Welcome to the
Dollar Box, where I look at classic comics with an original cover price of a dollar or less!
This month, my subject is the historic first teaming of the classic comics team of Chris Claremont, John Byrne, Terry Austin, and Tom Orzechowski.
Am I writing about
Uncanny X-Men? Or maybe an issue of
Iron Fist?
Nope!
The very first time this team worked together on the same book was … Star-Lord?
Published in 1977 in the pages of
Marvel Preview #11, Marvel’s black-and-white anthology magazine, “Windhoelme” was the second outing for
Star-Lord, a science fiction adventure character who debuted in issue #4 of that same mag.
The original Star-Lord, by Steve Englehart and Steve Gan, was an ill-tempered, borderline-psychopath who stole his superpowers as part of his quest to avenge his mother’s death at the hands of space aliens.
This Star-Lord … was something different.
It was characteristic that
Star-Lord’s second outing was a “reboot” — additional reboots would follow, seemingly every-other issue in the character’s brief career, culminating in a near-total rewrite that saw
Star-Lord enter the Marvel Universe in the pages of
Thanos #8-12 — and now, as the leader of the
Guardians of the Galaxy,
Star Lord is fast-tracked for pop culture stardom in next month’s
Guardians of the Galaxy movie.
the Star Lord you probably know
I like the new
Star Lord, but he really has little to do with
this Star-Lord, who headlined this little jewel of a science fiction adventure in
Marvel Preview #11. What with all the space empires, swashbuckling sword-fights, and humanoid aliens running around this story, you could be forgiven for thinking
Star-Lord was a fast-follower of
Star Wars … but
Marvel Preview #11 was conceived and created months before
Star Wars hit the theaters. The similarity is down to common origins, with the
Robert A. Heinlein “juveniles” that Claremont cited as his inspiration providing a rich portion of the pulp science fiction tradition that Lucas drew upon for
Star Wars.
It’s also kismet, of the negative sort, in that Star-Lord was just … that … much ahead of its time. If release of this issue had been able to take better advantage of Star Wars mania, maybe Star-Lord would have gone on to become a superstar comic book character. As it was, Star-Lord came and went, and while the character would have additional outings under various creative teams prior to fading into obscurity for a decade or two, he would never be better than in this rollicking, two-fisted space opera.
Displaying the fast-paced, catch-you-up-while-we’re-on-the-run storytelling that would characterize his X-Men work, Claremont drops us in the deep end of his story, with a peaceful planet conquered by slavers, and a pair of young adventurers eager to fight back. Kip and Sandy are fairly stock supporting characters, but they’re not without spirit, and Sandy is sort of hot, in that square-jawed, big-eyed John Byrne kind of way …
With the population of a planet hanging in the balance, we’re introduced to
Star-Lord, who makes a confident and understated entrance (despite the characteristic internal self-doubt Claremont’s script would display later in the issue). It’s never really made clear who our hero is, or where he came from, but that’s actually a strength of this story. It’s more entertaining to try to piece together the details of our hero’s powers and origin as we go along (and besides, it was all on display in
the character’s inaugural appearance in Marvel Preview #4 for those who simply
had to know).
In the pages that follow, we learn that Star-Lord can breathe in outer space, that he can handle himself in a fight, and that he takes a dim view of slavers. But freeing Kip, Sarah, and everyone else on the slave ship is just the start of our adventure.
In short order we are winging across the galaxy with our little crew, exactly in the fast-paced manner that we’d learn to love when Han Solo settled behind the controls of his Millennium Falcon.
Star-Lord’s spaceship isn’t quite so cool as Han’s legendary ride, but “Ship” has secrets of her own. For one thing, she can change shape. For another, she’s sentient … and she may also be in love with our hero. Certainly Star-Lord and “Ship” have a long and unexplained history between them — just another of a score of intriguing story hooks Claremont drops into this story.
So far we’ve checked off most of the compulsory boxes for a good space opera. A virtuous hero, young people in distress, spaceships and starfaring adventure, enigmas and mysteries at every turn.
But there are also hissable bad guys, who torment our innocent supporting characters …
… cruel lizardmen who get exactly what they deserve …
… and in the finest sword-and-planet tradition, our hero locks steel with a corrupt galactic nobleman to determine the fate of a stellar empire. Looking back on this sequence from a post-Star Wars perspective, it’s impossible not to hear lightsabers humming and crackling.
“Windhoelme” is a brilliant bit of comic book space pulp, fast-paced, imaginative, heartfelt, and fun. It (re)introduces a great science fiction hero in Star-Lord and follows him on an arc that sees him liberate the throne of a far-flung star empire, and then toss it all aside for a life of adventure roaming the stars …
It’s a great set-up for a continuing series of adventures, but
Star-Lord’s mojo would quickly fade. Byrne and Austin never drew the character again, and Chris Claremont’s following outings with
Star-Lord never quite reclaimed this story’s magic.
After a host of lesser appearances,
Star-Lord would diminish from memory, leaving only the bright star of
Marvel Preview #11 behind.
Original copies of Marvel Preview #11 aren’t all that easy to find, but if you want to read this superior comic story, here’s a Dollar Box pro tip. If you’ll allow me to exceed my brief by recommending a book with an original cover price of more than a dollar (gasp!), then I’ve got just the thing for you …
Star-Lord The Special Edition #1 (the one and only issue in the line) reprinted
Marvel Preview #11 in 1982. This is a standard-sized comic book, and the tale is slightly altered here (with a new introduction and a postscript by Chris Claremont and Michael Golden), but the meat of the tale is as Claremont, Byrne, and Austin created it in 1977 … with the added bonus of color! Purists will want the original tale, but I’ve grown fond of the colorized version as well, and it also has the advantage of being
readily and cheaply available on the back-issue market.
Star-Lord in color!
But whether you experience this tale in color or glorious black & white, “Windhoelme” from
Marvel Preview #11 is well worth tracking down. It is a relentlessly entertaining space opera comic that is presently lost to the mists of time, but may shortly loom large in our pop culture, pending
Star-Lord’s big screen debut in Marvel’s
Guardians of the Galaxy movie. I strongly suggest you score your copy of this best of
the early Star-Lord adventures before the Imperial scum start jacking up the prices on eBay!
Graham | July 2, 2014 at 3:52 am
One of my all-time favorites…..I more or less bought it on impulse and probably read and re-read it more than any other comic in my collection. It was just the total package and a sign of future great things from Claremont/Byrne/Austin. Thanks for the post.LikePaul O'Connor | July 2, 2014 at 11:34 am
Yes, I’ve re-read my own copy until it practically fell apart. My teen self felt some vindication for sticking with Star-Lord so long … but no sooner did he hit the zenith than his decline began. The following tales never recaptured this magic, and then Star-Lord vanished for decades (before remerging the most unlikely of movie stars, go figure).Likemavericlion | October 2, 2014 at 1:27 pm
Starlord was a character I hated.Whatever Steve Engleheart had beyond making Jason Peter Quill more likeble is unknown.To me the New Age crap was simply stupid.Too bad Claremont and Byrne didn’t write the origin.This was as best as he has been-the following comics were euilly stupid as his first.Well,shows a bad comic ,with one good one could return-succeed and get a hit movie.I was rooting for Starlord and the Guardians-Drax,Gammora,Rocket Racoon and Groot-all once snowballs chance in hell characters to never see a movie project-unlike the Original Guardians of the Galaxy,who except Charlie 27 and Yondu,all stink.See there is hope for the next Marvel Movie underdog Ant Man.Like
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