Jim Starlin

James P. "Jim" Starlin (born October 9, 1949) 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, Drax the Destroyer, Gamora and Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu.

Biography

Personal life

In the 1960s, Jim Starlin served as an aviation photographer in the US Navy in Vietnam. During his off duty time, he drew and submitted various comics. After leaving the Navy, he sold two stories to DC Comics.

Early career

After writing and drawing stories for a number of fan publications, Jim Starlin got his break into comics in 1972, working for Roy Thomas and John Romita at Marvel Comics. Brought in by fellow artist Rich Buckler, Starlin was part of the generation of artists and writers who grew up as fans of Silver Age Marvel Comics. At a Steve Ditko-focused panel at the 2008 Comic-Con International, Starlin said, "Everything I learned about storytelling was [due to] him or Kirby. [Ditko] did the best layouts."

Starlin's first job for Marvel was as a finisher on pages of The Amazing Spider-Man. He then drew three issues of Iron Man, that introduced the characters Thanos and Drax the Destroyer. He was then given the chance to draw an issue (#25) of the "cosmic" title Captain Marvel. Starlin took over as plotter the following issue, and began developing an elaborate story arc centered on the villainous Thanos, and spread across a number of Marvel titles. Starlin left Captain Marvel one issue after concluding his Thanos saga.

Concurrently 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).

After working on Captain Marvel, Starlin and writer Steve Englehart co-created the character Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu, though they only worked on the early issues of the series. Starlin then took over the title Warlock, starring a genetically engineered being created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in the 1960s and re-imagined by Roy Thomas and Gil Kane in the 1970s as a Jesus Christ-like figure on an alternate Earth. Envisioning the character as philosophical and existentially tortured, Starlin wrote and drew a complex space opera with theological and psychological themes. Warlock confronted the militaristic Universal Church of Truth, eventually revealed to be created and led by an evil evolution of his futureâ€"past self, known as Magus. Starlin ultimately incorporated Thanos into this story. Comics historian Les Daniels noted that "In a brief stint with Marvel, which included work on two characters [Captain Marvel and Adam Warlock] that had previously never quite made their mark, Starlin managed to build a considerable cult following."

In Fall 1978, Starlin, Howard Chaykin, Walt Simonson, and Val Mayerik formed Upstart Associates, a shared studio space on West 29th Street in New York City. The membership of the studio changed over time.

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.

1980s

Starlin occasionally worked for Marvel's chief competitor DC Comics and drew stories for Legion of Super-Heroes and the "Batman" feature in Detective Comics in the late 1970s. He co-created the supervillain Mongul with writer Len Wein in DC Comics Presents #27 (Nov. 1980).

The new decade found Starlin creating an expansive story titled "the Metamorphosis Odyssey", which introduced the character of Vanth Dreadstar in Epic Illustrated #3. From its beginning in Epic Illustrated, the initial story was painted in monochromatic grays, eventually added to with other tones, and finally becoming full color. The storyline was further developed in The Price and Marvel Graphic Novel #3 and eventually the long-running Dreadstar comic book, published first by Epic Comics, and then by First Comics.

Starlin was given the 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 Marvel itself.

Starlin and Bernie Wrightson produced Heroes for Hope, a 1985 one-shot designed to raise money for African famine relief and recovery. Published in the form of a comics "jam," the book featured an all-star lineup of comics creators as well as a few notable authors from outside the comic book industry, such as Stephen King, George R. R. Martin, Harlan Ellison, and Edward Bryant.

In 1986, he and Wrightson produced a second benefit comic for famine relief. Heroes Against Hunger featuring Superman and Batman was published by DC and like the earlier Marvel benefit project featured many top comics creators. Starlin became the writer of Batman and one of his first storylines for the title was "Ten Nights of The Beast" in issues #417 - 420 (March - June 1988) which introduced the KGBeast. Starlin then wrote the four-issue miniseries Batman: The Cult (Aug.-Nov. 1988) drawn by Wrightson. and the storyline "Batman: A Death in the Family", in Batman #426-429 (Dec. 1988 â€" 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.

Other projects for DC included writing The Weird drawn by Wrightson and Cosmic Odyssey drawn by Mike Mignola. Starlin wrote and drew Gilgamesh II in 1989 before returning to Marvel.

Later career

Back at Marvel, Starlin began scripting a revival of the Silver Surfer series. As had become his Marvel norm, he introduced his creation Thanos into the story arc, which led to The Infinity Gauntlet miniseries and its crossover storyline. Here, Starlin brought back Adam Warlock, whom he had killed years earlier in his concluding Warlock story in Avengers Annual #7 and Marvel Two-in-One Annual #2 in 1977. The Infinity Gauntlet proved successful and was followed by the sequel miniseries Infinity War and Infinity Crusade.

For DC he created Hardcore Station in 1998.

In 2003, Starlin wrote and drew the Marvel Comics miniseries Marvel: The End. The series starred Thanos and a multitude of Marvel characters, and subsequently, Starlin was assigned an eponymous Thanos series. Starlin then worked for independent companies, creating Cosmic Guard (later renamed Kid Cosmos) published by Devil's Due and then Dynamite Entertainment in 2006.

Starlin returned to DC and, with artist Shane Davis, wrote the miniseries Mystery in Space vol. 2, featuring Captain Comet and Starlin's earlier creation, the Weird. In 2007â€"2008, he worked on the DC miniseries Death of the New Gods and Rann-Thanagar Holy War, as well as a Hawkman tie-in that became the latest of many stories to have altered the character's origins over the previous two decades. He also wrote the eight-issue miniseries Strange Adventures.

In 2013, Starlin became the writer of Stormwatch, one of the series of the The New 52 line, beginning with issue #19.

Other work

Starlin co-wrote four novels with his wife Daina Graziunas (whom he married in October 1980): Among Madmen (1990, Roc Books), Lady El (1992, Roc Books), Thinning the Predators (1996, Warner Books; paperback edition entitled Predators); and Pawns (1989, serialized in comic book Dreadstar #42-54).

Awards

• 1973: Won the "Outstanding New Talent" Shazam Award, tied with Walt Simonson
• 1974: Nominated for the "Superior Achievement by an Individual" Shazam Award
• 1977: Nominated for the "Favourite Comicbook Artist" Eagle Award
• 1978:
  • Won the "Favourite Single Story" Eagle Award, for Avengers Annual #7: The Final Threat
  • Won the "Favourite Continued Story" Eagle Award, for Avengers Annual #7 / Marvel Two-in-One Annual #2
  • Nominated for the "Favourite Artist" Eagle Award
  • Nominated for "Best Comic" British Fantasy Award, for Avengers Annual #7: The Final Threat
• 1979: Nominated for "Best Comic" British Fantasy Award, for Among the Great Divide (The Rampaging Hulk #7), with Steve Gerber and Bob Wiacek
• 1986:
  • Won the "Best Long Story" Haxtur Award, for Dreadstar
  • Received the Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award, jointly with Bernie Wrightson
• 1992:
  • Won the "Best Script" Haxtur Award, for Silver Surfer #1-5
  • Nominated for the "Best Long Story" Haxtur Award, for Silver Surfer #1-5, with Ron Lim
• 1993:
  • Nominated for the "Best Script" Haxtur Award, for Deeply Buried Secrets (Silver Surfer #12)
  • Nominated for the "Best Short Story" Haxtur Award, for Deeply Buried Secrets (Silver Surfer #12), with Ron Lim
• 1995:
  • Nominated for the "Best Short Story" Haxtur Award, for Daredevil/Black Widow: Abattoir, with Joe Chiodo
  • Nominated for the "Best Cover" Haxtur Award, for Breed #6
• 2005: Received the "Author That We Loved" Haxtur Award
• August 2014: Accepted the position of Inkwell Awards Special Ambassador (August 2014-present)

Bibliography

Comics work includes:

