Hello Cosmic Part 29: Darklon the Mystic

[Continuing my look at Jim Starlin's cosmic comics work. This time, I'll be discussing the short-lived serial he did for Eerie (issues 76, 79, 80, 84, and 100) and was, later, collected and coloured by Pacific Comics in 1983. That's the version of the work I have, but you can find some of it online here.]

Darklon the Mystic is a prefiguring work to The Metamorphosis Odyssey. It's hard to miss how ideas raised and presented in Darklon show up again in The Metamorphosis Odyssey and The Price (one chapter of Darklon is even named "The Price"). But, it's a simpler and less compelling work with Starlin not doing anything of great interest or import. Darklon is a powerful mystic, once the weak and artsy prince of a warrior culture who sought great power to avenge the coup that dethroned his father. In the process, he gives up his soul, his destiny, his life, and his ownership of himself to the Nameless One, a dark god, in exchange for the power to avenge his father and return him to the throne. From there, his father becomes his enemy, he kills his father, and then destroys his home planet when he must give it to the Nameless One. There isn't a lot of development of the ideas beyond that.

The desctruction of the planet has that 'destroy the village to save it' mentality that marks Aknaton's actions in The Metamorphosis Odyssey, Starlin's response to some of the actions taken in the Vietnam War, which he served in. The idea of weighing the value of millions (billions!) of lives against lives of enslavement and misery, and choosing death as the better option is a hard one to fully comprehend. Starlin never explores it with any real depth here, it coming at the very end of the story. But, the way that Darklon escapes in a magic bubble that eventually crashes on another planet is the exact visual of Aknaton and Dreadstar escaping the doomed Milky Way Galaxy before crashing on a planet millions of years later. In The Metamorphosis Odyssey, Starlin gives the idea more space and a little more discussion and debate. Here, it just happens out of nowhere.

Darklon's deal with the Nameless One is, similarly, a more simplistic version of Syzygy's sacrifices for power in The Price. Darklon's deal is one based on a very direct revenge desire with a being of pure evil. It's a basic, no-nonsense Faustian bargain, while Syzygy's deals for power are more complicated. He uses what power he has to gain more, manipulated by another person to fulfill a larger destiny. By the end of the story, he willingly sacrifices the life and soul of someone he loves for power. He pays with his own flesh, but also uses others. Darklon's sacrifice does have a bitter ring to it when he's finally impressed his father with his newfound power and skill, but must abandon his home because of the deal. There's a stronger "O Henry" vibe to Darklon's deal: he gets the power to make himself worthy of being the ruler of his home, but he must give up his home to gain the power. Syzygy gives up his home, but it's not to gain the power to save it.

Beyond those early versions of later Starlin stories, Darklon the Mystic's most interesting part is the middle story entitled "He Who Waits in Shadow!" where Starlin does an overwrought story that seems to be about him. He broods in the darkness of his apartment, stewing over murdering his love until he kills himself. There's an epilogue where Darklon bursts in, looking for him and the resolution of the plot with his father sending assassins after him. There's an obvious symbolism -- Starlin never killed anyone, he just killed his relationship with someone most likely. It's like Neil Young's song "Down by the River," which, if taken literally, seems like a song about Young killing his girlfriend/wife, but is really about ending a relationship. Starlin's story is pure angst and attempts to seem poetic and deep. The metafictional aspect spills over into the next story where the fight between Darklon and his father is reflected in a father and son on Earth, both in comas where, when Darklon wins, the father on Earth dies. An interesting way to approach the story, but not revealing in any meaningful way.

The art in the Pacific Comics collection of the stories is atrocious. Awful printing that makes the art look like some of Starlin's worst. Granted, the black and white art isn't his best work either, the garrish, slopping colours and blocky printing process give this book the look of some bad self-published comic made by a teenager. Figures look half-finished, backgrounds hastily drawn, and the colours just thrown on. Starlin does try to use some different techniques, like high contrast shading, and the more illustrative style that would show up in his painted work. Nothing coheres, though. I'd have to see the originals to really compare the quality.

Darklon is significant because he eventually appeared in some Marvel books as Darklore in Warlock Chronicles #1 and, then, at the end of Starlin's run on Warlock & The Infinity Watch. He's older, his look is the same, there are references to his home planet being destroyed, and the name is similar. Before I knew about Darklon, Darklore simply struck me as an interesting look at another hero-type to compare with Adam Warlock. Now, the way that the Soul Gem tries to take him over, but fails seems like an allusion to Starlin's brief work on the character before doing Dreadstar and, eventually, returning to Warlock.

Darklon the Mystic is definitely one for the Starlin fans only.

Hello Cosmic Part 28: The Metamorphosis Odyssey, The Price, the Dreadstar graphic novel, and Dreadstar #1-31

[During the month of December 2010, I wrote about Dreadstar at a rate of one issue per day on Comics Should be Good. The posts fit into my larger examination of Jim Starlin's cosmic work, so here's an archive.]

The Metamorphosis Odyssey, The Price, and the Dreadstar graphic novel
Dreadstar #1
Dreadstar #2
Dreadstar #3
Dreadstar #4
Dreadstar #5
Dreadstar #6
Dreadstar #7
Dreadstar #8
Dreadstar #9
Dreadstar #10
Dreadstar #11
Dreadstar #12
Dreadstar #13
Dreadstar #14
Dreadstar #15
Dreadstar #16
Dreadstar #17
Dreadstar #18
Dreadstar #19
Dreadstar #20
Dreadstar #21
Dreadstar #22
Dreadstar #23
Dreadstar #24
Dreadstar #25
Dreadstar #26
Dreadstar #27
Dreadstar #28
Dreadstar #29
Dreadstar #30
Dreadstar #31

Hello Cosmic Part 27: The Death of the New Gods

[Concluding my two-part look at Jim Starlin's work involving Jack Kirby's Fourth World characters. In this post, I'll discuss The Death of the New Gods. This post fits into a larger look at Starlin's cosmic work.]

Okay, a little bit later than I expected... especially since this has been sitting partly-written here for over a week... Ah well...

Final Crisis has finished and it seems like the right time to re-explore The Death of the New Gods, which... well, didn't really work with Final Crisis at all, did it? But that's only a problem if you care about "Official DCU Continuity," which I don't. No, I can separate all of my comics into their own little worlds. Like Final Crisis actually exists in the Grant Morrison DCU that began with Animal Man went right on through his early Batman work, Doom Patrol, JLA, Seven Soldiers, Batman and, then, Final Crisis. While The Death of the New Gods really just exists, for me, alongside Cosmic Odyssey and not much else. See how easy that is? It leads to far less headaches and a lot more enjoyment. Now, of course, Morrison wrote Final Crisis in a way that explains why it doesn't sync up with Countdown and The Death of the New Gods, but who cares? I sure don't.

The Death of the New Gods features Jim Starlin writing and drawing a murder mystery where New Gods are found dead all over the universe, gaping hole in their chest, but that wound isn't the cause of death. As the story progresses, more New Gods die, suspects emerge and are discarded (including the Infinity Man, Darkseid, and Orion), a second Source Wall is discovered in front of the original with the newly killed New Gods' likenesses on it, Metron discovers the culprit and observes what happens, and, ultimately, Darkseid is the last one left standing.

While I was disappointed in Cosmic Odyssey for its lack of exploration of the idea of these characters as the New Gods, Starlin uses this series to really explore that idea by having the force that's killing them revealed as the Source. That's right, the New Gods' god is killing them... I love that idea. Starlin really plays with it in both a religious and a metafictional manner.

Metron is the first to discover the identity of the killer (although, we're told later that Darkseid figured it out before that, but kept the knowledge hidden so he could prepare to fight back and save himself) and, when he does, the Source says to him, "YOU WERE ALWAYS MY FAVORITE OF THE NEW GODS," a position that Starlin possibly shares? He devotes quite a bit of space to Metron, starting in the first issue with some inventive art. Metron, I guess, uses drugs to "sleep" (aka hallucinate) and, when he comes out of his hallucination, Starlin repeats a panel of Metron looking shocked, but then has it shatter, revealing the pipe behind it. One of those great Starlin touches that you don't see a lot of artists trying these days.

Getting back on track, the discussion that ensues between Metron and the Source is thinly disguised as Metron talking to Jim Starlin (or DC editorial) as the Source maintains that mistakes were made and it's time to begin anew. Much of the conversation is more plot-oriented, but Starlin can't resist a few subtle bits that tells us what we already know: there are plans that require the New Gods to die. The Fifth World reboot, whatever it is, is coming and that means no more Fourth World. The Source doesn't enjoy doing it, but it has to, so... The real reason is that the Anti-Life Equation is part of the Source and it needs to reunite with it, and needs the power source of the New Gods' souls to do so.

Elsewhere, the New Gods are trying to solve the mystery of who is killing them off. Mister Miracle undergoes a transformation after the death of his wife, Big Barda. He changes the colours of his costume from red, yellow and green to black, blue and violet. He also uses his apparent mastery of the Anti-Life Equation extensively, seemingly corrupted by the power. The connection between Mister Miracle and the Anti-Life Equation is one of the most interesting pieces of subtext in this book (and I'm guessing not a creation of Jim Starlin) since it creats an implied connection between Mister Miracle and Darkseid. The focus of Darkseid's father/son relationship is always on Orion, but Scott Free is the adopted son that Darkseid got in return for Orion. You would think there would be some parental issues there and it's really ironic that while Darkseid always obsesses over Orion killing him, it's the son he never thought about, the one he never considered that has mastered that which he aspires to. When Darkseid and Orion clash at the end of the series, it's after Mister Miracle has already bested Darkseid using the Anti-Life Equation in an earlier issue. Darkseid is overshadowed by both of his sons.

