In the editorial afterword of Starlight #1, Mark Millar mentions that someone accurately described this series about an old man who once had some crazy space adventures as “Buzz Lightyear meets Unforgiven.” Comics trying to bring some Clint Eastwood style into the proceedings are generally pretty compelling. Pre-New 52 Jonah Hex was often rendered like The Man With No Name, only sporting a scarred face, and that was great. The Dark Knight Returns is a very Clinty Batman. Garth Ennis’ Nick Fury MAX has a Clinty vibe to him when he’s not throwing down with three hookers at once. So when we’re introduced to Captain Duke McQueen in Starlight #1, we’re predisposed to liking him.
I got a more Flash Gordon vibe than Buzz Lightyear, though, at least from the surroundings. Duke’s getting a medal on the planet Tantalus from an elf woman named Attala nearly twice his height, after he crash landed on their world and liberated them from a dictator named Typhon. But that’s all in flashback, as McQueen is now an old man – still burly and strong, but he’s just lost his wife Joanne to breast cancer and his sons aren’t as close as he’d like – not that there’s necessarily anything wrong, but they’re adults with their own lives and families. We see more flashes of his time in space, and then the real world aftermath of being a disgraced pilot when nobody believed his space stories. It’s a stark contrast between bright fantastical adventure and depressing old age, but the arrival of a fancy space ship outside his house promises to mix the two in short order.
Now when you see Millar as the writer of something, you may have come to expect some over-the-top bombast, as we saw in his Ultimate X-Men, his Kick-Ass, his Wanted, his Secret Service, etc. But Starlight strikes a great, understated tone in its first issue, and really makes you want to see what happens to Ol’ Duke McQueen when a grizzled old man is called up for intergalactic action hero duties. Of course, the next issue could be full of him frying aliens and stunt-banging scantily-clad elf-giantesses, but there’s nothing about this first installment that makes you think Millar’s going that particular brand of apeshit, and that gives me some hope that this could turn out to be really, really cool. Goran Parlov (who also did the art for Fury: My War Gone By, coincidentally) brings a lot of that ‘seen more than you’ll ever know’ vibe to the look of McQueen, although without the anger and aggression and more with the sadness that Fury was constantly running away from. The art is bright and real, even when he’s riding a dragon.
Starlight #1 is a great start to the Millarworld universe. Let’s hope it lives up to the promise.
