By d. emerson eddy — Walter Simonson is a legend. I am biased, since it was his run on The Mighty Thor (later along with Sal Buscema) that served as part of the gateway for me into the world of comics, but Simonson is a consummate storyteller, honing his craft into a near perfect array of stunning characters, visual design, and often edge-of-your-seat adventure. His work on the Fantastic Four, X-Factor, Orion, Wonder Woman, Manhunter, and his own Ragnarok are nothing short of fantastic and I highly recommend a deep dive into his body of work, both as a writer and an artist. His work to me seems to always embody the sheer joy of comics and its infectious wonder. So, I wanted to take a look at one of his earliest gestating works, one that basically started before he was a professional through to his later career as one of comics' masters, Star Slammers.

The setting and story started as a means to cleverly entice interesting in Washington, DC and the city's science fiction association to host World Con and blossomed into Simonson's student project at the Rhode Island School of Design (a history of this as well as a first time collection of this is included in the Star Slammers: Complete Collection), before eventually becoming the core of Marvel Graphic Novel #6: Star Slammers, with original colorists Louise Simonson and Deborah Pedler, recolored by Leonard O'Grady for IDW's printing, as well as letterer John Workman.

The original graphic novel introduces us to the world of the Slammers, who at first appear to us as extremely competent, skilled mercenaries in interstellar skirmishes. It's an interesting start, focusing on the three characters of Sphere, Ethon, and Jalaia, that feels a bit like a mix of The Metabarons and Star Wars, but it becomes something else entirely as we're introduced to Grandfather and the Orions. It changes into a story of survival and the legacy of a people exiled from a cruel society that now would hunt them for sport.

The artwork is thoroughly stunning. It's amazing really to think of how relatively early into Simonson's career that this came as to how incredibly the art and story flow. There are hints of Kirby's dynamism throughout the characters and action, but there's a refinement and deliberate pacing that feel influenced by manga, particularly artists like Goseki Kojima. The character designs presage some of what we'll see later in The Mighty Thor, that mix of bulky armor that feels both futuristic and historical. Simonson has an eye for deceptively simple, complex layouts that intertwine with Workman's sound effects and lettering that is practically unparalleled in comics art. It becomes particularly impressive as the Slammers take on the Orions, sparking their collective hive mind, and the pages break down into segments representing the shared viewpoints of all of the battlefield.

There's not a huge difference in the original colors from Marvel Graphic Novel #6 by Louise Simonson and Deborah Pedler and the remastered, recoloured version for IDW by Leonard O'Grady (the lion's share of changes came in updating the later Malibu series colours). There are some nice uses of solid colors, purples, blues, greens, and yellows that help emphasize the larger-than-life feel to much of the story.

Star Slammers from Simonson, O'Grady, and Workman might be the one work of Simonson's that flew under your radar. It's an excellent space opera from a master of the comics medium, showing the world just what he can do on his own terms.

Star Slammers (Marvel Graphic Novel #6) by Walt Simonson

Star Slammers (Marvel Graphic Novel #6)
Writer & Artist: Walter Simonson
Colourist: Leonard O'Grady (remastered colours) | Louise Simonson & Deborah Pedler (original colours)
Letterer: John Workman
Publisher: IDW Publishing
Release Date: December 1982 (original Marvel publication) | June 3, 2015 (IDW collected edition)
Price: $1.99 each as Star Slammers: Re-mastered! #1-3 | Available collected in Star Slammers: The Complete Collection ($14.49)
Buy It Digitally: Star Slammers
Buy It Physically: Star Slammers

Read past Classic Comics of the Week!

d. emerson eddy is a student and writer of things. He fell in love with comics during Moore, Bissette, & Totleben's run on Swamp Thing and it has been a torrid affair ever since. His madness typically manifests itself on Twitter @93418.