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Stardust Kid
From the Eisner-award winning writer of JUSTICE LEAGUE and SPIDER-MAN and the artist of WEREWOLF BY NIGHT and MAN-THING comes the long-awaited collection of their fan-favorite follow-up to ABADAZAD! Last night, when Cody DiMarco went to bed, life was the same as it's always been. This morning, when he woke up, the world he knew was gone, victim to a magic older than time. Now four children, in order to restore their families and our planet, must solve the mystery of...The Stardust Kid. This edition collects all issues of this hard-to-find mini-series.
128 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 2007
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About the author
J.M. DeMatteis
1,912 books233 followersAlso Credited As:
DeMatteis, John Marc
Ellis, Michael
Lombego, Wally
Bio:
J.M. DeMatteis was a professional musician/singer and rock music journalist before entering comics in the late 70's.
Credits include Spider-Man, Moonshadow, Brooklyn Dreams, Justice League, Abadazad, Hero Squared, the Life and Times of Savior 28.
Created I, Vampire , Creature Commandos, Moonshadow, Hero Squared (co-creator), Abadazad, Stardust Kid, Savior 28 and more.
DeMatteis, John Marc
Ellis, Michael
Lombego, Wally
Bio:
J.M. DeMatteis was a professional musician/singer and rock music journalist before entering comics in the late 70's.
Credits include Spider-Man, Moonshadow, Brooklyn Dreams, Justice League, Abadazad, Hero Squared, the Life and Times of Savior 28.
Created I, Vampire , Creature Commandos, Moonshadow, Hero Squared (co-creator), Abadazad, Stardust Kid, Savior 28 and more.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
May 5, 2022
The Stardust Kid is a children's fairy tale -- literally, in all ways, as the tale was originally written for DeMatteis' child and it has actual fairies in it. :) It follows four children as they try to stop an evil witch from turning the world into her memory of her perfect place. It's a cute story. But for me, it didn't quite come together right.
For starters, I totally get including the narration in the story, and I don't inherently think narration is bad in a book like this. It can solidify the idea of a "storybook" world, where the story you're reading is in the act of being told by someone other than the book's author. At times, it can add texture. And I don't think the narrator in this story was bad, per se. But the narrator broke in too often, and there was more than one, and in the end it felt a little more like the narrator was trying to make sure I was still paying attention than trying to make the narration do something specific for me as the reader.
The story structure is fine otherwise -- the art didn't really work for me on the human side, but it really captured the otherworldlyness of the non-human parts in a way that I loved, and I spent a lot of time studying some of those pages.
Overall, it's a cute book, but I think it may have been germinating for too long, if such a thing is possible. At its heart it was a solid story with some nice themes about growing up and acceptance and change. There was just too much other stuff around it.
For starters, I totally get including the narration in the story, and I don't inherently think narration is bad in a book like this. It can solidify the idea of a "storybook" world, where the story you're reading is in the act of being told by someone other than the book's author. At times, it can add texture. And I don't think the narrator in this story was bad, per se. But the narrator broke in too often, and there was more than one, and in the end it felt a little more like the narrator was trying to make sure I was still paying attention than trying to make the narration do something specific for me as the reader.
The story structure is fine otherwise -- the art didn't really work for me on the human side, but it really captured the otherworldlyness of the non-human parts in a way that I loved, and I spent a lot of time studying some of those pages.
Overall, it's a cute book, but I think it may have been germinating for too long, if such a thing is possible. At its heart it was a solid story with some nice themes about growing up and acceptance and change. There was just too much other stuff around it.
March 20, 2011
I loved their previous work, Abadazad, but this didn't really do much for me. The story was okay, but the narration was too wordy.
November 27, 2019
Light On Story, Heavy On Style
I'm going to start off by saying this wasn't my thing. A big part of it was that I didn't enjoy the art style as it related to the humanoid characters. Something about the noses just really bugged me.
Honestly, most my complaints are a matter of taste. The one thing I hated the most was the narrator, who I found to be obnoxious. Some might find it charming, but the narration, especially the million asides that they don't believe in time, drove me nuts. And this is one of the more text heavy comics that I've ever read, so it's not easy to ignore.
There's not much to the story, but it wasn't bad, just basic. None of the characters were especially interesting, with the lead, Cody, being a shot nosed brat. His best (human) friend was probably my favorite, and she barely does anything.
What was done well was the monster character design and the world's art. It was interesting and I was always curious to see more creatures. It's where the comic is most creative and engaging.
Overall though, I wasn't a fan. It was lacking in story and characters I could care about, and I was never super engaged. However, I'd say that if you're curious, it wouldn't hurt to pick it up and give it a try. If you like the art and the narration doesn't drive you mad, then you'll probably like it a lot better than I.
I'm going to start off by saying this wasn't my thing. A big part of it was that I didn't enjoy the art style as it related to the humanoid characters. Something about the noses just really bugged me.
Honestly, most my complaints are a matter of taste. The one thing I hated the most was the narrator, who I found to be obnoxious. Some might find it charming, but the narration, especially the million asides that they don't believe in time, drove me nuts. And this is one of the more text heavy comics that I've ever read, so it's not easy to ignore.
