Starlock
by Claude J. Legrand & Luciano Bernasconi,
cover by Manuel Martin Peniche.
Paperback 5 x 8″,
Black and white
256 pages,
US$ 20.95 + $3.00 p&h
ISBN # 1-934543-65-9 / 978-1-934543-65-8
Contents:
- Foreword by Mike Baron
- Introduction by Jean-Marc Lofficier
- Classic Starlock #1-#7 by Claude Legrand & Luciano Bernasconi
- The Return of Starlock by Jean-Marc Lofficier & Luciano Bernasconi
- The Origins of Starlock by Jean-Marc Lofficier & Mariano De La Torre
- Bonus pages by Fernando Pasarin
The story:
Garlan from planet Styxane was chosen by the awesomne cosmic entities known as the Towers to be one of the Monitors of their Star Bridges, a network of hyperspatial tunnels making intergalactic exchanges possible. In circumstances yet to be revealed, Starlock betrayed the Towers and was condemned by them to have his life essence locked for eternity inside a space capsule abandoned on lifeless Mars.
Starkock was inadvertently freed by astronaut Nick Thaler, whose consciousness died when the alien inadvertently took over his body. Back on Earth, Thaler began to mysteriously transform back into a powerful hybrid form, and was pursued first by American, then Russian forces. He was eventually captured by the Tarantula, who tried to make him her slave, but only succeeded in causing him to revert to his former form.
Freed by CLASH and fellow astronaut Max “Tornado” Worth, Starlock then reciprocated by helping CLASH when old cosmic ally Homicron lost the control of his energies and threatened Earth. Thanks to Homicron, Starlock has now allied himself with the mysterious team known as Strangers. Starlock now lives in exile on Earth, hoping that the Towers will not notice his escape.
Created in the late 1980s by Bernasconi, a name that should be familiar to CBOers by now (check the other Hexagon reviews), for Editions LUG just before their demise. The character was up-dated in 2000 and is now part of the Strangers team with Homicron and Jaydee.
The art is slick, as you’d expect from Bernasconi, some nice details and some great scenes from the Lunar origin of Starlock, the military reaction to Thaler and his new power, the demolishing of military vehicles, air-strikes and much, much more. This is a 256 page epic. I really cannot fault the uniforms, vehicles or aircraft or any of the hardware depicted. Barnasconi is spot-on.
The up-dating? Nothing as crass as the DC reboot! The character is the same and the art and story just as good. There’s a nice splash page of the character by Jean-Jacques Dzialowski.
Reading Starlock, Wampus, Homicron and the other Hexagon Books is akin to first discovering Marvel Comics in the 1960s. This whole new universe has been opened up to me and I just hope some more English language editions are planned.
But Jean-Marc Lofficier hasn’t left it at just reprints. Oh no. Tomorrow I’ll tell you how to catch up with the new adventures –even if you don’t read French!
Top Marks.
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