1810 ( )

This is the kind of comic that reminds you that comics can be wonderful. If your familiar with Flash Gordon than the premise of this book should interest you. Its basically Old Man Flash Gordon. Similar to Millars Wolverine story Old Man Logan this is a story about one mans last adventure to restore his self worth. While the story starts slowly the change to a old school space adventure we see confidence return to the protagonist. If you've ever watched the Venture Brothers think of the protagonist as Brock Samson. I kept reading the words and thinking of his voice as Old Man Samson out to fight some aliens one last time. It's just great fun once it gets rolling and the end is actually heart warming. I think this is the kind of comic that you can read more than once and it still feels like your reading it for the first time. It was great. ( )

Pretty generic science fantasy adventure. Nifty concept just lies there thanks to a slapdash script. IP fodder for a movie option? ( )

So many English-language graphic novels and trade paperback collections involve over-entitled fascists in Spandex costumes. And if it’s not superheroes, it’s noir. Like that’s a new thing. I wanted science fiction. But I spent a good while perusing the English-language shelves of Faraos Cigarer in Copenhagen, and there was very little that appealed. Starlight looked like it might – a test pilot is pulled to another dimension, defeats a planet’s tyrant, Flash-Gordon-fashion, and returns to Earth… only to be disbelieved by all and sundry, and so treated as something of a joke by friends and family. Forty years later, his help is required again, this time to overthrow invaders who have enslaved the world. So back he goes, only to discover his legend has grown to a level he couldn’t possibly match it, especially now he’s four decades older. The brutal occupiers also consider him something of a joke, and the populace too weak to rise up under his leadership. The art has a nice pulp sf sensibility to it, although the story seems unable to decide if its hero is pulp sf hero or a superhero. In fact, that’s not the only thing that’s a little confused, as Starlight tries to gives its story a modern spin while at the same time throwing in references to early sf serials. So, tonally, it’s a bit all over the place. Good in parts, though. ( )

An old man returns to a faraway planet to relive his glorious past

This nicely-produced collection tells us the story of an old man, recently widowed, who has visited and been a hero on another planet. Lonely and neglected by his family, he is drawn back to his past glories and is taken back to fight again for the liberation of a faraway planet.

An old-fashioned tale with a happy ending, reminiscent of the French “bande dessinée” style. Well-illustrated and engaging, I found this well worth reading.
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