Death and Throxus is a comic written and drawn by Mick Beyers. Thuvia must go on a lengthy and dangerous journey in order to save her lover Carthoris. This is a science fiction fantasy comic that is heavily influenced by the work of Edgar Rice Burroughs with heavy violence, verbose drama, and a headstrong woman at the helm. The leading lady here is Princess Thuvia, after many tumultuous situations including being fed to a god she now finds herself fighting for both her and Carthoris’ survival. Carthoris is the son of a great warlord and he hails from Helium. This story begins with Thuvia arriving at the walled city of Lothar where the Phantom Bowmen reside. After avoiding their attacks she speaks to their creator Tario, who she’s had poor dealings with in the past. Tario has the ability to create living beings out of thin air using only his mind, and Thuvia needs him to bring back the banth named Komal. This takes place on Mars in a world with many similarities and influences from the works of Edgar Rice Burroughs. The violence here is very bloody with gruesomeness and gore. The pacing is slower than average which is mainly due to the amount of words. This has that sci-fi fantasy tone like Dune and it also has a sword-and-sorcery vibe like Red Sonja or Conan. The dramatic intensity is high almost the entire time with violence fluctuating throughout. The dialogue here is very descriptive both spoken aloud and via narration with characters sometimes hamming it up it a proper English talking style. There are many proper names here that you will probably be unfamiliar and that might confuse you if you aren’t paying attention. There are multiple word-heavy pages as well as thick text bubbles and blocks. This is a riveting and thrilling comic that shows the trials and tribulations of a woman determined to save her lover and herself.

            The art here is detailed and drawn in a style that is somewhat reminiscent of comics from around the 1970’s. This is in black-and-white with well done shading and use of shadows. This takes place entirely outdoors in what could be described as an arid environment with mountain ranges and grassy plains. Some of the more notable locations here include the city of Lothar, a cavern, and the Arena of Torquas. The backgrounds are split between showing anything and just being whitespace. The expression level here is high as these react frequently and multiple times per page. Emotion shown here are usually aggressive from anger to rage but we will see some sadness, shock, and fear. Faces tend to have detail ranging from average to high with generally clear expressions. There are humanoid characters but the most common beings here are the four-armed and two-torso’d Tharks. The lion-like animals are called Banths and they have six legs. Swords and daggers are the primary weapons though there is a laser gun. The violence is very bloody with many gruesome attacks that lead to body part separation and gore. The action scenes come in bursts of varying length with unique panel layouts and an unconfusing flow. Most of the characters here are naked with no notice being given to breasts or genitals.

“Is this worth reading?”

Yes, if this is up your alley.

“Would I like this?”

If you like science fiction fantasy stories that star a determined woman with strong violence, universal nudity, and wordy drama then this is for you.

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

NC-17. Violence, blood, gore, gruesomeness, nudity.

“Could I get a quote from the comic?”

“Death has not lessened your ferocity or blunted your claws.”

 

Kickstarter Link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hmyc/queen-of-mars-presents-death-and-throxus/description

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

Probably Contains Spoilers

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Actual Pages(not counting covers and credits): 41

Violent Pages: 22, for 54% of the comic

Sexy Pages: 1, for 2% of the comic

 

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

 

Violence Level – 4

“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 – 5

“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 – 4

“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 – 3

“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.”