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48-484: Rann-Thanagar War , along with Villains United , The OMAC Project , and Day of Vengeance , is one of four miniseries which lead up to DC Comics' Infinite Crisis event. Unlike most of the other tie-ins, it is also a continuation of storylines from two other series: Adam Strange: Planet Heist and Green Lantern: Rebirth . In the continuity which existed prior to the Crisis on Infinite Earths limited series,

96-680: A trade paperback : The one-shot special was also collected in Infinite Crisis Companion ( ISBN   1-4012-0922-X ). Jim Starlin James P. Starlin (born October 9, 1949) is an American comics artist and writer. Beginning his career in the early 1970s, he is best known for space opera stories, for revamping the Marvel Comics characters Captain Marvel and Adam Warlock , and for creating or co-creating

144-514: A complex space opera with theological and psychological themes. Warlock confronted the militaristic Universal Church of Truth , eventually revealed to be created and led by an evil evolution of his future–past self, known as Magus . Starlin ultimately incorporated Thanos into this story. Comics historian Les Daniels noted that "In a brief stint with Marvel, which included work on two characters [Captain Marvel and Adam Warlock] that had previously never quite made their mark, Starlin managed to build

192-599: A considerable cult following." In Fall 1978, Starlin, Howard Chaykin , Walt Simonson , and Val Mayerik formed Upstart Associates , a shared studio space on West 29th Street in New York City. The membership of the studio changed over time. Death and suicide are recurring themes in Starlin's work: Personifications of Death appeared in his Captain Marvel series and in a fill-in story for Ghost Rider ; Warlock commits suicide by killing his future self; and suicide

240-503: A fellow "ugly monster", to switch sides. Ragdoll fights his father until Parademon beats the elder Rag Doll. Catman and Ragdoll Jr. escape from Black Adam 's group while Parademon blows up himself, Rag Doll and the battleground. Deathstroke and Deadshot duel, ultimately shooting each other at the same time. To save his daughter Scandal, Vandal Savage infiltrates the Society's headquarters and threatens to kill Luthor if he does not disengage

288-399: A few notable authors from outside the comic book industry, such as Stephen King , George R. R. Martin , Harlan Ellison , and Edward Bryant . In 1986, he and Wrightson produced a second benefit comic for famine relief. Heroes Against Hunger , featuring Superman and Batman, was published by DC and like the earlier Marvel benefit project featured many top comics creators. Starlin became

336-699: A number of Marvel titles. Starlin left Captain Marvel one issue after concluding his Thanos saga. Concurrently in the mid-1970s, Starlin contributed a cache of stories to the independently published science-fiction anthology Star Reach . Here he developed his ideas of God, death, and infinity, free of the restrictions of mainstream comics publishers' self-censorship arm, the Comics Code Authority . Starlin also drew "The Secret of Skull River", inked by frequent collaborator Al Milgrom , for Savage Tales #5 (July 1974). After working on Captain Marvel , Starlin and writer Steve Englehart co-created

384-477: A preemptive attack, but the remaining four members ( Black Adam is absent for unknown reasons) decide the action is necessary. Simultaneously, the Six agree to a last stand, but only under the condition that any survivors be set free from Mockingbird's control with no strings attached. Prior to the battle between the Society and the Six, Deadshot visits Scandal's room to talk about the team's future. A framed picture on

432-470: A response team, and the facility is destroyed. Once the Six return to their base, Cheshire and Catman are in bed together when Cheshire accuses Catman of being a spy and wanting to be a hero. However, she reveals that she has slept with him in order to conceive a child. A short time later, most of the Society's founding council votes to mount a final strike on the Secret Six — Lex Luthor disagrees with

480-467: A rogue group of Thanagarians. During the battle, the leader of the group transported Strange's adopted homeworld of Rann into the Thanagarian system in the hope of creating a dictatorship. However, Rann's new location caused the orbit of Thanagar to become unstable, and the planet crashed into the system's sun. The surviving Thanagarians and Rannians now all live on Rann, and tensions are high between

528-470: A stray Thanagarian surveillance satellite, which has documented footage of Superboy-Prime forcing Rann and Thanagar to collide, and thus, go to war. Though the satellite is soon lost in the chaotic environment, Strange has an idea to gather the heads of each faction so that they might stop fighting amongst themselves and work together against the new cosmic threat. Meanwhile, Green Lantern Kyle Rayner has been working with former lover, Jade , to fight against

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576-621: A tanker in Gotham harbor. Upon their arrival at the tanker, the Six are ambushed and captured by members of the Society , including Weather Wizard , Cheetah , Doctor Polaris , Count Vertigo , Killer Frost , Captain Nazi , Hyena , Crazy Quilt , and others. The Crime Doctor tortures the Six, asking them, among other questions, the identity of Mockingbird. After a few rounds of torture, Catman breaks free and rescues his teammates. While escaping,

624-400: A war erupted between the planets Rann and Thanagar. Rann's adopted hero Adam Strange and Thanagarian law enforcement officers Hawkman (Katar Hol) and Hawkgirl (Shayera Hol) worked desperately to end the conflict. The trio succeeded, eventually revealing that events leading up to the war were manipulated by the intergalactic criminal Kanjar Ro . During Planet Heist , Adam Strange fought

