Silver Star is a comic book created, written, and drawn by Jack Kirby, originally published by Pacific Comics in 1983.
Publication history
The concept for Silver Star began in the mid-1970s as a movie screenplay by Jack Kirby and Steve Sherman. The final comic series was based on the initial screenplay, with some revision made by Kirby.
The original Pacific Comics series ran from February 1983 to January 1984, lasting six issues. The series was launched following the success of Kirby's previous creator-owned book for Pacific, Captain Victory and the Galactic Rangers. Silver Star follows the exploits of government agent Morgan Miller, who, after being transformed into a genetic mutant ("Homo Geneticus") by his father Dr. Bradford Miller, was appointed the task of fighting other super powered beings. In the six-issue series Silver Star teams with fellow "Homo Geneticus" Norma Richmond (gifted with the ability to resist enormous stress) and Big Masai (a size changing mutant), and battles with the villainous Darius Drumm, an early subject of Dr. Bradford Miller's genetic structuring with the ability to warp reality.
Unlike the initial run of the X-Men, also done by Kirby, in which the cast remains intact, the story kills off 2 potential members of the team before Silver Star could recruit them (one by a circus act gone wrong, the other by an exploding baseball), in the first issue.
The original Pacific Comics series also featured additional back-up stories, including Steve Ditko's The Mocker (in issue #2), Mike Thibodeaux's Last of the Viking Heroes (in issues #1, 5, and 6), and Detective Flynn by Richard Kyle and D. Bruce Berry (in issues #3 and 4).
In 1993 Topps Comics planned to launch a new Silver Star as a part of its "Kirbyverse" imprint. The series, written by Kurt Busiek with art by James W. Fry III and Terry Austin, only lasted one issue before the line was cancelled.
In 2007 Image Comics released a hardcover collection titled Jack Kirby's Silver Star. The collection featured all six issues of the original Pacific Comics series, with restored colors on issues 5 and 6 by comic artist Erik Larsen, plus the original screenplay by Kirby and Sherman.
The Character appeared in the 2011 Dynamite Entertainment series Kirby: Genesis, which incorporates the pantheon of Kirby's creator owned properties. In November Dynamite published a 6-issue tie-in Kirby Genesis: Silver Star miniseries, by writer Jai Nitz and artist Johnny D, featuring covers by Alex Ross, Jae Lee, and Mark Buckingham.
Bibliography
- Silver Star #1â€"6 (Pacific Comics)
- Jack Kirby's Silver Star (one-shot) (Topps Comics)
- Kirby: Genesis â€" Silver Star #1â€"7 (Dynamite Entertainment)
Collected editions
- Jack Kirby's Silver Star (2007) Collects the original six issues of the Pacific Comics series and the original screenplay by Kirby and Steve Sherman.