'Star-Lord'
Marvel Super Special No. 10
Winter, 1979
The 'Marvel Comics Super Special' comic magazines ran for 41 issues, from September, 1977 (the famous 'Kiss' issue, allegedly using the band members' own blood in the printing process) to November, 1986. The Super Specials were one-shots, designed to be on newsstands for several months in duration, and intended to capitalize on newly released feature films. They also showcased newer comics franchises that Marvel was intent on promoting (such as the Pini's 'Elfquest').
By the start of 1979, with its willingness to promote 'adult' content and its use of process color on 'slick' paper stock, Heavy Metal magazine had thoroughly revolutionized comic book and graphic art publishing in the US.
Marvel's editors were well aware that HM had captured a large segment of the comic book demographic, and were anxious to try and recapture that demographic. This was not an easy thing to do; for all the attention given to properties like the Chris Claremont X-Men franchise, compared to HM, Marvel's publications seemed staid and pedestrian.
Thus it was that late in 1978 / early 1979, Marvel issued a 'Star Lord' Super Special, reviving a character first introduced in 1976 in an issue of Marvel Preview. Marvel editor Rick Marschall, in his introduction to the Star-Lord story (titled 'World in a Bottle') clearly was messaging to the HM readership, boasting that the issue was a 'landmark,' offering '.....mature art, color as has never been seen in American comics.'
Unfortunately for Marschall, 'World in a Bottle' is hampered by virtue of being composed by Marvel's house writer Doug Moench.
His script has the gauche, awkward quality of an adolescent struggling to generate content for an audience of adults. The script relies on a frantic, overloaded presentation of sci-fi cliches combined with overwrought narration. A pneumatic blonde chick named Aletha is provided to demonstrate the book's 'mature' sensibility, and for Fanboy Titillation Purposes.
The artwork, by Marvel veterans Gene 'The Dean' Colon and Tom Palmer, does as much as can be done in trying to leverage the best from standard CMYK printing. But this simply can't compete with the process color used in HM.
The backup story, 'To Sleep, Perchance to Die,' is written by Marc Darcy. It's another cliche-heavy storyline that falls short of the level of sophistication seen in HM.
'To Sleep' does feature some good artwork by Ernie Colon. But the coloration has a dated quality that fails to impress.
This issue of the Super Special closes with a two-page text essay by comics historian Maurice Horn: 'SF in Animation.' I can't say it's a topic that's all that exciting to me, but as always, Horn demonstrates his knowledge of pop culture, at a time when there was no such thing as looking stuff up on the internet..........
While Marvel should get some kind of recognition for trying to advance the caliber of its comic books magazines / Curtis publishing imprint with 'Star-Lord,' the fact is that the company needed something better if it was to favorably compare to HM. And that of course led to the release of the first issue of Epic Illustrated in 1980.
Is 'Star-Lord' worth getting ? In my opinion, no. Even fanboys of the modern-day 'Guardians of the Galaxy' franchise likely won't find much to get excited about with this issue of the Super Special.
