Online desde: 05/01/2000       
Última atualização: 17/05/08       

UHQ: Why Dreadstar was released by the Epic label? After moving to First Comics, what brought it's end? In Brazil today, we still have hordes of fans self-titled "orphans of Dreadstar" that doesn't know the end of the story, since it was never completely published here!

Starlin: I'm working on getting the entire Dreadstar series published through Slave Labor Graphics. Epic was the creator owned line of comics up at Marvel. When Marvel and I had a falling out over moneys owed I took it to first and later to Malibu Comics.

UHQ: With Dreadstar you were one of the pioneers of the creator's rights in American comic industry. And yet, you never published anything else with the character, and after so many years when he returned it was given to another creative team. Have you lost the interest in working with Dreadstar?

Starlin: I wrote, penciled and inked probably the equal to fifty issues of Dreadstar. I needed a break and just haven't found the situation lately where I could make any money doing new Dreadstar stories. It is a business.

UHQ: How are the sales of Slave Labor's reprint of Dreadstar?

Starlin: Good enough to continue publishing. There will be a break of about six months between books four and five while I work on the Infinity Abyss.

UHQ: Every good story should have a start, middle and an ending. Do you plan to really end the Dreadstar series? What future plans do you have for the character?

Starlin: Someday, somewhere I will return to Dreadstar and eventually kill him off at the end of the run. I also have a story I want to do with Dreadstar called Class Warfare.

UHQ: How did Bravura Comics, where you published Breed I and II, started? What was your participation in it? In your opinion why did the label ended?

Starlin: Harris Miller, my lawyer and the lawyer of most folks involved in the Bravura line, set up a creator owned deal with Malibu Comics. Chaykin came up with the name. In the end the line died because the Malibu business folks weren't very good at their job and Marvel ended up buying the company.

UHQ: You were one of the first writers to really "kill" important characters. Nowadays death and resurrection are a common happening, almost always in a desperate attempt to elevate sales. What do your think of it?

Starlin: Very little.

UHQ: In the great majority of your stories we have action happening in outer space, other planets or even other universes. Is there any special reason for that fascination with the cosmos?

Starlin: Yes, I hate drawing cars and people in suits. Plus you can do more real or relevant stories if you disguise them as fantasy. Using this method I've done tales on everything from incest to bashing big business when I couldn't have pulled it off if I set them in the "real world".

UHQ: Do you still read any comics? Who are your favorite artists today?

Starlin: Very few. Anything by Moore and Miller and a few marvel connected to what work I'm doing. I also enjoy Peter David's stories.

UHQ: You worked with Superman, Batman, Aquaman, Silver Surfer, Hulk, Iron Man, among other successful characters! Is there any super-hero character that you wanted to work with but didn't manage to do it?

Starlin: Millie the Model. No, really I've done pretty much most of the characters I ever wanted to.

UHQ: Who is your favorite character?

Starlin: Thanos. I created him and every time I come back to Marvel he's sitting there waiting for me to play with him no matter what title I'm working on.

UHQ: You have been working with comics for more than 30 years. What attracts you so much on this medium? What do you think of the current troubled phase of comics?

Starlin: It will eventually pass. Maybe now with Bush as president. Whenever we've had a republican President and the general economy has taken a nosedive, the comic book industry has prospered. Just look back at its best years; during the Nixon term and the Reagan/Bush years. We do best when everyone else are hurting.

Captain Marvel #18: UHQ's EXCLUSIVA page

UHQ: You offered Marvel a series called Infinity Abyss, what is it about and how are the negotiations proceeding?

Starlin: Green lighted and it's about reality falling into the abyss. More later.

UHQ: After so many years, Marvel Comics decided to "resurrect" Rom, the space knight, in a 5 issues mini-series, with your argument and drawings by Chris Batista. Did you liked working with the character?

Starlin: Not really. I thought he was a pretty dumb character back in the seventies. I just took on the job of scripting the series so that I could pay for some parts for my boat. I was strictly a hired gun on that project. I won't be doing any more of them.

UHQ: Tell us about Wyrd: The Reluctant Warrior, this material is unknown to the Brazilian public.

Starlin: Wyrd is a humorous, big-foot, political comic about big-buck vs. magic and inadvertent homosexuality. It's one of my favorite jobs and it's a pity so few people have seen it. It's available in a collected version through Slave Labor Graphics.

UHQ: Could you give us more details about your other activities like writing books and software?

Captain Marvel #18: Another EXCLUSIVE page, only here at UHQ

Starlin: I co-wrote four novels with Daina Graziunas, my ex-wife, (Among Madmen, Lady El, Thinning the Predators and Pawns, which was serialized in the back of Dreadstar. I co-own a computer company called Electric Prism which does everything from designing web sites to adapting architectural drawings to construction plans. My actual involvement in the company is minimal these days.

UHQ: Do you believe in the Internet potential for comic books? Do you think it will replace paper? What do your think of the current news about Stan Lee Media?

Starlin: Stan Lee Media laid off most of its staff a week or so back. I don't think you're going to find a substitute for the pleasure of holding an actual comic in your hands any time soon. Ever try reading an internet comic while you go to the bathroom?

UHQ: Would you send a message to your Brazilian fans?

Starlin: Keep reading and believing. Life's too short not to have fantasies.

UHQ: Starlin, thank you very much. Success, always!

Starlin: Thank you.