Mystery in Space with Captain Comet plus The Weird, vol. 1

Mystery in Space with Captain Comet #1

by Jim Starlin, Shane Davis

Discover the origin of the new Captain Comet and find out how he is connected to his predecessor who was killed in the pages of the critically acclaimed series 52. This volume collects MYSTERY IN SPACE #1-5. Volume 2, due in 2008, will collect issues #6-8 plus the original THE WEIRD miniseries.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Dc Comics, Comic Book, Superheroes, Science Fiction

208 pages, Paperback

First published October 3, 2007

About the author

James P. "Jim" Starlin is an American comic book writer and artist. With a career dating back to the early 1970s, he is best known for "cosmic" tales and space opera; for revamping the Marvel Comics characters Captain Marvel and Adam Warlock; and for creating or co-creating the Marvel characters Thanos and Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu. Death and suicide are recurring themes in Starlin's work: Personifications of Death appeared in his Captain Marvel series and in a fill-in story for Ghost Rider; Warlock commits suicide by killing his future self; and suicide is a theme in a story he plotted and drew for The Rampaging Hulk magazine.

In the mid-1970s, Starlin contributed a cache of stories to the independently published science-fiction anthology Star Reach. Here he developed his ideas of God, death, and infinity, free of the restrictions of mainstream comics publishers' self-censorship arm, the Comics Code Authority. Starlin also drew "The Secret of Skull River", inked by frequent collaborator Al Milgrom, for Savage Tales #5 (July 1974).

When Marvel Comics wished to use the name of Captain Marvel for a new, different character,[citation needed] Starlin was given the rare opportunity to produce a one-shot story in which to kill off a main character. The Death of Captain Marvel became the first graphic novel published by the company itself. (

In the late 1980s, Starlin began working more for DC Comics, writing a number of Batman stories, including the four-issue miniseries Batman: The Cult (Aug.-Nov. 1988), and the storyline "Batman: A Death in the Family", in Batman #426-429 (Dec. 1988 – Jan. 1989), in which Jason Todd, the second of Batman's Robin sidekicks, was killed. The death was decided by fans, as DC Comics set up a hotline for readers to vote on as to whether or not Jason Todd should survive a potentially fatal situation. For DC he created Hardcore Station.

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mystery in Space was one of the first great science fiction comics; among the writers and artists who worked on it in the early days were Fox, Hamilton, Binder, Infantino, Kane, Finlay and Frazetta. Adam Strange was the most popular character, but Captain Comet (an homage to Captain Future) began appearing infrequently in 1951. The Weird, the other main character in the current book, was a character created by Starlin himself in 1988 in a self-titled series. This first volume of the collected 2007 series collects the first five issues. It's a well written and nicely illustrated story, but unfortunately ends with no conclusion so one has to have both volumes to get a full story. All of the chapters in this book are split between the two characters, Comet and then The Weird, though the setting is the same and they gradually begin to work towards convergence. I particularly enjoyed the astronomical and panoramic panels, which were a terrific reminder of the classic original stories.

[Joshlynn]

Whenever I wonder to myself if Jim Starlin is worth keeping around, I remember how awesome The Weird is, and (almost) all is forgiven.

[Brick Marlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

An enjoyable read!

[John Yelverton · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a big fan of the whole switcheroo, who his Captain Comet? motif here. We've been waiting years for more outer space comics from DC, and this is not fitting the bill.

[Lavell]

Artwork:Excellent..StoryAverage. It looked beautiful as far as the artwork goes. Shane Davis is very good. Story-wise it suffered a little. It reminded me of Flash Gordon, But it was alright

[Greg Trosclair · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a super fun story and it looks good too.

[Yafu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Aventuras espaciales de la vieja escuela modernizadas (hace 15 años).

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 3 out of 5]

Both stories start off pretty slow and the Weird is really Weird. However, their interrelations are becoming very interesting by the last issue and it looks like the story is headed upward.

(However, I never actually cared enough to get the second volume, and have since dumped this one.)

[Marina Anik · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, Captain Comet seems to be a lot of fun?!

[harlequin {Stephanie} · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story wasn't terrible, it was all the ridiculous inner monologue that stated the glaringly obvious.

[Guido · Rating 3 out of 5]

Primer tomo de Mystery in Space con Captain Comic y The Weird.