Collecting John Carter: World of Mars #1-4. The official prequel to the upcoming Walt Disney Pictures blockbuster film -- revealing the shocking events that transpire before the hotly anticipated motion picture and featuring some of the greatest characters ever conceived by Edgar Rice Burroughs! Dejah Thoris has her hands full with the malicious Sab Than, would-be ruler of Zodanga, who sees kidnapping the princess of Mars as a shortcut to winning the thousand-year war between his people and her city of Helium. Meanwhile, Tars Tarkas is caught between the desires of the female he loves and his best friend, who needs Tars' help to become Jeddak of the Tharks -- assuming that his ambitions don't kill them all.