"Starriors" (Marvel) (Ltd. 1984) # 1-4 [COMICS]

I had a whole introduction about comics based on toy lines, but it was crap.  The gist of what I was trying to say was that Marvel, in the 1980s, was willing to put some real talent into toy-based series.  G.I. Joe still holds up on re-reading (and was my first ever comic, to boot!).  The company was even willing to integrate some toy lines into the Marvel Universe, as exemplified by Rom the Spaceknight, a title that was far more successful than the toy that inspired it.  Today I'm writing about another surprisingly good toy tie-in series, Starriors, a four issue limited series from 1984 that featured beautiful covers by Bill Sienkiewicz and surprisingly dense scripts by Louise Simonson.

Starriors, the toy line, were apparently an uninspired series of robots that didn't really do anything cool like transform.  They didn't sell well and didn't last long, according to Wikipedia.  I would have been around 7 or 8 at the time, and have absolutely no recollection of them whatsoever. (aside: for just $ 1,499 you could own www.starriors.com!).  Each toy came with a Marvel mini comic (an interesting curiosity which I don't have), but apparently one day in the oughts in Toronto's Beguiling I spent $ 2.00 for the complete four issue limited series.  So now, as the cover to Issue # 1 indicates, "The Quest Begins!"

Issue # 1 throws you right in, and it took me a while to figure out who was who (the interior art is a bit fuzzy at times) and what the heck was going on.  The premise of the series turns out to be a good , classic SF one: the human inhabitants of earth, knowing a global natural disaster (solar flares) was looming, put themselves in suspended animation but created a race of robots to awaken them when the planet was habitable again.  Those robots were (intentionally?) created into two types: the Protectors and the Destructors.  You can guess from that who our good guys and bad guys will be.  As the issue starts, generations have passed and the Destructors have enslaved the Protectors, with the evil leader of the Destructors ("Slaughter Steelgrave") telling everyone that mankind is only a myth.  But the Protectors, with little to lose, start a civil war and decide to strike out for the desert to see if there really is an ancient complex that can be used to awaken man.  It's not fantastic, but it's not half bad either, and you definitely get a lot of story for your money.

In Issue # 2, the Destructors follow the Protectors into the desert.  Good vs. evil becomes a bit more complex, as it turns out that one of the Destructors is sympathetic to the Protectors' cause, but that one of the Protectors is secretly a spy for the Destructors.  Also . . . lava spiders! (great cover)  

A lot happens in Issue # 3.  Slaughter Steelgrave orders the execution of the Protector sympathsizer, Steeljaws, and the poor robot is literally torn apart and its pieces scattered.  Meanwhile, a Protector scout named Runabout finds a complex in the desert.  But the the Destructor spy in the Protector camp alerts Slaughter Steelgrave, and he orders an attack.  It's all-out war, with robots getting wrecked left to right.  Runabout, the scout, makes it inside the complex and finds another robotic guardian there who discloses that Slaughter Steelgrave knew about the facility's existence and intentionally destroyed the timer that would have awakened mankind!  Don't ask me why, but it works!

I swear the dude on the cover to Issue # 4 could be the Beyonder, but that's neither here nor there.  Conflict between the Destructors and Protectors over the complex intensifies, with some Destructors shifting sides when they learn about Slaughter Steelgrave's deception.  A Protector named Hotshot gets into the complex and activates its defensive weaponry, including a "laser-ram", and that's enough to turn the tide and force the Destructors to retreat.  Mankind is awakened, with unknown ramifications.  

It's a big, satisfying storyline for a mini series and I found myself thinking of it as a real comic and not a cheap toy tie-in.  I can't pretend it's the best thing ever, but I was pleasantly surprised.