Starlord (comics)
| Starlord | |
|---|---|
Cover of Starlord #4 by Carlos Ezquerra
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| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Fleetway |
| Schedule | Weekly |
| Format | Ongoing series |
| Genre | |
| Publication date(s) | May – October 1978 |
| No. of issues | 22 regular issues 1 special and 3 annuals |
| Editor(s) | Kelvin Gosnell |
| Collected editions | |
| Strontium Dog Search/Destroy Agency Case Files: File 01 | ISBN |
| The Complete Ro-Busters | ISBN |
Starlord was a short-lived weekly British science fiction comic book magazine published by IPC in 1978 as a sister title to 2000 AD, which had been launched the previous year in anticipation of a science fiction boom surrounding Star Wars.
Starlord was planned as a fortnightly title for older readers, with longer stories and higher production values than 2000 AD and the rest of the IPC boys' comics stable, but this proved too ambitious. Episodes were shortened, the number of colour pages was reduced, although the better quality paper and printing were retained, and Starlord was published weekly at a higher cover price than 2000 AD.
Stories included:
As well as 22 regular issues there were also three Annuals dated 1980–1982 (though each published at the end of the previous year) and one Summer Special.
IPC found that publishing two weekly science fiction titles split the market, and Starlord, with its higher cover price, was cancelled after 22 issues and merged with 2000 AD in "prog" (issue) 86 of that title. Its last issue was dated 7 October 1978. Starlord was actually the better selling of the two titles, the decision to end it being dictated by the higher production costs of Starlord as opposed to 2000 AD's cheap newsprint format. 2000 AD's line-up was strengthened by the merger: Strontium Dog became one of its most popular and long-running series; and Ro-Busters continued on in 2000 AD for a while and led to an enduring spin-off, ABC Warriors, which still features today. Timequake also briefly featured in issues 148 to 151.
Some of the stories, those that carried on into 2000 AD, have been collected by Rebellion Developments into trade paperbacks:
Starlord was edited by Kelvin Gosnell, who was also editor of 2000 AD, although he mostly concentrated on Starlord and left 2000 AD to assistant editor Nick Landau. After Starlord merged with 2000 AD, Gosnell became editor of new comic Tornado.
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