STARLIGHT #3

Writer: Mark Millar
Artist: Goran Parlov
Publisher: Image Comics

We’re on Tantalus, where we get a glimpse of the new dictator, The Kingfisher, and see him brutally murder a former member of the Royal Guard as a warning to the rest of the planet to obey him. Duke and Krish (whom Duke calls “Space boy”) land in their spaceship and walk through the city, while Krish relates to him how bad things have gotten for the native population under Kingfisher’s rule. When Duke sees an innocent civilian being attacked by the new local police, he ignores Krish’s warning to stay hidden, and leaps into action. I had said last time that I was looking forward to getting to see Goran Parlov draw some action scenes and that’s just what we get here, as the next several pages show Duke vs. the police in a laser-gun battle. But then Duke’s ages catches up to him and slow him down, and then a random accident lands him and Krish in a cell with another prisoner, who are all scheduled to be executed the next morning.

Millar got the chance to inject some of his typical pop culture humor in this issue, with a reference to Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, but the story remains free of vulgarity. Even the scenes of murder are understated here, like when Duke uses his ray gun to cut three police in half (literally), it’s not an overly gory scene. I remain impressed with the way this story is flowing.