DC

• Adventures of Superman Annual #1 (writer, 1987)
• Batman #402 (artist, 1986); #414-430 (writer, 1987â€"89)
• Batman: The Cult, miniseries, #1-4 (writer, 1988)
• Cosmic Odyssey, miniseries, #1-4 (writer, 1988â€"89)
• Countdown to Final Crisis #5 (artist, 2008)
• DC Comics Presents #26-29, 36-37 (writer/artist, 1980â€"81)
• Death of the New Gods, miniseries, #1-8 (writer/artist, 2007â€"08)
• Detective Comics #481-482 (writer/artist) (1981)
• The Flash (Firestorm backup stories) #294-296 (artist, 1981)
• Gilgamesh II, miniseries, #1-4 (writer/artist, 1989)
• Hardcore Station (writer/artist, 1998)
• Heroes Against Hunger (writer, 1986)
• Kamandi #59 (OMAC backup story) (writer/artist 1978)
• Mystery in Space, miniseries, #1-8 (writer/artist along with Shane Davis, 2006â€"07)
• New Gods, vol. 3, #2-4 (writer, along with Paris Cullins, 1989)
• Rann-Thanagar Holy War, miniseries, #1-8 (writer, 2008â€"09)
• Richard Dragon, Kung-Fu Fighter #2 (artist, along with Alan Weiss) (1975)
• Strange Adventures, miniseries, #1-8 (writer/artist among others, 2009)
• Superboy (Legion of Super-Heroes) #239, 250-251 (writer/artist as "Steve Apollo", with co-author Paul Levitz) (1978â€"79)
• Superman: The Computers that saved Metropolis, one-shot (artist, 1980)
• Superman, vol. 2, #139 (artist, 1998)
• Sword of Sorcery #5 (artist, 1973)
• Warlord (OMAC backup stories) #37-39 (writer/artist 1980)
• The Weird, miniseries, #1-4 (writer, 1988)

Marvel

• Amazing Adventures, vol. 2, #17 (Beast feature, 2-pages only) (artist, 1973)
• Amazing Spider-Man #113-114 (artist, 1972); #187 (artist, 1978)
• Astonishing Tales (Ka-Zar) #19 (artist, along with Dan Adkins, 1973)
• Avengers #107 (artist alog with George Tuska, 1972); Annual #7 (writer/artist, 1977)
• Book of the Dead (Man-Thing), miniseries, #3 (artist, 1994)
• Captain Marvel #25-34 (full art); #36 (3-pages only) (writer/artist, 1973â€"74)
• Captain Marvel, vol. 2, #11, 18 (artist, 2000â€"01)
• The Cat #4 (along with Alan Weiss) (artist, 1973)
• Conan the Barbarian #64 (artist, 1976)
• Daredevil #105 (artist, along with Don Heck, 1973)
• Daredevil/Black Widow: Abattoir (graphic novel) (writer, 1993)
• Deadly Hands of Kung-Fu #1-2, 15 (writer/artist, 1974â€"75)
• Doctor Strange #23-26 (writer/artist, 1977)
• Dracula Lives #2 (artist along with Syd Shores, 1973)
• Dreadstar #1-26 (writer/artist, 1982â€"86)
• Epic Illustrated #1-9 (Metamorphosis Odyssey); #14-15, 22, 34 (writer/artist, 1980â€"86)
• Fear (Man-Thing) #12 (artist, 1973)
• Ghost Rider, vol. 2, #35 (artist, 1979)
• Giant-Size Defenders #1 (9-pages only), #3 (artist, 1975)
• Heroes for Hope (writer/back cover artist, 1985)
• Incredible Hulk vol. 2 #222 (artist, 1978)
• Incredible Hulk and the Thing: The Big Change (graphic novel) (writer, 1987)
• Infinity Gauntlet, miniseries, #1-6 (writer, 1991)
• Infinity War, miniseries, #1-6 (writer, 1992)
• Infinity Crusade, miniseries, #1-6 (writer, 1993)
• Infinity Abyss, miniseries, #1-6 (writer/artist, 2002)
• Iron Man #55-56 (artist, 1973)
• Journey into Mystery (vol. 2) #1, 3 (artist, 1972â€"73)
• Marvel Fanfare #20-21 (writer/artist, 1985)
• Marvel Feature #11-12 (artist, 1973)
• Marvel Graphic Novel #1 (The Death of Captain Marvel), #3 (Dreadstar) (writer/artist, 1982)
• Marvel Premiere (Doctor Strange) #8 (artist, 1973)
• Marvel Preview (Thor) #10 (artist, 1977)
• Marvel: The End, miniseries, #1-6 (writer/artist, 2003)
• Marvel Two-in-One Annual #2 (writer/artist, 1977)
• Master of Kung-Fu #17, 24 (1974â€"75)
• Punisher: P.O.V, miniseries, #1-4 (writer, 1991)
• Rampaging Hulk #4 (writer/artist, 1977), #7 (Man-Thing feature) (artist, 1978)
• Savage Tales #5 (penciller, 1974)
• Shadows & Light #2 (Doctor Strange feature) (writer/artist, 1998), #3 (Werewolf By Night feature) (writer, 1998)
• Silver Surfer, vol 3, #34-48, 50 (writer, 1990â€"91)
• Silver Surfer: Homecoming original graphic novel (writer, 1991)
• Spaceknights #1-5 (writer, 2000â€"01)
• Special Marvel Edition (Shang-Chi) #15-16 (then changes title to Master of Kung Fu) (1973â€"74)
• Strange Tales (Warlock) #178-181 (writer/artist, 1975)
• Thanos #1-6 (writer/artist, 2003â€"04)
• Thanos Annual #1 (writer, 2014)
• Thanos: The Infinity Revelation (graphic novel) (writer/artist, 2014)
• The Thanos Quest, miniseries, #1-2 (writer, 1990)
• Thor, vol. 2, #37 (artist, 2001)
• Warlock #9-15 (writer/artist, 1975â€"76)
• Warlock and the Infinity Watch #1-31 (writer, 1992â€"94)
• X-Factor Special: Prisoner Of Love (writer, 1990)

