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Stellar (Single Issues) #1-6
Stellar, Vol. 1
Stellar was taken as a child and transformed into the ultimate weapon, one that would end an intergalactic war. She succeeded... at everything except finding peace. Reduced to a bounty hunter, she scours the worlds she's broken, searching for redemption. But there are other weapons loose in the galaxy, who just can't leave the war behind them. Joseph Keatinge (Shutter) and legendary artist Bret Blevins (New Mutants, Sleepwalker) will transport you to another dimension, filled with crashed spaceships, fast-talking aliens, and ageless wonders. Collects STELLAR #1-6.
128 pages, Paperback
First published January 22, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
December 4, 2018
I...I'm not sure what I just read? I mean...I was really enjoying the first 3 issues...and then all of a sudden something happened and the story changed and...well...I just didn't understand how we went from where we were to where we ended up?
Like...I feel like I missed something? But I didn't.
I'll tell ya what I didn't miss though...the friggen art! Absolutely LOVED it. Very 90's in feeling...but at the same time, very pulp 70's as well. It was a beautiful book to flip through and if I am being honest...its pretty much solely responisble for the 3 stars that I gave this book.
The story was just...it made my head hurt trying to follow it.
Like...I feel like I missed something? But I didn't.
I'll tell ya what I didn't miss though...the friggen art! Absolutely LOVED it. Very 90's in feeling...but at the same time, very pulp 70's as well. It was a beautiful book to flip through and if I am being honest...its pretty much solely responisble for the 3 stars that I gave this book.
The story was just...it made my head hurt trying to follow it.
December 31, 2018
More like 2.5 stars
I am absolutely clueless to what this story is truly about. Every time I was close to figuring out, the main character's life and overall setting would change drastically. I mean, I SORT OF get that Stellar was MADE and turned into a weapon and she was part of a team, and that one of them (Zenith) went dark. However, I never could get a sense as to why or what happened to her planet or where exactly she was from and how she escapes. It's a very confusing storyline.
However, the art is pretty great and detailed, so that deserves a good rating.
I am absolutely clueless to what this story is truly about. Every time I was close to figuring out, the main character's life and overall setting would change drastically. I mean, I SORT OF get that Stellar was MADE and turned into a weapon and she was part of a team, and that one of them (Zenith) went dark. However, I never could get a sense as to why or what happened to her planet or where exactly she was from and how she escapes. It's a very confusing storyline.
However, the art is pretty great and detailed, so that deserves a good rating.
May 18, 2023
Very interesting story. Mirror realities, one ravaged by weapons of war developed to combat the other, the other blissfully unaware and without the war.
Zenith comes off as a little one-dimensional when looking over the whole narrative. He started to have some depth, but then they go all back on that when he tries to kill Stellar again towards the end. It might have felt more complete if Zenith let Stellar go through the gate without the final murder attempt, but Stellar killed him anyway only to find that Zenith had turned her old sanctuary into a paradise. Sort of like a ‘he had changed, but she wasn’t actually able to’ sort of thing. But he did try to kill her… and he made sanctuary a paradise? Zenith’s motivations confuse me, and Stellar seems to want to be left alone, but he never leaves her alone.
And what of the Zenith, Umbra and Aphegee from the mirror reality? They go into what happened to mirror-stellar and her daughter, but never the other counterparts. Stellar clearly had a connection with Umbra, his counterpart could have offered some real closure or an emotionally satisfying ending for her character.
Feels like a swing and a miss to me, so much potential unrecognized. But the art was phenominal, and the concept was great, and it kept me engaged.
Zenith comes off as a little one-dimensional when looking over the whole narrative. He started to have some depth, but then they go all back on that when he tries to kill Stellar again towards the end. It might have felt more complete if Zenith let Stellar go through the gate without the final murder attempt, but Stellar killed him anyway only to find that Zenith had turned her old sanctuary into a paradise. Sort of like a ‘he had changed, but she wasn’t actually able to’ sort of thing. But he did try to kill her… and he made sanctuary a paradise? Zenith’s motivations confuse me, and Stellar seems to want to be left alone, but he never leaves her alone.
