Jack Kirby’s legacy can never be overstated. Providing the bedrock on which Marvel was built and expanding DC’s universe into the realm of gods and mythology enshrines his impact for generations. But there may have been a different path for him as a young artist as one of his first creations in Adam Starr was first being published in early 1940. While only a few stories came from this character and his Solar Legion, they show the progenitor of Kirby’s galactic-level ambitions.

83 years later, we see a new version of the story, remixed by artist and biographer Tom Scioli in Jack Kirby’s Starr Warriors Starring Adam Starr and the Solar Legion. 

Crash Comics Adventures was published by Tem Comics in the early 40s and lasted for only five issues before ending. It was a comics magazine of the time filled with short serials much like Action and Detective Comics. Filled with superheroes, adventure, and intrigue, Crash Comics also contained a five page space story told by a 22 year-old who signed with his pen name for the first time: Jack Kirby. His first story of Adam Starr is what we would come to know of space adventure stories—space pirates terrorizing the solar system, valiant heroes hunting them down, and terrifying aliens that must be dealt with by any force necessary. But in the vast, sweeping emptiness of space, we can see the first percolation of the kind of cosmic-scale stories Kirby would eventually come to define in the medium.

While the Starr Warriors issue we have isn’t simply a reprint of the original work, it is being handled by Tom Scioli—the person responsible for the Kirby graphic biography a few years ago—adapting and remixing what was already on the page. There isn’t necessarily anything new here, but it does give us a clearer picture of what those original Adam Starr stories were originally like from the originals we have. More than anything, though, it is gives us that starting point for Kirby as a comics creator. These first few stories lay the groundwork for what he would pursue decades later in his Fourth World mythology. First though, in the latter half of 1940, Kirby and Joe Simon had to create Captain America. 

While is isn’t like picking up the first few issues of Crash Comics Adventures 84 years ago, this collection of Starr Warrior stories is the closest we’ll be able to get to that same feeling. And it’s remixes like this on the original script and art that help to add a feeling of seeing something remastered in print as well. As many of these stories are approaching their centennial in the next couple decades, being able to hold facsimiles like this for an artist like Kirby ensures we’ll still be able to enjoy some of his earliest work well into the next century of their existence. 

Get excited. Get into the Starrs.

Drew Barth (Episode 331, 485, & 510) resides in Winter Park, FL. He received his MFA from the University of Central Florida.