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"Starlight" - Mark Millar

Started by Alski, 15 March, 2014, 01:28:32 PM

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Alski

just read issue~1 of this, and I really love it so far.

An Air Force Captain goes through a wormhole, visits another planet, saves said planet from evil tyrant (very Flash Gordon), declines offer of ruling with sexy alien queen to go back through the wormhole and be with his wife.

thing is, no one believes him, so he retires and lives out his life with his family.

We join him many years later after his wife has died and his sons grown up. A kid in a grocery store asks if the aliens "put a probe up Uranus" - he's used to this.

the alien stuff is done in brief flashbacks, it's all aboy the now, and the end really makes you want to see what happens next. Goran Parlov's art suits the whole thing perfectly with a clear, minimalist style.

yeah, Millar has his haters, but he can sure come up with some good ideas.
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Richmond Clements

Quotebut he can sure come up with 'borrow' some good ideas.

FTFY

JamesC

I thought this was a great comic - really enjoyed it. I'm a big fan of Goran Parlov's art too.

Alski

Quote from: Richmond Clements on 15 March, 2014, 01:39:40 PM
Quotebut he can sure come up with 'borrow' some good ideas.

FTFY

Is this one not his own stuff then?
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Richmond Clements

Quote from: Alski on 15 March, 2014, 06:02:41 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 15 March, 2014, 01:39:40 PM
Quotebut he can sure come up with 'borrow' some good ideas.

FTFY

Is this one not his own stuff then?

You said yourself it is very Flash Gordon, and also seems to have more than a drop of Buck Rogers in there too.
I'm sure it is very competently written, but one can never accuse Millar of being original.

Professor Bear

The art for this was changed to avoid legal problems with Flash Gordon's owners.  I think if you look around the web you can still find the original preview pages.

Alski

Quote from: Richmond Clements on 15 March, 2014, 06:05:16 PM
Quote from: Alski on 15 March, 2014, 06:02:41 PM
Quote from: Richmond Clements on 15 March, 2014, 01:39:40 PM
Quotebut he can sure come up with 'borrow' some good ideas.

FTFY

Is this one not his own stuff then?

You said yourself it is very Flash Gordon, and also seems to have more than a drop of Buck Rogers in there too.
I'm sure it is very competently written, but one can never accuse Millar of being original.

This is quite pathetic. It's an interesting take on an old idea, not a steal or a swipe, narratively.

i find creator envy of Millar quite sad.
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Alski

#7
Quote from: Professor Bear on 15 March, 2014, 06:35:11 PM
The art for this was changed to avoid legal problems with Flash Gordon's owners.  I think if you look around the web you can still find the original preview pages.

can't find that - link?

All I can find is rumours, no solid evidence.

probably an editorial decision to ward off trouble before it even starts.
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Professor Bear

#8
http://www.bleedingcool.com/forums/front-page-comic-news/79062-has-mark-millar-gorlan-parlovs-starlight-been-de-flash-gordoned.html

Quote from: Alski on 16 March, 2014, 12:59:21 AMi find creator envy of Millar quite sad.

Millar's admitted many times already what Richmond points out in his perfectly fair appraisal about the Buck Rogers/Flash Gordon influences: http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=50575
Millar also openly flaunts his inspiration because that's how the Hollywood-standard elevator pitch process works: you pitch things in short bursts of visual references that people can understand - "It's like X but with bits of Y" and so on - he even does it in that interview I linked to.
It's a rare creator these days that'll chance their arm saying they've created something from whole cloth.

Personally, I thought Starlight was okay, though there's no escaping that it's just The Return Of Captain Invincible, but with Flash Gordon instead of Superman.

JOE SOAP

Quote from: Professor Bear on 16 March, 2014, 01:39:29 AMPersonally, I thought Starlight was okay, though there's no escaping that it's just The Return Of Captain Invincible, but with Flash Gordon instead of Superman.


How can you say that? Mark Millar had the original idea for this when he was 10!

O Lucky Stevie!

You're thinking of  Wanted there, Mister Soap .Millar admits in his afterwood for the trade that his older brother provided him with the single original conceit in that when he was 10.

As male adolescent empower fantasies for the gangsta rap generation go, it wasn't too bad. One of Millar's better efforts. Ben Fold's song was more succinct, though.
"We'll send all these nasty words to Aunt Jane. Don't you think that would be fun?"

JOE SOAP

Quote from: O Lucky Stevie! on 16 March, 2014, 02:58:52 AM
You're thinking of  Wanted there, Mister Soap .Millar admits in his afterwood for the trade that his older brother provided him with the single original conceit in that when he was 10.


Quoting from the interview posted by Prof.


The idea for this came to me when I was about ten and watching all these old shows on the BBC. I remember thinking that when these guys got back home they'd just be talking about their experiences all the time and if you accidentally ended up on an alien world of a different time zone or whatever the chances of it happening again are pretty remote.


It's not like Mark Millar would just make this stuff up.


TordelBack

I'm no Millar apologist, and I haven't read Starlight, but the concept seems broad enough and interesting enough to support any number of legitimate takes.  Everything from Oisin to Jonni Future by way of John Carter, Adam Strange and Stargate.  Hero goes somewhere fantastic, leaves a magical life of significance behind and then has to make their way in a mundane uncaring world - with sexy results.  It's obviously Mark working through his feelings about no longer working for 2000AD.

Save your powder fellows, there's plenty of other targets.

JamesC

Stating that it's an unoriginal idea as a criticism of the comic just seems silly. How many of our favourite 2000ad creators have 'borrowed' ideas to create perfectly entertaining strips?

Millar is simply taking the pulp space hero as an archetype and telling a new story with it. On the strength of the first issue, I think it's great.

From what I can see, any criticism that can be made regarding Star Light's originality could equally be made of something like The Rocketeer. Personally I'd rather just enjoy the comics.

Alski

Quote from: JamesC on 16 March, 2014, 09:30:14 AM
Stating that it's an unoriginal idea as a criticism of the comic just seems silly. How many of our favourite 2000ad creators have 'borrowed' ideas to create perfectly entertaining strips?

Millar is simply taking the pulp space hero as an archetype and telling a new story with it. On the strength of the first issue, I think it's great.

From what I can see, any criticism that can be made regarding Star Light's originality could equally be made of something like The Rocketeer. Personally I'd rather just enjoy the comics.

Well said  ;)
"Cool Stuff You Will Like"

Music, Comics, Books, Video Games, TV and Film reviews/articles.

http://cool-stuff-you-will-like.blogspot.co.uk/