And what of the Zenith, Umbra and Aphegee from the mirror reality? They go into what happened to mirror-stellar and her daughter, but never the other counterparts. Stellar clearly had a connection with Umbra, his counterpart could have offered some real closure or an emotionally satisfying ending for her character.
Feels like a swing and a miss to me, so much potential unrecognized. But the art was phenominal, and the concept was great, and it kept me engaged.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 5, 2018
This was an interesting read, if not an out-and-out success. Part of the problem may be that it's Joseph Keatinge spinning off a Robert Kirkman creation, and the slightly schizophrenic results do suggest it diverged wildly from original intent. The first few issues seem to be this lone female, a bounty hunter who had reluctantly been put through some super-warrior programme as a child. She has a few ex-colleagues and a lot of animosity about the fact they were all used to end an intergalactic war, even if they were successful. But issue four (of six) starts in a very different place, ignoring so much of what happened earlier, and showing her revenge mission on a much more domestic, mundane setting. It would appear that the war concerned multiple universes, and so a mirror version of herself has been brought into things. Either way, she seems to have enough powers to cause for quite a few gruesome visuals, and the main baddy has a very Joker-ific look on several pages here. So there's enough going on to appease, but at the same time seeming jumps in timeline, and certainly in tone, do make this a bit awkward to follow completely successfully. Worth a look, mind.
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December 18, 2018Very pretty, albeit in that Art Adams sort of way which can verge on the cheesily sexualised, but fundamentally baffling in the way that makes one wonder if it was originally written in another language and/or 20 years ago. Which it wasn't, though I do get uneasy when a new Image book is listed as being created by people who aren't themselves doing the first issue, because at that point, what does Image mean? Stellar is one of a group of space war superhumans, trying to leave the conflict behind her; that goes about as well as you'd expect. But then new angle is piled on new angle, and at some point it stops meaning anything, especially once the really implausible twist is followed by a more plausible but really boring untwist. Oh, and the villain is called Zenith, which is kinda...taken? Unsatisfactory.
(Edelweiss ARC)
(Edelweiss ARC)
May 18, 2018
More reviews (and no fluff) on the blog http://surrealtalvi.wordpress.com/
With Stellar issue 1, we are given a brief introduction to a post apocalyptic universe in which everything seems to be in ruins. Retro future spaceships, giant robots, huge alien creatures, and an almost steampunkian type of army lie in ruins or given death through flashbacks. Amidst all this strides our protagonist, Stellar. She is apparently one of several creatures given the ability of mass destruction - and now she repents what she has done in the past.Story: A woman brings a smart mouthed wanted fugitive alien creature in for justice - only to find that the government destabilized once again and the bounty is now void. Frustrated, she brings the prisoner back to a ruined outpost to let him help orphaned children and make some use out of him. But at the same time, she has flashbacks of the ruin she helped create of so many worlds - and how others like her may still be trying to track her down and finish her off.
This is a first issue comic and fairly brief, so the story only just gets started. We know we have a woman with bad memories of being a weapon of war, a lot of aliens and alien-landscapes, and the end suggests she may be in hiding while trying to help what is left of humanity.
The illustration work is solid and we have some interesting alien creatures along with a melange of various sci fi tropes lying broken and destroyed in the backgrounds. The current storyline is told in tones of blues while flashbacks are delivered in vivid warm tones. There is nothing entirely new here, either in story or illustration work, but again this is the first comic so there isn't enough to go on yet as to where this will go. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.
March 17, 2021
This review for the entire series, as I read the collected edition.
This was an unusually unsatisfying read. The concepts drew me to it, the art is pleasing, and the "retro-pulp post-apocalypse" atheistic is fun. But while the plot is somewhat adequate, and the characterizations were at least serviceable, overall it never decided on a theme, which left the whole feeling hollow. Every issue brushes on several core ideas that would have served as foundations for the whole story, but lacks the discipline to focus on and develop any of them. Each is only held on to long enough to justify a scene or two then dropped, barely to be mentioned again. The lead character is a bounty-hunter with a dark past chasing prizes to support an orphanage? well that's ... oh, her past teammates swoop in for a fight and carry her off to face the former ally that betrayed them ... nevermind, they're dead. Now she's stepped into an alternate dimension where the war never happened and she becomes some kind of adventurer ... sorry, that's just implied in flashback. And so on, in can feel like you could read the chapters in any order and it woudn't make much difference.