Scott Free's struggle throughout the series is interesting and more in line with Starlin's pet themes. He is a man torn between good and evil, psychologically fractured and having a nervous breakdown. He attacks Orion and Superman at one point. He is all-powerful and that power corrupts. When he uses the Anti-Life Equation, he becomes a being of energy and looks nothing like himself. He's a familiar character in the Starlin tradition. In the end, he's the one most betrayed by the Source. He can't contemplate that their god would do this to them and asks for death. As does Metron.

The final confrontation between Darkseid and the Source has Darkseid using the Source's own stockpile of power against it, tapping into that second wall in front of the Wall. He also uses a weird elixir to power himself further. That is, until Orion's soul is called to fight him--as it wasn't collected like the others. Darkseid escapes, presumably to die in the pages of Countdown and New Genesis and Apokolips crash into one another.

The use of Superman is interesting as he isn't a New God. He's the witness to their destruction, the sole survivor of the final conflict that results in New Genesis and Apokolips crashing into one another and merging (strangely, a more fitting end to the New Gods' conflict than the one Morrison provided--at least when looking at his repeated use of symmetries and balance... the merging of good and evil... eliminating the duality). Superman also seems to represent the DC fan, the bystander outraged that this is all happening for no reason. The final issue's cover has Superman on his knees in a rage, floathing in front of the heads/figures of the deceased New Gods, screaming, "NO! / IT CAN'T END LIKE THIS!" His feelings are the feelings of fans wondering why this is happening, what purpose it serves... In that issue he's more thoughtful than angry, but the message is still the same: why did this happen? He consoles himself with the knowledge that this may bring about the Fifth World and that, finally, he remembers the characters and "IT WILL HAVE TO BE ENOUGH THAT I HAVE KNOWN GODS."

That's all that readers have left, really: the comics they own and the time spent reading them. Will these characters return? Maybe. But, if not, their adventures still exist on the page. Isn't that enough?

Hello Cosmic Part 26: Cosmic Odyssey

[The first of two posts devoted to Jim Starlin's take of Jack Kirby's Fourth World characters. In this post, I look at Cosmic Odyssey, a 1988 four-issue prestige format series Starlin wrote and Mike Mignola drew. This post fits into a larger look at Starlin's cosmic work.]

A year after completing my look at Jim Starlin's cosmic work for Marvel, I'm back with two posts examining Starlin's take on the New Gods--twenty years apart. The New Gods seem like the perfect cast for a Jim Starlin comic book since they combine the cosmic and the mythic in that way he loves to--never mind that Thanos was clearly inspired by Darkseid (although, I'd say has become a much better character over the years). Really, the right mix is here for a fantastic story, which Cosmic Odyssey isn't quite. It's not bad, but it doesn't quite work in the way that nothing I've read of Starlin's DC work has... I am honestly mystified as to why Starlin's DC stuff fails to live up to the skill he displayed at Marvel, but that's how it goes.

However, Cosmic Odyssey is an interesting and decent read. What's most telling is that Starlin immediately sets about making Darkseid more like Thanos by making his coveted Anti-Life Equation a sentient being, something to aspire to and worship ala Thanos's relationship with Death. Starlin never quite pushes things that far, because Darkseid's motivation is control and power, while Thanos's motive was love--but that Starlin immediately makes the Anti-Life Equation (and isn't "anti-life" death?) an entity, a being, something that lives clearly shows that he wanted to make these characters more to his liking, more in his comfort zone. Cosmic Odyssey comes between Starlin's last cosmic work at Marvel, The Death of Captain Marvel and his next work, Silver Surfer where he resurrected Thanos and Adam Warlock and began his long "Infinity"-themed stories. Was he already missing those characters? Thankfully, his reworking of the Anti-Life Equation is his only major overhaul here as he prefers to stick close to the established identities of the characters involved.

The plot is rather simple: the Anti-Life Equation wants to eat our universe after Metron accidentally opened the door for it on one of his knowledge quests. The Equation sent in four aspects of itself and is trying to destroy four planets in the Milky Way galaxy, which will collapse the galaxy and allow it to enter our universe. The kicker is that it only needs to destroy two of the planets to succeed. So, Darkseid and Highfather have gathered a bunch of Earth heroes: Batman and Forager (a "bug" on New Genesis) have Earth; Superman and Orion have Thanagar; Starfire and Lightray have Rann (and meet up with Adam Strange); and John Stewart and the Martian Manhunter have Xanshi.

The most well known ramification of this series was the Stewart/J'onn mission where John Stewart is so arrogant and reliant on his ring that he leaves J'onn behind at one point (because taking him would slow him down) and, when he gets to the Anti-Life Aspect and its giant bomb, he discovers that it's painted yellow, the one weakness of the Green Lanterns! And there goes Xanshi. Starlin really does some good work with this subplot by having J'onn bitch Stewart out, while Stewart contemplates suicide later in the series, even going so far to send his ring away and put the gun to his head. Not at all what one would expect (then... now, I think Stewart would have pulled the trigger...) and quite good.

There's also some great moments between Superman and Orion where the Anti-Life Aspect mind-controls the population of Thanagar, sending them out to stop Superman and Orion. Superman goes on ahead, burrowing underground to get past the defences, while Orion is left to distract the Thanagarians. When Superman returns, he finds every soldier slaughtered and Orion unapologetic. He says that there are no innocents in war and with stakes that high, he wasn't going to play nice. Superman responds by hitting him. Not the last time a DC hero would deck Orion in this series. Orion is a racist. As Forager is a "bug," Orion treats him with disdain. This pisses Batman off after Forager sacrifices his life to stop the Anti-Life Aspect on Earth, so Batman let's fly a punch and is then held back by Superman. The book ends with Highfather informing Orion that he would accompany Forager's body back to his home in a lesson of tolerance.

When reading Jim Starlin writing the New Gods, particularly Darkseid, I can't help but compare it to how he would handle Adam Warlock and Thanos. People often say that Thanos is just a rip-off of Darkseid, which, in a very superficial way, is true. However, where Thanos is self-loathing and psychologically complex, Darkseid is simple. He's self-serving and evil--evil in that way where he says that he's evil and revels in death and destruction. His is the ugly face that he wants the universe to share. If you actually read Starlin's Thanos and his Darkseid, there isn't much similarity despite Starlin making the Anti-Life Equation an entity.

His New Gods are very much like the gods of myths. They are brash, arrogant, very human in their qualities. We don't see many of them here, just Highfather, Lightray, Orion, Darkseid, Metron and, briefly, Lonar (and Desaad for, like, a panel--lurking in the shadows). Metron is out of it for the story, his mind broken by his encounter with the Anti-Life Equation. Only Highfather and Darkseid seem in check of their emotions much of the time, both composed--Darkseid goes off the rails a little towards the end. Since one of Starlin's pet themes is religion, I went into this wondering how he would handle the idea of these characters being called the New Gods, if he would really explore that idea in any depth, but he doesn't, sadly.

One small moment of interest: the story begins with a group of Apokolips Storm Troopers invading Gotham only to be repelled by Superman and Lightray. However, one is left behind. Later, Batman is on the trail of various missing persons and comes across this monster in the sewers. After the Storm Trooper drops its gun, Batman, clearly out of his league, picks it up, narrating, "I NORMALLY DON'T LIKE USING WEAPONS... / ...ESPECIALLY FIREARMS. / BUT I'M FLEXIBLE, ABLE TO ADAPT TO THE SITUATION." At which point he blasts a giant hole in the Trooper's chest and leaves it for dead.

I should mention Mike Mignola's art, which is just as good as you'd think it would be. He really does a great job here, using interesting layouts and repeating panels effectively. His Darkseid looks like a creature of rock. He uses shadows well and I particularly enjoy his Metron.

Ultimately, I don't know how much influence this book had on the New Gods and the DCU (aside from the John Stewart stuff). But, it does influence the next series I'm looking at, The Death of the New Gods. I'll get to that sometime in the next few days.

Hello Cosmic Archive: The Works of Jim Starlin

Here is a lovely archive post with links to every Hello Cosmic post for easy access. Enjoy.

Hello Cosmic Part 1: Just a Kid at Heart
Hello Cosmic Part 2: The Life of Captain Marvel
Hello Cosmic Part 3: Warlock Day One
Hello Cosmic Part 4: Warlock Day Two
Hello Cosmic Part 5: The Death of Captain Marvel and the Thanos Quest
Hello Cosmic Part 6: The Infinity Gauntlet
Hello Cosmic Part 7: Silver Surfer/Warlock Resurrection
Hello Cosmic Part 8: Warlock & the Infinity Watch #1-7
Hello Cosmic Part 9: The Infinity War Part One
Hello Cosmic Part 10: The Infinity War Part Two
Hello Cosmic Part 11: Warlock & the Infinity Watch #12-17
Hello Cosmic Part 12: The Infinity Crusade Part One
Hello Cosmic Part 13: The Infinity Crusade Part Two
Hello Cosmic Part 14: The Infinity Crusade Part Three
Hello Cosmic Part 15: Blood & Thunder
Hello Cosmic Part 16: Warlock & the Infinity Watch #26-31
Hello Cosmic Part 17: Warlock & the Infinity Watch #32-42
Hello Cosmic Part 18: The Infinity Abyss
Hello Cosmic Part 19: Marvel: The End
Hello Cosmic Part 20: Thanos #1-6
Hello Cosmic Part 21: Silver Surfer Volume 3 Part One
Hello Cosmic Part 22: Silver Surfer Volume 3 Part Two
Hello Cosmic Part 23: The Finale Part One (Religion)
Hello Cosmic Part 24: The Finale Part Two (Psychology)
Hello Cosmic Part 25: The Finale Part Three (Storytelling Tricks)
Hello Cosmic Part 26: Cosmic Odyssey
Hello Cosmic Part 27: The Death of the New Gods
Hello Cosmic Part 28: The Metamorphosis Odyssey, The Price, the Dreadstar graphic novel, and Dreadstar #1-31
Hello Cosmic Part 29: Darklon the Mystic

Hello Cosmic Part 25: The Finale Part Three (Storytelling Tricks)

[The conclusion to my look at Jim Starlin's cosmic work for Marvel.]

