Emma Withington reviews Mars Attacks: Occupation #4…
‘When we last left off, the humans had succeeded in a last-ditch effort to prevent total martian victory. But, that only delayed the inevitable, and the martian empire eventually conquered earth, subjugating its people.’
Supreme Overseer Zar’s ace card, Killbot 6, failed to annihilate Ruby Johnson in the arena. Her victories have not only spread a sentiment of hope and optimism among her fellow humans – becoming ‘The Face of our Fight’, but has also earned popularity within the martian population…This will not stand.
Supreme Overseer Zar has given the order. It is time for Ruby’s story to come to an end…
SEE ALSO: Check out a preview of Mars Attacks: Occupation #4
Mars Attacks: Occupation #4 begins with Ruby’s ‘trial’, in which the verdict could only ever be guilty. It’s time for Supreme Overseer Zar to quash the glimmer of hope Ruby has instilled in the humans by showing the world that only the martians will ever emerge victorious.
Before Ruby was disintegrated, she was convinced that her father still lived. Well, sort of, in the form of Killbot 6. The Killbot was unable to kill her in the arena and she noticed that it possessed her father’s signature boxing moves – the clunky Killbot must have more points of articulation than it appears. Ruby is determined to find out the truth and decides to go to the Gladiatorial Combatant Training Grounds to face Killbot 6, alone…
Has Supreme Overseer Zar eliminated his Johnson problem? Is it up to Grady Rizzo to save the world? I sure hope not.
Mars Attacks: Occupation #4, the penultimate issue of the Occupation series, sets the stage for the final issue and remains in stasis with Mars Attacks: Occupation #3. While it doesn’t reach the heights of the earlier issues Mars Attacks: Occupation #4 serves as a necessary filler to tie up lose ends, reveal twists, and turn its focus into what’s shaping up to be an intense and personal battle – sprinkled with that surreal dark humour that’s expected from the franchise.
For a miniseries Mars Attacks: Occupation has had more twists in it than a pretzel, which has served the short series well but, were it any longer than five issues, would likely become too predictable in its unpredictability. However, Mars Attacks: Occupation hasn’t failed to entertain, and I expect this is a series I will return to more than once.
Mars Attacks: Occupation #4 has reached the point of no return – will the finale return to the snappy pacing and meet the expectations set by the earlier issues? I think so. It’s time ‘to save the world’.
Rating: 7.5/10
Emma Withington – Follow me on Twitter
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