Other publishers

• 'Breed: Book of Genesis #1-6 (miniseries) (writer/artist) (Malibu Comics, 1994)
• 'Breed: Book of Ecclesiastes #1-6 (miniseries) (writer/artist) (Malibu Comics, 1994â€"95)
• 'Breed: Book of Revelation #1-7 (miniseries) (writer/artist) (Image Comics 2011)
• Cosmic Guard #1-6 (miniseries) & Kid Kosmos (graphic novel) (writer/artist) (Devil's Due Publishing, 2004â€"05,07)
• Creepy #106, 114 (artist) (Warren Publishing, 1979â€"80)
• Dreadstar #27-32 (writer/artist); #33-40 (writer) (First Comics, 1986â€"89)
• Eclipse Magazine #1 (writer/artist) (Eclipse Enterprises, 1981)
• Eerie #76, 79, 80, 84, 100 (Darklon The Mystic feature) (writer/artist); #101, 128 (artist) (Warren Publishing, 1976â€"82)
• Heavy Metal (vol 3) #4 (writer/artist) (HM Communications, 1979)
• Hellboy: Weird Tales #5 (artist) (Dark Horse, 2003)
• Michael Chabon Presents The Amazing Adventures Of The Escapist #1 (writer/artist) (Dark Horse, 2004)
• Star*Reach #1-2 (writer/artist) (Star*Reach Productions, 1974)
• Supreme: The Return #2 (artist) (Awesome, 1999)
• Unity 2000 #1-3 (miniseries, #4-6 were not published) (artist) (Acclaim, 1999â€"2000)
• Vampirella #78 (artist) (Warren Publishing, 1979)
• Wyrd the Reluctant Warrior #1-6 (miniseries) (writer/artist) (Slave Labor Graphics, 1999)

Covers only

• Amazing Adventures (vol. 2) #27 (Marvel Comics, 1974)
• Avengers #120, 135 (Marvel Comics, 1974â€"75)
• Captain Marvel (vol. 2) #17-18 (Marvel comics, 2000)
• Captain America #162 (Marvel Comics, 1973)
• Comic Book Artist #18 (Twomorrows Publishing, 2002)
• Daredevil #107 (Marvel Comics, 1974)
• The Defenders #110 (Marvel Comics, 1982)
• Dreadstar (1994 series) #1-2 (Malibu Comics, 1994)
• FOOM #9 (Marvel Comics, 1975)
• Green Lantern #129, 133 (DC Comics, 1980)
• Incredible Hulk (vol. 2) #217 (Marvel Comics, 1977)
• Iron Man #68, 100, 160, 163 (Marvel Comics, 1974â€"82)
• Jonah Hex #12 (DC Comics, 1978)
• Jungle Action (vol 2) #3 (Marvel Comics, 1973)
• Justice League of America #178-180, 183, 185 (DC Comics, 1980)
• Man-Thing #2 (Marvel Comics, 1974)
• Marvel Preview #13-14 (Marvel Comics, 1978)
• Marvel Super-Heroes #33, 47 (Marvel Comics, 1972â€"74)
• Marvel Team-Up #27 (Marvel Comics, 1974)
• Marvel Two-In-One #6 (Marvel Comics, 1974)
• Marvel's Greatest Comics #39, 41 (Marvel Comics, 1973)
• The Mighty World of Marvel #2-20, 22, 24, 26 (Marvel UK, 1972)
• Miracleman #4 (Eclipse Comics, 1985)
• Rampaging Hulk #5 (Marvel Comics, 1977)
• Super-Villain Team-Up #6 (Marvel Comics, 1976)
• Thanos #7 (Marvel Comics, 2004)

