Comics UK

I haven't read Starlord since it finished (must remedy that) but I remember liking every strip and I would agree that Dan Dare and by that time Mach 1 were both dire as was Ant Wars but Inferno was my favourite along with the Cursed Earth story line of the time.

I am surprised that no-one remembers that Johnny Alpha began in Starlord with storylines that still stand out today.

colcool007 wrote:I am surprised that no-one remembers that Johnny Alpha began in Starlord with storylines that still stand out today.

I think pretty much everyone remembers that, actually. And those stories are even available in reprint form, in a book titled Strontium Dog: the Early Cases.

colcool007 wrote:I am surprised that no-one remembers that Johnny Alpha began in Starlord with storylines that still stand out today.

tony ingram wrote:I think pretty much everyone remembers that, actually. And those stories are even available in reprint form, in a book titled Strontium Dog: the Early Cases.

You can't blame this on your parents taking over your brain, Colin. It's obviously all that Glasgow hooch you've been necking since you crossed that border!

I just found it strange that no-one had mentioned that the Doghouse had its' roots firmly in Starlord.

...just noticed that Sid mentioned it!

I thought that Starlord was better at the time. Now, I'd say it's a bit of a coin toss.

And as to the hooch. With the shrinking pile of bawbees, I'm choosing comics over the hooch, which is why I bought two pages of Colin MacNeil's art at Glasgow.

tony ingram wrote:

SID wrote:I disagree that Starlord was superior to 2000AD at any time. True, Starlord was produced on better paper and you did have a few gems like Strontium Dog and Ro-Buster (I also liked Timequake but there you go) but to me, the comic didn't measure up to the likes of Judge Dredd, Flesh, Invasion, Dan Dare, MACH 1 and Harlem Heroes. Some of which still exists today. Even of the two Starlord strips that did survive, Ro-Busters had a heavy make-over (including name).

Not really true. ABC Warriors and Ro-Busters are two very different series, and Ro-Busters was popular, which is why it kept coming back in 2000AD Annuals in the eighties. I'd also have to say that Mind Wars, Timequake and Planet of the Damned were far better strips than Invasion, MACH One, Harlem Heroes or much of 2000AD's Dan Dare.

I possibly agree about Ro-Busters, Tony. Two different types of strips with the same roots. That makes it worst really. If Starlord was the better comic, why has only one of its strips (Strontium Dog) survived?

However, though my preference is 2000AD, I am still a fan of Starlord and wished that both survived. Well if DCT did it for The Dandy and The Beano...

SID wrote:

tony ingram wrote:

SID wrote:I disagree that Starlord was superior to 2000AD at any time. True, Starlord was produced on better paper and you did have a few gems like Strontium Dog and Ro-Buster (I also liked Timequake but there you go) but to me, the comic didn't measure up to the likes of Judge Dredd, Flesh, Invasion, Dan Dare, MACH 1 and Harlem Heroes. Some of which still exists today. Even of the two Starlord strips that did survive, Ro-Busters had a heavy make-over (including name).

Not really true. ABC Warriors and Ro-Busters are two very different series, and Ro-Busters was popular, which is why it kept coming back in 2000AD Annuals in the eighties. I'd also have to say that Mind Wars, Timequake and Planet of the Damned were far better strips than Invasion, MACH One, Harlem Heroes or much of 2000AD's Dan Dare.

I possibly agree about Ro-Busters, Tony. Two different types of strips with the same roots. That makes it worst really. If Starlord was the better comic, why has only one of its strips (Strontium Dog) survived?

Probably for the same reason that 2000AD no longer regularly features the once very popular Rogue Trooper, Robo-Hunter, Nikolai Dante or Nemesis the Warlock: because some strips have a naturally finite life. Ro-Busters contnued until they ran out of stories to tell. That doesn't mean they weren't good stories.

Incidentally, when ABC Warriors next returns, it will be revisting Ro-Busters.

tony ingram wrote:

SID wrote:If Starlord was the better comic, why has only one of its strips (Strontium Dog) survived?

