AELITA — or The Decline of Mars
Graphic Novel adaptation based on the novel by Aleksey Nikolayevich Tolstoy (1922).
Engineer Mstislav Los posts a recruitment notice for a journey to Mars through the desolate streets of Petrograd following the October Revolution.
Aleksei Gusev, a Red Army soldier and pragmatic, dynamic Bolshevik, joins the expedition. Their first meeting takes place in Los's workshop.
Launch of the metallic rocket amidst smoke and atomic thrusts before a curious crowd, hopeful to spread revolutionary thought into outer space.
Daily life inside the spherical cabin during deep space navigation. Los shows cosmic maps to his traveling companion.
The two Earthlings take their first steps on Martian soil amid red rocks, cacti, and alien flora. No sign of life, let alone civilization.
Undeterred by their ideals, after a few kilometers they come across the ruins of what appears to be an abandoned Martian city.
Continuing their trek, they realize civilization is still intact. The Earthlings offer a message of peace, but are surrounded by soldiers with blue-green skin.
Escorted to the capital, they meet Tuskub, the ruler of Mars. No real dialogue takes place with the inscrutable dictator.
A private meeting in the princely residence of Aelita, Tuskub's daughter. The young woman shows Los the historical attempts to rebuild Martian civilization.
The princess confides in Los her desire to escape an outdated, patriarchal society. Los convinces her to return with him to the renewed Russia.
Meanwhile, Gusev visits the Martian industrial slums, witnessing firsthand the exploitation of the alien working class.
Gusev addresses the crowd of Martian workers, inciting them to revolt. Some join, while others fear Tuskub's military force.
Tuskub is informed of the Earthlings' mission; the army pursues them as civil war erupts with Martian workers embracing Bolshevik ideals.
Los is separated from Aelita as the uprising collapses. The lovers share one last embrace as Tuskub's guards apprehend the princess.
The Earthlings reach their spacecraft and attempt to tune into the royal palace radio transmitter, where a desperate Aelita broadcasts signals across the cosmos.
During the cold Russian winter nights, Los gazes at the cosmic sky, dreaming of the alien princess's phantom form, contemplating a new mission.