I wrote a review on Amazon in regards to the previous b&w collection from Dark Horse. Since you asked about writing, I thought it is pertinent to re-publish in the thread.

PS - some spoilers...


John Carter, Warlord of Mars, is one of the great pulp adventure properties of all time, eclipsed only by the Shadow, Doc Savage and most definitely by his literary brother Tarzan of the Apes. The series by Edgar Rice Burroughs is the epitome of fantasy wish fulfillment: a young man (sort of) feels out of touch and out of place in his contemporary world, and he longs for a world that accepts him as the gallant hero hidden inside. Lo and behold, he finds his body magically whisked to the world of Mars where he finds a world technologically advanced by socially barbaric. Add in green 4-armed men and voluptuous martian princess and the male fantasy world is fulfilled. But the series has never had a successful sustained comic book version despite seemingly obvious strengths of handsome, noble men, beautiful women and derring do. In the late 70s, Marvel Comics acquired the rights to produce a John Carter series and this book collects that series in its entirety. 

The book roughly falls into 3 sections. The first section features the initial arc The Air Pirates of Mars, by Marv Wolfman, artist Gil Kane and inkers Dave Cockrum and Rudy Nebres. Marv Wolfman composes perfect pastiche of Burroughs' writing. The story is first-person narration - like most of the John Carter books - and maintains Burroughs penchant for crazy cliff-hangers, occasionally long exposition, and John Carter famous dumb luck. The basic idea is good too: a cabal strives to control the air generators, which provide all the atmosphere on Mars, and use them as a pogrom to destroy everyone else. It starts off fine but I quickly found myself losing interest as the story went on for 10 issues with more contrived problems and melodrama occurring in each episode, with little character development. It was adequate at best. 

The second section contains the "Master Assassin of Mars" arc written by Chris Claremont (of X-men fame) and drawn by a variety of people, notably Ernie Colon, Mike Vosburg, and Frank Miller. The story is a bit of a mess. An assassin has attempted to slay John Carter (for unknown reasons) and Dejah Thoris rushes off to avenge her beloved before discovering he isn't quite dead. The story then spends approximately six issues on Dejah and John imprisoned by a hereto unknown Martian civilization. Dejah is forced to become a concubine for the chief and John spends his time getting into and out of trouble. The emotional drama of Dejah's sacrifice of fidelity for John is intriguing but is resolved so quickly and without repercussions that I was left wondering what was the point of the previous 6 issues. Apparently none, because the story immediately jumps into the search for the Master Assassin after this long distraction with nary a look back. You could skip those six issues and have missed nothing of importance. When we jump back into the Master Assassin story, we learn details of the conspiracy that would have been helpful earlier in the story. Also, the rotating artists rob the series of any momentum. The Vosburg issues in particularly look flat and unimaginative. The storytelling and narrative is done well but there is nothing particularly interesting to look at on the page, except of the Frank Miller issue and an issue inked by Ernie Chan. This arc also involves a plot to control Mars but this time the Master Assassin seeks to unite all of the tribes - well, except for maybe those hidden ones - to create a more civilized society. and if he has to kill a few people to do it....oh well. How John Carter's assassination fits into that plan is never clearly explained. Effects seem to occur with little cause in this series. 

Lastly, the book contains a number of short adventures that include the annuals. I enjoyed these stories much more than the longer serials. The brevity meant little fluff or distraction could enter the stories. "March of the Dead", "When Walk the Ancient Dead" and "The Amazons of Mars" were fun and well-drawn by Carmine Infantino, Sal Buscema, Ernie Chan and Tony DeZuniga. But I wasn't impressed by this collection's content. It is adequate at best but often awkward. I would encourage readers interested in John Carter to find and read the first books by Burroughs - A Princess of Mars and Warlord of Wars. They are easy to read and inexpensive and much better introductions to the characters.