Agitating the problem, the villain's behavior and motivations are entirely mutable to serve whatever is needed to justify the next confrontation, without any through-line. One issue he's a cackling tyrant out to conquer a universe, another he's a smooth manipulator from a crime-suspense movie. On the other side of that formula, the protagonist never feels truly developed as a character; she's regularly angry and sad, but doesn't have any clear long-term motivation, she merely reacts to whatever situation she's dropped into.
This was an unusually unsatisfying read. The concepts drew me to it, the art is pleasing, and the "retro-pulp post-apocalypse" atheistic is fun. But while the plot is somewhat adequate, and the characterizations were at least serviceable, overall it never decided on a theme, which left the whole feeling hollow. Every issue brushes on several core ideas that would have served as foundations for the whole story, but lacks the discipline to focus on and develop any of them. Each is only held on to long enough to justify a scene or two then dropped, barely to be mentioned again. The lead character is a bounty-hunter with a dark past chasing prizes to support an orphanage? well that's ... oh, her past teammates swoop in for a fight and carry her off to face the former ally that betrayed them ... nevermind, they're dead. Now she's stepped into an alternate dimension where the war never happened and she becomes some kind of adventurer ... sorry, that's just implied in flashback. And so on, in can feel like you could read the chapters in any order and it woudn't make much difference.
Agitating the problem, the villain's behavior and motivations are entirely mutable to serve whatever is needed to justify the next confrontation, without any through-line. One issue he's a cackling tyrant out to conquer a universe, another he's a smooth manipulator from a crime-suspense movie. On the other side of that formula, the protagonist never feels truly developed as a character; she's regularly angry and sad, but doesn't have any clear long-term motivation, she merely reacts to whatever situation she's dropped into.
January 30, 2019
Disclaimer: I received an ARC from Edelweiss for an honest review
Stellar's first issue takes us right into a world dealing with war. We are introduced to the main character Stellar as the women who used to be something just right is just looking to earn some as a bounty hunter.
The story belongs to the Sci-Fi genre with a bit of mystery about Stellar's origin and past. The first Volume gives us just enough to make sense of the universe, the story and our main characters. We are introduced to quite a few, some of them don't make it past first issue/chapter but they leave an impact.
Artist Bret Blevins has given a lot of consideration to the planet details and the art that the story demands. But it was a little too grotesque for my taste.
Full Review on blog; thr4sam
https://www.thr4sam.com/post/stellar
Stellar's first issue takes us right into a world dealing with war. We are introduced to the main character Stellar as the women who used to be something just right is just looking to earn some as a bounty hunter.
The story belongs to the Sci-Fi genre with a bit of mystery about Stellar's origin and past. The first Volume gives us just enough to make sense of the universe, the story and our main characters. We are introduced to quite a few, some of them don't make it past first issue/chapter but they leave an impact.
Artist Bret Blevins has given a lot of consideration to the planet details and the art that the story demands. But it was a little too grotesque for my taste.
Full Review on blog; thr4sam
https://www.thr4sam.com/post/stellar
January 22, 2019
If your next read looks like a beautifully drawn and action packed alternate reality/space mystery story, filled with aliens you’ve never imagined before, then it’s probably “Stellar”. Following a woman named, you guessed it, Stellar, we first meet her when she’s leading around a huge vaguely insect alien on a chain. Though, this beginning honestly doesn’t even come close to the middle, or the ending of this book. It’s something you really have to stick with, though the slightly muted and insanely detailed art inside makes that easy.
Check out my full review here!
https://radioactivebookreviews.wordpr...
Check out my full review here!
https://radioactivebookreviews.wordpr...
September 21, 2023
“Stellar” Volume 1, by Bret Blevins
I can’t say that I really ‘got it’, but definitely intriguing.
