World Famous Comics: Dreadstar Volume 2: The Price
Dreadstar Volume 2: The Price
By: Jim Starlin Publisher: SLG Publishing Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 120 Publication Date: October 01, 2000 Studio: SLG Publishing
Product Description: The second in our series reprinting the classic Dreadstar tales includes the Eclipse ComicsÂ’ graphic novel The Price, Marvel/EpicÂ’s Dreadstar graphic novel, and the solo Dreadstar story that appeared in Epic Illustrated #18. These chapters introduce the new cast of characters who accompany Vanth Dreadstar on his mission to end the devastating war between the Instrumentality and the Monarchy. Once again, Fate beckons Vanth - this time in the form of a wizard named Syzygy Darklock. Both are forced to relinquish what is closest to them in the name of a higher calling - their price for saving humanity. As they do battle with demon mystics, evil priests, bloodthirsty kings, and robot armies, they face their own inner demons and haunted memories, and overcome galactic obstacles to implement the mysterious Plan M. This epic starts as a mystical detective novel and slowly grows into an adventure tale of intergalactic proportions with a tortured hero at its center.
you're better off getting the comic ^ The book you're looking at here: "Dreadstar: Volume 2: The Price" is actually a black-and-white reprint of the first (and only) Dreadstar annual from the early 80s, called "The Price." The Dreadstar comic series went on for several years, but this was the only annual they ever did.
If you can find the original in a comic shop somewhere -- or on Amazon somewhere -- it's far better to get that. It was in color, whereas the version you're seeing on this page is in black and white. This didn't work well: it now looks muddy and washed out. On the other hand, the original color version had its problems, too: much of the text is impossible to read since it's dark against a dark background.
Notice this was not Starlin's normal style, by which I mean this isn't inked line-drawings like in the Epic and First comics series, but rather paintings, as in the original "Metamorphosis Odysses" series that ran in the first nine issues of Epic Illustrated.
Not Starlin's best, but obviously seminal if you're into Dreadstar. I concur with the other reviewers who dismiss this as wordy and dull. There's maybe only 2 or 3 panels of action.
This story should not be missed ^ Looking back at the loong collector phase of my life, this was one of the books that still comes to my mind. It's grim, it's gritty--vintage Starlin. The phrase "the price" always reminds me of this comic because I remember just how dear the price was that Syzygy paid.
Fantastic cosmic heroism, but missing the color! ^ Easily one of the best comic book stories out there, "The Price" is an awe-inspiring blend of science fiction and fantasy that lays the foundation of the terrific "Dreadstar" comic. This volume is concerned with two main stories: the origin of Syzygy, the horrifically scarred and powerful sorceror who later aids Vanth, and Vanth himself as he begins the second Act of his life: the appalling violence of the galactic Monarchy/Instrumentality war, brutally brought home to him in the most graphic way imaginable. There's a final shorter piece that shows Vanth and Oedi on a mission to steal a cargo ship and end up performing a feat of heroism along the way (which unexpectedly ties in with Willow's origin detailed more fully later in the Dreadstar series). Though Syzygy's story is concerned with sacrifice while Vanth's is concerned with vengeance, both men share a common destiny of heroic struggle forged on their separate violent pasts. I couldn't disagree more with Dan Reilly's criticisms, noted in a previous post, of the substance of this volume ("Most comic character origins, the GOOD ones at least, are simple..."; "WAY too wordy"). This is, simply put, a comic book for mature readers who aren't put off by words appearing next to pictures, and can follow how an adult character is affected through trial and tragedy. Batman and Spiderman were wonderful when I was a child, but as a teenager in the '80s I embraced Dreadstar since it was far more complex and nuanced than any typical superhero comic of its time. Remember, this was before Alan Moore/Neil Gaiman/Garth Ennis et al. made well-written and engaging comic book stories almost routine; writers such as Starlin, Howard Chaykin, and Dave Sim were groundbreaking in their treatment of "adult" topics in the comic medium. I would never slight this work for being tortuous or verbose--Jim Starlin was writing for an audience well beyond the sterotypical preadolescents. With all that praise given, however, I agree with Dan that the black and white format is a letdown. The original colored inks seen in the Epic issues were gorgeously muted and subtle, and are sorely missed here. With the original color, this would be an easy 5 star rating.
Too Busy! ^ Dreadstar Volume Two: The Price suffers from the same sins of excess as Volume One did: It's overwritten and cluttered with things that, in the end, aren't necessary. Most of this volume (And Volume One) has absolutely no bearing on the real story, which begins in Volume Three, when the reprinting of the Dreadstar series originally published by Epic Comics begins. Most comic character origins (The GOOD ones, at least!) are fairly simple: Orphaned as a childby a criminal's bullets, Bruce Wayne devotes his life to fighting crime as Batman. Bitten by a radioactive spider, teen-ager Peter Parker gains amazing powers, and discovers that "With great power, there comes great responsibility". And so Spider-Man was born. Two volumes in, I still can't recap Dreadstar's origin. It's just too convoluted.
The stories in The Price were originally presented in painted color, so the black & white reproduction looks muddied and blurry. I expect that once they get to the reprints of the actual series (Which was conventionally colored), the quality will be better. The stories are WAY too wordy, and by the end of the book (Volume One, as well), you feel like you've taken a long trip to nowhere. There is also a continuity gap in the book that just drove me bonkers: Starlin takes great pains to drum home the point that all of the cat people were killed in the raid on Caldor (NOT the store! The Planet...), but in Chapter Three of The Price, Oedi the cat-man appears out of nowhere, and everyone acts like he's been there all along! Huh?!?!
My advice to potential Dreadstar readers and/or Jim Starlin fans: Start with Volume Three. Everything you'll need to know is in there, and you'll save money and time that could have been wasted on these two pointless books.
Anything Goes Trivia
Megaton Man
Trevor
