REVIEW CORNER: Star # 1

Writers: Tom & Mary Bierbaum

Penciller: Ben Herrera

Inker: Mike Christian

Colorists: Reuben Rude & Antonia Kohl

Letterer: Chris Eliopoulos

Star Created by Erik Larsen

Cover Date: June 1995

Rating:

Continuing my tour of reviewing indy titles, this week I take a look at a title that’s been overlooked- Star # 1.

After his brief appearance straight from the pages of Savage Dragon, Erik Larsen set out to give this character his time in the spotlight, giving him a four-issue miniseries and from the get-go, the character really is a mixture of Spider-Man meets Deadpool. But let’s just say that Star isn’t anything like the latter when it comes to the all-the classic motto of “With great power comes great responsibility- but more like With great power comes great possibilities!

Star’s origin isn’t anything like the classic beginnings of the heroes we grew up reading but at the same time, it was very unique for its time and after you get done reading the series, it tends to just grow on you all while giving you that sense of “That’s very interesting”; Star started out as a side-gimmick for musician Peter Klapton as he wanted to take over the world by being a superhero (Musicians-Always wanting more!) but after having a less-than-exciting outing, he turned over the mantle of Star to his bodyguard, Chris Robinson, so he can be the one that faces action on a daily basis while Peter gets the credit. The script by Tom & Mary Bierbaum (Of Legion Of Super-Heroes fame) is basically all over the place, but I do applaud the action sequences being top-notch and never veering off into complete boredom so that’s a definite plus. Ben Herrera’s artwork shows how good he is when it comes to delivering a cool superhero story, plus he’s great at capturing some of the small moments in this series and his facial expressions and composure work very well for an indy title than one from Marvel or DC.

To some, Star does come across as the Image Comics version of Spider-Man, but once you get past that comparison this series is a real blast to read and I only hope that Erik Larsen can pull himself away from Savage Dragon to give the world some new Star stories because with Geek Culture now in full-effect, I think it’s a perfect time for Star to be reintroduced to a new audience and at the same time, it will give Image a chance not to rely so heavily on Savage Dragon and Spawn.

Welp, that’s it for me. I’ll back next week with another review (And you have my promise that it won’t be another Image title); So thanks for sticking around and I will see you all next time.