Collections

Hardcover:

• DC Comics Classics Library: A Death In The Family, 272 pages, September 2009, DC Comics, ISBN 9781401225162
• Death of the New Gods, 256 pages, September 2008, DC Comics, ISBN 978-1401218393
• Dreadstar: The Beginning, 230 pages, May 2010, Dynamite, ISBN 978-1606901199
• Dreadstar: The Definitive Collection, 376 pages, September 2004, Dynamite, ISBN 978-0974963808
• Marvel Masterworks: Captain Marvel vol. 3, 288 pages, April 2008, Marvel Comics, ISBN 978-0785130154
• Marvel Masterworks: Warlock vol. 2, 336 pages, July 2009, Marvel Comics, ISBN 978-0785135111
• Marvel Premiere Classic vol. 43: The Death of Captain Marvel, 128 pages, January 2010, Marvel Comics, ISBN 978-0785146278
• Marvel Premiere Classic vol. 46: The Infinity Gauntlet, 256 pages, July 2010, Marvel Comics, ISBN 978-0785145509
• Marvel Premiere Classic vol. 47: Silver Surfer: Rebirth of Thanos, 224 pages, July 2010, Marvel Comics, ISBN 978-0785144786
• Infinity Gauntlet Omnibus, 1248 pages, July 2014, Marvel Comics, ISBN 978-0785154686

Softcover:

• Cosmic Guard (Kid Kosmos), 132 pages, April 2008, Dynamite, ISBN 978-1933305028
• Dreadstar: The Definitive Collection
  • Volume 1, 192 pages, August 2004, Dynamite, ISBN 978-0974963815
  • Volume 2, 188 pages, September 2004, Dynamite, ISBN 978-0974963822
• Death of the New Gods, 256 pages, August 2009, DC Comics, ISBN 978-1401222116
• Essential Doctor Strange volume 3, 616 pages, December 2007, Marvel Comics, ISBN 978-0785127338
• Essential Marvel Two-In-One
  • Volume 1, 576 pages, November 2005, Marvel Comics, ISBN 0-7851-1729-6
  • Volume 2, 568 pages, June 2007, Marvel Comics, ISBN 978-0785126980
• Essential Rampaging Hulk volume 1, 584 pages, May 2008, Marvel Comics, ISBN 978-0785126997
• Infinity Abyss, 176 pages, March 2003, Marvel Comics, ISBN 978-0785109853
• Infinity War, 400 pages, April 2006, Marvel Comics, ISBN 978-0785121053
• Infinity Crusade
  • Volume 1, 248 pages, December 2008, Marvel Comics, ISBN 978-0785131274
  • Volume 2, 240 pages, January 2009, Marvel Comics, ISBN 978-0785131281
• Thanos: Epiphany, 144 pages, August 2004, Marvel Comics, ISBN 978-0785113553

Portfolios

• Camelot 4005 (seven black-and-white and one colour plates) (Bob Hakins, 1978)
• Insanity (six black-and-white prints) (Middle Earth, 1974)
• Metamorphosis Odyssey (four colour plates) (S.Q. Productions, 1980)

Retrospective

• Starlin, Jim; Joe Pruett, ed., designer (2010). The Art of Jim Starlin. IDW/Desperado. ISBN 1600107702. 

References

Notes

1. ^ Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's reunion for a Silver Surfer graphic novel in 1978 was published by Simon and Schuster.

External links

• Jim Starlin at the Comic Book DB
• Jim Starlin at Mike's Amazing World of Comics
• Jim Starlin at the Lambiek Comiclopedia
• Jim Starlin at the Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics Creators
• "Jim Starlin Returns to Known Space", Comic Wire, Comic Book Resources, November 16, 2000
• "The Cosmic Code Authority Speaks!", Comic Book Artist #18, TwoMorrows Publishing, April, 2002
• Jim Starlin interview, Adelaide Comics and Books (2003). WebCite archive
• Review: The Art of Jim Starlin: A Life in Words and Pictures, Comic Book Resources, November 9, 2010
• "Dreadstar December", Comics Should Be Good, Comic Book Resources, December 2010