If you missed the last one…
This post is brought to you by the upcoming collection, Ships of Steel. Like our popular Swords of Fire series, this anthology offers 15,000 to 20,000 word novellas. Ships of Steel is all about Space Opera in the best tradition of the old Pulps. Jack Mackenzie has the opening sequence for his new character, Steel, a space secret agent. T. Neil Thomas shows you the strange world of Jo-Jo Station, a vast orbital environment off Jupiter where Gideon Stormcrow investigates a murder. And G. W. Thomas continues the adventures of Sudana and Zaar from the pages of Whispers of Ice and Sand. That book has four stories about Captain Sudana, and how she met Zaar the android and gathered her crew aboard her ship, the Boudicca. And, in this new, longer adventure, you guessed it…space pirates.
In previous posts I showed the pirates in the Pulps, the Golden and Silver Age of Comics and I thought the idea of space pirates had been pretty much worked dry. Well, was I wrong! The Bronze Age, partly thanks to the success of Star Wars, gave us a pile of new ones. Star Wars was such a cultural shot-in-the-arm for Space Opera that there is a very definable line between 1970-1976 and 1977 and later. This trend will be even more obvious in the 1980s.
The 1970s
The real giveaway for Pre-Star Wars years is is all the eye patches and sailor outfits. (I don’t think I saw a robot parrot but there is a hawk.) These become less frequent in the Post era, with everything looking more like a certain movie.
Pre Star Wars
“D. O. A.” (Showcase #92, August 1970) was written and penciled by Mike Sekowsky. The Manhunter character had a long history going back to the 1940s. But in 1970, he becomes Starker, a bounty hunter with a three issue run in Showcase. Starker’s backstory involves pirates, who killed his father and enslaved him. He takes control eventually and collects the bounty on the crew. In #92 we get the flashback story. The pirates are known as “The Brotherhood”, a name that will resurface in Goulart-Kane’s Star Hawks (below).
“Flight of the Buccaneer” (Star Trek #12, November 1971) was written by Len Wein. Spock and Kirk go undercover as pirates to regain a stolen supply of dilithium crystals. Alberto Giolitti does his usual good job of drawing this but the pirate outfits and skull-and-crossbones on the pirate vessels make you grin.
“The Space Pirates!” (Adventure Comics #415, February 1972) was written by John Albano. Linda Danvers is kidnapped by space pirates because the captain wants her for his bride. Boy, did he pick the wrong girl to nab. Supergirl appears (of course) and kicks the pirates butts, arresting the lot.
“The Wild Wind Isles” (Lone Sloane, 1973) was written and drawn by Philippe Druillet. Lone Sloane, a space buccaneer in his own right, meets space pirates and wow, the art is amazing. Druillet is one of the French artists, along with Moebius, who will define the look of Metal Hurlant and Heavy Metal.
“Ironwolf” (Weird Worlds #8-10, November-December 1973-October-November 1974) was written and drawn by Howard Chaykin. What do you do when your license for Edgar Rice Burroughs characters get pulled? Well DC found out in 1973 with the failure of Joe Kubert’s Tarzan to impress fans in Europe. Weird Worlds was their John Carter/Pellucidar comic and one of my favorites. For the last three issues it ran Howard Chaykin’s Iron Wolf. Chaykin was the right guy to ask too. He had more rogue character than anyone, with Cody Starbuck (below), Monark Starstalker (below) and Dominic Fortune. Not all of them are pirates exactly, but Ironwolf has that John Carter vibe down pretty good.
“Monark Starstalker” (Marvel Premiere #32, October 1976) was written and drawn by Howard Chaykin. Again, not really Space Pirates exactly but Chaykin was developing a theme, one that by the date you can see pre-dated Star Wars. Guess who got to do the Marvel Comics adaptation of that film? Howard Chaykin, of course.
Post Star Wars
Star Hunters (October-November 1977-October-November 1978) was written by David Michelinie. Art by Don Newton, Bob Layton, Larry Hama, Michael Netzer, Tom Sutton, and Rich Buckler. Donovan Flint and his band of space fighters go from planet to planet until Flint is supposedly killed. He isn’t and we see that the series will crossover with Star Fire and Claw the Unconquered. Unfortunately, all three series were cancelled in the DC Implosion.Â
“Cody Starbuck” (Star*Reach #1/4, April 1974/April 1978) was written and drawn by Howard Chaykin. While Ironwolf and Monarch Starstalker were appearing in Marvel Comics, Howard Chaykin had his own thing going on in the independent comics. Cody Starbuck is a more happy go-lucky adventurer than the others. He also gets to have sex scenes which regular comics could not. Cody would appear in a color comic in Heavy Metal in 1981.
