Star Mage #1
De La Torre, Dillon
SPOILER ALERT!
I will most certainly be SPOILING!
For fans of science fiction who were incredibly fond of Harry Potter, this new series from IDW is just for you. The opening of this issue introduces us to young Darien Connors, a boy who, judging by his predicament, is plagued by bullies in school. These bullies are lead by the meathead ex-boyfriend of one of Darien’s classmates. This same classmate has innocently asked for help in their science class, and inadvertently placed Darien in the line of fire.
In a nearly clichéd fight scene, taken straight out of books such as Spider-Man, the typical jock takes a swing at our new protagonist. Instead of a super powered butt kicking, a teacher comes to the rescue, breaking it up before it can really begin. In the after math of the confrontation, the girl in question makes sure that the date is still on, and walks away.
Now we jump even farther back in Darien’s timeline, four years back, and we find him on his birthday. His father has just gotten the go ahead to return to space on a space flight to Mars, and gives his son a replica of the rocket he will be sent up in. Fast-forward a year and the elder Connor is all set to blast off on a two year mission. Darien makes his worries known, but his father tries to comfort them away before he flies up amongst the stars.
Back to the present, Darien is dealing with being stood up, when the jock from earlier shows up. The sadist in the letter-jacket claims to have discouraged the girl, and now had more in store for the nerd who got away. His letter-clad cronies grab Darien and head towards the flag pole. It is here that we find ourselves at the point in the opening page, with Darien basically hogtied at the top of the flag pole. At least one of the cronies voices a desire to stop him from being hurt, but is quickly silenced by the alpha jock bully.
Dropping back two years, Darien’s father is about make the first landing on Mars. While he is trying to land, he cries out and the communications with Houston ceases. The art here reveals what can only be the face of a villain. Looking wholly alien, with the sharp distorted features of a typical villain, it says more about the landing’s failure than the technical difficulties can.
Back in the present, powers surge through Darien, allowing him to slip free of the ropes and fall slowly to the ground, to the frustration of the jock that has been tormenting him. A sprint into the woods trying to escape his tormentors isolated Darien, who is immediately knocked unconscious and dragged intot he sky by something bright.
A few months ago, Darien is devastated to hear that his father has been confirmed dead, along with the legacy he was trying to safeguard by continuing to explore space. Now Darien is in a room full of light, talking to a stranger in some kind of uniform. Here we are revealed that Darien should’ve been trained as a star mage, a necromancer and sorcerer.
The art in this issue is well done and the story telling is interesting, if the subject matter is a little stale. I’m curious as to the villainous face of the father’s killer, and how exactly this Arylos will be training the young Darien in the use of his talents. All in all, a nice solid read with the potential to become more.
My rating 3.5 / 5
looks promising.