Cosmic Storytelling: Jim Starlin's Cosmic Guard

Cosmic, dude! If you have any read any of Marvel Comics star-spanning outerspace sagas, you have probably bumped into the work of Jim Starlin. He is probably most well-known for writing, and often drawing, almost anything that ever had to do with Thanos or anything with "Infinity" in the title. Starlin's sci-fi sagas usually involve huge fleets of mightily beweaponed ships, world-destroying weapons and lots of cool looking aliens.

Starlin is playing to his strengths in his latest series from Devil's Due Publishing, Jim Starlin's Cosmic Guard. All the aforementioned elements are there, but now Starlin does not have to worry about fitting his grand-scale ideas into someone else's toy box. With this first issue, Starlin is obviously setting out to create an epic story on his own terms.

The story begins with a young orphan named Ray Torres. Ray, at twelve, seems to have had way more than his share of bad luck. He is about ready to give up on life, when a twist of fate connects Ray to the Dark Paladin. Dark P is an alien warlord, struggling to defend the universe from an (as yet) unknown enemy, whose forces seem to be winning. This is where the giant fleets of spaceships and world-destroying weapons come in, by the way.To tell you any more would give too much away!

If you are familiar with any of Jim Starlin's other work, you will recognize what you see in Cosmic Guard. His detailed art style really helps bring to life the alien worlds where his story takes place. The aliens, their clothes, and their sci-fi hardware are all realized with amazing detail which keeps the story visually interesting. (Though one alien character does look a bit like a literal butt-head!)

If you have enjoyed any of Marvel's cosmic tales, if you like aliens, sci-fi, or watching planets blow-up, then you will love Jim Starlin's Cosmic Guard! And you can't go wrong giving the first issue a try, since it is this week's Guaranteed Book of the Week!