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Star Brand (1986) #1-10
Star Brand: New Universe, Vol. 1
There is one weapon in the galaxy more powerful than all others. Nothing is more coveted or feared, loved or hated. To dare possess it makes you a fool or madman...or, just possibly, the right man! Now a mysterious encounter with an old stranger is about to leave Ken Connell as the latest to wield the power of the Star Brand! With this incredible tattoo comes staggering abilities: flight, strength, near-invulnerability and the explosive force of an atom bomb.
Collecting: Star Brand 1-10, Annual 1, & Spitfire and the Troubleshooters 5
Collecting: Star Brand 1-10, Annual 1, & Spitfire and the Troubleshooters 5
- GenresComics
306 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
February 5, 2020
Boy, this is a hard one to rate! The first seven issues collected here, by Jim Shooter and John Romita, Jr., are fantastic. When this book first hit in the mid-‘80s, it was truly groundbreaking and those first seven issues stand the test of time to this day. When Jim and John jump ship, however, the book turns into a huge pile of shit really quickly!
Definitely a game of two halves, but I can’t bring myself to give it any less than four stars due to the impact it made on me the first time I read it (back when it was the backup strip in the UK Spider-Man book. Any other UK Marvelites remember that? I think it was back when the book was called ‘Spider-Man and Zoids’. Remember Zoids? I bloody loved building those things)...
Definitely a game of two halves, but I can’t bring myself to give it any less than four stars due to the impact it made on me the first time I read it (back when it was the backup strip in the UK Spider-Man book. Any other UK Marvelites remember that? I think it was back when the book was called ‘Spider-Man and Zoids’. Remember Zoids? I bloody loved building those things)...
October 15, 2016
The New Universe was meant to be the universe outside our front door, where super powers are suddenly introduced on July 22, 1986. And Star Brand really epitomizes that idea, with Ken Connell being aggressively normal. He has a beautiful girlfriend, who has kids of her own. But he's kind of a dick toward her (and toward women in general). He has weird buddies. He doesn't know what to do with his powers (in the big picture) or even how to use them (in the small picture). It's obvious that this was intended as the next evolution of the Marvel style that originated in the '60s, telling the super stories of normal people.
(Despite hewing so close to the New Universe's central premise of changed normalcy, Star Brand doesn't touch upon other core ideas of the New Universe. The White Event isn't mentioned, though it would eventually become core to the idea of Star Brand and curiously the issues aren't dated in real time like in the rest of the New Universe. This often makes it feel less "real" than its brethren.)
The early issues of Star Brand (#1-7) are by Jim Shooter and they're quite good, even by modern standards. Together, they form a really nice arc, beginning with Ken gaining his powerful Star Brand from an apparent alien (shades of Green Lantern there), moving through his discovery of what the power does, and then returning to the secrets of the alien. The downside is that the strange back and forth with the being that gave Ken is powers becomes more confused over the course of the book rather than more clear. But there's a beautiful character story here, as Ken really changes who he is based on his new responsibilities.
Unfortunately, after that the book kind of falls apart, as three different authors take Ken through three issues and an annual (#8-10, A). The issues all abandon Ken's home setting and to various extents abandon his supporting cast as well, losing a lot of the charm and focus of the book. There's also some problems with continuity, such as a totally fine Duck in #8, then a damaged Duck in #10; I'd personally put issue #10 before #8-9 and the Annual in Ken's chronology.
As for the writing of these final issues, it's varied: Cary Bates' "The Brand of a Hero" (#8) isn't bad, because it continues the focus on Ken as a person, and whether he can become a hero. But the annual (#A) and the final issue (#10) both have really over-the-top writing. I suspect that as a whole these four issues are pretty skippable, and that you could go straight from Shooter's early issues to Byrne's later issues, which are in Star Brand: New Universe Vol. 2 (Star Brand. Still, it's nice having them (as well as the Spitfire #5 crossover) for completeness sake .
Overall, Star Brand holds up quite well in the modern day and is still worth reading, even if this volume does go off the track in its last third due to editorial issues. I'd love to see more of the New Universe collected in this format (at least, DP7, Psi-Force, and the Peter David Justice, which were all quite good).
