Warlord of Mars #2

In "null," Dejah faces a chilling revelation: the killer they've hunted is a rogue Thern, and with time running out, Carthoris must race to protect his mother before it's too late. The story unfolds with tense urgency, as the past and present collide in a deadly game of shadows.

In the eerie Valley of Dor—gateway to Barsoom’s afterlife—John Carter and Tars Tarkas face monstrous guardians in a realm that defies death. When John rescues a chained maiden named Thuvia from a pale warrior claiming to be a Thern, he’s drawn into a mystery deeper than the ruins they’ve stumbled into.

In the shadow of the Temple of Thern, John, Thuvia, and Tars flee into the desert only to be ambushed by the dreaded Black Pirates of Thuria. With Thuvia and Tars escaping, John boards a pirate vessel and rescues a captive maiden, Phaidor, from the clutches of Dator Xodar—refusing to take his life even in the heat of battle. But as he delays to question her, a massive pirate warship looms on the horizon, and the true danger begins.

In the depths of Barsoom, John and Phaidor are captured by the Black Pirates and brought before Issus, a mysterious crone who rules her people with the aura of a goddess. Sentenced to fight as gladiators in the arena, John faces a shocking revelation: his son, Carthoris, is already the arena’s champion.

In the treacherous sands of Issus, John, Carthoris, and Xodar flee the gladiator arena only to face a new trial upon reaching Helium—where John is accused of blasphemy for returning from the Valley of Dor, a place from which no one is supposed to come back. With Dejah, her father, and grandfather now vanished to the far North in search of him, and Zat Arras ruling in their stead, John must confront the weight of his return before the city’s judgment.

In the shadowed halls of Helium, Hor Vastus finds himself caught between loyalty and desperation as a secret mission to rescue Dejah Thoris from the Black Pirates unfolds under the watchful eye of the treacherous Zat Arras. With time running short and betrayal lurking in every corridor, he must navigate a web of deception where even allies may not be trusted.

In "null," John Carter leads a fleet of airborne warships in a daring rescue mission to free Dejah Thoris from the clutches of Issus, only to discover she’s been trapped—along with Phaidor and Thuvia—in the Temple of the Sun, sealed away for a year. With Arras in pursuit and many of his forces defecting to Carter’s side, John must confront the harsh reality that even his greatest courage can’t break the temple’s ancient bonds.