“Papa Por-ka” (Starlord, May 27-June 10, 1978) was written by John Wagner. 2000 A. D. and Starlord were comics that appeared around the same time as Star Wars. You would think the British publisher was trying to capitalize on a new movie but the first issue of 2000 A. D. with its Judge Dredd character appeared on February 26, 1977, but Star Wars was released on May 25 and not in the UK until December 27. And let’s be honest, 2000 A. D. and all its many strips has a flavor all its own. “Strontium Dog” was one of those strips, with Dog and his mutant friends getting the third class treatment on board a space liner. The space pirate leader is a piggy looking fellow named Papa Por-ka.
“Pirates of the Asteroids” (Space Family Robinson #48, August 1976) was written by Gaylord DuBois. A meteor shower causes the Robinsons to land on a remote asteroid. Tim investigates and gets duplicated by the space pirates. Pretending to be Tim, the pirate infiltrates the ship. It is up to the other Robinsons to stop the pirates and rescue the real Tim.
“The Brotherhood” (Star Hawks, March 25-October 6, 1978) was written by Ron Goulart. The comic strip ran in newspapers from October 3, 1977 to May 2, 1981. The switch to smaller artwork in newspapers pretty much doomed this Flash Gordon style comic strip. Ron Goulart later wrote two novels set in the same universe. In 1978, Gideon and his space police take on The Brotherhood, a gang of space pirates.
“Pilgreen’s Progress” (TV Stars #3, December 1978) was written by Mark Evanier. Space Ghost falls into a trap set by the space pirate, the Buzzard. He is rescued by a strange man in a flying car, a Flivverocket. Odd stuff from the man who would write Groo. He also wrote actual cartoons for SatAm.
“Beauty Booty” (Archie’s Gals ‘n’ Pals #133, July 1979) was written and penciled by Bob Bolling. Betty and Veronica enter a beauty contest but are abducted by a space pirate. The girls take him out with some space judo and win a special award. They are insulted because the prize is for cosmetic surgery.
“Part Two” (Buck Rogers #3, September 1979) was adapted by Paul S. Newman. The second portion of the TV movie adaptation, Buck and Wilma take on the space pirates. This, of course, involves a Star Wars style dog fight.
“Mom Squad and the Space Pirates” (Rip Off Comix #5, September 1979) was written and drawn by Harry Driggs. Another independent comic, that has Mom and her sidekick checking out space junk around the Moon. They get kidnapped by pirates in a floating galleon and eventually chase the captain away. Not the most sizzling of parodies, with few SF jokes.
“Blackhawk” (2000 A. D. #138-139, November 10-17, 1979) was written by Alan Grant. 2000 A.D. again, this time with Blackhawk and the other galactic gladiators taking on space pirates.
“Scavengers” (Time Warp #2, December 1979-Jauary 1980) was written by Bill Kelley. DC did a five issue Sf anthology in the late 70s/early 80s with wonderful Mike Kaluta covers. Space pirates go after enslaving beautiful women and get more than they counted on. The chicks have tentacles!
Conclusion
Star Wars was the Sci-Fi paradigm shift of the 1970s. Space Opera, which had been maligned for decades, made itself known again and in a big way. One of the heroes, Han Solo, is a smuggler and pirate of sorts, like many of the new comic characters that filled wire racks everywhere. The addition of Rebels seems to give many of these guys a new start and a pardon for all their anti-Empire activities. But the franchise hasn’t forgotten actual space pirates as the new Skeleton Crew gives us another version of Treasure Island, with Jude Law in the Long John Silver role as Jod Na Nawood (notice those syllables). Whether you find the show a little too much for the kids or not (I quite like it), it is nice to see the seedier side of the Star Wars galaxy once again. The Book of Boba Fett did this as well. Not all Jedis and Akurosawa knock-offs. Space pirates, at last.
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