Dreadstar

Dreadstar
Epic Comics Dreadstar #1 - cover.
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel/Epic, First , Malibu/Bravura vol. 2,
Format	Ongoing series
Number of issues	64 , 6 vol. 2,
Main character(s)	Dreadstar and Company (Vanth Dreadstar, Syzygy Darklock, Oedi, Willow, Skeevo, Ultraviolet, Iron Angel, Tuetun, Junior, Cookie, others)
Creative team
Writer(s)	Jim Starlin, Peter David
Artist(s)	Jim Starlin, Angel Medina, others

Dreadstar was the first comic-book series published by American publisher Epic Comics, an imprint of Marvel Comics, in 1982. It was centered on Vanth Dreadstar, sole survivor of the entire Milky Way galaxy, and an ensemble cast of crewmates, including cyborg sorcerer Syzygy Darklock, and their struggle to end an ancient war between two powerful, evil empires: The Church of The Instrumentality, run by the Lord Papal; and the Monarchy, administered by a puppet king.

The comic book, created by Jim Starlin, was during most of its run. Epic published 26 issues, after which it was published by First Comics who carried it for 38 more issues, for a total of 64 issues. The first 41 issues were published bi-monthly, after which the book was published monthly for a time, though it resumed bi-monthly publication with issue 51. In the early 1990s, a six issue limited series was published by Malibu Comics' Bravura line of creator-owned titles. Jim Starlin had stated in interviews as early as 2000 that he was working on a new Dreadstar series titled "Class Warfare" (including sample artwork in Slave Labor Graphics' The Price trade paperback), but the last mention of this was in late 2002. In 2011, in promotion for 'Breed III, Starlin again mentioned the possibility of another Dreadstar series.

Vanth Dreadstar first appeared in "The Metamorphosis Odyssey", in Epic Illustrated #3. In the story, where Dreadstar is not the main character, he unwittingly aids the Orsirosian named Akhnaton in destroying the Milky Way Galaxy, the only way to stop the ever-expanding Zygotean empire.

Dreadstar reappears in Marvel Graphic Novel #3, where Dreadstar tries to adjust to a new life on a pastoral world in the Empirical Galaxy, one million years after the Milky Way's destruction, only for his new home to be wiped out in a military attack. The story happens simultaneously with The Price, a graphic novel published by Eclipse Comics, which introduces the magician Syzygy Darklock. The stories become interwoven in each other's final pages, when the characters meet. Dreadstar and Darklock later appear in a short story in Epic Illustrated #15, which sets up the new bimonthly series.