There's not much to the story, but it wasn't bad, just basic. None of the characters were especially interesting, with the lead, Cody, being a shot nosed brat. His best (human) friend was probably my favorite, and she barely does anything.
What was done well was the monster character design and the world's art. It was interesting and I was always curious to see more creatures. It's where the comic is most creative and engaging.
Overall though, I wasn't a fan. It was lacking in story and characters I could care about, and I was never super engaged. However, I'd say that if you're curious, it wouldn't hurt to pick it up and give it a try. If you like the art and the narration doesn't drive you mad, then you'll probably like it a lot better than I.
June 12, 2020
This is a beautifully drawn book by Mike Ploog that is really well-intentioned with its themes of growth, transformation and good overcoming evil, but the expository narration prevented it from being a four star book for me.
May 28, 2022
Kinda Eh. It's a bit bland and the plot's really janky.
August 25, 2025
incredible. it was like taking a trip into ones soul. highly recommend . and the animation was devine
April 4, 2009
The Stardust Kid by J.M. DeMatteis and Mike Ploog. Boom! Studios, 2008.
12-year-old Cody has a good friend named Paul who is not the 13-year-old boy he appears to be. In fact, exactly what he is remains somewhat unclear, but let’s call him a “magical spirit” who has been Cody’s companion (in various forms) since Cody was born.
What was just a fabulous friendship from Cody’s point of view changes suddenly when Paul’s mirror (sort of his evil twin or his other self – it’s complicated) rises up in anger at the nastiness humans have made of the world and seeks to transform everything into her own vision of perfection.
Unfortunately this vision is fairly dreadful, with evil shrubbery and hungry hornets and other scary beasties. Cody, his long-time friend Alana, and their two younger siblings are swept into a bizarre alternate world – where Cody discovers a secret buried deep inside him that saves them all, with some timely help from Alana.
First, my quibbles. There is an awful lot of wordiness in this graphic novel. The narrator (whose identity remains hidden until the end) expounds at great length throughout the book, and in very tiny font, too. If I felt compelled to skip over all the meandering ponderings and get to the action, then kids certainly will as well, and they won’t be missing all that much.
Also, the plot is a mess, with events and characters popping in and out without much rational explanation. It all may make sense in the minds of its creators, but readers may get very confused, and rightly so.
That said, this is one imaginative and compelling book. The full-color artwork is brilliant and almost juicy with plenty of eye-appeal. The characters don’t possess a huge array of expressions but they all possess a distinct look that makes it a cinch to tell them apart (this is sometimes a problem in graphic novels, I’ve found). Cody and his sis are white and Alana and her brother are black, and the creatures are oozy, drippy, convoluted, leaf-infested, and in general quite cool to look at.
The premise – Paul’s origins, the nature of his mirror, Cody’s eventual transformation – is complicated and a tad mystical, and will perhaps go over the heads of younger readers. Many readers will probably just skip all the aforementioned verbiage and let the exuberant artwork and dialogue tell the story.
Grade 5 and up.
12-year-old Cody has a good friend named Paul who is not the 13-year-old boy he appears to be. In fact, exactly what he is remains somewhat unclear, but let’s call him a “magical spirit” who has been Cody’s companion (in various forms) since Cody was born.
What was just a fabulous friendship from Cody’s point of view changes suddenly when Paul’s mirror (sort of his evil twin or his other self – it’s complicated) rises up in anger at the nastiness humans have made of the world and seeks to transform everything into her own vision of perfection.
Unfortunately this vision is fairly dreadful, with evil shrubbery and hungry hornets and other scary beasties. Cody, his long-time friend Alana, and their two younger siblings are swept into a bizarre alternate world – where Cody discovers a secret buried deep inside him that saves them all, with some timely help from Alana.
First, my quibbles. There is an awful lot of wordiness in this graphic novel. The narrator (whose identity remains hidden until the end) expounds at great length throughout the book, and in very tiny font, too. If I felt compelled to skip over all the meandering ponderings and get to the action, then kids certainly will as well, and they won’t be missing all that much.
Also, the plot is a mess, with events and characters popping in and out without much rational explanation. It all may make sense in the minds of its creators, but readers may get very confused, and rightly so.
That said, this is one imaginative and compelling book. The full-color artwork is brilliant and almost juicy with plenty of eye-appeal. The characters don’t possess a huge array of expressions but they all possess a distinct look that makes it a cinch to tell them apart (this is sometimes a problem in graphic novels, I’ve found). Cody and his sis are white and Alana and her brother are black, and the creatures are oozy, drippy, convoluted, leaf-infested, and in general quite cool to look at.
The premise – Paul’s origins, the nature of his mirror, Cody’s eventual transformation – is complicated and a tad mystical, and will perhaps go over the heads of younger readers. Many readers will probably just skip all the aforementioned verbiage and let the exuberant artwork and dialogue tell the story.
Grade 5 and up.
December 31, 2015
Almost glad I didn't really like this book, because I was starting to think that I was liking every graphic novel I read just to like it. The narrator is too intrusive, the "twist" was not compelling, Alana was mistreated as a character, and the art did very little to add to the story.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews