Item Biography
"The Air-Pirates of Mars, Chapter 6: Hell in Helium!"
John Carter is finally back in Helium, but finds every Red Martian sword-arm raised against him. The great city's populace hold him solely responsible for the kidnapping of their beloved Princess, Dejah Thoris. Old prejudices and jealousies about the Jasoomian (Earthman) deftly coaxed to the surface by the late Stara Kan's* agents.
After tangling with Red Martians hell-bent on revenge, John has taken to Helium's rooftops to avoid the unreasoning vigilantes below.
Perhaps the only Red Men who have any faith left in John are Mors Kajak and his loyal followers, who have assembled a formidable fleet of ships to take back the Atmosphere Factory air-processing plant. Tars Tarkas is found barely alive amid the arid dunes and brought aboard.
Panic spreads like an out-of-control bushfire when Stoat steeds stampede through the streets of Helium. Carter follows the route via the roofs, leaping from building to building. Some unnatural force seems to guide the animals to a precise destination; Helium's Incubation Chamber for the eggs that Martian women lay to produce children.
JC altruistically abandons his own safety and risks being trampled under thunderous Thoat hooves. He tries, rather heroically, to clear as many eggs as he can manage from the path of the rampaging beasts.
Even though Carter manages to save one newborn innocent, a rabid mob assails him on the steps of the Incubation Chamber. He is beaten to the ground and assumed dead.
*Yep, it was the vainglorious villain that kicked the bucket at the end of last issue.