Dynamite Entertainment’s new miniseries Altered States: Warlords #1, written by David Avallone with art by Mariano Benitez Chapo and colors by Jorge Sutil, is the company’s spin on Marvel’s What If? and DC’s Elseworlds books, exploring alternate universe versions of their established characters. Here, we see what happens if Red Sonja had been transported to Barsoom (AKA the planet Mars) centuries before American Civil War soldier John Carter teleports there. Guess what? There are soon going to be a lot of unhappy White Martians!
The story kicks off immediately in the first couple pages and continues moving at a breakneck pace after that. By page 3, a disoriented Sonja is already on Mars and surrounded by bloodthirsty warriors. At first, it’s interesting seeing Sonja on Mars, but other than the six-legged horses and other strange alien beings unique to that planet, the setting doesn’t feel much different from Sonja’s stomping grounds of Hyboria. Edgar Rice Burroughs wrote Mars as a landscape filled with monstrous beasts, wizards and barbarian Kings and warriors, so Sonja fits in that setting like a glove.
It would have been much more interesting to drop Sonja in a futuristic age, like Amy Chu’s “Red Sonja in New York” story arc of a few years back, with Sonja suddenly appearing in 21st century New York and having to adjust to life there. That’s still one of my favorite Sonja stories.
Despite the generic setting, there’s still a lot to enjoy here, from Sonja adapting to the fighting weapons and beasts of Mars, to her camaraderie with the Red Martians, to a dip in Martian mythology, with Sonja facing down one of the Martian goddesses at the climax of the story.
There are even some political moments as Red Sonja’s brought to the court of the Jeddak (King) of Helium, the most massive city on Mars. The distinction between the White Martians and Red Martians is stark here, with the White Martians radically religious and warlike and the Red Martians, though also warlike, leaning more towards reason and science.
Artist Mariano Benitez Chapo’s art is reminiscent of classic Marvel artist John Buscema’s work, perfectly capturing the rugged terrain and giving muscular fierceness to the fight scenes. Watching Sonja decimate a group of armed Martians who think she’ll be a pushover is especially fun.
It looks like other Dynamite characters like John Carter, Tarzan, Vampirella and Dejah Thoris will be entering the story and I’m looking forward to all the characters together Avengers-style, adventuring across Mars. In the future, I’d love to see a story with all the characters on Vampirella’s home world of Drakulon. Red Sonja and Tarzan facing off against a planet of vampires? Yes please!
This miniseries is off to a rollicking start, with lots of swordplay as well as a dip into the mythology and politics of Mars and Red Sonja at her most fierce.
