The Conqueror is coming — and he looks good and ticked.
DC, via its blog the Source, gave a tease over the J.G. Jones redesign, giving no hint as to what series this new-and-improved Starro could be in. But whatever the case, it’s looking like the star-shaped insignia on this character’s torso might in fact be a Starro parasite — how that differs from a typical Starro remains to be seen. So where does Starro fit in? As Dan DiDio told the mothership last week, this new take on Starro will be introduced as part of the R.E.B.E.L.S. storyline.
But at the very least, Starro seems to have grown even more menacing than his previous incarnations. Let’s take a look at Starro through the years…
Above is the original Starro, drawn by Mike Sekowsky on the cover of the very first Justice League of America story in the Brave and the Bold #28.
BOOM! Grant Morrison and Howard Porter’s first take on the starfish starconqueror in JLA: Secret Files #1. This story alone is worth picking up the JLA: Secret Origins trade.
And Morrison and Porter’s second take — a Star Conqueror that is so huge it can be seen from space.
Finally — Starro likes muffins.
And an awesome Darwyn Cooke image from DC: The New Frontier to tie it all together!
May 5th, 2009 at 8:16 am
Not bad IF the following two things are true:
1) This is just a character Starro has conquered in order to have a leader for its armies a la Locutus.
2) It doesn’t turn out that this guy is the REAL Starro and everything else we’ve seen over the decades was just avatars/drones/bull****
May 5th, 2009 at 8:20 am
“2) It doesn’t turn out that this guy is the REAL Starro and everything else we’ve seen over the decades was just avatars/drones/bull****”
Very Geoff Johns’ Braniac
I’d think that is a cop out as well although i dont really much care for Starro in general as a villain ;x
May 5th, 2009 at 8:22 am
Ah those great 60’s JLA villains, who were all Italian or Spanish with the vowel at the end. Desporo, Sinestro, Starro
May 5th, 2009 at 8:23 am
Excuse me.
I demand this article be amended to include Starro as a pirate from this recent issue of Super Friends. Art by J. Bone
http://tinyurl.com/c2jvfw
And to be fair, the whole POINT of Starro is that all we’ve seen are its avatars and drones. The main Starro in every story was just the one of the drones that holds the largest part of the hive mind.
May 5th, 2009 at 8:23 am
I just hope that DC have a cup of joe ready for Frank Frazetta’s lawyers when they arrive. JG’s Starro seems to owe more than a passing nod to FF’s ‘Death Dealer’. Oops!
May 5th, 2009 at 8:59 am
PIT said: “I just hope that DC have a cup of joe ready for Frank Frazetta’s lawyers when they arrive. JG’s Starro seems to owe more than a passing nod to FF’s ‘Death Dealer’. Oops!”
My thoughts exactly. I think that this is an excellent trend. I plan to design an identical character, only with “Hello Kitty” on the front instead of a starfish.
May 5th, 2009 at 9:03 am
I like a giant star monster much more…lol…but j.g. once again knocks it out of the park. see the death dealer thing, but its hardly the same…look at the costume overall.
May 5th, 2009 at 9:14 am
What if Death Dealer Starro was holding a muffin instead of a skull? Presto- legally distinct.
May 5th, 2009 at 9:20 am
I dunno…I always liked the idea of a monstrous Starro that wasnt even vaguely human. You only knew what he wanted when he spoke thru those he took over. Now we have another helmeted, dark eyes glowing badguy who looks hard in armor…Vader, Ares, Doom…ehh…been there, done that.
Thats one of the reasons that I liked the Borg in Trek. You couldnt reason with them. There wasnt, at least initially, a central person or figurehead that you could “punch out” or argue with. It was the same with Starro. He was so alien and you couldnt punch him. You had to be creative to defeat him.
May 5th, 2009 at 10:20 am
I think Crusader hit this one on the head. Some people have a hard time getting over the ridiculousness of a giant starfish, and so I can see why this incarnation appeals to them…but anyone who has a hard time getting over the ridiculousness of a giant starfish probably has no place reading stories about a guy in tights whose “magic ring” can make giant green things to beat up badguys.
May 5th, 2009 at 12:21 pm
And wasn’t a Starro seen recently weilding a Sinestro Corps ring? I think it was in Teen Titans….
May 5th, 2009 at 12:34 pm
I’d like to hand out purple starfish for some folks to put on their faces. . .
May 5th, 2009 at 1:07 pm
Why does everything have to be a bipedal humanoid. Why can’t a giant space starfish just be a giant space starfish?
May 5th, 2009 at 2:26 pm
I’m reserving judgement on this reinterpretation/avatar/what-have-you. But you gotta admit, a giant, telepathic, space-faring starfish is one of the sillier concepts in an age full of silly concepts.
Some of these silver age villains could use a fresh coat of paint. I mean, c’mon, who here prefers Despero with the side-to-side fin over the mohawk?
May 5th, 2009 at 2:27 pm
Hey, if a giant space squid has to be Billy Crudup’s energy signature, a giant space starfish has to be a bipedal humanoid.
May 5th, 2009 at 3:01 pm
I like the redesign. It’s more menacing, than a giant starfish IMO. Although a giant anything is pretty menacing. I think it looks good. I pretty much think any and every space related character should have an axe in his hand. The Axe= power!
May 5th, 2009 at 3:07 pm
Anyone else think that looks like a Starroed Lord Havok, the Doctor Doom of Angor (Earth-8)?
May 5th, 2009 at 4:58 pm
Duke Harrington Says:
May 5th, 2009 at 1:07 pm
“Why does everything have to be a bipedal humanoid. Why can’t a giant space starfish just be a giant space starfish?”
Quoted for truth.
May 5th, 2009 at 10:18 pm
..
Didn’t like my snarky comment, eh?
Here’s a more mild version.
Sometimes you have to “go with” the absurdity of comic imagery. I know I’ve always thought the ONE THING Starro needed was a BATTLEAXE and a horned helmet.
..
May 6th, 2009 at 12:26 am
this redesign has already been shown in future issues of R.E.B.E.L.S.
check out the july cover.. one major difference i see is that the starro has tentacles coming out all over the guys body like veins coming from deep within the dude.. its still taking control of somebody but obviously is much more attached than before.. good luck removing him from that dude
http://www.newsarama.com/preview_images/dcnew/july2009/4/rebels_cv6.jpg
May 6th, 2009 at 12:35 am
I hope Frank Frazetta is getting some credit due to J.G Jones totally ripping off the Death Dealer design.
May 6th, 2009 at 7:30 am
Mr Wesley Says:
May 5th, 2009 at 2:26 pm
“I mean, c’mon, who here prefers Despero with the side-to-side fin over the mohawk?”
Mohawks are SO 1982. Side-to-side head fins are timeless.
May 6th, 2009 at 8:28 am
If I recall the story, wasn’t Despero’s new mohawk fin an art error, as in people forgot it was supposed to go sideways, and people just got to like it?
May 6th, 2009 at 2:00 pm
Is anyone here reading REBELS? GEESH! We are already seeing Starro controlling others (some spikey haired gal in recent issue). It could be, perhaps, that one guy is the original abductee. Starro and this wouldbe barbarian warlord on another world made such a lovely pair they didn’t split up. It does look like Starro has been invading that guy’s body for some time as his veins are colored Starro color.