HEROES I MISS: MONARK STARSTALKER

Monark Starstalker stands as one of the most forgotten characters in the Marvel pantheon of heroes and gods. There is no listing of him in any of the Marvel Universe guides, there is no Wikipedia listing (at least none as of this writing- I might do that myself)only a mention in his comic title's entry, and Marvel seems to have completely shunned him. Most fans have no clue he ever existed, fewer still own a copy of his only appearance, and most anyone who has read comic books for the last 30-40 years could remotely tell you anything about him, especially most of the editors working at Marvel today, and believe me when I tell you, we are all sadder off for it.

The late seventies were a trying time for mainstream comics. Not quite kid’s literature, and yet, thanks to the Comic Code Authority, not really allowed to be adult in most ways, intellectual comics were having a rough time finding a regular reading audience. Warlock, Deathlok, Killraven, and so many other series were tried and could not hold readers. Marvel was trying everything they could to walk that fine line between Code acceptance and gathering an older, wiser, more profitable audience. Some of those efforts were short lived, while others were shelved, or put in a drawer, left for inventory; too good to be tossed, and yet too odd to be given a regular book.

For whatever reasons Monark Starstalker was given an odd slot in an umbrella “concept” title called Marvel Premiere for issue number 32. It was a self-contained seventeen page story, an easily accessible heroic character, and one that had a profound impression on my youth, but now is long forgotten by practically everyone.

Take a second and try to wrap your head around this concept and remember, this was 1976, a year before Star Wars, black and white magazines were flourishing on the newsstands (which is REALLY where this concept belonged), the direct comic market was in it’s infant stages, the cyberpunk movement was just starting if that (Neuromancer by Gibson is copyright 1984- I checked), and Clint Eastwood Italian westerns were running on television, it was a totally different time than now. Marvel has a property developed (likely “given to them” is a better phrase here) by one Howard Chaykin (who was probably doing another Hero I Miss, Ironwood for DC around that time), and “edited” by Archie Goodwin (creator of the Paul Kirk Manhunter concept btw), who I’m sure did a little more writing on this than he was to take credit for (I understand that Goodwin did that a lot, and was a masterful writer to boot!)

The concept can only be described as a cyberpunk, space opera, western and has all the classic heroic elements about it introducing a character that, again like Bloodstone, SHOULD have been developed into one of Marvel’s most iconic properties, but for whatever reason it was not meant to be.

I was going to give you a blow by blow breakdown of the plot of the story, but let’s just say it was a classic western/bounty hunter tale really meant to introduce the reader to the main character, a nearly emotionless “cowboy” paladin, who carried little more than a pair of what looks like six shooters and a robotic bird, Ulysses, who actually shares his nervous system. Below, hopefully legible enough for you to read, is Monark’s ¾ page explanation of his cyberpunk style “origin” as he explains it to the woman he is traveling with…



So here you have it, an emotionally damaged, cold macho hero bounty hunter, space cowboy, making his way across explored space by capturing criminals and collecting their bounties, all wrapped around a Solomon Kane style wanderlust. Though the opening tale is a bit two dimensional with western cliche's and space gadgetry mixed delightfully together, it doesn’t take much imagination to see that Marvel had a character with Monark that, like the Bloodstone character I mentioned a few months back, SHOULD have become one of their most iconic and classic. Instead we have only this one seventeen page story, in a book that’s yet to be reprinted, with a character long forgotten. William Baker and I pitched a “revamp” of this character a few years ago to a couple of Marvel editors none of which remotely knew anything about the character, let alone that their company had printed it- more the pity.

Goodwin has since passed and Howard Chaykin did have a few more bright spots in his career, like American Flag, but I have yet to enjoy anything that he’s been involved with nearly as much as I did this story and, like Watchmen, I still dust it off from time to time and reread it, reliving my frustration and anger at Marvel’s stupidity with each and every reading that something more was never done with this character.

On the bright side, there hasn’t been anyone do a “revamp” in print of this character as of yet, and perhaps it’s for the BEST. Considering a number of other “revamps” done by Marvel of late (Bloodstone being a prime example of a good character fucked over to the modern Marvel Universe) it leaves this character to stand on it’s own, wrapped in a comic bag, buried in a few long boxes, and left untarnished to be enjoyed by all of us few who still remember him fondly. Still if you ever see me doing a “space western”, or a fantasy/heroic character that involves a robot bird, rest assured that I fully admit that it’s not an original idea of mine, but a fond memory and “tip of the hat” to a dynamic hero and concept that I greatly miss.

R.I.P. Monark Starstalker.