I'm not sure if I have a copy of it handy, but Crystar #3 guest-stars Doctor Strange, as some of the Crystal Warriors end up at the Sanctum Sanctorum; which gets title billing! ("The Sanctum Sanctorum of Doctor Strange!") There's a neat little piece of worldbuilding, as one mentions Strange's library is filled with more books than he thought were in the whole of Crystalium; as they seemed to have a lot of crystals growing but not a lot of trees. So, they would probably be interested in trading for notebooks and pens, among other stuff.
I don't necessarily want to see a Frank Castle vs. Weirdworld book; I just like the idea that he's still out there. Probably blowing up orcs or something. Marvel was maybe trying to push Weirdworld around the same time they were really pushing the Inhumans, and neither really took? They're both still out there; just not as big as they tried to make them.
I think I previously promised a 70% continuity/30% nonsense split, but Crystar doesn't have enough appearances to cover that spread. And we've blogged most of them here! I kind of feel like Crystar might have been more guarded, less willing to trust; after almost literally getting stabbed in the back by his brother and his girlfriend; but he had a pretty solid crew that probably kept him from becoming bitter and vindictive. That and he got another girlfriend virtually immediately, so...Even though it was a short series, there were several guest-stars: besides Kurt, Doctor Strange and later Alpha Flight appeared. And both Amanda Sefton and Puck act like "oh, Crystalium? You've never been?" Like it wasn't that uncommon. Although they might've referred to Ika as common, which is just rude. (Like he did for U.S. 1, Michael Golden delivered some covers that were above and beyond for a toy tie-in.)
But, my point was, what differentiates Crystar from other toy tie-in leads like He-Man or Lion-O? They were popular? No, I meant personality-wise, smartass. And I say that, not being particularly well-versed on the latter two; but all three were leaders of their respective bands of merry men. Hmm.
If you're not familiar with Lord Feldspar, take a moment and treat yourself: half-crystal, half-magma, and apparently wearing only a codpiece so you can bask in both. Feldspar had himself half-done by the respective wizards of the good and bad sides, to represent neutrality. Filthy neutrals...
Feldspar had an action figure, that was probably clogging discount bins at KB Toys into the 90's. I never had any, but that's probably okay.
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We've mentioned crystals multiple times the last couple months, building up to this! I've had Crystar for some time now, and am looking forward to seeing how he turns out here. As is often the case, it'll probably be 70% established continuity, 30% head-canon nonsense?
I don't know all the words to "Wonderwall," but I might be able to cover this one!
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Mildly surprised we hadn't blogged this one yet--I better double-check, I already nearly doubled up one! But we have blogged almost half the series, so we might as well: from 1985, Crystar #11, "Resolution" Written by Jo Duffy, art by Ricardo Villamonte. Cover by Michael Golden!
Although I read most of this when it came out, I've never had any Crystar toys; but this was a better toy tie-in book than it needed to be. I think the sales were probably pretty strong the first issue, but despite being set in the Marvel universe, it didn't have the same legs that ROM Spaceknight did. This issue, after losing one of his men, Koth; Crystar confronts his uncle (and current regent of Crystalium) Feldspar: he had been trying to keep things neutral, but Chaos was escalating the war, having made the local savages into Malachite men, to back up the Lava Men. Chaos wizard Zardeth is thrilled with the bloodthirsty Malachon's performance, while Crystar's brother Moltar is starting to question his role. Koth wasn't dead yet, but had been captured and was to be tortured; Moltar asks him to give up something so they'll kill him easy, but Koth refuses to salve his conscience.
Back with Crystar's forces, his newest warrior, the snooty Bekk, suggests why doesn't their wizard, Ogeode, just turn more guys into crystal warriors? Maybe even up the numbers a bit? Indignantly, Ogeode explains that simply wasn't done: if Order increased its numbers, Chaos could up theirs geometrically...that doesn't seem fair; but Bekk points out they should be able to at least replace Koth. Ogeode grudgingly agrees, and reaches into his pocket to get his magic crystal...as on earth, Alpha Flight's Puck, Northstar, and Shaman fight a Chaos monster. (Snowbird is on the cover, but Northstar's a better fit, since he is catty in this one.) They restore it to human, but Northstar is injured, so Shaman reaches into his medicine bag for bandages; and gets the crystal--then an arm--instead! The three get pulled into Crystalium, which Puck recognizes: what, you've never been? After some conversation, they get attacked by Lava Men, who are accidentally killed by Shaman when he hits them with a blast of "glacial cold."
Northstar flies recon, and observes the Chaos forces about to kill a prisoner, whom Crystar realizes must be Koth. Moltar is disgusted by Zardeth's catering to the Malachite men's sadism, and a Lava woman (with Princess Leia buns!) tries to stop the execution. Moltar turns against Zardeth, while Crystar challenges Malachon to single combat, killing him in like two panels! The battle then commences: Bekk dies saving his ex Ika, and even the Lady Macbeth-like Lavour turns against Zardeth. Before the wizard can kill Moltar and Lavour, Crystar kills him, but Zardeth has time for a final curse: turning Moltar back into human, so he could never touch his lava girlfriend again. Moltar renounces his claim on the throne, Crystar is named king, and it's a happy ending for everybody.
Warbow--and later Crystar--would return, years later, in Weirdworld; but is probably best remembered for a Robot Chicken bit. Which isn't really fair, it was a perfectly fun little book...okay, "crystal warriors" is hilarious, but still.
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I won't buy it every time, but if it's a cheap copy? Yeah, buying it again! From 1984, Crystar #6, "Demon" Written by Jo Duffy, pencils by Ricardo Villamonte, inks by Dave Simons. The best cover by Michael Golden!
Weirdly, while I know I had the first and third issues for sure, I don't think I got a copy of this one until much later, although I suspect I might've read it in-store. Nightcrawler guest-stars this issue, gets more panel time than in like a year of Uncanny X-Men, and is of course just the coolest. After a session in the Danger Room (where we hear the Professor, but don't see him or any of the other X-Men) Kurt gets dressed up for a date with his girlfriend Amanda. Although it hadn't come up in a while and she was semi-retired, she was a pretty decent sorceress, and had been trying to follow up on a weird magical feeling she had experienced lately: too late, she warns Kurt, maybe don't teleport near the space rift...
Kurt gets zapped to Crystalium...that is a terrible name for a planet. Oh, like 'earth' is that great. He hides out as two local farmers walk their dragon, but is then spotted by the youngest crystal warrior, Stalax, who thinks he must be a Chaos demon. While Crystar and his men search for the 'demon,' Kurt is taken in by Moltar and his lava men, who assume he's on their side. Lava babe Lavour gives Kurt the tour, and confides that Moltar and his wizard Zardeth are probably sweating the idea that he's there to replace them. (EDIT: Lavour had dated first one brother, then the other; she was conniving, greedy, and calculating. So, basically the book's Veronica.)
Stalax finds Kurt's clothes, since he changed into his usual costume after arriving; and Crystar recognizes them as earth garments: maybe it's not a Chaos demon after all. But, the crystal girl wizard Ika gets captured by the lava men, who plan to kill her, and Kurt doesn't hold with that: he saves Ika, Crystar and company show up, and a bit of a scuffle ensues. Kurt teleports around to draw fire, and maybe showboat a bit, and the heroes get away safely. Ika is grateful at being saved, and offers to send Kurt back to earth...maybe later. Hours after disappearing, Kurt reappears at Amanda's, where she's a little miffed to recognize he had some gems from Ika! If Kurt talks his way out of that one, that's his real mutant power!
Checking out the racks that month, G.I. Joe #21 was also on sale; but I suspect my favorite was the first issue of the second Hercules mini-series. Chris Claremont would have still had a firm grip on the X-Men: X-Men/Micronauts #3 and New Mutants #13 would have been the only ancillary X-titles that month; but I wish Jo Duffy had gotten to do more with Nightcrawler.
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Today's book might actually be worth a few bucks, but luckily this copy isn't slabbed or minty-fresh or anything. Plus, I probably have another around somewhere...from 1984, Crystar #8, "Anniversary" Written by Jo Duffy, pencils by Ricardo Villamonte, inks by Dave Simons.
Crystar and his crew are supposed to be pitching the Council of Order on joining their cause, but the prince is a bit dour today. After a little prodding, he tells the story to his friends that weren't present for all of it: long before the civil war against his brother Moltar, during the first Chaos War, it was time for a ball. It was an attempt to keep morale up and celebrate their little victories; but they receive word their man Koth had been wounded in a distant province. Koth was a noted "reckless cynic," but had recently married Ranilla, a scholarly and refined woman: few could see how that happened, but to those few their love was obvious. Crystar and Moltar, possibly because they wanted the chance to be heroes, talk themselves into going to help: they'd be jerks if they didn't, right? Joined by another of their 'captains,' Heyatt; they take off on dragons to save the day.
But, in leaving the city, the princes have left the protection of the wizard Ogeode, and are now open to attack by the Chaos wizard, Zardeth. The princes face off against his monster--who appears to have a big honking crystal on his chest that reminds me of the Bloodstone--and lose a dragon; but manage to get to the village and see Koth and Ranilla. Ranilla has deduced that Zardeth may have perverted nice, pure crystal to make a Chaos monster; and Crystar proposes the men perform a pincer move to try and hit the stone. They don't quite get to the creature, before Zardeth sends Chaos demons to destroy the village. Koth takes half the men back, but arrives too late to save Ranilla, who implores him to keep living and playing his little flute; which he's seen doing more than once already in the series.
Crystar and Moltar try to take the creature, and both are swatted down: this being pre-betrayal, Moltar even puts himself in harm's way to save his brother. Heyatt strolls right in, and takes down the monster in a cakewalk...then catches a spear in the back from a dying demon. The scene then cuts to Moltar, now a lava man, telling his men the same story, and how this anniversary was a day of mourning. How he tells that story, where Chaos is responsible for everything terrible that happens, while he and his boys were now on Team Chaos, I don't know.
Why is this worth anything? It's not a bad little comic for a toy tie-in, true; but the real draw is the Michael Golden cover...which, in the background, features the skull Danzig would swipe for the cover of his first album! I was momentarily at a loss why I knew "Mother" by heart but didn't recognize anything else; MTV's Headbangers' Ball, duhr. That smidgen of notoriety is the only reason this issue could be a find for you: I had just seen a higher-grade copy at the comic shop a couple days before picking this up. Also, searching briefly, no one really knows why Marvel didn't come after Glenn for a piece of those sweet, sweet t-shirt sales; nor is it likely Golden saw dime one of that money, either. Although, I think you could a few years ago pick up a Golden shirt at SDCC: they really oughta get those into Hot Topics.
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But, I'm not sure I've read this one before. From 1983, Crystar #4, "Tell Me a Story, Daddy!" Written by Jo Duffy, pencils by Ricardo Villamonte, inks by Dave Simons. Cover by Michael Golden!
As you might guess from the title, in the realm of Crystalium, two young siblings demand a bedtime story from their dad, who is somewhat inexplicably wearing a hooded robe and gloves in his kids' bedroom. They get a recap of the series to date, as brother princes Crystar and Moltar now wage a war for Order and Chaos, as they and their men have respectively been turned into crystal and lava men. The kids know the story, but want to hear it, and call out when dad tells it wrong, leaving out one of Crystar's captains, Kalibar--namely, their dad and our narrator.
There is a three-page interlude that Kalibar would not have known about and couldn't have seen, and certainly wouldn't have told his kids about: Moltar and his hot girlfriend Lavour (literally hot, in this case...) are wondering why some of their guys are chained up. Their benefactor, Chaos wizard Zardeth had chained them for twice failing to get Crystar (including once at Doctor Strange's Sanctum Sanctorum, if you can believe that!) and they've kind of had enough of being lava guys and ask to be made human again. Moltar and Lavour agree to release them from their service, and Zardeth obligingly returns them to human...in the middle of a lava pit, because that's what you get for failing Chaos. Zardeth is chillingly matter-of-fact about the execution; not even seeming to get a laugh out of it. Moltar seems to be becoming aware that he doesn't have any control over Zardeth, while the ambitious Lavour tries to keep the peace between them.
Later, Crystar receives word that Moltar and his men were approaching the throne city of Galax; and he and his captains rally against them. Warbow, in particular, puts one right through a lava man; before uncle Feldspar yells at him for attacking a "peaceful delegation." Moltar argued, Galax was his home as much as it was Crystar's, and the charges of attempted murder/regicide had never been proven. Feldspar was half crystal and half lava, in the spirit of neutrality and fairness, but takes it a bit too far here with the ruling that Moltar wouldn't have attacked the city before if Crystar hadn't been given refuge there, and orders Crystar and his followers banished. Ugh, I hate "both sides" crap...Crystar knows Feldspar's in the wrong, but has to admit they have to let Moltar attempt to make peace. (BTW, if you can read the recent Guardians of the Galaxy Annual with Hercules and the new Prince of Power; it's by-and-large a He-Man parody, but with a really good bit referencing Feldspar!)
Crystar's girlfriend and men make their goodbyes and prepare for exile: somewhat grimly, two men do so in the graveyard. The last, Kalibar, finally gets his kids to sleep, so he can spend a final night with his wife, before leaving the city, for who knows how long.
This book never caught on, even though it's surprisingly readable for a toy tie-in. Better than some of the more popular toy books, I'd say. Well, I won't say, I don't want to get flamed on that one.
The toys came out when I was at that stupid age where I shouldn't play with them, but I know I read Crystar during its brief run; even if I don't think I got the Nightcrawler issue until much later. (Never did get that action figure from Kickstarter, either!) It was never G.I. Joe good, but better than you'd expect. From 1984, the Saga of Crystar, Crystal Warrior #7, "Malachon" Written by Jo Duffy, art by Ricardo Villamonte. And a Michael Golden cover! He covered most of the series, in fact.
The city of Galax already has a civil war going between their two princes--several years before the Spin Doctors song "Two Princes," which was obviously inspired by this--and their respective gangs of crystal and lava guys. But they weren't the only ones with a bone to pick: there was also the barbaric People of the Green Hills, who felt Galax was soft and decadent and deserved to fall. They're dicks, but their leader Malachon, has a spectacular updo. It's straight-up Marge Simpson, he's got an extra two feet of hair going. Huh, this does predate the Simpsons as well... The crystal side's wizard, Ogeode, has a vision of the hill folk attacking the city; which particularly motivates Kalibar: his non-crystalized wife and kids still lived there. Malachon and his men are turned back quickly, but they would soon be recruited by the Chaos wizard Zardeth and turned into Malachite men! Presumably, if the toy line had sold at all, this would've been a way to get green figures out there to fight with your mostly
white and red ones.
Meanwhile, since our heroes did not have a lot of support in their homeland (the regent, half-crystal, half-magma Lord Feldspar, seems to resent both sides equally) they take a little cruise, across the ocean to visit the Council of Order. (The main characters imply sailing was novel to them, yet not particularly interesting! I wonder how well crystal types would swim, either.) While younger than Ogeode, Crystar finds them stuffy, and they would prove to be generally useless and unhelpful. Say what you will about Chaos, it got boots on the ground.
It's All True tipped me off to this: through Kickstarter.com, WorkingClassVillains are trying to raise funding for their first Backyard Legends figure, the Prince of Crystal. Any similarity to him, and a "second tier" figure line from the eighties is obviously intentional completely coincidental. Shut up, man, don't queer the deal.
OK, we all know who this Prince is supposed to be, but can't call him that since the rights...aren't necessarily there. We'll call him a 'homage,' and anyway, the chances of a licensed revival like Masters of the Universe Classics? Not great. Like, behind Blackstar and C.O.P.S..
But, if WorkingClassVillains get this ball rolling, their next planned figure would (probably) be the Prince of Magma, the bad guy. And I'd probably get him, so I could have a version of this Michael Golden cover: I'm pledging now, and maybe, just maybe, if Backyard Legends takes off, down the line, we could get... Yeah, OK, the amount of fans that would want a bootleg of this fellow, would make sneaking him under the radar tough going. Ah, but even a chance...!
Art this post from Bret Blevins, Michael Golden, and Steve Ditko; for books that may or may not still be owned by somebody or another...
