Following the "Big Bang" of cosmic storytelling introduced by Marvel founders Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the next generation of creators expanded upon those concepts in spectacular new ways. One of these young turks was a guy named Jim Starlin, who quickly rose from the penciller of the failing Captain Marvel title to its writer and chief architect of its complex cosmic mythology.
Like nothing else before it (or since, for that matter), Starlin's Captain Marvel incorporated elements of the late 60's psychedelic art movement, physical sensuality, and Eastern spirituality
into a powerful, surprisingly cerebral adventure. In short, the perfect comic book to read while cranking a Led Zeppelin album.
One of the most impressive aspects of Starlin's Captain Marvel was how effortlessly he could combine heady, metaphysical or psychological concepts with standard superhero conventions like fight scenes. A perfect example of this mind-bending hybrid appeared in Captain Marvel #29 (1973), a porton of which I've posted to the left (click on the big slab of panels for the full Starlin-esque effect). While encountering the cosmic entity named EON, Kree warrior Mar-Vell is granted the Power Cosmic, who then undergoes a metamorphosis into a new kind of being (like I said, heady stuff). To pass his final test, Mar-Vell must turn inward and face his dark inner demon...resulting in a battle of equal parts raw power and soul-searching psychology.
A raw power and soul-searching psychology
that may even surpass that of....Bahlactus!
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Ha!! I did Starlin this week, too...
Posted by: Brian Disco Snell | January 11, 2008 at 07:33 PM
Great minds think...and select scans of comic book fights...alike.
Posted by: Mark Engblom | January 11, 2008 at 07:38 PM
By the way, how prophetic and creepy was it for Mar-Vell...who later died of cancer... to battle his "cancerous other self" (as described in panel two)?
Posted by: Mark Engblom | January 11, 2008 at 07:41 PM
Hah! I did Starlin a couple of weeks ago. I guess we all think that he is good. Warlock remains my favourite and I am also the proud possessor of a signed copy of Dreadstar :-)
Posted by: Matthew Rees | January 12, 2008 at 11:52 AM
Loved Starlin's Cap Marvel and Warlock in the 70's, and I love them now. The "cosmic" themes may be a tad dated in 2008, 30+ years removed from Peter Max and all that other psychedelia, but the art is fantastic, and the stories were definitely different.
Most "creators" try way too hard today to make their comics "matter"...and come up with sophomoric junk. Starlin was ahead of his time.
Posted by: Seventies Rule! | January 14, 2008 at 10:44 AM