Shatterstar #1: Road Back to Mojoworld

The origin of Shatterstar may seem confusing as he is a complex character who is intertwined with the time and space continuum. Fans may recall that Shatterstar’s biological father is also his son. While those not so familiar with Shatterstar may be prompt to research the titles that told his story. For new fans, Shatterstar #1, is a great place to begin your multi-dimensional journey and learn what makes this genetically enhanced mutant so complex as times change, your history, future in his case, cannot be escaped!

Tim Seeley begins this five issue mini-series as a total recap for existing fans and a beginning for newbies. Raised to be a fierce warrior, Shatterstar fed from the audience as he slotted his foe during gladiatorial fights on Mojoworld. I often wondered about the negative “showmanship” personality traits that could have easily been adapted by Shatterstar; such as, selfishness, ego tripped, ruthless, and narcissism. He easily could have been a horrible evil villain, instead he became a hero and now a cool, hot ass, average joe (Ben, if you will) lol.

As he provides a safe haven for interdimensional beings, Shatterstar’s “landlord” title gives him the feeling of power and respect. Seeley goes into great detail on a preliminary background on each of these characters. Each has a distinct connection with Shatterstar. The interaction between Shatterstar and Pug-Smasher was absolutely hilarious. Later, most of the interdimensional tenants are kidnaped and one of them does die shortly after Shatterstar’s return from a “solo” night out on the town.

This brings me to a personal dismay with the Shatterstar character. I love that he grew to enjoy the theater in a gladiator way, but I have always had disappointment with the unnecessary challenges with Rictor. When the first time they kissed in X-FACTOR #45, it gave me hope for a meaningful relationship in comics to show LGBT fans and straight allies that there are more than the common adolescent stereotypes. Unfortunately, that did not pan out and it also seems that Rictor will not be the companion in this series. After, Shatterstar’s brief self-contemplations, he continues home to be surprised by a major disaster.
Gringrave from his past or future, depending on the perception, has abducted most of Shatterstar’s tenants. This forces Shatterstar to return to Mojoworld.

I have major concerns with the next few issues. I picked up this series in hope to have a challenging, strong, and fresh storyline. There are parts of Shatterstar #1 that fit my vision, but I really hope for more science-oriented that included genetics and better science-fiction. Not as a main focus, but it would have been good to include the development in the relationship struggles. However, it seems that Tim Seeley may be replaying a back to the future story. It may be an interesting story, but want more of the same but in a different way. And, I have to say…WTF? Seeley insinuates or at least questions the ending of Shaterstar’s relationship with Rictor, “not fighting enough”. Really?! Seeley may be setting his story with a love-hate relationship between Shatterstar and Gringrave. Cool, as Shatterstar may be bi-sexual, but the way Seeley paves the road is rather disappointing.

The artwork provided by Carlos Villa and Juan Vlasco worked well in each panel and enhanced the facial details. Yasmine Putri colorization was outstanding calypso colorization on the security tapes. I mostly enjoyed Gerardo Sandoval’s flashback artwork.