Overview[]
Starlord was a short-lived sister title to 2000 AD published by Fleetway from 13th May to 7th October 1978. Notable for its consistent high quality (it was printed on far better paper stock than most of the company's comics) it had a good mix of popular characters and storylines including Strontium Dog, Ro-Busters, Mind Wars, Planet of the Damned (issues #1 to 13), Timequake and, later, Holocaust (issues #14 to 22). Like 2000 AD and some of Fleetway's other titles, it had the central conceit of a fictitious 'editor' who acted as host to the comic; in this case, 'Starlord' himself, a galactic superhero. Readers were invited to become Starlord's agents on Earth (Starlord Troopers) and to look out for evidence of alien infiltration and report back to him.
Cancellation and afterlife[]
When Fleetway decided to cancel one of its two science fiction weeklies, Starlord was axed seemingly not because of low sales but simply because 2000 AD was cheaper to produce. The title was merged with 2000 AD, with Starlord's two most popular stories (Strontium Dog and Ro-Busters) crossing over, though Timequake later also returned for a brief run in 2000 AD, too. Both Mind Wars and Holocaust, however, were conclusively wrapped up in the final issue (though Mind Wars did make a brief one-off return appearance in one of the three Starlord Annuals published between 1980 and 1982). There was also a Starlord Summer Special published in 1978.
Issues[]
Key characters and strips[]
- Ardeni Lakam
- Arlen Lakam
- Brain, The
- Carl Hunter
- Chatterbox
- Dr. Feeleygood
- Droon
- Exterminator, The
- Gronk
- Hammerstein
- Holocaust (Starlord)
- Howard Quartz
- Jake Flint
- James Blocker
- Johnny Alpha
- Kansyr
- Mek-Quake
- Mind Wars
- Miss Marilyn
- Papa Por-Ka
- Planet of the Damned
- Ro-Busters
- Ro-Jaws
- Sadan
- Starlord Annual
- Starlord (character)
- Strontium Dog
- Suzi Cho
- Timequake
- Wulf Sternhammer
- Yosay Tilman