Epic Illustrated Issue 1

Epic Illustrated #1

by Jim Starlin

Epic Illustrated was touted as a new experience in adult fantasy and science fiction adventure. Published by Marvel Comics, this magazine was aimed at a more mature audience.

In this issue: A philosophical tale about God with Galactus, the Devourer of Worlds, and his herald the Silver Surfer in “The Answer” by Stan Lee, John Buscema and Rudy Nebres (with colors by Rick Veitch).

Plus: Selah defies her father, Olbar, to be with Malak in the ElfQuest story “Homespun” by Wendy Pini;
“Aware” by Leopoldo Duranona; “For the Next 60 Seconds” by Bob Larkin;
“Aknaton (Metamorphosis Odyssey Chapter I)” by Jim Starlin;
“Lullabye of Bedlam” by Ray Rue;
“Elfspire” (preview excerpt of an illustrated text story) by John Poscik and Thomas Blackshear;
1-pagers by Mirko Ilic – “History of Human Absurdity Part 1,” “The Victor” and “Shakti”;
“Convert” by Ernie Colon; “Heads” by Arthur Suydam;
“Za! (Metamorphosis Odyssey Chapter II)” by Starlin;
“Juliet (Metamorphosis Odyssey Chapter III)” by Starlin;
“Detour” (text story with one illustration) by George Bush;
and “Topaz” by Carl Potts.

Plus: Feedback comments on Epic Illustrated from Neal Adams, Ray Bradbury, George Pal, Joseph Stefano and Ian Summers.

Genres: Comics

96 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 1980

About the author

James P. "Jim" Starlin 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 and Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu. 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.

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).

When Marvel Comics wished to use the name of Captain Marvel for a new, different character,[citation needed] Starlin was given the rare 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 the company itself. (

In the late 1980s, Starlin began working more for DC Comics, writing a number of Batman stories, including the four-issue miniseries Batman: The Cult (Aug.-Nov. 1988), and the storyline "Batman: A Death in the Family", in Batman #426-429 (Dec. 1988 – 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. For DC he created Hardcore Station.

Reviews

[Drew Canole · Rating 2 out of 5]

Marvel hired some great artists for this first issue but forgot to bring the writers on board!

The cover is pretty cool, but this is basically Marvel's attempt to capture some of that Heavy Metal money.

Besides for one story that features Silver Surfer with John Buscema and some nice color, the rest of this is creator-owned.

I've read this before, but couldn't really remember too much.

The ElfQuest story “Homespun” by Wendy Pini is a highlight. “Lullabye of Bedlam” by Ray Rue is a well-drawn story about scientists jumping into a patient's dream to try and wake her up. Metamorphosis Odyssey” by Starlin has fantastic artwork but the story is confusing to follow.

The 1-pagers by Mirko Ilic is a stand-out. I hope I can find more of their work.

Other contents are:
“Aware” by Leopoldo Duranona
“For the Next 60 Seconds” by Bob Larkin
“Elfspire” (preview excerpt of an illustrated text story) by John Poscik and Thomas Blackshear;
“Convert” by Ernie Colon - great artwork, weak story
“Heads” by Arthur Suydam - great artwork, weak story
“Detour” (text story with one illustration) by George Bush (I think its a different George Bush!)
“Topaz” by Carl Potts

I'm hoping the future volumes are stronger! They all have great covers at the very least.

[Egghead · Rating 3 out of 5]

Marvel Heavy Metal
Hurlant concepts everywhere...
Hey! There's nudity!