Sunday, May 20, 2018

Cosmic Odyssey

Cosmic OdysseyCosmic Odyssey by Jim Starlin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Metron discovers the truth behind the Anti-Life Equation and it isn't good. In order to save the universe, Darkseid must team with his greatest enemies. Will the combined might of Darkseid, Superman, Orion, Batman, Forager, Starfire, Lightray, John Stewart, Martian Manhunter, The Demon, and others be enough?

Since I loved what I read of the Allred Brothers on Bug! The Adventures of Forager, decided to backtrack to Forager's biggest role prior. I read in an interview that Jim Starlin was supposed to write a story mapping out the science fiction portion of the DC Universe. Instead, he wrote Cosmic Odyssey. It was released with little promotion, which is a damn shame. With art by Mike Mignola, it's a pretty awesome book.

Created in the days when an epic could be told in a four issue standalone miniseries, Cosmic Odyssey is a crossover that mattered. It's a love letter to Jack Kirby's 1970s stint at DC comics, namely the New Gods and The Demon. Through most of Darkseid's first couple decades, his motivation was to find the Anti-Life equation. Cosmic Odyssey is what happens when the Anti-Life Equation is revealed.

After Metron is found, Darkseid goes to New Genesis of all places for help. That conveys the seriousness of the threat. The pairing of the heroes was done very well, most of the pairings done to contrast the heroes involved.. It made a lot of sense to send Batman back to earth to find that aspect of the Anti-Life Entity since he would be out of his element anywhere else. It also gave Forager a chance to shine. Orion and Superman on Thanagar did a great job showing the differences between the characters. Starfire and Lightray meeting Adam Strange and saving Rann reminded me of 52. I can't remember if Starfire and Adam Strange referenced Cosmic Odyssey there, though. The character moments between John Stewart and Martian Manhunter were also very well done, particularly at the end. Darkseid being Darkseid, things eventually go south but the ending is pretty satisfying.

Mike Mignola's art isn't quite where it was when he created Hellboy is still great. I wouldn't think his moody artwork would set the tone but I was wrong. I'd love to see Mignola doing a New Gods series after this. Starlin's writing conveys an epic scope in just four issues and hearkens back to his earlier work.

I don't really have any gripes with this. I wouldn't have minded it being another couple issues, though. It felt a little rushed at times. Also, it could have used an appearance by Mister Miracle. Other than that, no regrets.

In my mind, Cosmic Odyssey is an overlooked gem of the last 1980s. Four out of five stars.

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