Celebrated comic book writer and artist Jim Starlin has had a stellar career going back to the early 1970’s. The Eisner Award Hall of Famer has written and drawn for several imprints, including both the big comics houses, Marvel and DC, and created or co-created some of your favorite characters, including Thanos, Mongul, Drax the Destroyer, Gamora, and Shang-Chi, most of whom have made the leap to the silver screen.
Starlin has worked with or for several other comic book legends, including John Romita Sr., Walt Simonson, Bernie Wrightson, and Roy Thomas. He’s worked on books starring Captain Marvel, Spider-Man, Adam Warlock, the Legion of Super-Heroes, and Batman. Most famously (or infamously, depending on your point of view), Starlin not only killed off Batman’s second Robin, Jason Todd, in 1988, but Todd actually stayed dead until 2005, which is an eternity in comic book years when it comes to resurrecting characters.
Starlin created Vanth Dreadstar, sole survivor of the Milky Way, in the 1980’s, continuing his love of writing space stories, in the comic book “Dreadstar.” Starlin also published a graphic novel, “Dreadstar Returns,” in 2021. A la Stan Lee, you can see Starlin in a cameo in “Avengers: Endgame.”
The Nerd Element had the opportunity to speak with Starlin at San Diego Comic-Con 2022, where he answered our nerdy questions about his career and graciously accepted us calling him a living legend
