comics
a medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, captions, and onomatopoeia can indicate ...
-related publications, including a comic from the
Golden Age of Comics
The Golden Age of Comic Books describes an era of American comic books from 1938 to 1956. During this time, modern comic books were first published and rapidly increased in popularity. The superhero archetype was created and many well-known chara ...
, a
comics fanzine
A fanzine (blend of '' fan'' and ''magazine'' or ''-zine'') is a non-professional and non-official publication produced by enthusiasts of a particular cultural phenomenon (such as a literary or musical genre) for the pleasure of others who share t ...
, and a modern comic
homage
Homage (Old English) or Hommage (French) may refer to:
History
*Homage (feudal) /ˈhɒmɪdʒ/, the medieval oath of allegiance
*Commendation ceremony, medieval homage ceremony Arts
*Homage (arts) /oʊˈmɑʒ/, an allusion or imitation by one arti ...
to the previous.
Cambridge House Publishers title
The first publication to use the name was published in 1945 by
Cambridge House Publishers
Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
, and featured
Captain Combat
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book, graphic novel, and manga publisher founded in Milwaukie, Oregon by Mike Richardson in 1986. The company was created using funds earned from Richardson's chain of Portland, Oregon comic book shops known ...
character, The Ghost), and several other characters.
In 1946, a comic of the same name was published in Canada by Superior Publishers Limited. Whether this was a reprint of Cambridge House's or not is uncertain.
Fanzine
The second ''Star-Studded Comics'' was a
fanzine
A fanzine (blend word, blend of ''fan (person), fan'' and ''magazine'' or ''-zine'') is a non-professional and non-official publication produced by fan (person), enthusiasts of a particular cultural phenomenon (such as a literary or musical genre) ...
that ran for 18 issues, from September 1963 to the summer of 1972. Published in the U.S. by the "Texas Trio" (Larry Herndon,
Buddy Saunders
Jake "Buddy" Saunders (born 1947) is an American author and businessman, working in the fields of comic books and science fiction.
Work
Saunders started out in the world of fanzines. As part of the "Texas Trio" (with Larry Herndon and Howard Ke ...
, and
Howard Keltner John Howard Keltner (1928 – July 29, 1998) was an American comics publisher, artist, writer, and indexer. He was a founding member of the Academy of Comic Book Arts and Sciences, co-editor and co-publisher of ''Star-Studded Comics'', created the ...
), it featured early amateur superhero comics drawn or written by
George R. R. Martin
George Raymond Richard Martin (born George Raymond Martin; September 20, 1948), also known as GRRM, is an American novelist, screenwriter, television producer and short story writer. He is the author of the series of epic fantasy novels ''A Song ...
,
Grass Green
Richard Edward "Grass" Green (May 7, 1939Social Security Death Index. – August 5, 2002) was an African American cartoonist notable for being the first black participant in both the 1960s fan art movement and the 1970s underground comics movement. ...
,
Jim Starlin
James P. Starlin (born October 9, 1949) is an American comics artist and writer. Beginning his career in the early 1970s, he is best known for space opera stories, for revamping the Marvel Comics characters Captain Marvel and Adam Warlock, and ...
,
Roy Thomas
Roy William Thomas Jr."Roy Thomas Checklist" ''Alter Ego'' vol. 3, #50 (July 2005) p. 16 (born November 22, 1940) is an American comic book writer and editor, who was Stan Lee's first successor as editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics. He is possibl ...
,
Sam Grainger
Samuel E. Grainger (June 14, 1930 – July 25, 1990)
Dave Cockrum
David Emmett Cockrum (; November 11, 1943 – November 26, 2006) was an American comics artist known for his co-creation of the new X-Men characters Nightcrawler, Storm, Colossus, and Mystique, as well as the antiheroine Black Cat. Cockrum was ...
,
Mike Vosburg
Mike Vosburg (born July 23, 1947) is an American comic book artist primarily known for his work on the ''Tales from the Crypt (TV series), Tales from the Crypt'' TV series.
Biography
Mike Vosburg's comics career began in the 1960s, when as a 15- ...
,
Biljo White
''Batmania'' is a term coined by Billy Joe (Biljo) White in the early 1960s and the title of his influential fanzine dedicated to the DC comic book character Batman. The name is "almost certainly" a nod to the then-prominent term "Beatlemania" ...
, and Howard Keltner, among others, and featured the early appearances of Dr. Weird,
Xal-kor the Human Cat
Richard Edward "Grass" Green (May 7, 1939Social Security Death Index. – August 5, 2002) was an African American cartoonist notable for being the first black participant in both the 1960s fan art movement and the 1970s underground comics movement ...
, Wildman, and The Eye.
George R. R. Martin
George Raymond Richard Martin (born George Raymond Martin; September 20, 1948), also known as GRRM, is an American novelist, screenwriter, television producer and short story writer. He is the author of the series of epic fantasy novels ''A Song ...
's prose story "Powerman vs. the Blue Barrier" won comic fandom's
Alley Award
The Alley Award was an American annual series of comic book fan awards, first presented in 1962 for comics published in 1961. Officially organized under the aegis of the Academy of Comic Book Arts and Sciences, the award shared close ties with the ...
in the amateur category. Earlier, in 1963, Buddy Saunders' cover artwork for the second issue also won an Alley Award in the amateur category. In 1967, the fanzine won three Alley Awards: Best All-Strip Fanzine, Best Fiction/Strip Fanzine, and Best Article on Comic Strip Material.
Big Bang Comics title
The third Star Studded Comics is among the
metafictional
Metafiction is a form of fiction which emphasises its own narrative structure in a way that continually reminds the audience that they are reading or viewing a fictional work. Metafiction is self-conscious about language, literary form, and story ...
comics that tell the stories of the Big Bang Universe characters. As they featured Dr. Weird, however, this fictitious title is a clear homage to the 1960s fanzine, rather than an independent metafictional title.