TOP TEN JIM STARLIN COMICS
10. Marvel Special Edition #15-17 (1973)
Even though it was written by Steve Englehart, Jim Starlin’s art went a long way in defining the early issues of Shang-Chi. He started out inheriting the numbering from what previously been a reprint-only title, before getting his own book that lasted 125 issues. You would think an artist like Frank Miller, who focused on motion, would be better—but so much of the 1970s/80s karate mythos was built around frozen poses that Starlin’s art was perfect. His work on this title only lasted a few issues and usually gets overlooked in discussions of Starlin’s work. It shouldn’t.
9. Infinity Gauntlet #1-6 (1991)
A cosmic tale written by Starlin with art by George Perez and Ron Lim? It’s a no-brainer that this will be aweseome.
The story actually takes place after The Thanos Quest (#6, below), and is part of the whole T-Quest/Infinity War/Infinity Crusade saga—all of which are worth checking out, but this is the first time Thanos took the gems and made them into a Michael-Jackson style single glove. Adam Warlock returns (see #3, below) to lead Earth’s heroes against Thanos and Death. Not to spoil too much, but pretty much everybody dies in this one. And then they come back. Of course. Because Jim Starlin only killed one dude who stayed dead. (See #1, below.)
8. Thanos #1-6 (2003)
The first half of a series that lasted 12 issues, this was really the book that passed the “cosmic” mantle from Jim Starlin to Keith Giffen, who did a tremendous job reviving the characters before Abnett and Lanning took over and made it all “big” again.
The book was about the redemption of Thanos, as he takes on Galactus, and it made the character seem…Real? Well, no. But at least sympathetic.
I find this to be a vastly underrated Starlin work.
7. Batman: Ten Nights of the Beast (1988)
The one with KGBeast. Yeah, the name was a little silly, but the character: The Russian version of Batman (only he’s an assassin), was wicked cool. It also involved Muslim extremist terrorists, which today for some reason nobody has the guts to write about, a plan to assassinate President Reagan, and features an awful lot of death: in fact, almost a hundred rich folk die in one scene alone.
Sadly, KGBeast wasn’t really ever used (or at least he wasn’t used well) again. Perhaps the New 52 will reboot him and make him totally lame.
DC likes to do that nowadays.
6. Silver Surfer #34-38, The Thanos Quest 1-2 (1990)
Jim Starlin wrote a lot about Thanos. About half of his career was about cosmic characters like Captain Marvel and Adam Warlock, all tied into Thanos themes.
This story brings Thanos back and is basically the first chapter in the long history of The Infinity Gauntlet. Ron Lim’s art on the Surfer issues is solid, but the two-issue “Quest” mini is where this story kicks into high gear: It’s Thanos’ attempt to win the love of death by stealing the Infinity Gems.
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