Something I really love about Jim Starlin's "cosmic" stuff is that it rarely follows traditional sci-fi conventions. In Starlin's cosmic worlds, yeah, there's technology, but who cares, because it's more about magic and natural abilities and blowing minds. It's actually fantasy dressed up as sci-fi (and, yeah, there is some distinction). I mean, do you think Adam Warlock's Soul Gem has more in common with Frodo's ring or with Captain Kirk's phaser? Looking back on all of the work by Starlin I've read, the only character that uses technology on a consistent basis is Thanos--except it actually seems an outcropping of himself more than anything. Thanos uses his floating chair, shields and teleportation because, well, he can--he doesn't need to, but since he's got them, why not use them. You'll note that little time is actually spent on Thanos creating these devices--instead, he just has them--they are tools like a sword or horse. Actually, it's only the bad guys who ever seem to use technology, really, and Thanos is the only protagonist to do so because he grew out of villainous roots.

But, I digress (right from the beginning--a new digression record).

There are some characteristics of Starlin-penned comics that I'd like to discuss.

The first is the tell-the-character's-entire-past-in-a-single-page-with-a-montage-splash-and-maybe-a-floating-head-narrating-the-whole-thing technique. Starlin does not do "subtle," people--if he thinks you knowing a character's history is important, he just tells you said history by stopping the story and laying it all out there. The number of times I had to read Adam Warlock's history is staggering--although did allow for comparison between artists in an interesting way. My favourite difference was how Tom Raney drew the scientists who created Adam Warlock as these huge, muscle-bound guys while everyone else drew them like... scientists. Similar to this is how, in comics he drew himself, Starlin often had a chracter narrate an entire story--usually from partway through the final part. Again, very non-subtle foreshadowing. These techniques are rarely used now, especially the way Starlin has characters narrate, speaking directly to the readers, often with their floating head popping up throughout the story. This actually makes works like The Infinity Abyss and Marvel: The End seem antiquated and outdated by modern standards, which could be very offputting to readers (despite the fact that they're still good comics).

My favourite storytelling trick that Starlin uses is one that I've mentioned many, MANY times before: the giant inter-company crossovers that are actually small stories about Adam Warlock and Thanos with everything else thrown in to pad it out for six (or more) issues. Here's something you should know: anytime the Avengers, Spider-Man or Fantastic Four show up, they will show themselves to be useless. In The Infinity Gauntlet, Warlock has them attack Thanos just so he will have a distraction to enact his real plan because he knows that Thanos will slaughter them. Starlin speaks through Warlock to tell the readers that in these stories, the traditional Marvel heroes are ineffective and are, at best, distractions--both in the story sometimes and, always, for the readers. The Infinity War and Infinity Crusade take using the heroes for meaningless plots to new heights as Starlin has them in fanboyish "oh, that's some cool shit!" plots: fighting evil doppelgangers and then fighting one another. Except, in both stories, the villain is defeated by Warlock and Thanos. If you broke down those two crossovers to their essential elements, you'd get two issues of story that matters. However, these crossovers rarely read as such. Starlin was adept at padding those core stories out and making it appear like the unnecessary plotpoints matter. It's probably my favourite storytelling trick of his, mostly because it demonstrated decompressed storytelling years before it came in vogue, but did so in a way where few could see what he was doing.

Starlin's work has a lot of flaws, though. His dialogue can be very overwrought and unnecesarily melodramatic. Adam Warlock often goes off on these odd soliloquies that rarely differ from one another. It's always about how he doesn't know who he is, how he's not the hero everyone thinks he is and that all he wants to do is have some peace. Thanos sometimes suffers from "Dr. Doom syndrome" where he speaks in third-person and does nothing but proclaim his greatness, which is tiresome.

As well, Starlin repeats himself a lot. How many stories centre around Thanos finding an even more powerful method of ruling the universe? Or Adam Warlock trying to find himself? Or Warlock going insane? Or a mysterious force trying to take over the universe?

The mystery character is another fun bit of Starlin business. It isn't a Starlin book if there isn't a mysterious character that shows up a little bit for several months until finally... THE BIG REVEAL! The Magus, the Goddess, Count Abyss, Maxam, and Hunger all filled this role. But, so did Adam Warlock and Thanos from time to time (particularly Thanos as the mystery member of the Infinity Watch). This trope isn't necessarily bad, it's just that Starlin overused it sometimes. Mid-way through Warlock & the Infinity Watch, I became frustrated with these pointless mysteries, mostly because they were strung out for months (even over a year a few times) and the payoffs were, well, lame. Count Abyss was a guy who sold his soul for power while Maxam was from the future. Wow, because those are very common stories and totally don't blow me away! I did like Thanos as the holder of the Reality Gem as it was a mystery with a logical (and obvious) solution that kind of reminds me of Ellis' later revelation of the Third Man in Planetary. It's so obvious that the reader is thrown a little at the revelation because he or she figured something that obvious couldn't be the solution.

Starlin also dabbles, from time to time, in metafiction. In his first Warlock run, he does a nice little take on the state of Marvel at the time, specifically Stan Lee and the treatment of Jack Kirby. As I mentioned above, when Warlock tells the Silver Surfer in The Infinity Gauntlet that the heroes are just a distraction, Starlin is really telling the reader that the fight we're seeing is a meaningless distraction used to fill an entire issue, padding the series out. In Marvel: The End, Starlin has the universe end as a result of characters returning from the dead--and then Thanos remakes the universe so that can no longer happen, giving a practical and in continuity reason for Joe Quesada's then-editorial rule that dead means dead in the MU from that point on. I'm probably missing a few other moments like that, but they don't pop up frequently, just enough to note that Starlin has a fondness for metafiction.

I find myself not knowing exactly how to sum up Starlin's cosmic work at Marvel. For the most part, I enjoyed it. Starlin's first run on Warlock is a must-own as are The Infinity Gauntlet and Marvel: The End. Next week, I'll probably do a couple of posts on Cosmic Odyssey and Wyrd, the Reluctant Warrior.

It's been fun.

Hello Cosmic Part 24: The Finale Part Two (Psychology)

[In which I continue my conclusion of my look at Jim Starlin's cosmic work for Marvel. This series concludes on Friday.]

The second idea/theme/topic that runs through Starlin's cosmic work is his obsession with psychology. Now, this idea isn't as central as religion and I know less about psychology than I do religion, so this may be briefer than I figured it would be.

Adam Warlock is a paranoid schizophrenic in Starlin's initial run on the character and periodically goes a little crazy from time to time after that. Usually, Warlock's mental problems come with knowledge, putting him line with the typical mad genius. In Starlin's first Warlock work, he actually accepts madness as a means to gain the necessary knowledge and perspective in order to defeat the Magus--literally himself, representin another aspect of his mind. Later, when he obtains the Infinity Gauntlet, he expels the good and bad aspects of himself, again making him a figurative multiple personality case.

It would be tempting to put Adam, the Magus and the Goddess into an id, ego, super-ego relationship, but I'm not sure that that relationship exists. You could argue that the Magus is the id, although he also has some of the repressive elements of the super-ego. It would be a nice little joke to have the Goddess represent the super-ego since she is Warlock's feminine side and the super-ego is typically the "father figure." Adam easily fits as the ego since he struggles to balance the two, often displaying aspects of both. Okay, maybe it doesn't seem quite so out there as I thought. I didn't want it to work because it seems so easy, really.

As well, I can see the Magus working into Lacan's concept of the other as Warlock meets him when he is still, essentially, a child. The Magus representing the first time Warlock has seen his own reflection (in this case, his true inner self perhaps) and it frightens him and he attempts to deny it. It's a bit of stretch, I admit.

Thanos is self-destructive and self-loathing throughout Starlin's work, often sabotaging his success. This explanation for failure allows Starlin to maintain Thanos as a serious threat while also allowing for seemingly less powerful characters to defeat him. This is particularly true of Thanos' defeat during The Infinity Gauntlet where he loses the Gauntlet much in the same way Captain Mar-Vell defeated him (destroying the Cosmic Cube while Thanos was one with the universe) and in the exact same method Mephisto attempted to steal the Gauntlet just days (weeks?) prior.

Thanos is driven by guilt and self-loathing. He lusts after Death and cannot understand why she doesn't love him, blaming himself for her lack of love, much like a child thinks that anything wrong is caused by him or her. He increases his efforts again and again, always with the same results, failing to understand that he is not responsible for her feelings. It isn't until Thanos accepts himself in Marvel: The End, letting go of his guilt (possibly blaming himself for his freakish appearance) and sacrificing himself for the good of the universe that Death loves him. It's all symbolic, of course, of a big mental breakthrough. I really do like that Starlin never has Thanos show any direct self-loathing for his different appearance, because it keeps that level of self-loathing and guilt subconscious--if he recognised it, his breakthrough might have come easier and sooner. This also makes the revelation in Alex Ross and Jim Kreuger's Universe X that Thanos' mom was a Skrull kind of lame in my mind. Of course, those stories aren't canon in the regular Marvel universe. It works much better if Thanos was just born differently, then he represents a much boarder form of self-loathing and guilt, while simply being of mixed-species parentage allows too easy an 'out' for him and someone to actually blame for his difference. It may make for a logical plotpoint, but is a much shallower and bland from a psychological perspective.

