Classic Comic of the Week: Starslayer - The Log of the Jolly Roger
By d. emerson eddy — I seem to have travelled down a rabbit hole of space opera and comics legends this month, with another creator-owned sci-fi book that might have flown under your radar. You probably know Mike Grell best from his absolutely astounding work on Green Arrow from the game-changer of The Longbow Hunters through the ongoing series, Legion of Super-Heroes, or The Warlord. He was also part of the creator-owned movement in the '80s that simmered under the First Comics banner with Jon Sable: Freelance and, this book here, Starslayer: The Log of the Jolly Roger, by Grell, S. Clarke Hawbaker, Tim Burguard, Jeff Albrecht, Rob Prior, and Steve Haynie.
Starslayer follows Torin Mac Quillon, a Celt by way of Scythia, who is dragged from before the moment of his death during the Roman conquest of Britain, to a far flung future by Tamra (called “Tamara” in the first issue and ancillary marketing material) to save humanity. We join the story with Torin and Tamra essentially on the run, setting up the framing for Torin's origin and the central quest of recovering control amulets ceded to each of Earth's colony worlds. It feels a bit like a cross between The Warlord and Legion of Super-Heroes, what with Torin inhabiting the noble barbarian archetype and Tamra the changes in the future, complete with a costume that seems borrowed from Shadow Lass' closet.
There are very few people who can layout a page like Grell. Curved panel blocks, overlapping panels, and a liberal use of borderless head shots are common to his approach and it lends a beautiful flow to the pacing and a kinetic feel to the action. Grell's style seems to borrow elements from John Buscema, Barry Windsor-Smith, and Dave Cockrum into something that's wholly unique, with intriguing character designs that only propel the heights of the swashbuckling story further. There are slight differences in the two issues (the first and the last) that are finished by S. Clarke Hawbaker and Tim Burguard & Jeff Albrecht, most notably a finer line in the latter resulting in work somewhat similar to Pat Broderick's style, but it's still interesting to see variations brought to Grell's overall linework in the same volume.
There's kind of a subdued nature to Rob Prior's colors throughout the story. The yellows and browns tend to lend themselves more towards the throwback pulp adventure side of Torin Mac Quillon, playing up the Robert E. Howard and Edgar Rice Burroughs aspects of the story more than the shiny sci-fi setpieces. Rounding out the creative team, Steve Haynie's letters bridge the gulf between time periods and genres with different styles for the narration boxes. I quite like how he takes conventions between both barbarian tales and science fiction stories and melds them together for this work.
Grell only stayed aboard for the first 8 issues, handing it off to John Ostrander and Lenin Delsol as it was folded in to the larger shared universe that First Comics was building. The rest of the series I believe you can only track down as back issues, but they continue the sense of fun, swashbuckling space opera that Grell sets out in the opening arc. They also give a hint (along with Ostrander's Grimjack who debuts in #10) at some of the ideas and approaches Ostrander will bring to Star Wars. Definitely worth your time to check out if you enjoy the characters and general setting.
Starslayer: The Log of the Jolly Roger from Grell, Hawbaker, Burguard, Albrecht, Prior, and Haynie delivers a solid space opera quest with a man-out-of-time twist, full of what feels like '70s swagger.
Starslayer - The Log of the Jolly Roger
Starslayer: The Log of the Jolly Roger
Writer & Artist: Mike Grell
Finishes: S. Clarke Hawbaker, Tim Burguard, & Jeff Albrecht
Colorist: Rob Prior
Letterer: Steve Haynie
Publisher: Dark Horse
A Celtic warrior from the days of the Roman Empire is transported into the distant future by his wife's descendant and compelled to join the crew of the spaceship Jolly Roger in their resistance to totalitarian rule on Earth. A wildly popular classic comic appears for the first time in a collection of the "Director's Cut" of the series, originally published by Windjammer at Valiant, but also including a wealth of extras including sketches and commentary from legendary comic creator Mike Grell.
Release Date: June 13, 2017
Price: $14.99
Buy It Digitally: Starslayer - The Log of the Jolly Roger
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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.
