The first Star Brand, Ken Connell, made one of the most gloriously over-the-top public debuts in comic history. After operating for secrecy for several months, Star Brand decided to go public, and he made his presence known in a grand fashion: by stealing the Eagle, the lander from the Apollo 11 moon mission, and dropping it on the White House Lawn. It happens in The Star Brand #11, written and drawn by John Byrne.
Star Brand was part of an imprint called The New Universe. The brainchild of then Marvel Editor-in-Chief Jim Shooter, the line was created for Marvel’s twenty-fifth anniversary. One of the imprints’ goals was to feature heroes even more grounded and realistic than existing Marvel characters. To this end, books in the imprint downplayed common comic book tropes, such as magic, space travel and garish costumes. For its first year, Star Brand checked those boxes; its protagonist, Ken Connell, saved the world on the sly several times, opting not to go public with his powers or his identity. Yet, during the book’s second year, and under the control of John Byrne, all of that changed.
Months of working in secrecy take a toll on Connell’s mental health, and after some nudging from friends, he decides to go public. He creates a traditional-looking superhero costume, complete with a mask to conceal his identity. After going public, Connell senses he is still not being taken seriously, and decides on a grand showing of his powers. He flies to the Moon and the site where the Eagle touched down. He flies the module back to Earth and drops it right in front of the White House, in front of the media and a shocked Ronald Reagan.
Connell’s decision to go public would have dire ramifications just a few issues later, as it set into motion a chain of events that resulted in the destruction of Pittsburgh, Connell’s hometown. Likewise, the New Universe line would be gone in a year, and this story was another nail in its coffin. Connell’s less-than-heroic attitude fit perfectly with what the line was aiming for but going public with a colorful costume betrayed everything the imprint was supposed to represent; Pittsburgh’s destruction and transformation into the wasteland known as the “Pitt” moved the book even further away from its original goals.
The first Star Brand, Ken Connell, was a deeply flawed and problematic hero. In his public debut, he had the gall to steal the Eagle lander and drop it on the White House lawn as if it was junk. This over-the-top method of announcing himself signaled not only the beginning of the end of his book, but the whole New Universe imprint as well.
No comments:
Post a Comment