X-Men: Starjammers by Dave Cockrum

Uncanny X-Men (1963) #154-158, 161-167

by Dave Cockrum, Chris Claremont, John Byrne (Illustrator)

In 1977, the X-Men went cosmic, traveling to the far-flung Shi'ar Empire -where they encountered the swashbuckling space pirates known as the Starjammers! Corsair, Hepzibah, Ch'od, Raza, Cr'reee and Sikorsky quickly became fixtures of the X-Men mythos, and this volume features every appearance drawn by their co-creator, the legendary Dave Cockrum! First, the Starjammers must help the X-Men prevent universal armageddon - but what happens when Corsair realizes that one of the X-Men is his son? Then, when the parasitic Brood attack and Shi'ar Empress Lilandra is kidnapped, the X-Men fight a war on two fronts...without and within! But will Carol Danvers join the Starjammers? And in their first solo story, the team embarks on an interstellar quest for a cosmic object of immeasurable power! COLLECTING: X-MEN (1963) 107-108; UNCANNY X-MEN (1981) 154-158, 161-167; X-MEN: SPOTLIGHT ON STARJAMMERS 1-2

Genres: Comics, X Men, Marvel, Graphic Novels

456 pages, Paperback

First published October 30, 2019

About the author

David Emmett Cockrum was an American comic book artist known for his co-creation of the new X-Men characters Nightcrawler, Storm, and Colossus. Cockrum was also a prolific and inventive costume designer, who updated the uniforms of the Legion of Super-Heroes, and did the same for the new X-Men and many of their antagonists, in the 1970s and early 1980s.

Reviews

[Shawn Ingle · Rating 3 out of 5]

The unresolved storyline they chose to end this with was terrible. I'm trying not to let it skew my overall review of this collection. I'm not much of a fan of the Starjammers so I didn't have high hopes or expectations going into this as I attempt to read Uncanny X-Men in order. I'm also not a big fan of the intergalactic space battles in comics in general. But there are definitely some enjoyable aspects to this. Especially some of the character study and development, such as the dynamic between Storm and Cyclops as friends versus leaders, Scott finding out who his father is and the developing relationship between Peter and Kitty. Though probably a bit drawn out, the Brood story arc is good. We also see the introduction of The New Mutants (which is where my reading will take me next). So there is a fair amount to like here. As far as the artwork, nothing against Dave Cockrum but coming from John Byrne in the previous collection anything else is going to be a bit of a letdown.

[Daniel · Rating 2 out of 5]

The best part of this was the introduction of the brood and the beginning of the phenoix saga. the rest is silly even for Marvel's cosmic universe.

[Adam Stone · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you're a fan of the Starjammers or The Brood, or you're trying to read all of the Carol Danvers story, this could be a fun, three star book or so. It's got some character building between the X-Men, The Starjammers, and the Shi'ar Empire. It introduces The Brood as a major threat, even though they're basically a PG ripoff of the xenomorphs in Aliens. It even serves as an important evolution in Carol Danvers's journey as she becomes Binary in this volume.

As far as an X-Men story, though, it's a step down from previous volumes. Apart from some interesting conversations between Nightcrawler and Wolverine, and between Cyclops and Storm, most of this feels like filler. I get that it's another space epic and it's supposed to feel like a major event but it fell flat for me. I had to really focus to keep from just flipping past pages to see if I could find something more interesting. I did enjoy the brief tussle between The X-Men and their replacements: The New Mutants, and how they quickly resolved their conflict but that was about as good as this volume ever got for me.

I don't really recommend it for X-fans who aren't completists unless they're huge fans of Marvel's cosmic universe.

[Jeremy Hunter · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Dave Cockrum artwork was great but the scripts were silly and overly wordy; a shame because I like the Starjammers

[Acaer · Rating 2 out of 5]

5/10