Probably for the same reason that 2000AD no longer regularly features the once very popular Rogue Trooper, Robo-Hunter, Nikolai Dante or Nemesis the Warlock: because some strips have a naturally finite life. Ro-Busters contnued until they ran out of stories to tell. That doesn't mean they weren't good stories.

Incidentally, when ABC Warriors next returns, it will be revisiting Ro-Busters.

I would have thought that if the strips were more successful, then at least a couple of them would have survived even if they didn't carry on to present day.

For me, I was sad that they finished Timequake. Along with Strontium Dog and Planet of the Damned, it was my favourite strip and had potential and I liked the character development. Then again, when they did that bring it back in 2000AD, I didn't like it at all.

Looking forward to the next instalment of the ABC Warriors.

Of course, there's no such thing as 'better', just personal preference.

Timequake could have easily continued on. There was no end to the potential stories. Would have aided 2000AD as well, I think, as it was a slightly different kind of tale to what they were using.

Planet of the Damned was a big favourite of mine. But like my fave story in Tornado, The Angry Planet, it came to a natural conclusion.

For me, the first half of Starlord was astoundingly good. However, it had gone downhill by the time of the merger. Basically though, you had pretty much the same creators on both titles but with higher production standards on Star*Lord.

Mind you, this kind of looked familiar whilst visiting some friends in Northampton...

had Starlord emerged as the predominant title over 2000 AD, I think it would have folded about the same time as the new Eagle. For me, just the name "2000 AD" has kept the publication going, especially back in the mid-nineties when it was really under pressure. Perhaps, the big men in charge thought: "Gotta keep it going till the year 2000 at least." Of course, by that year, 2000 AD had maintained a reasonable quota of readership to keep it sailing. Even Judge Dredd Megazine has survived, which was really facing the axe in the mid-late nineties. It defies logic - both titles should have long gone by now, but they keep going with original material. Yep, 2000 AD for me without a doubt.

2000AD definitely sounds cooler. Speaking of which Starlord I don't supposed I'm in the majority but I get a bad vibe from everything I've seen from the Guardians film apart from the productions values. The cartoon squirrel, the desperate-for-laffs but unfunny self-deprecation; the stock character history profiles. Maybe I was just spoiled by the excellence of Winter Solider. But I'll be hoping my lowered expectations will yield fruit, and of course I'll be seeing all of these shamefully-non-fiscally-Jack Kirby-estate-honouring things anyway.

Michael Anden wrote:2000AD definitely sounds cooler. Speaking of which Starlord I don't supposed I'm in the majority but I get a bad vibe from everything I've seen from the Guardians film apart from the productions values. The cartoon squirrel, the desperate-for-laffs but unfunny self-deprecation; the stock character history profiles. Maybe I was just spoiled by the excellence of Winter Solider. But I'll be hoping my lowered expectations will yield fruit, and of course I'll be seeing all of these shamefully-non-fiscally-Jack Kirby-estate-honouring things anyway.

Michael, I don't know what Starlord you mean, but we are discussing the 1978 22 issue run of the UK comic.

Michael Anden wrote:2000AD definitely sounds cooler. Speaking of which Starlord I don't supposed I'm in the majority but I get a bad vibe from everything I've seen from the Guardians film apart from the productions values. The cartoon squirrel, the desperate-for-laffs but unfunny self-deprecation; the stock character history profiles. Maybe I was just spoiled by the excellence of Winter Solider. But I'll be hoping my lowered expectations will yield fruit, and of course I'll be seeing all of these shamefully-non-fiscally-Jack Kirby-estate-honouring things anyway.

I must admit, I am looking forward to watching the new Guardians of the Galaxy movie but as colcool says, we are talking about Starlord the UK publication printed by IPC and eventually merged with 2000AD.

I must admit that I enjoyed the film far more than I expected to. It does, however, make me wonder which Starlord came first...?

Marvel's Starlord came first, his first appearance being in Marvel Preview #4, dated January 1976.