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Starlight #4
Writer: Mark Millar
Artist: Goran Parlov
Reviewer: Oz Longworth Jr aka (as the collection agency calls him) The Defendant

Look, I know a lot of you people out there are tired to Mark Millar, but do NOT let that be the reason you miss out on one of the best reads of the year. Starlight has won me over. Millar’s smart, bare bones love letter to old school space operas is a win on pretty much every level.

Issue 4 picks up with retired space hero, Duke McQueen and his traveling buddy, Space Boy, captured by the evil empire that has conquered planet Tantalus. We get a brief look into the motivation for McQueen to lace up his boots via a touching flashback. We’re also introduced to the kick ass warrior of the Resistance, Tilda Starr. I don’t know exactly what the rules are on alien characters, but I’m going to go ahead and be excited that she’s a woman of color. As was the case with last month’s issue, the really great thing about this book is that it’s not as bleak as Millar’s usual work. While there are split second flashes of Millar’s uber-sexual, hyperviolent tendencies, the tone of this book is rarely a downer even in the hero’s introspective moments. Duke McQueen isn’t a man with a hard heart. He’s not jaded or angry from the Earth’s cynicism (nobody believes that he really went to another galaxy and saved civilizations). He’s a widow whose been giving a chance to not only mean something again, but to do these great, unbelievable things that start to seem like a way to stay connected to the memory of his wife, the only one who ever believed in him. Visually, Goran Parlov’s work has almost transcended the realm of “fucking awesome” and ventured into “above reproach” territory. The action beats are so clear cut and easy to follow, he’s practically begging for this book to be a movie (which Fox is reportedly trying to make happen). The only gripe I have is sort of fanboy-ish of me. The landscapes are simply gorgeous, but when we’re introduced to a new environment, you sort of wish it was a splash page as opposed to a mere panel that only takes up a third of the page. Still, you have to commend the team for wanting to devote as much advancement of the plot as possible even in moments that could be considered a slow burn.

Bottom Line: Leave it to Mark Millar to find a way to cover new territory….within territory he’s already (kinda) covered. This is some of his best work to date. 4.5 out of 5.

 

X #14
Writer: Duane Swierczynski
Artist: Robert Atkins
Reviewer: Ray Willis

X returns for vengeance after escaping and dismantling Deathwish but with a new enemy on the rise, the feds, and Tango still around how will X fair in this situation. This issue is part 2 of the Better off Dead storyline which X has to get back to what he does best after being beaten by Deathwish, for weeks and dealing with the fallout of Tango soon to have control of the entire city. X recovers an old cash of weapons and ammo that was missed by the feds when they were searching through his waterfront hiding place. X finds his old buddy Gambit on lookout duty for on of Carmine Tango’s drug houses and is surprised to see the new group of start attacking. Each member looks vaguely the same with the same outfits but are efficient. Gamble drops a bomb on a few of them and makes his escape leaving the rest to fend for themselves. Leigh is shown what happens and tries to get out of the situation to go into witness protection but that doesn’t happen. Night Watcher gives Tango a message to go to war with the new enemies which he is pleased. Ruidoso is told by Freel that a few guys were sprung from the prison their in and gives the “woof” sound. X is able to capture and interrogate one thanks to a well placed tranquilizer to the back of the neck and finds out about the Archon.You’ll enjoy what come next after a surprise shootout.
The story was really good establishing that X is ready to get back at the man and enemies that put him out of commission for weeks. Duane Swierczynski has been on point since the first issue of the series and he really had made this character his own. The action is really amazing with shoot outs and good old X interrogation. The shoot out were fierce, brutal, and short. Also did I mention there are guys heads exploding in one of the shoot outs which was amazing. The art is really amazing and the colors are really go well with it. Some of the Archons henchmen do look the same but that’s not a big complaint to me. I can’t wait to see what X does in the part of this arc.
5 out a 5