But when Marvel published all of the Ilustracion+Comix Internacional and Heavy Metal issues as Marvel Graphic Novel #13 (Starstruck: The Luckless, the Abandoned and Forsaked) in September 1984, I was there. And I'm still there, as I know I still have that book around here SOMEwhere. 1 I may even still have the Heavy Metal issues, but possibly not, as there was a bit of a flood in the basement awhile back and quite a few things were ruined, many magazine-style comic books among them.
I was impressed enough by the graphic novel to buy the first two issues of the Epic Comics series 2 that followed it in February of 1985, but apparently not that impressed, as I did not buy the other 4 issues of the series.
And then Starstruck and I lost touch with each other. I did read the two Galactic Girl Guides stories that appeared as back-up strips in Comico's The Rocketeer Adventure Magazine #1 and #2 (July 1988 and July 1989, respectively), but I missed out on the Dark Horse 4 issue revival of 1990, and I don't even know if I knew about IDW's 2009 thirteen issue run. $3.99 comic books don't tend to register on my radar screen. And though I was aware of IDW's 2011 Starstruck Deluxe Edition, it was too expensive for me.
But I never lost my interest in the book, and when I saw that IDW was having another go at it with Starstruck: Old Proldiers Never Die #1, it piqued my interest anew. Although at $4.99 an issue, I don't know if I'm piqued enough to buy the paper version.
However . . . I've just signed up for a free trial of Comixology Unlimited, and the first thing I wanted to look at was the 359 page collection of the (completely remastered) IDW 13-issue series, and it didn't take long to really fall in love with this book. I'm on page 21 now, and had to stop to notice this line: "I used to collect bugs, but dad says that's sissy. Now I collect vital organs of endangered species." And the art is just fucking awesome. The story is still a bit convoluted and confusing, but with stuff like the previously quoted bit . . . I think this time around it's going to be a much deeper relationship.
More news as it happens.
AS IT HAPPENS: I'm currently on page 92 of 359 pages of the IDW Starstruck (listed as Volume 1, but that may be wishful thinking, as it reprinted all of the Starstruck material that had been printed, I think). And it is definitely holding my interest. Which prompted me to go to The Great Escape yesterday (instead of waiting for the usual Friday trip with Joe) to see if they had any Starstruck: Old Proldiers Never Die #1 on the shelves. They had two. One of them had a bent corner. They do give 15% off comics for holds customers . . . . I bought it.
I decided not to read it until I finished the "Volume 1" stories, but I did take a little peak. I didn't look at the story pages, but I did flip through and saw that there were only 20 of them. The rest of the book consists of text material and ads. So at $4.99, that isn't exactly the best deal in comic books. So I'm going to read it, of course, since it's possible that it's so damned good that I won't mind paying the cover price. That happened with Providence. (Though Providence gave about ten more story pages per issue. Maybe more, come to think of it.) I'm also going to wait to see what the price on the e-comic goes to when issue number two comes out. If it goes down two bucks or more, I will probably shift over to that version.
More news as it happens.
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3 Not yet.
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