A Review of Starward #1

Starward #1
Steve Orlando words
Ivan Shavrin art
Saida Temofonte letters
From Heavy Metal Magazine

Caught in a cosmic tangle that spans all time and space? Peep the solicit:

Stephanie Cohen's life is all going according to plan. The only problem is...the plan isn't hers! She's crushing it at college, but her fast track to a medical degree is something her parents decided for her, seemingly at birth. Stephanie was never consulted on her own life. So, now she's drowning in pre-med when she'd rather be studying classics, folklore, and mythology. But on the eve of her twentieth birthday, as Stephanie prepares to stare into her own personal summer abyss for yet another day...she gets a gift unlike any she could possibly expect.

“Seven Starward Sisters stood . . .”

I’m going to be honest with you: this comic is real fucking good. I’m a big fan of Steve Orlando’s stories, but the first thing you’re going to notice once Starward’s cover is peeled back is the art.

Like, damn.

Ivan Shavrin, like the empowered sisters he’s drawing, is a cosmic force of which to be reckoned. His art has this angular nature to it, and it blows my goddamn mind in every panel. Environments and character work are ocular treats. The issue’s opening splash pages of a cosmic battle showcase Shavrin’s outrageous competence. This is an artist who needs to be in so many more books, and I’m hoping Starward opens up all the doors to let him loose into the world of sequential art storytelling.

Shavrin doesn’t just shine in the cosmos. His depictions of real life struggles are on point. Characters emote extremely well, which really helped me relate to them. It was easy to think back to my twenties, when I was angry and confused. When I felt stuck and hopeless. I could see that in Stephanie’s eyes and body language, and when the big change happens, one that I won’t spoil, Shavrin’s art steps up again to make the metamorphosis more memorable.

It’s a pretty book, and speaking of pretty things, Steve Orlando’s script is beautiful.

Orlando’s dialog is incredibly fresh. It holds a youthful vibrance, which is another entity making me fall for Stephanie. Orlando simultaneously builds a character with the perfect amount of agency and space, yet captures that lost feeling stemming from inexperience and bullheadedness from which, some of us (hopefully), grew out. 

Tension is high. The stakes are higher. It all encapsulates a coming of age story that feels a little different. I’m a big sucker for ‘learning how to hero’ tales, and this one is hitting all the right notes and plucking the right heartstrings. 

This book also has a tremendous letterer in Saida Temofonte. I love the fonts and the power they hold over the narrative. It makes the tale feel timeless and inspired. It also helps during the emergence bits to see who’s talking to whom, and the sound effects are perfect. Little extras like the change in color of dialog bubbles and exposition boxes are a nice addition that compliment the art incredibly well resulting in a comic that is firing on all cylinders, and this engine is ready to maneuver through space and time with ease.   

Starward #1 needs to be on your pull list. Stephanie is trying her hardest to become my new favorite hero, and I think she could be yours as well. I’m getting big Ms. Marvel vibes. Steve Orlando is making the same kind of waves that G. Willow Wilson did by building a narrative that’s rich in culture, rooted in humanness, and full of heart.

Trust in The Buzz and pick this one up.

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Blake’s Buzz Episode #33 is currently available. I was joined by Steve Foxe to talk about X-men ‘92 House of XCII. We also talk about life, action figures, dogs and cartoons. It was an epic chat, and I hope you all get a chance to check it out. Make sure to grab House of XCII as well! It was a solid issue, and I’m quite stoked to see how the series plays out. You can download Blake’s Buzz anywhere epic podcasts can be downloaded, or you can go to my Megaphone link here.

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