Sunday, June 15, 2014

Cody Starbuck by Howard Chaykin

TUESDAY, JUNE 10, 2014


Cody Starbuck episodes 1 and 2

Cody Starbuck
by Howard Chaykin
Episodes 1 and 2
from Heavy Metal magazines May 1981 


May and early June, 1981: on FM radio, 'Her Town Too' by James Taylor and J. D. Souther, is in heavy rotation.


In the May issue of Heavy Metal magazine, a new serial is underway: 'Cody Starbuck', by Howard Chaykin.Gee great art and little story.

Cody Starbuck had first appeared in the very first issue of the indie comic Star Reach in April 1974, as a black-and-white comic. The character appeared again in Star Reach in 1976 and 1978.


In 1981, Chaykin produced a full color, five-part serial of Starbuck for the May - September issues of Heavy Metal.


Chaykin  intended Starbuck to be a more satirical version of the space opera heroes like Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers. Unlike traditional sf heroes, Starbuck is decidedly amoral and self-centered, doing good deeds only if the money is right.

While such a character was essentially unmarketable in mainstream comic books of the 70s and early 80s, he was perfect for the more sophisticated, European - influenced pages of Heavy Metal.

Below, I've posted first two installments of Cody Starbuck, from Heavy Metal 's  May and June 1981 issues. Stay tuned for further adventures in coming posts.

So, lets go back in time to the late Spring of 1981, give a listen to the mellow folk rock of Taylor and Souther and 'Her Town Too', and check out the doings of Cody Starbuck....




















2 comments:

Edo Bosnar said...
Thanks so much for posting this. Chaykin's one of my favorites, and these Cody Starbuck stories are so hard to find.
mahendra singh said...
Yes, thanks for posting Chaykin. Some of the color work you've shown here is quite extraordinary. Please keep posting, I enjoy your blog very much … HM sparked my interest in comix. And the trashy novel reviews are quite amusing!

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