yoshida@hpfcla.UUCP (10/24/85)
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** WARNING: Spoilers Abound in this article! **
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At 2:05 am on Oct 8, 1985, Jerry (decwrl!boyajian) writes:
>
>I don't mind having to think when I read a comic book, or to have
>to pay attention...
>
>...The thing that all of the above have in common is that they
>become clear when you apply your brains to reading them. No matter
>how much effort I put into STARSTRUCK, it remains incoherent (and
>I've weathered through many an obscure novelist).
I feel that STARSTRUCK has been given the label of a "Ukrainian
Easter Egg" unjustly. It seems there's been some discussion on the
net as to whether or not there really is a plot to the story. I
vote a resounding "YES" to that question.
So...what IS the plot behind STARSTRUCK? I've long ago concluded
that Elaine Lee's characters are all players in a Cosmic drama which
will pull these people (with strange and "obscure" backgrounds)
together in a confrontation of hilarious proportion. Lee has a
penchant for irony. In fact, sometimes I think she's been reading
Carl Jung too much. There's quite a bit of "synchronicity" mixed
into her stories. (You know what I'm talking about. Sting said it
quite well: "A connecting principle, linked to the invisible,
almost imperceptible...A star fall, a phone call, it joins
all...Synchronicity.") For example, the egging incident of
Port-O-Boy Gazebo 16 (see "Dead Reckoning" in the Graphic Novel)
linked Bru and Galatia 9 -- they were destined to meet (it was
Galatia's old escape pod that destroyed the Vercadian Base 10 and
ultimately saved Bru and "Cookie" Fabre from becoming space dust)!
And obscurity? Well, many of those "obscure" events turn out to
have quite a bit of significance. Case in point is the appearance
of "Specs" Trueheart. He was supposedly one of the brave who died
in the Neutral Zone 8 disaster that Brucilla "The Muscle" led.
Bru's squadron was minced to pieces by the Vercadian Bases, but Lo
and Behold, "Specs" turns up alive with a Vercadian Protector as his
bodyguard (see "Home Movies" in the Graphic Novel, and also
STARSTRUCK #'s 4 and 5). He's later "persuaded" by Bru to accompany
her back to Rec Station 97 so that she can clear her name.
Another "obscure" event was the "sharing of souls" that took place
in the Baron Bajar's playroom. While the Baron sent his Erotica
Annies into an acid bath to be destroyed, the last Annie (Number
333...half the number of the beast?) experienced conscious thought.
At that moment, Glorianna of Phoebus (a.k.a. Mary Medea, founder of
Living Dolls, Inc.) saved the last Annie from destruction. Ronnie
Lee Bajar witnessed the event (see "...From the Jaws of Hell" in the
Graphic Novel -- notice the pea shot which hits Glorianna) and later
wrote a book about it. Annie number 333 then turns up in the
company of Harry Palmer (given to Harry as a gift by Mary Medea),
and she consistently reappears throughout the books. My bet is that
she will be an important piece in the STARSTRUCK puzzle.
Galatia 9 (a.k.a. Molly Medea), Glorianna of Phoebus (Mary Medea),
Brucilla "The Muscle", Harry Palmer, The Girl Guides, Verloona Ti,
Ronnie Bajar, Kalif Bajar, "Cookie", "Specs" Trueheart, Annie Number
333, "Windy" Weatheral...and the whole cast of STARSTRUCK...linked
together by seemingly isolated events, each driven by vastly
different motives, all on a collision course with destiny.
To say that STARSTRUCK has an incoherent story is an injustice to
Elaine Lee and Micheal Kaluta. There are many subtleties and
inferences (which are done wonderfully with words AND visual
sequences) that make for a VERY tangled plot. But if you take the
time to untangle the threads there's a pleasant surprise in the
middle.
Now...Any questions? :-)
Stuart Yoshida
"If the pond is illusion,
Then what are the ripples?"
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