#1 – “What sort of demonic source gives you the power to –” - locals
“Science.” – Stellar
#2 – “I didn’t think this planet had life like you left. You might be all there is.” – Stellar
#3 – “But you want something to burn so bad? Fine. We’ll burn.” – Stellar
#4 – “Something you wouldn’t always remember. Something personal.” - Zenith
#5 – “I’d wondered if this day would ever come. It’s good to see you, Stellar.” – Zenith / Victor
#6 – “.. whoever they are, whoever they were .. none of it matters..”
I can’t say that I really ‘got it’, but definitely intriguing.
#1 – “What sort of demonic source gives you the power to –” - locals
“Science.” – Stellar
#2 – “I didn’t think this planet had life like you left. You might be all there is.” – Stellar
#3 – “But you want something to burn so bad? Fine. We’ll burn.” – Stellar
#4 – “Something you wouldn’t always remember. Something personal.” - Zenith
#5 – “I’d wondered if this day would ever come. It’s good to see you, Stellar.” – Zenith / Victor
#6 – “.. whoever they are, whoever they were .. none of it matters..”
June 25, 2021
Why give this an above average review? Because I enjoy a story where our "hero" may not be quite a hero, and our villain, well is probably still a villain but does IMO a really good attempt at a babyface turn (couldn't resist using that phrase).
Stellar tried to leave her old life behind. She was created to be a powered soldier, and what she did in the war horrified her.
With that setup you wouldn't expect a story that, after the first chapter, I think resembles in a good way the The Ballard of Halo Jones.
Stellar tried to leave her old life behind. She was created to be a powered soldier, and what she did in the war horrified her.
With that setup you wouldn't expect a story that, after the first chapter, I think resembles in a good way the The Ballard of Halo Jones.
October 21, 2019
Pretty solid science fiction superhero stuff, with action scenes reminiscent of those in Invincible. But this is NOT Invincible. That's not necessarily a comment on quality, just that the two are very different. I had no problems with the story, although it is pretty disjointed in places, and the art is fantastic. Ultimately not incredibly memorable but definitely worth a look.
January 4, 2026
This kind of felt like a disjointed mess. It was a soap opera. The setting is a superhuman weapon after whatever war she was made for. Her past peers show up because one of them is crazy and obsessed with her. Suddenly a parallel universe, time jump, and the antagonist exists solely to be an annoyance.
December 8, 2018
I got a bit lost in this one. Admittedly I read it as monthlies, it might make more sense in the trade? Either way, it seemed okay but I felt something didn't quite work.
December 18, 2018
Not sure it's truly an outstanding 4* comic, but it is unforgettable due to the very intense art by Brett Blevins.
February 1, 2019
That was...a trip.
March 30, 2019
Like many time warping stories you need to keep up to some big leaps which can be distracting from overall story.
May 28, 2019
A bit too formulaic and some of the transitions are pretty confusing. Ultra-violence, big explosions, aliens. Been there, done that.
August 12, 2019
Decent sci-fi.
May 13, 2023
I have beef with you, Joseph. What do you mean "the end"? How could that be the end? I need more!
*rips shirt and screams*
*rips shirt and screams*
June 15, 2024
"Stellar" was a bit all over the place and could have used more character/world building. Without solid background, the story lacks impact. The fight scenes were good, and I liked the settings.
November 26, 2024
I kinda liked it? Not really sure what was happening… I liked the idea of what the story was, but not the execution. Art was good.
December 17, 2024
Nonsensical tale of a girl turned into a weapon. She's trapped in a story where it seems the writer was high, as few questions are answered and goes nowhere.
October 16, 2020
Ok? I think nobody really understood what that story was about? Mediocre storytelling, forgettable characters. The art was okay.
January 28, 2019
Finding this made me yearn to read Invincible again. A space odyssey about an 'evolved' woman and her mysterious past. Engineered in something that reminded me of the Halo Spartan program she rebelled against her mandate for war. I enjoyed the book immensely. There wasn't enough of it, which to me is indicative of good writing. It definitely left me wanting more.
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews