissued trade paperback, I read the original 12 issue comic series way back in the 90s. I've re-read it several times since then and always find it interesting and enjoyable.

The balance between artwork and story is excellent. We follow Morgana and her companions after an expedition to Mars fails catastrophically. Quite some years later - 10,000 in fact - the story picks up with Morgana waking from suspended animation, only to find that everyone else has left This sounds rather like the plot of a video game nowadays, but when this was first published video games were struggling with computers with limited memory and graphics.

The episodic nature of the story is used as a good way to focus on different storylines, with a rapid culmination in the last two issues. The story is complete by the end of that, though there were hints that a sequel might be in the offing. The thing about the series that really drew me in was how it paid homage to previous versions of Mars by Wells, Lovell, Bradbury et al. It's all in the story if you look carefully.

[Annette Boehm · Rating 4 out of 5]

The series only ran for 12 issues, all of which are collected in this paperback. The story is complete, so don't let the brevity of the series stop you. I enjoyed it, though it felt like there was a jump in the plot just after the half-way point. To read a more in-depth review, check out my blog post about this comic: https://outsideofacat.wordpress.com/2015/02/22/mars-and-buddhists-and-that/