Jim Starlin visit to Motor City Comicon

The Macomb Daily interviewed artist/writer Starlin about his career and creations, which include Thanos, the intergalactic supervillain to rival Dr. Doom, and also his creator-owned Dreadstar. It sounds like one of Marvel's most notable editors and writers also deserves special credit for how Thanos was developed:

Detroit native Jim Starlin, a veteran writer and artist in the comic book industry for almost 55 years, created Thanos – his most famous character creation – during his time as a student at Oakland Community College.

“(Marvel Comics editor-in-chief) Roy Thomas asked me to bulk him up to look like (DC Comics’) Darkseid,” recalled Starlin, 77, of Saugerties, New York, when he sold Thanos to Marvel in 1973. [...]

Thanos made his debut in 1973’s “Iron Man” No. 55, published by Marvel. He went on to become one of Marvel’s most powerful and infamous villains. [...]

Starlin admitted he’s surprised at Thanos’ popularity.

“I never expected it,” he said. “I always thought he was too strange and too esoteric to get on the small screen, let alone the big screen. The fact he’s become a household name is just beyond my comprehension. Life is full of surprises, so this is one more big surprise.”

I just hope Thanos' popularity as a villain doesn't come at the expense of superheroes' popularity, because again, I'm not forgetting how there's been a disturbing trend over the past decade or more to emphasize villains more than heroes. Is a hero's dignity worth less than that of a villain's? Tragically, there are some morally bankrupt people out there who could think so. I think it's impressive Thomas had some creative input in how to produce Thanos. But if modern audiences are embracing the Mad Titan at the expense of the heroes Thanos menaced in the stories, that's troubling.

He said he’s also amazed by how mainstream comics have become since he broke into the medium alongside high school classmate/frequent collaborator Al Milgrom in 1972 with a “Gray Mouser” story for DC.

“Looking at the Disney+ catalog and seeing all the Marvel movies and TV shows on there, it was inconceivable when I first started out. Everything that came out for a long time was horrible. Now there’s these terrific movies that are just incredible to watch. I made some good choices with my life without realizing what I was doing, getting on the ground floor of something that was gonna rocket into general population godhood!” he said, laughing.

Maybe there were great films in the past decade or so, but Starlin unfortunately won't admit it's mostly changed of recent, if we take the 4th Thor movie as an example, and the Eternals movies to boot. If now they're floundering more than impressing, doesn't that matter to him? The article also brings up his most notable creator-owned tale:

Starlin is still working today. His current projects include his creator-owned “Dreadstar,” which is centered on Vanth Dreadstar, the sole survivor of the Milky Way galaxy and an ensemble cast of alien crewmates. He created Dreadstar to express his own unedited vision of a space opera, blending large-scale sci-fi action with adult drama and (initially) allegory rooted in the Vietnam War.

Dreadstar debuted in 1980’s “Epic Illustrated” No. 3 and graduated to his own eponymous series in 1982, both published by Marvel. The series has subsequently been published by First Comics, Malibu Comics, Dark Horse Comics, and Dynamite Entertainment. Its current home is Monkey Wrench Press. The latter published 2024’s “Dreadstar vs. The Inevitable.”

“Dreadstar’s had more publishers than most comic book characters,” Starlin said, laughing.

Three more 100-page “Dreadstar” graphic novels are in the works with Starlin writing and illustrating them. A 20-page story, “Rage,” to appear in the upcoming “Where’s Dreadstar?” expands Dreadstar’s origin. Starlin wrote, drew, inked, colored, and lettered it.

Unfortunately, whatever value Dreadstar might've had before was ruined by modern day leftist drivel, and what if the above planned projects follow up on that? That the originals may have built on a left-wing view of the Vietnam war can also be cause for dismay.

And I'm not excusing how Starlin made a mockery out of Jack Kirby's work with 2007's "Death of the New Gods", which points to a problem with some of Starlin's resume: he wrote stories where certain characters were put into death limbo for no good reason other than publicity stunt's sake. I think some of Starlin's work for DC was weaker than what he did for Marvel, because the Cosmic Odyssey miniseries he wrote earlier in 1989 was also shoddy, and forced GL Corps member John Stewart into a role where he accidentally led to the death of a whole planet, apparently DC's way to "compensate" for the damage they did by mandating Katma Tui be put to death in Action Comics Weekly. Those kind of tales don't reflect well on Starlin as a writer any more than his leftist positions. Maybe if he'd seriously emphasize heroism more than villainy, and also write stories condemning barbarism, then he could be getting somewhere. For now, there's no telling what direction Starlin will take for as long as he remains a writer/artist.