Dejah Thoris #1

History

Dynamite Entertainment announced the series in September 2019, with publisher Nick Barrucci noting the company had specifically waited for writer Dan Abnett to become available after his period of DC exclusivity — a deliberate curatorial choice rather than a routine launch. Abnett, whose career-defining Guardians of the Galaxy work had already proved his command of ensemble cosmic fiction, assembled a full creative team: artist Vasco Georgiev (coming off a Dynamite Xena run), colorist Dearbhla Kelly, and letterer Simon Bowland. Georgiev, who also works professionally as an architect, stated that designing Barsoom's cities and structures — which blend futuristic technology with medieval aesthetics — was a central creative motivation, and that approach informed the visual identity of the series from its debut issue.

Trivia · 8 facts

• Written by Dan Abnett with art by Vasco Georgiev, colors by Dearbhla Kelly, and letters by Simon Bowland; published December 11, 2019 by Dynamite Entertainment.
• This is the third Dynamite solo series for Dejah Thoris — preceded by the 2016 Frank J. Barbiere/Francesco Manna volume and the 2018 Amy Chu/Pasquale Qualano volume — and ran for 14 issues total.
• First comic appearances of Kurz Kurtos (the usurper Jeddak of Helium), Sabal Than (his associate), and Tul Harka — all Dynamite-original characters not found in Burroughs's Barsoom novels.
• The story repositions Dejah Thoris as a scientist in exile, tasked with uncovering the cause of a planet-wide deep freeze ('End Winter') while surviving assassination attempts sanctioned by the new regime in Helium.
• Burroughs-derived Barsoom characters appearing alongside the new cast include Tars Tarkas, Kantos Kan, Sola, Llana, and Tara, grounding the new political conflict in the established novel continuity.
• Issue #1 launched with an unusually wide cover program: a Lucio Parrillo painted Cover A, Joseph Michael Linsner, a wraparound by Adam Hughes, Billy Tucci, a cosplay cover by Mai (@maidenhellxo) — noted as the first cosplay cover on a solo Dejah Thoris series — multiple retailer incentive variants, and a black-bagged risqué edition.
• The issue was reprinted as the lead story in Dejah Thoris (Dynamite, 2022 series) #1, subtitled 'An Outcast of Mars,' making the first printing the original appearance of record for all characters introduced within.
• Dynamite CEO Nick Barrucci publicly stated the publisher deliberately delayed the series launch until Abnett's DC exclusivity had concluded, underscoring the editorial intention to position this as a flagship Barsoom title.

Cast · 9 characters

Full credits

Variants (26)