We were all about “Starlight” when the first issue come out. Now we’re halfway through this Image miniseries, and the going is campy in all the right ways.
Written by Mark Millar
Illustrated by Goran ParlovDuke and his young companion begin their first adventure together! To the people of Tantalus, Duke is a hero and savior. Now, he’s their last chance to vanquish the new menace that has invaded the peace-loving world he left behind. But four decades have passed: Duke’s not the young man he once was, and the enemy he faces is more powerful than anything he faced in the good old days. The stakes are raised, and the weight of Duke’s own conscience might be his heaviest burden yet!
It’s not necessary to love 1980’s Flash Gordon to love this story, but it sure helps. Now that we’ve gotten Duke off planet Earth and back to a world that needs him, things have gotten exponentially more colourful – and anyone who appreciates a retro-futuristic cityscape will get a kick out of Goran Parlov’s work here.
The sparseness of the skylines – the monolithic statues that seem far too big to be allowed – conspire to set a dystopian mood right away, and together with Ive Svorcina’s pastel colours, they’re an eyeful and half. Closer to the ground, the fantastical costumes impress in their own right; the despotic Lord Kingfisher is one part longhorn bull, one part tribal chieftain, and all fabulous, cutting a distinctive silhouette on the issue’s first page.
It’s an action scene in the middle, though, that constitutes this issue’s highest point. As Duke makes a risky first move, there are plenty of little moments of humour that fit in with the camp atmosphere, all without getting in the way of the story. Duke’s grumpy expression at the beginning of it, laid out with minimal lines, adds some levity to his dramatic proclamation; and when things go sour, a character winds up with Xs for eyes.
All the while, the beats of the action are clean, making this rather brash attempt against the Tantalus police come across with a lot of flair. The frequent use of gutter space does a lot to make this sequence memorable, blotting out the scenery in order to isolate the important elements of the action.
There’s something to be said for a plot that moves smoothly on its runners without feeling too predictable, and Duke’s under-planned rebellious efforts feel like just the ticket at this juncture. The old-adventurer-goes-for-one-last-quest story is an old story indeed, but it feels fresh here – mostly, I think, because Millar and Parlov are so apt at getting across a sense of fun, even when the material skews grim. It’s one thing to take a set of tropes and reference them in a tongue-in-cheek way, but the these tropes feel particularly lived-in and thought-through, employed to maximum effect in serving the story. Derivative isn’t always a bad thing, and comics like “Starlight” are proof.
When things are at the direst, the introduction of a thoroughly goofy character feels like just the right touch, and we learn a little bit about Earth-Tantalus relations along the way. We’re getting exposition in doses, never too much at once, and they’re revealing just enough about this world, with all its difficulties and eccentricities, to keep us wanting more.
It’s definitely got a dark side to it, but this comic still adds up to a romp – a romp with a conscience, if you will, because it’s clear Duke is going to have to square himself with a lot of uncomfortable truths before victory is his. In any case, between the magnificence of the art and the well-oiled story, “Starlight” is shining bright. It’s not too late to catch up!
Final Verdict: 8.8 – Buy
