I had read the first issue of Starborn and liked it quite a bit and I managed to lose track of it sadly so when issue #5 popped up I had heard like the Traveler it was the start of a new storyline. From there I decided to give it a shot and take a look at it. The story is Benajmin Warner is an office worker who used to write a lot as a kid but now he just has an overactive imagination. Lo and behold one day that all changes when the girl of his dreams Tara Takamoto turns out to be a shape shifting martial artist from another world. Everything from his novel he wrote has come to life. Now he’s been taken on this crazy adventure by Tara and now they’re joined by General Cur Talon who promises to transport them into outer space. Let the adventure begin from there.
This book has Stan Lee being in the same Grand Poobah title as he is with the Traveler with Chris Roberson with art by Khary Randolph and Matteo Scalera. This book was a lot of fun. Interestingly enough for being gone as long as I was from reading the book I didn’t feel lost at all. The book is probably one of my favorites of the Stan Lee line to be honest right near Soldier Zero. It’s just so much fun. When you read this you get that Roberson is channeling an old sci-fi pulp novel mixed in with just this beautiful amount of energy from Randolph and Scalera. I’m not sure how the art is split up or if it’s just a team up of pencils and ink but the art is a lot of fun. They’re traveling on this Demon-Class Starship and it looks very cool strangely enough reminding me of a mix of the Farscape ship and the Carrier from the Authority. That’s a good way to put it. The characters in the book are also immensely likable. Even the bad guys I found myself getting into them too. I found myself enthralled with the entire atmosphere and style of the book quickly. Like I had never left.
I think it’s interesting to think that a book like this could gain readers with the fifth issue but with this book I think it’s possible actually. Since this is the book out of the new arc starts that just wowed me from start to finish. It’s the sort of book that I can go to people and say, “Wow this is awesome and you don’t have to have read anything before hand either to know what’s going on.” That’s also the biggest thing out of this. I’ve been a fan of Chris Roberson for awhile anyway via his Cinderella work on Fables and I feel it a shame I lost track of this book for now I want to grab the other issues I missed. It was that good. I’ll say this if you’re still on the fence with Starborn and you want to give it a shot this issue is actually a great place to start for you. I can’t emphasize this enough.
For the book has everything going for it and it is a lot of fun. Great starship battles, fun characters playing off each other in conversation, and in turn getting to learn about the story naturally as you go along with the book. That’s what I call great. Nothing felt like forced exposition it just felt like the story going along and you weren’t feeling lost you were say getting caught up on the mission so to speak. The way to finish this out is go grab this book. You will be very pleased. Every bit of it is just a lot of fun. Period.
Review copy provided by Boom! Studios.
