Jim Starlin

This collection of a slew of stories published across a half-dozen different series and even more creatives shows how storytelling used to happen in comics: Good stories that stood on their own, each building a stepping stone to bigger stories but all within the scope of character advancement, NOT artificially-propped-up "events" and mini-series.

I had forgotten just how great many of these stories are on their own and together in this package. More than a few of today's "talented stars" of comics could stand to learn a lot from Jim Starlin, Mike Friedrich, Steve Englehart, and others herein.… (meer)

This was a fun revisit. I was never a massive Captain Marvel fan, and I think I was just getting into comics around the time Starlin was doing his run on the series. I remember picking up an issue and kind of being lost, so I didn't really follow up on it.

Reading this now, I realized the issue I'd picked up was the final one. So, there's a fifty year old mystery solved.

I was in time for Starlin's incredible run on Warlock, however, and that still remains one of my favourite comic reading experiences ever. I even wrote a high school essay on that run (and got an A+ for it, too!), so, when I saw this collection in a bargain bin in a comic shop, I figured it was time to get my Starlin on again.

I'd read the Death of Captain Marvel when it first came out, but didn't catch a lot of the subtext, despite Starlin's excellent recap at the beginning of that graphic novel. But now, I got the full run, and I enjoyed it immensely.

Yes, it's very obvious that either Starlin was under the influence of some psychedelics as he wrote this series, or was at least acquainted with them, because there's times when it gets quite trippy. Then again, so did Warlock, so it wasn't unexpected. But I appreciated that Starlin was really doing a solid deep dive into not just the Mar-Vell character, but also Rick Jones, and a few other secondary characters.

And the Thanos storyline, while a touch drawn out, was epic and fun.

If I have any complaint about any of the pages of this entire saga, it's the extended, and rather gratuitous fight scene toward the end of the Death of Captain Marvel piece. It was unnecessary, and it messed with both the emotion and the pacing.

But, take out those four or five pages, and this is just a great run.… (meer)

The Infinity Gauntlet is the major event book Thanos is known for, so naturally with Infinity War coming out in three weeks, this was a must read comic to understand Thanos as a character. The story, written by Jim Starlin and pencilled by George Pérez and Ron Lim, was first serialized as a six-issue limited series from July to December 1991 and ties in Thanos' quest for the infinity gems that dates to the 1970s. It's obviously a tad different than the upcoming Infinity War film. And although the film does draw inspiration from "The Infinity Gauntlet" comic, it seems it may focus more on Jonathan Hickman's 2013 "Infinity" storyline.

Infinity Gauntlet mainly centers on Thanos' quest to woo Mistress Death by impressing her with his nihilistic cosmic powers. In addition to the Avengers, there are a lot more players that I wasn't really familiar with including Adam Warlock (who plays a huge role in the comic), Eros (aka Star Fox) and Eternity. Reading this will give you a better handle on the neat nods featured in the upcoming Infinity War movie, like how Gamora mentions Thanos could "wipe out half of existence just by snapping his fingers." In the comic, Thanos does just that in the opening chapter. That's pretty wild and horrific.

The Good: The storyline is epic. It was fun to have some of my favorite Avengers together. Infinity Gauntlet gives us a good understanding of just how powerful Thanos is and how dangerous the infinity gems are. The artwork is insane. The colors are eye-popping (colorists Max Scheele and Ian Laughlin must have had a blast).

The Bad: Story telling feels a bit dated. Also, given this is a cosmic event, I wanted a little more heart to the story line but it was interesting seeing Thanos so sadly and pathetically trying to woo Mistress Death (she is really hard to please). I think the narration felt flat at times and often, it comes off as a bit too heady. Still, this is a classic for a reason. And I do recommend it for fans of the MCU.… (meer)