I'm a litte upset that I can't really find the five stages of grief in The Death of Captain Marvel. That would have been nice.

The Silver Surfer's psychology is a little odd during Starlin's run on the book. The onyl real depth given is when the Surfer discovers that Galactus has tampered with his soul so he doesn't feel guilt over assisting Galactus in destroying dozens of worlds. His soul is returned to normal and he feels normal guilt--not exactly that deep. In issue 50, Starlin shows that the Surfer wasn't a saint in his life as Norrin Radd by showing how his lack of understand partly contributed to his father's suicide--a memory he blocked out himself.

Starlin uses guilt as a basis for a lot of the characters' actions, which is said by some to be a base motivation for much human action. He doesn't always offer great psycholigical depth, but he likes to play with the ideas in his work. Sorry I didn't have much to say, more just throwing some idea out there. On Friday, I'll look at some of the techniques Starlin uses in his cosmic Marvel work.

Hello Cosmic Part 23: The Finale Part One (Religion)

[The first part of my three-part finale in my look at Jim Starlin's cosmic work at Marvel and where I try to sum it all up. The series will continue after this for two parts where I will look at some non-Marvel cosmic work by Starlin. New posts Monday, Wednesday and Friday. After that, whenever I have new books and/or something to say.]

Okay, I didn't do at least two books by Starlin: the Silver Surfer graphic novel Homecoming and the Rom-less Spaceknights mini Starlin penned. But, I'm okay with that, so you should be as well.

21 posts examing Jim Starlin's work, amounting to... what, 122 comics written by Starlin with another dozen or so discussed written by someone else? There are bound to be some continuing themes/ideas/topics that Starlin addresses throughout. Two come to mind and I'll spend this post discussing the first one a little (while my third post will look at Starlin's storytelling techniques--and I'll demonstrate that I have little understanding of how art works). (Oh, and if I go off on odd tangents and ramble on like a moron that's only because I'm just seeing where this takes me, not writing a proper essay or anything.)

Starlin Topic #1: Religion

Religion is the idea that Starlin examines the most in his work with most storylines revolving around the idea of what it means to be a saviour or god with Starlin's two central characters, Thanos and Adam Warlock acting as foils to one another. Thanos is the man who constantly tries to become a god, while the role of saviour is thrust upon Warlock over and over again and he struggles against it. Actually, Captain Marvel also fills this role in Starlin's run on his title, especially when you consider Mar-Vell's "cosmic awareness," an ability gained partway through the run.

Looking at these characters as gods or saviours also accounts for the fact that they are the only characters that actually accomplish goals or foil the schemes of others in every Starlin comic. I noted numerous times that the regular Marvel heroes were useless in Starlin stories as he shifts the focus from the typical "gods" of the MU to these three characters, the only truly effective people in Starlin's Marvel universe.

Captain Mar-Vell only shows up for a short time in Starlin's work, but, in that time, he is contrasted against other heroes when they all fight Thanos and his attempt to rule the universe with the Cosmic Cube. Every hero is ineffective aside from Mar-Vell who nearly dies in his attempt to stop Thanos and he is only able to do so because of his cosmic awareness, a transcendent state that elevates him beyond other heroes. Not as advanced or complex as Starlin's later work/ideas, Mar-Vell shows the initial inklings of division between the regular heroes who are trapped on Earth and the cosmic heroes who think on larger scales and can handle larger threats.

Adam Warlock acts as Starlin's most obvious religious figure, a position that didn't begin with Starlin as Warlock was seen as a saviour on Counter-Earth, a role he foun uncomfortable. In Starlin's first story, Warlock finds himself facing his future self, a self-proclaimed god with his own religion. The key here is actually Warlock's Soul Gem, which allows him to absorb the souls of others and transport them to an ideal state of being where everyone lives in peace and harmony, an obvious stand-in for heaven. Despite this, Warlock fights against this role and only uses the Soul Gem when it's called for. In this storyline, to prevent the Magus from coming into being, Warlock uses the Soul Gem on his future self, effectively ascending to heaven, although returns briefly in the form of a flaming being (a representation of the pentecostal flames?) to dispatch Thanos. (I want to mention here that I'm surprised Starlin didn't include a scene where the Magus actually uses the Soul Gem to absorb the souls of his followers when they were near death or deemed worthy to further the analogy. That could have also made Warlock's use of the gem more powerful as he fights against his role as harvester of souls and lord of a heaven, basically. Just a thought.)

Even when the Soul Gem is used by others as part of the Infinity Gauntlet, Warlock still exerts control over it and is seen as the residents of the Soul World as the leader, the man in charge, the messiah or god. Strangely, this role doesn't seem to bother Warlock much, nor is he disturbed when he gains control of the Infinity Gauntlet. Starlin subtley suggests that Warlock's time in the Soul World made him more comfortable and confident in his role as saviour. He actively fights to retain the Infinity Gauntlet and the power of god, which goes against the Warlock of Starlin's initial run.

However, once he gives up the power, he returns to his less confident, more spiritually confused self. Is Starlin arguing that the reason Warlock is uncomfortable with his role is that he understands his true place within the universe and that he isn't actually a god or saviour, while when he had the Infinity Gauntlet, he actually was? Same with his control over the Soul Gem and Soul World--he actually did have the power of a god in that reality and felt comfortable. Warlock, perhaps, isn't opposed to filling that role so long as that's his actual place within the larger scheme of things.

If anything, that actually seems to be Starlin's overall message on religion: it's not wrong as long as it's true. The Magus' religion is corrupt because he isn't actually a god; Warlock finds peace in Soul World because he has the power and station of a god there; the Infinity Gauntlet (along with the Cosmic Cube, Cosmic Egg and Heart of the Universe) is removed from play because it's an artificial, and therefore unnatural, means of gaining power, going against nature and the true way of the universe.

That's where Thanos comes into play as he is consistently striving for god-like power and, even when he obtains it, always loses it. Starlin puts forth the idea that Thanos subconsciously knows he's not worthy and always finds ways to lose his power. Thanos ultimately knows his place within the universe and, eventually, learns to forego artificially raising his status through random power grabs, and works to act as a true saviour to the universe by twarting the schemes of others, most notably those of the Magus and the Goddess, both religious-based characters and aspects of Adam Warlock.

A few brief words on the Magus and Goddess: they are the evil and good aspects of Adam Warlock that he expelled while in possession of the Infinity Gauntlet, further giving an impression of Starlin's view of god. An effective god, for Starlin, lacks passion, ruled by logic--or, is that true? Considering the fact that Warlock does not remain god long, it's hard to stand by that characterisation. Although, I find it interesting that Warlock gets rid of those parts of himself while god--and that each then attempt to make themselves god. The Magus does so by obtaining the Infinity Gauntlet, but is defeated when Warlock also touches the gauntlet and manages to overpower the less-than-whole aspect. The Goddess uses the Cosmic Egg (which contains numerous Cosmic Cubes) to actually bring about Judgment Day, enacting the book of Revelations, basically. In that way, the three aspects of Warlock: the Magus, Adam and the Goddess all respresent different aspects of Christianity. The Magus is the Old Testament God, one that rules with power, anger and fear; Adam is Christ in that he is uncertain and questioning, even reluctant; while the Goddess is the embodiment of those Christians that wish for the end of the world so they can ascend to Heaven, the evangelicals--a role strengthened by her followers, all blind religious zealots.

If Warlock is Christianity, what then is Thanos? Thanos strangely occupies a role almost the reverse of Satan. He begins as power-hungry and evil, but eventually redeems himself. He almost seems like a representation of views on Satan, where he was seen as pure evil at first, but then in the Romantic period, his portrayal in Paradise Lost, caused some to see him as an anti-hero, a rebel if you will. Even when Thanos does good, he still retains a certain edge, a certain evilness. And, if you look at how most of the characters in the MU view him, he still is evil, just as the majority of people view Satan as such. (Okay, okay, am I taking this too far? Am I reading FAR too much into this? Probably, but whatever.) Mephisto's appearance, often as a contrast to Thanos, may support this as he's the more traditional devil, the always evil one.

And what to make of Thanos' obsession with Death? Is that a simple metaphor for humanity's efforts to conquer and avoid death to no avail? When Mar-Vell dies, he accepts his fate and embraces it, recognising it as a new reality, a new journey. Warlock also welcomes his death and entrance in his heavenly Soul World. The enlightened characters do not fear death, recognising it as a good thing. Here, Starlin could be hinting at the concept of heaven and, if it really is so great and everlasting, why is death to be feared? But, that doesn't really take Thanos into account. I've suggested that Thanos' obsession with Death is really just Starlin's way of examing the relationship between men and women, particularly when a man actively pursues a woman to no avail, progressively growing more obsessed and making larger efforts (and, in the end, it's when Thanos stops trying that he succeeds). Does that relate to the concept of life everlasting? The more we obsess with fighting death, the less we live? Only when we accept death as a part of our lives and ignore it do we live truly--as well as happily enter the afterlife? That could be it as when Thanos stops pursuing Death, he also makes death a permanent state in the Marvel universe, making it somthing that cannot be overcome (a policy since overwritten) and making it matter. Mostly because if death lacks strength and value, so does life. (Although, note that Thanos and Warlock come back from the dead a few times. Thanos even comes back from the dead, in a sense, after decreeing that no one will ever return from the dead again.)

Other figures act as gods, particularly Galactus and Eternity. Galactus is more a being that sees itself as godlike, which Starlin uses as an opportunity to prove wrong again and again, re-enforcing the idea that people should recognise their place in the universe. Eternity is a little more problematic as he legitimately is the embodiment of the universe, albeit a proud and ignorant one. Ultimately, his role is always restored as the natural one, but we're also given the impression that he isn't the true god of the universe, a position confirmed in Marvel: The End where Thanos discovers an even more powerful being, one that actually manipulates events to make Thanos god and shirk its responsibilities. An absentee god? Gee, what could Starlin be suggesting there?

A lot of creators use the Silver Surfer as a messianic or Christ-like figure, but Starlin doesn't. That's noteworthy just because it works against convention so much and Starlin is obviously very concerned with religion. Why isn't the Silver Surfer used by Starlin in that role? In his run on the book, Starlin mostly has the Surfer act as an innocent, a naif, and then also the recipient of guilt. It's almost like the Surfer takes on the role of the believer, the spiritual searcher, one that's lived a life following a certain faith (that of Galactus) and even when he left that faith, he wasn't able to leave it fully behind. He was absolved of his sins while a member of said faith and kept the absolution upon leaving, but Starlin forces him to leave that aspect of the faith behind, too. The Silver Surfer is the righteous non-believer that still cloaks himself in the morality of his forgotten faith--he's a hypocrite, basically. It's interesting to note that during the initial stages of the Infinity Crusade, the Surfer is one of the Goddess' zealots, but he breaks free through sheer force of will, reaffirming his non-believer status. I really like how Starlin sees the Surfer as someone raised within a particular faith that then left and struggles with not believing, while still holding elements of that faith with him no matter how hard he tries. Is the Power Cosmic then a sense of morality for Starlin? I myself am an atheist, but spent my first 19 years in Catholic schools and also going to church with my mom (a Presbyterian). While I don't believe in any sort of god, I still have a very "Christian" sense of morality in some ways and even find myself lapsing in rare moments of "belief" since I was raised with it and cannot just get rid of it through a sheer force of will.

And... and I don't think I have anything else to say on the subject. I'm probably leaving out/forgetting a lot, but this seems to sum up Starlin's use of religion and religious imagery and analogies in his cosmic work at Marvel. On Wednesday, I'll look at Starlin's use of psychology.

Hello Cosmic Part 22: Silver Surfer Vol. 3 Part Two

[In which I discuss Silver Surfer vol. 3 #44-50 as part of my larger look at Jim Starlin's cosmic work for Marvel. New posts Monday, Wednesday and Friday despite the fact that this is the last of Starlin's Marvel work to discuss. Whatever shall I do next.]

The first thing worth looking at is the cover to issue 44, which is a visual cue to issue 34, which began Starlin's run. Take a look right here. Not that the compositions are basically identical with Thanos looming in the background, the Surfer in the foreground, the only difference is that 34 shows Surfer soaring above Thanos' fist, while 44 has him squeezing the Surfer and Drax, Infinity Gems on his glove-of course, that's a mistake since Thanos wore the Gems on his left hand, not his right. Ooops, way to fuck it up, Ron Lim.

Seven issues in which, again, little happens. These issues bridge The Thanos Quest and The Infinity Gauntlet, but you'll note that up until reading these issues, I didn't notice a gap really. The only real difference is that, at the beginning of The Infinity Gauntlet, Mephisto is there. That and the Surfer's awareness of Thanos' newfound powers are the only things that need to be told here. Seven issues to do that. Wow.

Issue 44 has a very Starlin-like bit where Thanos demonstrates the power of each Infinity Gem to the Surfer and Drax, one per page. Each page is divided in two, one large area of one to four panels where the demonstration occurs and one small, at the very bottom, where Thanos is identical each time, holding up his fist and saying: "BECAUSE I NOW HOLD THE POWER OF THE INFINITY GEMS WITHIN MY GRAP. / WITH THEM IN HAND, I HAVE BECOME THE MASTER OF WHATEVER SPECIFIC GEM HE'S TALKING ABOUT!" It's a little cheesy and clunky, but does fit into Thanos' melodramatic persona of the time. What actually makes it come off poorly is the fact that, if you read The Thanos Quest, he already did the litany and did so MUCH better there.

During this issue, Thanos steals the Surfer and Drax's souls using the Soul Gem, which sets up the return of Adam Warlock, Gamorra and Pip the Troll as issues 46 and 47 feature the adventures on Soul World. Issue 45 has the beginning of Mephisto's "devotion" to Thanos, including an attempt to steal the gauntlet. That is a very interesting scene as Mephisto convinces Thanos to touch the universe and become one with it, leaving his body--at which point Mephisto steals the gauntlet, but it turns out to be an illusion as Thanos never left his body (so we get a nice image of Mephisto choking himself, which is then replaced with Thanos choking him). The irony here is that this is how Thanos loses the gauntlet eventually: he becomes one with the universe and Nebula steals it. The inclusion of this scene lays the groundwork for the idea that Thanos wanted to lose the gauntlet, that he subconsciously didn't feel worthy of the power, demonstrating that he lost it in a manner he already sidestepped easily.

Issue 46 and 47 take place on Soul World and mostly feature Drax trying to escape to kill Thanos and Adam Warlock beating him up, eventually setting them both free since, even inside the Soul Gem, Warlock commands power over it.

Issue 48 has the Silver Surfer confront Galactus over the guilt he should feel in the deaths of countless worlds and Galactus reveals that he did alter the Surfer's soul so he wouldn't feel guilt. That tampering is undone and the Surfer is nearly crippled with guilt.

Issue 49 is a padded out issue of the Surfer facing a creature Thanos created just so Thanos could delay the Surfer from reaching Earth.

Issue 50 has the Surfer facing off against the Thanos statue that was once Thanos' body, with Thanos in control of it. In this issue, we see flashbacks to the Surfer as Norrin Radd on Zenn-La as a child and his relationship with his father. It's an interesting play on Jor-El on Krypton. Where Jor-El fought to save his world from certain destruction in the face of scorn and ridicule, Norrin's father does the same, except it's to save the world from a life of meaningless comfort. Technology has progressed to the point where ingenuity is a rare commodity. Eventually, Jartran Radd is disgraced when an invention of his is discovered to have used another inventor's ideas for a small component (the equivalent of a writer stealing a sentence during the course of a novel) and Norrin pretty much disowns him. Then, Jartran kills himself.

Thanos forces the Surfer to confront this memory, which he himself had blocked out, not Galactus--and the fact that he could not muster up one word that could have prevented his father's fate.

Starlin is obviously comfortable within the realm of the psychological as this issue and the revelation of Galactus' tampering both place emphasis on the Surfer's mental state. It's interesting how the primary focus of Starlin's work usually is the mind and, almost always, guilt. He pushes characters into situations where they feel overwhelming guilt. Warlock feels guilt for stealing the soul of Kray-Tor, Thanos feels guilt for most of his life, the Surfer feels not just guilt for his time as herald of Galactus but also for his life as Norrin Radd.

In the end, the Surfer crashes through Dr. Strange's window, leading right into The Infinity Gauntlet #1. Starlin's run on The Silver Surfer was unremarkable and mostly mediocre. There were some nice moments of humour, but usually in places where it didn't work. The run itself was padded out to accommodate the larger story. Ron Lim's artwork, as well, was mostly mediocre and shows a talented artist at the beginning of a career where he grows a lot.

On Monday, we'll see if I can't give an overview of this entire thing.

Hello Cosmic Part 21: Silver Surfer Volume 3 Part One

[Continuing my look at Jim Starlin's cosmic work at Marvel. In this, the first of two posts discussing his run on Silver Surfer volume 3, I will discuss #34-43 and annual #3. New posts on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.]

First off, I skipped posting yesterday and on Monday to give the top ten list the "top post" status for a couple extra days. Also, I had planned to discuss Starlin's Silver Surfer run in three parts (#34-38, #39-43 (w/annual #3), and then #44-50), but when I read the issues I saw that it wouldn't work that way and, honestly, I could probably get through the entire one in a single post if I wanted--but I don't, so I cut it to two. Apologies if they're shorter than usual as a result.

Starlin's run on Silver Surfer is notable for a few reasons: it launched his cosmic work of the '90s, including his masterminding stuff like the Infinity Trilogy, as he resurrects Thanos, Drax, Adam Warlock, Gamorra and Pip the Troll; and it is also unlike anything else he's written for Marvel in that the book has a very light, almost humorous tone.

The issue here are really part of the overall storyarc, which is the lead-in to The Infinity Gauntlet, but can be divided in two: the Silver Surfer's confrontation with Thanos and his time in Dynamo City.

First, issue 34-38 contain the Silver Surfer dealing with a newly resurrected Thanos charged with killing off half of the universe's population to give balance to the duality of life and death. Thanos' argument for this is strangely compelling, falling into the same sort of logic that hunters often use about keeping animal populations in check--kill some now so that the whole will ultimately survive. Starlin understands Thanos well enough to know that he wouldn't tell the Surfer that he's doing it for the approval of Death. He doesn't deny that as a reason, either, but Thanos is such a clever character that he aims his argument at the Surfer--not to actually convert him to the position that killing half of the universe is a good thing, but just to confuse him and delay any actions the Surfer would take.

With the resurrection of Thanos comes the resurrection of Drax the Destroyer by Chronos since Drax's mission and only desire is to kill Thanos. The beginnings of Drax's brain damaged character are here and, over the course of the run, he becomes dumber and more docile. When he first appears, all he seems able to say is "Where is Thanos?" and be very, very angry. It's interesting to see the character evolve over this run as Starlin moves him to a position where he's comfortable. Even by issue 50, Drax isn't quite as innocent and childlike as he is in Warlock & the Infinity Watch #2, but there is enough movement to justify that ultimate depiction.

These are not strong comics. They are puffy and breezy, and the light humour doesn't work a lot of the time. Starlin outright wastes issue 36 with the first part detailing Thanos' past and the second part dealing with the Impossible Man. No story advancement, no character advancement, nothing gained. Issue 37 is also padded in that it has the Surfer trying to get rid of Drax for reasons I still don't quite understand. Yes, Drax is a violent moron here, but his violence is directed at Thanos, so why not bring him along to confront Thanos? Issue 38 has the Surfer seemingly kill Thanos and lead into Thanos Quest. By this point, I wonder why it took five issues to accomplish what three could have EASILY.

There are a few moments of worth like the means Surfer uses to get rid of Drax: he goes to Earth, visits the Fantastic Four and tricks Drax into watching TV. It's a clever little scene. Thanos' issue-long discussion with the Surfer in issue 35 is also quite well done as Thanos tricks the Surfer into assisting with the slaughter of half a planet. Starlin only delivers a fraction of the time here.

Issue 39 is a fill-in by Alan Grant and James T. Sherman that very well could be a decent issue, but its placement here makes it stand out like a sore thumb as it breaks the rhythm of the ongoing storyline, especially since issue 40 picks up right where 38 left off. As well, Sherman's art is ugly and does not tell the story well. Some may think that my hatred of this fill-in issue is an argument for shipping late books when really it's more an argument against FULL fill-in issues. While I'm not a fan of Sherman's art, I doubt I would have minded 39 as much had Starlin been writing and it continued his story.

Issues 40-43 feature a much more light-hearted story as the Silver Surfer is trapped in Dynamo City, a sprawling Metropolis floating in space that is mired in greed and bureaucracy. He is tricked into entering the city by Thanos through a last will and testament where the Surfer's name is mentioned (so he jumps at the chance to visit Dynamo City because who doesn't love being willed something?)--the only thing is that energy is public domain there, so his power cosmic is confiscated by the city and he's arrested for trying to illegally leave without paying the exit tax. These issues aren't bad as the Surfer tries to get a job and fails without his powers. He's shuffled off the underbelly of society and gets taken advantage of numerous times. These issues are a nice little send-up of capitalism and bureaucratic governments as well as Hollywood. However, they do little to advance the story of Thanos, but that doesn't hurt as much as it should since his story continues off in The Thanos Quest. For the last two issues of this story, Ron Marz is credited as co-writer, but I don't notice any real change.

Ultimately, the Surfer escapes with another unemployed man who he's become friends with. The story ends with the Surfer wanting to use his powers to attack Dynamo City for all that it's done to him and others, but doesn't when he realises that he would injure many innocent people in the process.

The closest thing to this arc we've seen previously in Starlin's work is in his first Warlock run where Adam is arrested by the Magus' church and receives a very one-sided trial. There's a similar scene where the Surfer is one trial, but his robot laywer isn't turned on because doing so would be a waste since the Surfer is so obviously guilty. Taken by itself, this arc works better than the previous issues because the light, breezy tone matches the subject matter. The Silver Surfer looking for a job? Funny. The Surfer trying to stop someone from killing half of the universe? Not so much.

Ron Lim provides the art for the Starlin issues and this is the weakest work I've seen from him. It's not bad, it's just mediocre a lot of the time. Maybe it's the colouring and the poor paper stock that makes it look worse. Also, at the time, he was also working on The Thanos Quest (where his art looks MUCH better), so that could be a reason.

The third annual's main story is the fourth part of a crossover with other cosmic annuals from that year and not worth discussing. The back-up story by Ron Marz, "Shades of Guilt" sets up one of the story points of the second half of Starlin's run by pointing out that the Surfer, in his years as Galactus' herald, is responsible for the deaths of dozens of worlds--but he doesn't feel guilty. Why is that? No answers are given, but the question is one of the most interesting I've seen posed regarding the Silver Surfer.

On Friday, I'll do the last seven issues of Starlin's run, which bridge the gap between The Thanos Quest and The Infinity Gauntlet.

Hello Cosmic Part 20: Thanos #1-6

[Another post in my look at Jim Starlin's cosmic work at Marvel. This time, I'm looking at Thanos #1-6. New posts Monday, Wednesday and Friday.]

The first six issues of Thanos are the final comics Starlin has done for Marvel involving these characters (although, he did the cover to issue seven) and, appropriately enough, Starlin's time at Marvel ends (for now as he could return at some point in the future) with a Thanos solo series. Okay, Adam Warlock shows up quite a bit, but the focus here is Thanos, arguably Starlin's greatest creation and the character he's most known for.

This story, "Epiphany," continues Thanos' journey to redemption while also maintaining his core personality. He survived the resurrection of the universe in Marvel: The End, but did so without telling anyone. Instead, we find him sitting on a dead planet, all alone, contemplating his life. Warlock shows up right away, drawn by some strange energy source and Thanos reveals that the planet they're on was destroyed in the pages of Thor by one of his clones (I believe portrayed AS Thanos there, but a little retcon by Starlin to further the idea that only the stories he tells with the characters are actually canon), but he nonetheless feels responsible. Since the planet is part of a collection of planets, he heads to the main planet to surrender himself and offer any assistance he can provide. They, of course, attack him and then, when convinced he's sincere, put him to work. It seems that Galactus has been standing around on one of their planets and they want Thanos to get rid of him. So, Thanos decides to kill him.

Thanos first confronts Galactus telepathically and we learn that Galactus has discovered a way to sate his hunger once and for all with the Infinity Gems and he's there because that is the spot to obtain one of the Gems. He didn't immediately do this as he wanted to give the residents of the planet time to evacuate. Obtaining the Infinity Gems, however, allows this black fluid-like entity called Hunger to enter the universe--and seeing how he feeds on universes, this is bad. Before this happens, though, Galactus attacks Thanos, Warlock, Moondragon and Pip to get Adam's Soul Gem, resulting in Thanos taking on Galactus--and holding his own.

When Hunger manages to get into our universe, all seems doomed until Thanos causes the dead planet from the first issue to collide with this planet, adds some nukes and basically kills Hunger and nearly kills Galactus in the process. Thanos and Galactus then have a discussion that alludes to Thanos' past as he warns Galactus next time to not allow his ego to drive him on without thinking, that if he really does want to sate his hunger, there are many who would help him--but acting like he is above everyone else will result in his death sooner or later. Both characters want to transcend who they are, but both must first set aside their pride and arrogance. Galactus is his typical "You had your say, now fuck off" self, and Thanos continues on his road to redemption, mentioning that Titan will be his next stop.

These issues have a few interesting narrative and stylistic tricks. In the first issue, Starlin actually shows the growth/emergence of Hunger throughout the entire issue, but in a very interesting manner. On page three, at the top left is a a small black square surrounded by white space, contained in a very small panel. It appears in the corner of another panel and looks very much out of place. Over the course of the issue, this black panel keeps showing up, just planted on top of other panels, either at the bottom or in the corner and, each time, it's a little larger until grows beyond the white space and eventually takes up the entire bottom tier of a few pages--and then the glowing yellow/orange eyes of Hunger gradually open until, on the second-last page, the eyes proclaim "IT HAS BEGUN!" I love how the initial bits of Hunger just look like misprints--sometime like caption boxes with no words.

When Hunger eventually narrates for us, he addresses the reader directly. We also get the origins/pasts of Thanos, Warlock and a little bit of Galactus. One of my favourite sequences comes in issue four where it's just four or five pages of text basically as Hunger provides background information with each page containing just one picture, the first from The Infinity Gauntlet and the second, my favourite, is Starlin depicting the Magus--but he copies Ron Lim's cover for The Infinity War #6. This is the second time a Starlin project has directly aped a previous Starlin project (the page layout that Angel Medina copied from an issue of Warlock in an issue of The Infinity Watch being the first--aside from montage images of previous stories--of which there are MANY).

Mostly, what this story (as well as The Infinity Abyss and Marvel: The End) demonstrates is Starlin's style of telling a story that very few (if any) modern creators use. He has characters directly narrate events, usually from a point in the future (the last issue of the story). Or, he'll just spend a few pages giving you a character's entire history. Or fight pages that contain just the characters in a variety of positions. This last technique works very effectively in issue two here where Warlock fights a squadron of men, all identical, so the two-page spread gives the sense of how overwhelming the squadron would be as we have six Warlocks throughout, but twenty squadron members. It creates a lovely effect.

After these issues, Starlin was basically fired off of the book (or quit because of creative differences) and I can see why Marvel wouldn't necessarily be comfortable with Starlin's work. It does seem outdated in many ways and he does approach the stories with a very strong, forward-thinking perspective in that every story leaves the characters and, usually, the world quite different. Starlin is not interested in maintaining the status quo, which doesn't work in mainstream corporate comics unless you're heading the latest crossover event (which Starlin did a few times in the '90s). Ironically, not too long after Starlin left Marvel, Thanos was killed off and put on equal terms with Death--a resolution to the character that makes a lot of sense, but also one that will almost certainly be undone.

Now, you must think we're at the end of our little Starlin journey, but, next week, I'll be jumping back to Starlin's run on The Silver Surfer from the early '90s where he first resurrected Thanos, Warlock, and Drax, and provided the lead-in to The Thanos Quest and The Infinity Gauntlet. I would have liked to do these stories in the proper order, but when you're trying to hunt down this many comics, it's a little difficult. Ah well, see you then.

Hello Cosmic 19: Marvel: The End

[Yet another post in the series that has made you confront Jim Starlin's cosmic work at Marvel and go, "Shit, yeah, I guess it was actually pretty cool most of the time..." No thanks necessary, comic reader. Today, I'm looking at Marvel: The End #1-6. New posts in this series Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Boo-yeah.]

Despite the fact that the words "The End" are in the title, this series is 100% in continuity. Usually, when Marvel publishes something with "The End" in the title, it takes place in the future and provides a potential ending for the series/characters. Not here, because Jim Starlin just takes shit like that as a jumping off point and then does something to make Joe Quesada's crazy promises make sense.

In this case, Starlin provides a solution to heroes returning from the dead, namely the fact that doing so destroys the universe.

The plot doesn't matter much here, because it's all leading to Thanos becoming God, realising that the universe is going to end no matter what and that his becoming God was really just a way for the previous God to get out of having to deal with it. How fucked up is that?

It seems that the costant back-and-forth between life and death by heroes has fucked up the universe and is causing it to die. So, Thanos destroys the universe after trying everything possible to save it. In issue six, Thanos the Mad God fights all of the heroes and cosmic beings, but destroys the universe in a fit of rage. So, we're left with darkness and him. Until Adam Warlock shows up since he is outside of the universe with Gamorra and that little cosmic anchor girl from Infinity Abyss. Nearly half of the issue is just the two of them talking about what happened, Thanos' life and what needs to be done.

And then Death shows up with Adam telling Thanos something Thanos should have heard years ago: "Sometimes trying too hard is the problem. / Something surrendering is the only path to victory." Death removes her cloak and actually speaks to Thanos, thanking him, kisses him and then leaves. Thanos realises his ultimate goal, the one thing he's been pursuing since his first appearance, really. Of course, he seemingly stopped pursuing Death for a while, but this shows he never really got over her.

Having gotten the one thing he's always wanted, Thanos rebuilds the universe, but, in the process, makes it impossible for anyone to return from the dead, including himself who is seemingly dead. No one (save Warlock) remembers what happened and how Thanos saved the universe.

I really like the fact that Starlin managed to make the story, partly, about fulfilling an editorial mandate about no more resurrections (since not adhered to). I wonder if he was asked to do that or just decided to take it upon himself. It works really well here as it ties into Thanos' story so well. He eventually becomes God again with a power source even greater than the Infinity Gauntlet, learns that he's been tricked into this position and, in a rage, destroys the universe--however, only by destroying the universe can he heal it and provide a gift to Death, the "woman" he loves. By making it that no one can return from the Dead, he makes her realm secure and prevents the loss of those who enter it. Thanos also rebuilds the universe in a selfless act, fully redeeming this man who has been one of the worst villains in the Marvel universe. Really, the book should be called "Thanos: The End" as that's what it is in the best sense--the end of Thanos, but in a conclusion that is completely satisfying.

You'll notice that I skipped over much of the series to the final issue or two, but that's because those early issues, in the best Starlin fashion, don't do much beyond set up the final events. That's not to say that those issues are bad (far from it), they just don't matter, in a way. Starlin is a master of the filler stories in that they don't seem like filler until you look at the core of the story and realise how much of it is unnecessary. It never fails to impress me.

This isn't actually the end of Thanos, though, as we'll see that he didn't actually die here next time when I look at Thanos: Epiphany (the first six issues of his solo series).

Hello Cosmic 18: Infinity Abyss

[Another post in my look at Jim Starlin's cosmic work at Marvel. Today, it is Infinity Abyss #1-6. New posts Monday, Wednesday and Friday.]

The year is now 2002 and, if we're to believe the cover of Infinity Abyss #1, DOOMSDAY IS HERE! And, judging from the first page of the comic, I believe it. We've got An older, balder Adam Warlock bleeding, looking pretty fucking out of it and he narrates that he welcomes the "approaching doom." Jim Starlin is back doing what Starlin does best, people.

Not only is this Starlin doing what he will, he does the art as well, making it a true return to form as the last time he wrote and drew these characters was back in The Death of Captain Marvel. How weird is it to think that all of the '90s cosmic stuff was just Starlin on writing? [Edit: Actually, he wrote and drew that Warlock/Silver Surfer: Resurrection mini-series in the '90s. Still, it had been a while since he handled both duties...]

I have no idea what happened to Warlock, Gamorra, Pip and Thanos since the end of The Infinity Watch and I don't care, because, well, let's be honest, Starlin wasn't on the keyboards. I'm a bit of a purist with certain characters and despite the fact that all of these characters are Marvel characters, not Starlin characters, anyone other than Starlin handling them seems... not wrong, but not canon.

This series is actually quite clever as it plants the seeds for the next series, Marvel: The End right in the first page as Thanos is tracking some big energy source before being attacked by someone.

Adam Warlock is in a mental assylum, back in his cacoon and getting picked up by Pip.

Gamorra encounters followers of Thanos, all nihilists and devoted to Death--except this Thanos looks like a robot.

And the Thanos that kidnapped Moondragon to help awaken Adam Warlock just changed shape into a smaller, big-headed version of Thanos called X that's hanging out with a hulking Thanos that has Gladiator's symbol on his chest called Warrior, and a Dr. Strange-like one called Mystic. The robot-looking one is called Armour (and spelled with the U all proper-like). Now, I love me some Thanos clones, so...

Apparently, Thanos experimented with genetic splicing and created some clones that are part him, part other people (Xavier, Gladiator, Strange and Iron Man in the case of the above--although, I do wonder how Tony Stark's DNA would cause a robot-like, armoured clone, but that's me). They're going to end the universe, having not progressed beyond Thanos' old obsession with Death.

Starlin is up to his old tricks by bringing Dr. Strange and the other Defenders into the plot along with Spider-Man and Captain Marvel--mostly because these characters don't do much actually. Although, they do contribute more to the eventual soluation than the heroes used to. Mostly, they protect a little girl who is destined to be the next being that makes sure the universe continues to survive (or something like that). The goal of Team Thanos is to make sure she dies since the old guardian guy is dying and when he dies, the universe dies and nihilists love that shit apparently.

The heroes eventually stop the Thanos clones and Adam and Gamorra stay with the little girl until she becomes accustomed to her new role, creating a nice little family unit (finally Gamorra gets her man). But, there's still one Thanos clone left, the one called Omega...

Half Thanos, half Galactus.

Yeah. How fucking awesome is that?

Most of the last issue of the story is devoted to the group of heroes killing Omega as it is more powerful than Galactus and totally devoted to destroying the universe. They do eventually kill it--by destroying its ship, temporarily blinding it and then using a fleet of ships to blow up the planet it's on, which also happens to be mined all to fuck. God bless Thanos.

The story ends with Thanos back at his unknown energy source and leads right into Marvel: The End, but that's next time.

This series really is a return for Starlin, especially since he does the art as well (with Al Milgrom on inks). Warlock is put through the mental ringer per usual, including one scene at the end of issue five where he uses the Soul Gem to absorb the soul of Warrior in order to save the almost-dead-cosmic-guy-who-keeps-the-universe alive... and then promptly tell us, "WARRIOR'S DREAMS OF OBLIVION... / THEY ARE NOW MY DREAMS." Oops. This is after he agrees to help the cosmic guy and that nearly drives him insane. Thankfully, Starlin is kind to the character and has him find some peace and love with Gamorra.

Starlin's use of Thanos here is very well-done as he manages to give us every facet of Thanos in one series without Thanos himself having to represent it all at once. His former nihilist character? His clones. His semi-evil, mad scientist character? The existence of the clones. The new, semi-heroic Thanos? The one that saves the universe. It also reminds the reader how powerful Thanos is, while at the same time, showing that pure power isn't what makes him so dangerous. You would think a group of clones that combine Thanos with the likes of Professor X, Gladiator, Dr. Strange, Iron Man and Galactus could destroy the universe since Thanos alone nearly did it many times, but, in a way, there's a suggestion that combining Thanos with those others actually dilutes the threat. Yes, in raw power, they have much, MUCH more, but they lack Thanos' will, his intellect, his drive... his soul, if you will. Thanos is so fucking dangerous because of who he is, not what he is.

You also get a sense of the tragic nature of Thanos, that he could be a real force for good and improving the universe, but he's built up so much bad-will and hatred that he can only stick to himself unless absolutely needed. He's the guy that they hate to call upon, but know they have to. He should, at this point, be much more of a hero, but because of his own guilt and desires, and the mistrust of others, he's off analysing some powerful energy that will end up--well, the next series is called Marvel: The End.

On Wednesday, Thanos destroys the universe in an effort to save the universe and make sure Joe Quesada's word is law. Really.

Hello Cosmic Part 17: Warlock & The Infinity Watch #32-42

[Another post in my look at Jim Starlin's cosmic work at Marvel, except this post has nothing by Jim Starlin in it. Today, I'm looking at the final 11 issues of Warlock & the Infinity Watch post-Starlin. New posts on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and Monday's post will actually involve Jim Starlin's work, I promise.]

Well, Jim Starlin is no longer writing Warlock & the Infinity Watch and has left the book mid-storyline. What do you do? Apparently, you do very Starlin-esque issues to finish the storyline, causing me to think that maybe Starlin was still involved in the writing process, at least providing a plan for where he was going to take the plot.

Issue 32, written by Richard Ashford, kicks off the two-part finale with the Infinity Watch teaming up with Darklore (who we all remember from Warlock Chronicles #1) to fight Count Abyss (who we all remember wants Adam Warlock's Soul Gem, because he sold his soul to a grass-eating fat junkie). I'm actually disappointed, in a way, that Darklore and his fairy sidekick have returned, because I rather liked the idea that the time Warlock encountered them was just a random thing with Warlock going one way through the dimensions, Darklore going the other, each heroes with their own quests. But, the fact that these two have to work together tells us how powerful Abyss is. As do the ways in which he takes out the entire Infinity Watch, Darklore and then takes Warlock's Soul Gem.

