Last time out we followed The Demon in his breakout tale. This outing we get The Starchild. Issue one did very little to develop the Demon character or provide some greater background to his character. Does the Starchild get a better treatment?
Nope.
The story starts with a woman saying a prayer to the Starchild asking for safe passage for her husband who travels in space. We shift back to the argument that led the man leave his wife and child to find fortunes elsewhere.
Dorn, husband and father, leaves to find a kill a monster named Cretong. Starchild (Paul Stanley’s alter-ego for those who don’t have membership in the Kiss Army), acts like an omniscient god as he guides Dorn to face the meanie. And Cretong, by the way, reminds me of Sarris from Galaxy Quest and a purple Hulk.
Just give it a little thought, and you can guess exactly what happens.
Tragically, the character gets a solo shot but does not get the necessary development or creative story that should come from such an issue. I figured these comics would be revealing or have some origin story. While they do read like some of the great DC annuals that made wonderful stories out of staple characters (like Flash), the writing provides cliché experiences with little or no gee whiz or WTF! Moments.
The shame of it is that the ongoing series has been imaginative and entertaining to a surprising and fulfilling degree. These solo outings have been a series of missteps that fail what has been established in the regular IDW Kiss comics.
Score: 2/5
Writer: Tom Waltz
Artist: Tone Rodriguez
Publisher: IDW Publishing
Price: $3.99
Release Date: 4/24/13