Mystery In Space #1 (of 8)


Writer: Jim Starlin
Pencillers: Shane Davis & Jim Starlin
Inkers: Matt Banning & Al Milgrom
Colorists: Jeromy Cox & Jim Starlin


A mystery is brewing aboard the galaxy’s most infamous spaceport, Hardcore Station. When the original Captain Comet is killed a new Comet appears on Hardcore only to be assaulted and captured by an unknown organization. Plus, in a 16-page back up story, learn how the new Captain Comet is connected to bizarre hero known as The Weird.

Putting Jim Starlin on Mystery in Space, DC’s latest sci-fi/cosmic space adventure, seems like a no-brainer. Starlin is arguably one of the best writers of epic science fiction in comics and is credited with creating and/or making popular many of Marvel’s cosmic characters from Thanos to Captain Marvel to Adam Warlock. He’s also written some of the most memorable cosmic/science fiction comics like Infinity Gauntlet, Cosmic Odysseyand Dreadstar. Though I’m not the biggest fan of some of his more recent work, Starlin seems to be back on top of his with the first issue of this brand new limited series.

What really puts this book over the top is the artwork by newcomer Shane Davis. His style reminds me of early work by Travis Charest or Jim Lee, yet more focused. The storytelling is full of energy and his designs for the book are amazing. Davis’ redesign of Captain Comet, for instance, is (much like the recent redesign of another cosmic hero, Adam Strange) a perfect update to the hero’s outdated look. Everything about the artwork lends a real feeling of cutting-edge futurism to Starlin’s story. I can’t wait to see how Davis’ style evolves over the course of the series and where he will go from here.

Fans of cosmic stories like the recent Adam Strange: Planet Heist and The Rann/Thanagar War will definitely want to check out DC’s latest space adventure. The story itself delves heavily into many of the themes that Starlin has been exploring throughout his comics’ career such as resurrection, religion and responsibility. The star of this series is Captain Comet, one of the main stars from DC’s recent Rann/Thanagar War seems like the perfect candidate for Starlin to remold into a potentially popular and important character in the DCU, as he has done several times before for both DC and Marvel. I’m very much looking forward to seeing the mystery unravel over the next several issues.

Although I do hope that the back-up story, featuring the return of Starlin’s creation, The Weird, will get better as the series continues. Though it does tie directly into the main story it was far too wordy and was nowhere near as well written or interesting as the main story itself.
 

Special thanks go out to Jeremy Shorr, owner of Titan Comics for allowing us to use his advance preview books for review purposes.

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