(Despite hewing so close to the New Universe's central premise of changed normalcy, Star Brand doesn't touch upon other core ideas of the New Universe. The White Event isn't mentioned, though it would eventually become core to the idea of Star Brand and curiously the issues aren't dated in real time like in the rest of the New Universe. This often makes it feel less "real" than its brethren.)
The early issues of Star Brand (#1-7) are by Jim Shooter and they're quite good, even by modern standards. Together, they form a really nice arc, beginning with Ken gaining his powerful Star Brand from an apparent alien (shades of Green Lantern there), moving through his discovery of what the power does, and then returning to the secrets of the alien. The downside is that the strange back and forth with the being that gave Ken is powers becomes more confused over the course of the book rather than more clear. But there's a beautiful character story here, as Ken really changes who he is based on his new responsibilities.
Unfortunately, after that the book kind of falls apart, as three different authors take Ken through three issues and an annual (#8-10, A). The issues all abandon Ken's home setting and to various extents abandon his supporting cast as well, losing a lot of the charm and focus of the book. There's also some problems with continuity, such as a totally fine Duck in #8, then a damaged Duck in #10; I'd personally put issue #10 before #8-9 and the Annual in Ken's chronology.
As for the writing of these final issues, it's varied: Cary Bates' "The Brand of a Hero" (#8) isn't bad, because it continues the focus on Ken as a person, and whether he can become a hero. But the annual (#A) and the final issue (#10) both have really over-the-top writing. I suspect that as a whole these four issues are pretty skippable, and that you could go straight from Shooter's early issues to Byrne's later issues, which are in Star Brand: New Universe Vol. 2 (Star Brand. Still, it's nice having them (as well as the Spitfire #5 crossover) for completeness sake .
Overall, Star Brand holds up quite well in the modern day and is still worth reading, even if this volume does go off the track in its last third due to editorial issues. I'd love to see more of the New Universe collected in this format (at least, DP7, Psi-Force, and the Peter David Justice, which were all quite good).
October 9, 2020
A long time ago, in a universe not all that different from our own there was a bright white flash in the sky and a whole bunch of people were never quite the same again.
That’s basically how the whole thing started in Marvel’s (failed?) experiment at a second attempt at world building. The White Event. The New Universe. Unfortunately, it didn’t exactly capture the imaginations of comic book readers.
Star Brand was one of the titles I stuck with the longest from this experiment, but even it couldn’t keep me reading for the entire run. I did eventually return, but that story I’ll cover in Volume 2 as it pertains to those issues. This volumes allows the reader to advance through the psychological changes that Ken is going through while to tried to understand his new abilities and their responsibilities. While this isn’t great sci-finsuperhero action, it is exciting and it is also one the most consistent narratives from all over the UK.
That’s basically how the whole thing started in Marvel’s (failed?) experiment at a second attempt at world building. The White Event. The New Universe. Unfortunately, it didn’t exactly capture the imaginations of comic book readers.
Star Brand was one of the titles I stuck with the longest from this experiment, but even it couldn’t keep me reading for the entire run. I did eventually return, but that story I’ll cover in Volume 2 as it pertains to those issues. This volumes allows the reader to advance through the psychological changes that Ken is going through while to tried to understand his new abilities and their responsibilities. While this isn’t great sci-finsuperhero action, it is exciting and it is also one the most consistent narratives from all over the UK.
October 12, 2021
Pittsburgh-area meathead Ken is Green Lanterned and imbued with the awesome cosmic powers of the STAR BRAND. This title was part of Marvel's "New Universe" of the 80s, a standalone universe that promised gritty realism. Apparently that means almost no awesome cosmic action at all, but plenty of side action. And by "side action" I mean pretty much anyone besides designated Good Girl Barb: Firebrand, punk rock Duck (who likes to . . . go out for pancakes), snow bunnies, underage babysitters, etc. Ken frequently calls Duck "stupid," which is both misogynist and rich, rich irony. Not well written, not well drawn, but also not abysmal.
June 22, 2021
I didn’t think much of the ‘New Universe’ when it came out but I figured I’d give this one a shot after all these years. I was pleasantly surprised. Starbrand takes a rather low key approach to the concept of one person gaining incredible power he doesn’t necessarily want or know what to do with. Good art and a decent plot. However my favorite bit is he needs a map and a flashlight with him whenever he flies anywhere. See…back when I was a kid we didn’t have cell phones with GPS in them and we had to and from school up hill both ways…..
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews