The final issue of the Shatterstar limited series is out now! At the end of the last issue we were left thinking we’d seen the last of Shatterstar. I know I was left trying to puzzle out how they were going to end this one. Luckily, we have the finale!
The Cover
The cover features The Grandmaster holding Shatterstar’s broken body in his arms. There is a heavenly light behind him, and a blue halo around his head, in the style of middle age art depicting saints. Shatterstar is beaten. His face is lacerated, and his sword is broken. Yasmine Putri’s cover is beautiful, and the more I look at it, the more I like it.
The Art
Carlos Villa and Geraldo Sandoval share duties on this issue. Villa handles the current story, and Sandoval the flashbacks. The book begins with a flashback to what could have been. Shatterstar and millions of his clones are conquering, even killing Cable. This is what would have been had he not rebelled against Mojo. The imagery of it is great. It’s reminiscent of old X-Force comics and is a nice look in comparison to the sharper looking work in the current scenes. The art looks great from cover to cover, and the contrast between the present and flashback scenes add a lot to this issue, and the whole series.
The Story
Tim Seeley finishes his solo Shatterstar tale in what I though was a very satisfying way. First, he begins with the Grandmaster telling Shatterstar that he had basically taken him apart molecule by molecule, and then rebuilt him in an instant. Shatterstar as a result saw the image of what may have been and is horrified by it, even if he can admit that he missed the thrill of battle.
The Grandmaster then pits Shatterstar against several clones/old versions of himself. While he fights valiantly, he does begin to falter. Here is where his tenants step in. The manage to free themselves and then move to rescue Shatterstar.
Shatterstar then moves to take the Grandmaster off the board. His solution is brilliant. How does one defeat an all-powerful being? By taking him to a world where the rules strip those powers from him. Namely Tina Cooke’s home universe: Earth 1218. Shatterstar abandons the Grandmaster there, and is cast into a void between worlds before being reunited with his tenants and Rictor.
The ending is maybe a little sappy, but it felt good, and I thought it fit the series. But really, the greatest point in the issue was how the Grandmaster was defeated. It was outside the box thinking, with Shatterstar himself barely making it out of that universe.
This has been a fun series, and I thought it did a good job of fleshing out a character I used to see as very one-dimensional.
Try not to Roll a 1 