Dreadstar Guidebook

Dreadstar #GB

by Jim Starlin, Robert Greenberger

The Dreadstar Guidebook is a special 96-page hardcover companion volume to Dreadstar Returns. In the vein of The Official Handbook Of The Marvel Universe and DC’s Who’s Who, The Dreadstar Guidebook is the ultimate fountain of information about Dreadstar and the many characters and locations that have appeared in the pages of his adventures over the years.

96 pages, Hardcover

Published January 12, 2021

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

[Rick · Rating 4 out of 5]

First of all let me be clear that I LOVE Dreadstar by Jim Starlin. I cannot stress that enough. And this is a fun guide and reference book to that comic book series. But I have to say, do not read this book! You really should read Dreadstar Omnibus Volume 1, Dreadstar Omnibus Volume 2, and Dreadstar Omnibus Volume 3 if you want to understand the story - no, change that - if you want to understand the sprawling space opera of Vanth Dreadstar and Company. This companion book provides a nice recap of the events, characters and miscellany from the series, an overview really, but lacks all the emotional impact of the actual narrative. And it contains SPOILERS. That’s why I say you shouldn’t start here. On the other hand, if you’ve read those original comics years ago, as I did, and want a nice quick resource to refresh your memory before starting on Dreadstar Returns and Dreadstar Vs. The Inevitable, this is a good choice. This also includes a short 8-page look at an abandoned Dreadstar story that is only disappointing in that it is unfinished.