Dreadstar

Dreadstar 11-15, 18-24

My wife made the point that when in doubt, keep the issues - they’re not taking up that much space, and it’s better than regretting the cut later on.  I generally agree with her, but I really don’t see myself thinking about this title ever again.

The sad thing is that I’d probably enjoy this series immensely with a better IP.  Just like throwing the Star Wars or Marvel license on a video game usually increases my enjoyment of the game by a significant amount, I suspect that I’d find these adventures a lot more fun if they starred the X-Men.  Starlin actually does an excellent job with the plot in Dreadstar.  The setups, conflicts, and developments are all fun and engaging.  The problem is that I don’t care about any of the heroes. I mentioned yesterday that they’re all visually drab.  The same goes for their personalities as well. None of them have much depth, their backstories and motivations are all story driven.  They could perform just about any action and I wouldn’t be able to accuse Starlin of writing them out of character.

Issue twenty-four is a perfect example.  Willow and Monalo engage in a psychic duel.  It’s quite brutal and well-done, but I didn’t care.  I wasn’t invested in Willow’s fate in any capacity.  Starlin had two years worth of comics to get me to like her, and he completely failed on that front.

If that were Jean?  I'd be emotionally invested.

Legit creepy.

And yet, this would totally have worked as an issue of X-Men.  Swap in Jean Grey and the Shadow King and I’d probably be raving about it.  Same with the rest of the series. It’s kind of a shame.

Other stuff:

Really??

Saw this ad for Marada, which I’ve never heard of, and I’d totally read it based on the art alone.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: No

Rating: Fine