Issue 33 has new permanent writer John Arcudi conclude the story with some clever bits. Since Abyss now has the Soul Gem, Adam uses it against him by putting the soul of a good person inside Abyss, causing him to feel overwhelming guilt over all of his atrocities. This resolution stinks of Starlin because of the irony and psychological underpinnings. Abyss is defeated, Kray-Tor (the soul used--he was the judge in Magus' government that Adam thought was evil and then, upon sucking up his soul, realised was a good guy) is corrupted by the experience, Darklore and Maya are married to unite some kingdoms or whatever, Adam is heartbroken over that because of the love potion that made him fall in love with Maya, and the big fat junkie guy has no one to feed him his drug-grass. It's actually a bit of a downer, a little darker than Starlin usually delivers. Although, he is a fan of delivering resolutions that aren't happy endings.

The next two issues deal with Monster Island a little, the first of which is a nice Drax spotlight story. The strongest issues of this series have been the ones focusing on Drax and this one is no different. Feeling rejected by his teammaters, Drax begins hanging out with some of the Monster Island monsters and they form their own team. This, of course, leads to a crazy mix-up where Drax and his team interrupt a military drill, but the Navy guys all act like they did a good thing, because, well, Drax is a giant green guy who could kill them all.

Meanwhile, the Mole Man is upset because those monsters are his pets and their abscence allows Citizen Tyrannus to hold a little coup d'etat, because, seriously, Monster Island is frickin' awesome and everyone wants to rule it! The number of issues devoted to someone trying to take over the place is insane when you think about it.

My favourite bit in these issues is in the second one where Drax and his monster team are flying around, see some people on a beach, and he assumes they're castaways like on Gilligan's Island--and crashes right through their anchored ship when trying to land. He's then called back to Monster Island to help defeat Tyrannus, a story that is mostly kind of meh, but there is a nice moment where Tyrannus tries to convince Warlock that his replacing the Mole Man means things could be better, only to have Warlock bitch-slap him. Who doesn't love a good bitch-slap?

Issue 36 features guest writer Evan Skolnick and guest star Strange. Not Dr. Strange, oh no, this is just Strange, the masked, dark '90s version of the character. The less said about this issue, the better.

The next three issues feature John Arcudi on the script and return to some familiar themes: life-stealing and worshipping. Zakanus is some weird life-stealing guy who has killed Firelord and is now going to kill Adam Warlock, except the heroic actions of the Watch convince him that they're not evil and not deserving of death like his boss/king/whatever said. This makes him question everything he believes in and begins following Warlock's words without question, which makes Warlock uncomfortable. Firelord's body has been discovered on a planet and the inhabitants think him a deceased god.

Ultimately, there's a lot fighting and the good guys win, big whoop. The casting of Warlock in the saviour role again (if only for one character) is an odd choice and shows that Arcudi has no clear direction for the character, much like Starlin. Starlin did hint at a possible direction for the character, but very little was developed with the idea of Warlock becoming a full person, in a way.

In the next issue, Arcudi makes an attempt at giving Warlock some character, but in an odd manner. Gamorra finally has enough of Maxam and the two fight, which causes Warlock to side with Maxam (despite saying he isn't). He does it in a very cold manner, oblivious to Gamorra's feelings for him and this drives Gamorra to quit and Maxam to get the Time Gem. Now, this is obviously Arcudi wrapping up loose ends since the series ends with issue 42, but it is not the best way to do so. Obviously, he needs to wrap up the Maxam mystery and resolve the will they/won't they Warlock/Gamorra subplot, but he does so by keeping Warlock in a very cold, selfish place that shows no growth since issue one of the series. Warlock tells Gamorra that he's changed, but he hasn't, not really.

Oh, it turns out that Maxam is from the future or something and has to kill Warlock for the sake of humanity or something and he does it. But only in his mind thanks to Moondragon And the Infinity Gems disappear to the Ultraverse because Marvel bought Malibu and crossovers are fun.

The series ends in a very mediocre fashion, leading into "The Curse of Rune" and actually demonstrates why the series had to end. Without Starlin and the big cosmic crossover stories, the series lacked purpose and was just... there. No one, including Starlin, seemed to know what to do with the book and it's amazing that the series lasted 42 issues that way. The only times the book worked were during the Infinity War and Infinity Crusade stories when it did little focus stories to flesh out the larger picture. Or, when Drax starred in the story, strangely enough. I'm actually a little bewildered by how well the book worked when Drax was the focus of the story since you would think it wouldn't--but then again, Drax is basically just a good-natured Hulk in this series, so it's understandable how it works, in a way.

I think the most disappointing part of this series is that it kept hinting at a direction and purpose, but never got there. There was lots of talk of enlightenment and growth and knowledge, but none came. The Watch was put together to keep the Infinity Gems safe, but when the Living Tribunal ruled that they couldn't work together, who cares? I would have liked to see a few more stories along the lines of the Count Abyss one where the ultimate goal wasn't all of the gems, but one specific gem. "Blood and Thunder" had that, sort of, when Thor got the Power Gem, but that was unintentional.

I found this entire series to be very lacklustre and disappointing, for the most part. But, the good news is that we're getting to the last three books Starlin did for Marvel and all three are much better than this, particularly Marvel: The End, which is, perhaps, the best work Starlin has done for Marvel.

Hello Cosmic Part 16: Warlock & The Infinity Watch #26-31

[Another in a series of posts examing Jim Starlin's cosmic work for Marvel. Today, I look at the final six issues of his run on Warlock & the Infinity Watch with issues 26-31. New posts on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.]

I don't know why exactly Jim Starlin left Warlock & the Infinity Watch. The letters pages of the book hint that one reason was to do Breed with Malibu and to get his colour separation company up and running. I do know that him leaving happened at an odd time in that is was mid-storyline--and not just any storyline, a story he had been building to for over a year. I've mentioned Count Abyss a few times before and he appeared in between The Infinity War and The Infinity Crusade with the actual payoff not happening until issue 29 really. It just seems strange that he would leave in the middle of a storyline that obviously meant a lot to him and before wrapping up other stuff like the character of Maxam.

The first three issues of these final six are rather dumb. They build on the plot of a US senator pushing the UN to invade Monster Island--something that happened twice already with poor results. This time, he's hypnotised the Avengers and sent them to kill Adam Warlock with the hopes that they'll either succeed or the Watch will kill the Avengers, which will turn the world against the Watch and make taking Monster Island easier. It's a horribly inane plot that really just gives an excuse for the Watch to fight the Avengers. Say what you will about Jim Starlin, but he's a man who knows what people want (big fights featuring their favourite heroes squaring off against one another) and has no problem giving it to them. Eventually, it's revealed that the senator is really Man-Beast and it was all about getting revenge on Warlock.

Meanwhile, Maya (consort of Count Abyss) shows up on Monster Island with the spiked wine and is knocked unconscious by the Avengers. When she wakes up, she and Adam drink the wine (which she thinks she's taken an antidote for) and it causes them to fall in love. This is new territory for Warlock and it's actually smart of Starlin to push the character there as it adds to his overall project of rebuilding Adam Warlock into a fully developed person. He spent a lot of time deconstructing this character, breaking him down mentally and stripping him to the core as this emotionless guy who saves the universe, but has no real character to him. He tries to find himself numerous times but to no avail--because his past shows no real character. He was created by scientists and played into roles assigned by others to the point of mental collapse. In the one story where he had free reign to do as he wished, Starlin showed that he (Warlock--and maybe Starlin as well) had no idea to what to do as he drifted through the universe with no purpose. Warlock has always been motivated by external events and his character determined by his reactions to them with very little driven by himself.

Of course, this isn't actually all that different as Warlock's feelings of love for Maya come from outside himself as well. However, this pushes Warlock into unfamiliar emotional territory that could be built upon later (and is... although nearly a decade later). Starlin uses this love plot to highlight Gamorra's feelings for Adam and set into motion those two becoming a couple. For a powerful and seemingly wise character, Adam Warlock is quite naive and inexperienced in many areas of life. It feels like Starlin was just beginning to explore his education when he left the title.

Starlin's final issue of Warlock & the Infinity Watch gives us the origin of Count Abyss, a man who sold his soul for power. The reason he is so obsessed with Adam is Adam's possession of the Soul Gem as Abyss misses his soul and wants a substitute. Abyss receives his powers from this fat being that is addicted to this grass that sits in a dish just out of reach. Abyss has control over the being because of the grass. It's a really weird plot point that examines power structures and addiction and all of that, except not really.

Another reason why Starlin's departure seems to sudden and unexpected is that at the end of issue 31, the Watch teleports somewhere and seems ambushed by an evildoer of some kind, except in issue 32, the unseen "attacker" turns out to be Darklore from The Warlock Chronicles #1. He seemed like a throwaway character at the time, but it turns out that his quest was to fight Count Abyss. Of course, we don't learn that until the first non-Starlin issue. Despite Starlin's absence, the remaining issues of the Count Abyss story seem very much as if written by Starlin--again, making his departure all the more sudden and unexpected.

The art for these issues varies. Issue 26 is the standard bang-up job by Tom Grindberg, while issue 27 is also by him, but is much more rushed and sketchy. Issue 28 is by some guy named Jeff Moore and is pretty shit. Then, Pat Olliffe comes on as regular artist with issue 29 and just delivers some stellar work. I actually think that issue 29 is one of the best-looking comics Olliffe has ever done. His coming on board works very well with Starlin as he is more expressive than Grindberg, but just as stylised and clear. While I like Grindberg's work more, I think Olliffe tells the story better and, until his departure a couple of issues before the end of the series, delivers some fantastic work.

Next time, I will look at the final 11 issues of Warlock & the Infinity Watch, all Starlin-less. They technically do not fit into this series, but they build on Starlin's work and seem to contain many of his ideas, so fuck it, whatever.