Starburn #1
|Written by Kelly Bender
Art by Brian Balondo
Inks by Christian Docolomansky
Colors by Laura Lee
Lettered by Nic J Shaw
Published by Markosia
Summary
Welcome aboard the Starburn ”“ the fastest space vessel ever created. Traversing the cosmos in this magnificent spacecraft are its seven crew members: Captain Aphi, Shavats, Gamal, Ma’ta, Gauge, Saskia and Basar. Together, they form a sundry but cohesive group of professional space pirates who display an unshakable confidence in their never-ending quest for monetary gain.
Their unpretentious mission is to secure and extract a package from the planet O’Zeni and deliver it to their benefactor. Their anonymous client has offered the crew of the Starburn three times their normal rate towards the success of the assignment; a truly sizable amount invested in a group known for their incomparable caliber.
However, there’s a slight problem”¦due to lack of information, Captain Aphi cannot provide his crew the necessary logistics that would improve their chances of accomplishing the operation unscathed. No problem. Captain Aphi’s plan is simple: “we show up and see what happens”.
The Starburn arrives at O’Zeni. The team proceeds with extreme caution until they locate the package. Once the package is identified, they are met with fierce resistance from the planet’s inhabitants”¦
Analysis
I’m going to be brutally honest here. I very rarely use the word hate in my vocabulary, but when it comes to pirates, I absolutely HATE them with an indescribable passion.
I’ve tried to suppress my distaste for pirates numerous times during the course of my life, honestly. However, I’ve always been entranced by sci-fi. Star-Trek, Star Wars, Aliens, Predator, Stargate, Starship Troopers, you name it. Chances are I liked it, a lot. Especially, whenever a majestic space ship was involved.
I’ve read the exploits of Marvel’s Starjammers several times. My reaction to them is lukewarm at best; not because they journeyed through space and committed questionable deeds, but because they were pirates. Pirates in space. OK, whatever. I really enjoyed the X-Men tales of those days, except for when it came to them. Why? I felt as if they had no purpose other than being a group of pests that interfered with the X-men and the Shi’ar.
Starburn is in a class by itself compared to other sci-fi/pirate adventures I’ve endured from other publishers. In this book, from the first panel to the last, it’s easy to immerse yourself within this voyage of space pirates who are dedicated to their ultimate goal ”“ obtaining large sums of money while experiencing the sheer thrill of adventure on the fastest spaceship imaginable.
The illustrations by Brian Balondo combined with Cristian Docolomansky’s inks are perfect for this type of genre. The tone set by Laura Lee in her coloring is brilliant, particularly with the background of the planet O’Zeni. For some reason, I always envisioned a distant rocky planet with the colors that were used by Laura in this book. Excellent job!
After reading Starburn, I can at long last say, “finally”. Finally, there’s a book that has successfully combined the complex world of science fiction with the anti-heroic code of the pirate. Kelly Bender does a remarkable job of bringing the reader in tune with his script for each of the personalities that inhabit the Starburn. The amount of confidence shown by each of his characters is evident, which is backed up by the Starburn concept itself.
Who wouldn’t want to become an inter-galactic space pirate if you had the keys to the Starburn? Who’s going to catch you? NOBODY. Sign me up!
Starburn is expected to launch in early 2015!
4/5
To buy/support the book go to markosia.com
Until next time!
Author Profile
- Real Name: Mike / Occupation: (As Mike) Classified; (as The 13th Crusader) Host of The Definitive Crusade, DC Podcast, for Undercover Capes / Known Aliases: 13, The Iron Mike, Ironhide, The Walking Human Encyclopedia, Professor M / Affiliations: Comic Crusaders / Base of Operations: The 13th Lair (location classified), often mobile / Abilities: Photographic memory (to the extent where he is capable of memorizing the comic book inventories of several stores simultaneously for lengthy periods of time), voice impersonation, acute senses (The 13th Crusader possesses an uncanny ability to track down vintage comic books, and on several occasions, with his eyes closed, he has been able to determine the exact year a comic book was published just by smelling the ink inside of it), capable of drawing sketches; however, he prefers to write. He has a substantial amount of resistance to alcohol, surpassing the levels displayed by Marvel’s Volstagg and Valiant’s Aram Anni-Padda – combined. Multilingual (Proficient with English and Spanish, adequate with Portuguese and Italian). Above average marksman (he is capable of throwing objects accurately at high velocities), limited sword fighting skills and kickboxing techniques. / Known Weaknesses: Anything that involves the original Gwen Stacy, 2 for 1 drinks during Happy Hour, 50 cent comic book bins, the scent of 1983 comic book ink / Hobbies: Vintage comic book collecting, baseball, listening to excessive amounts of 80’s music / History: Little is known of The 13th Crusader. He is a man of many talents who was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY. He has extensive knowledge of the comic book world and he’s been collecting comic books since before he was able to read. He’s a BIG time fan of Silver and Bronze Age comics, and as such, his personal collection is truly impressive. He owns books that range from the 1950’s and onward. First Appearance: Comic Crusaders Column – What Defines A Characters First Appearance (Feb 2014)
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