StarHenge Book One #1 – comic preview
Legendary creator Liam Sharp (Wonder Woman, Green Lantern) flexes his considerable creative muscles in the upcoming visually stunning masterpiece, Starhenge, Book One: The Dragon & the Boar. The six issue fantasy/sci-fi series launches from Image Comics in July, and we’ve been lucky enough to cast our eyes over issue one, and have a quick chat with the creator.
In StarHenge, a future Merlin travels to 5th-century Britain to prevent monstrous, time-traveling, killer robots from robbing the universe of magic. Meanwhile modern day witch Amber Weaver’s lively narrative reveals how she becomes drawn into a war across time. Sharp is on both writing and art here, having a great time with sprawling double page spreads and nods to pop culture.
StarHenge
We had some questions for Liam about the new book, and his previous projects:
That’s hard to say as it’s been over a good portion of my teens, and all of my adult life on and off! But it definitely has its roots in research, while becoming very much its own thing during the creation of the series. But it’s true to say the series couldn’t have existed without my passion for the source material.
Mostly because Arthur is a small bit of a massive story – even though he tends to get most of the attention! – and I was keen to see what fun could be had with a time-traveling Merlin from the future…
The Brave and Bold idea grew out of an earlier Merlin idea, so in a way it’s more of a return to the early material. And unfortunately there was another writer at DC who was bringing his own take on the character that was wildly different from mine, so it became less and less tenable ultimately.
Backstory
It varies! But there’s certainly places I’ve lived in, or visited, and personal passions… characters that have their origins in certain aspects of people I’ve known. I think it is often unavoidable. Art is always, on some level, a project of ourselves.
VERY! It’s much more organic and prone to change when I’m in control of all the moving parts. StarHenge has gone through multiple evolutions, with secondary characters coming to the fore. I love it, but it can be much more overwhelming working largely alone… There’s no roadmap. When you are just the artist you know there’s a framework to build upon. But then again, it’s far more personal when you are the sole creator.
I have never worked so hard! It seemed like an excuse to dig in, and put my work first – which also became the best solution for coping with it. It put my mortality front and centre, and that really focussed me.
Dragon & Boar
We’ve seen a sneak preview and loved it – there is the trademark grandiose artwork that we’ve come to expect from Sharp, alongside a compelling story. Amber is a sassy narrator who doesn’t suffer fools, and her voice is an interesting counterpoint to the future timeline story. With 30 pages in issue one, there is plenty here to sink your teeth in to, and the universe-spanning setting promises big things in the future.
Described as The Terminator meets The Green Knight, the first chapter, inspired by the Arthurian legend and infused with sci-fi action, is released on 6th July , and is available to order now from your local comic shop, Forbidden Planet, or anywhere else comics are sold!
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