Jane Porter and the City of Fire is a comic with story by Christopher Paul Carey and Mike Wolfer with art by Miriana Puglia and colors by Arthur Hesli. Jane Porter and her team have their destination set to Pellucidar but they take an unexpected detour. This is a science fiction tale starring a resourceful woman and featuring aliens and otherworld politics. The leading lady is Jane Porter, a woman with many talents but who is mainly an archaeologist. She loves researching and discovering new things to a fault. Accompanying her this time around are: Captain Conover the pilot, Waranji the chief of security, six Wazari warriors, and a few animals. This story begins some days after the last issue with Jane attempting to move cargo from the dig. She joins up with some old friends before beginning her journey. This takes place in the 1950’s in a world where some things that we believe are myths are actually true. The main theme is discovery with some political conflict thrown in. The action here is bloody but there isn’t any gore. The pace is slower than average as there are plenty of wordy pages; this being a conversation-driven, classic-style comic. The tone is calm at the beginning but the intensity fluctuates frequently. The dialogue reads like something out of a movie script from the early days of cinema and there are moments where the technical jargon can trip you up. This is an exciting comic that surrounds Jane Porter with a cast of fleshed out characters and that gives us a story full of intrigue and thrilling moments.

            The art here looks like a sharper version of classic comics and features some great shading and linework. The coloring here is realistic when possible with some softer colors for the sky. The scenery is rocky and sandy, like a desert environment. The main locations of this story are the aircraft, the surface of this planet, and some underground chambers. Except in action scenes the backgrounds usually have parts of the scene in them which help bring the world to life. The expression level here is around average with characters having realistic reactions to situations. There is a wide emotional range here from anger to fear to distrust to confusion. The faces here are very detailed with strong features and wrinkles. The non-human creatures we’ll see look humanoid with some unique features. Some of the equipment here looks familiar but has a slight sci-fi twist. The violence here involves guns, is very physical, and get bloody. The action scenes here come in the bite-sized variety with some lengthier ones as well. Jane Porter is wearing an outfit that just screams “adventurer” and the rest of her crew are similarly wearing gear suited to their role. Nearly all the aliens are shirtless.

“Is this worth reading?”

Yes.

“Would I like this?”

If you like science fiction adventuring stories starring a woman with a cast of full of personality and taking place in a different world with combat and politics than this is for you.

“What would this comic’s film rating be?”

PG-13. Violence, blood, death.

“Could I get a quote from the comic?”

“This is my idea, so I’ll deal with the consequences if any.”

 

Physical Link: https://edgarriceburroughs.com/store/product/jane-porter-and-the-city-of-fire/

Kickstarter Link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/erburroughs/jane-porter-and-the-city-of-fire-graphic-novel/description

***IN-DEPTH COMIC STATS BELOW***

Probably Contains Spoilers

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Actual Pages(not counting covers and credits): 67

Violent Pages: 17, for 25% of the comic

Sexy Pages: 0, for 0% of the comic

 

**The levels below aren’t necessarily maintained throughout the whole comic, but they were definitely reached**

 

Violence Level – 3

“Wasn’t no tussling at all.”

“Sometimes you gotta hit somebody.”

“I’m getting charged with how many counts of assault?”

“This was a tournament arc.”

“All my life I had to fight.”

 

Gore Level – 3

“The only thing leaking out your face is tears.”

“Looks like somebody spilled some ketchup.”

“Might need to soak that up with a bath towel.”

“That isn’t supposed to be outside the body.”

“This is a slaughterhouse.”

 

Death Level – 3

“And everybody lived happily ever after.”

“We might have gone to a couple funerals.”

“It just LOOKS like a serial killer was here.”

“Yeah this was a tragedy.”

“Think Gettysburg.”

 

Porn Level – 1

“Everybody kept their clothes on.”

“I guess it was too hot for a bra.”

“Sometimes you got to let everything air out.”

“This is like late night Cinemax in the early 2000’s.”

“Oh. This is porn.”