So I’ve been waiting for a collection of this story for about 25 years.
At long, long last, the entire “Metamorphosis Odyssey,” Jim Starlin’s serialized space opera from the early issues of Epic Illustrated, is now under one cover. Well, it had been reprinted before, but…um, not very well, shall we say, and let’s leave it at that. But this version includes the color on the pages that originally were in color, and hasn’t also been relettered with extra typos, so there you go.
“Metamorphosis Odyssey” was one of my favorite stories as a teenaged Mikester…a sprawling space adventure with lots of oddball characters and a slightly whacked-out cosmic plot and with a solution to the heroes’ problems that is, perhaps, a tad on the extreme side. (You can read the plot summary here if you want to know what I’m talking about.) Anyway, it’s nice to have it all under one cover, since I’m too lazy to dig out the Epics whenever I want to reread it.
The book also includes the two graphic novels The Price (introducing Dreadstar supporting character Syzygy Darklock) and Dreadstar, as well as the one-off story from a later Epic introducing Willow. The stories are as they originally appeared…any black and white pages in the stories aren’t colorized, and The Price is the original version, not the slightly censored version that appeared in Dreadstar Annual #1. Yes, that means there’s no smoke obscuring your cat-god penis, in case you were concerned. And I know you were.
I keep hoping Starlin will return to the Dreadstar universe someday, if only just to wrap the whole thing up once and for all, but in the meantime, I’m glad I finally was able to get a collection of that serial. And to think the only reason I got into Dreadstar in the first place was because Berni(e) Wrightson did a back-up story in issue #6, causing me to pick it up, and I ended up enjoying the lead story as well.
Oh, and someone tell Dynamite it’s “Vanth Dreadstar,” not “Vance” — easy enough mistake to make, but still.
In other news:
- Matt Digges tells his side of the story re: Free Comic Book Day. Includes a comic strip!
- As I originally noted here, some of my fellow Bureau Chiefs, the folks what are behind Fake AP Stylebook, went to a conference in Massachusetts, and Dave and Andrew were Bad Enough Dudes to bring back photos and reports of their experiences.
- Who gets the chicks? Hank McCoy gets the chicks. And how.
That sounds brilliant, will have to have a read of it.
I may have to get this–I’ve read some of Peter David’s Dreadstar comics, and thought they were hilarious, which has made me wonder how it all began.
Metamorphosis, along with Rick Vietch’s shorts, were the best things about Epic. My ultra-liberal Mom was incredibly kind to be letting my 11 year-old self buy those from the drugstore back in the early 80’s.
Looking forward to seeing how this holds up. I’ve never read the Price, as I couldn’t get enough allowance money back in the day to mail-order such an unknown quantity.
Thanks for the heads up.
never did find most of the dreadstars, or the majority of this right here, so ill defo give that a go.
Well, the Beast’s got brains and brawn, so what’s not to love?
I remember when Dreadstar Annual #1 reprinted “The Price”.
You can see it right here:
http://comicrelated.com/gallery/dreadstar/a1.jpg
There’s Vanth and Syzygy, holding up what I assume is the cover of the original printing … and smiling.
After reading the incredibily tragic story inside, my best friend and I had pretty much the same reaction: “What the HELL are they SMILING about?”
Apologies for the italics fubar, above.
::facepalm::
I am so glad to see this. Starlin was at the peak of his powers when this came out.
Rich – Oh, the early Dreadstars were decidedly not hilarious.
Your Obedient Servant – No worries, I fixed the italics tag!
I just picked up the Dreadstar HC today (thank you, college refund).
Mike, I just might pick up a copy. I completely stopped buying comics about two years ago, so I’m going back and forth about this.
My copy comes in this week. Cannot wait!
Like yourself, I read it serialized in EPIC and am aching to have the newly digitized version all under one hardcover. Very, very stoked.