672-751: Is a theme in a story he plotted and drew for The Rampaging Hulk magazine. Starlin occasionally worked for Marvel's chief competitor DC Comics and drew stories for Legion of Super-Heroes and the " Batman " feature in Detective Comics in the late 1970s. Starlin co-created the supervillain Mongul with writer Len Wein in DC Comics Presents #27 (Nov. 1980). The new decade found Starlin creating an expansive story titled "the Metamorphosis Odyssey ", which introduced

720-619: Is one of four miniseries leading up to DC Comics' Infinite Crisis event and a seven-issue miniseries. This story follows the evolution of the latest incarnation of the Secret Six , and the group's ongoing plight against the machinations of the various supervillains belonging to Lex Luthor 's expansive Secret Society of Super Villains . Like all major intracompany events, this series ties in with several monthly DC Comics titles, including: For months now, former President Lex Luthor has been using his resources to assemble an army against

768-467: The Crisis on Infinite Earths . In Rann/Thanagar War: Infinite Crisis Special #1, the rift begins endangering the lives of those in the star system by sending out destructive energy waves. Donna Troy 's assembled heroes are working to keep the peace between the two warring forces, when Adam Strange receives a message from Tigorr of the Omega Men. He leads Strange, along with Hawkman and Hawkgirl, to

816-807: The Avengers , X-Men , Fantastic Four , and the Elders of the Universe , joined by the Silver Surfer , Doctor Strange , Gamora, Nebula, and Drax. Later, for DC Comics , he drew many of their iconic characters, including Darkseid and other characters from Jack Kirby 's Fourth World , and wrote the seminal storyline A Death in the Family which featured the death of Jason Todd , the second Robin , during his run on Batman . For Epic Illustrated , he created his own character, Dreadstar . Jim Starlin

864-521: The Marvel characters Thanos , Drax the Destroyer , Gamora , Nebula , and Shang-Chi , as well as writing the acclaimed miniseries The Infinity Gauntlet and its many sequels including The Infinity War and The Infinity Crusade , all detailing Thanos' pursuit of the Infinity Gems to court Mistress Death by annihilating half of all life in the cosmos, before coming into conflict with

912-615: The Six decide to send the Society a message. They murder one of the two Hyenas. The Six then infiltrate a Society installation in Brazil . After fighting their way through a legion of H.I.V.E. troopers, apparently led by the Queen Bee , they discover the Society's plans for the "Vindication Scenario": erasing the memories of all of Earth's superheroes. The facility is a giant battery, powered by kidnapped heroes Firestorm and Gehenna . The Six release Firestorm just as Black Adam arrives with

960-1010: The Society executes "Operation: Hope Abandoned", engineering breakouts at metahuman holding facilities worldwide. Oracle masses responses as fast as possible, but with the "Big Guns" of the Justice League unavailable, the heroes are having problems just holding the line. Contacting the Martian Manhunter , Oracle organizes a global telepathic link. Meanwhile, the Secret Six intercept the Scarecrow and Amos Fortune fleeing Enclave M, and discover that all supervillains, once freed, are to head to Metropolis. They relay this information to Green Arrow , who informs J'onn. Lady Blackhawk commandeers aircraft to traffic all available heroes and National Guardsmen to Metropolis. An army of second-stringers, vigilantes and retired metas (including Argus , Geist , Manhunter and El Diablo ) align with

1008-652: The Society: Catman, for his knowledge of Batman 's villains; Deadshot, for his knowledge of the remaining Suicide Squad members; Parademon, for his experience living on Apokolips ; Ragdoll, because he grew up as a "nephew" to the members of the Injustice Society ; Scandal, because she grew up with Vandal Savage and his associates; and Cheshire, for her knowledge of the Teen Titans villains. Mockingbird/Luthor reveals to Scandal that he never placed

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1056-624: The attack against the Six. Reluctantly, and over Black Adam's objections, Luthor ends the battle. Deadshot is led to medical help by the surviving members of the Secret Six. The central revelation of the book is that Mockingbird is actually Lex Luthor and that the Luthor who organized the Secret Society is an "imposter" (in reality, Alexander Luthor, Jr. ). Mockingbird/Luthor reveals that he chose those six individuals because each had different knowledge and experience that could be used to oppose

1104-478: The authorities to fend off the Society's assault. Leading the villains' charge is Doctor Psycho , flanked by the monster he and "Monsieur" Warp unleashed from imprisonment: Doomsday . High above the battle, Catman informs the rest of the Six they are to remain neutral, even after the battle. The Six leave, determined to be an independent group, while the battle continues. See List of Secret Society of Super Villains members The series has been collected into

1152-489: The barren surface of Thanagar, Adam Strange finds evidence to present to all of the warring groups: handprints deep within an enormous crater, created by Superboy Prime's interference. L.E.G.I.O.N., Thanagar, Rann and New Cronus combine their forces to make a full assault on the force behind the rift, with Ion in the lead. A new eight-issue limited series entitled Rann-Thanagar Holy War began publication in May 2008. The new series

1200-455: The castle, and Cheshire is shot by Deathstroke , who comments that "The Society doesn't need traitors". The Secret Six, however, fights back successfully. Talia and Scandal, daughters of immortals Ra's al Ghul and Vandal Savage , respectively, fight each other. Just when Talia has the upper hand, Scandal's mole in the Society, Knockout , knocks her out (it is also revealed that Knockout is Scandal's lover). Ragdoll convinces Solomon Grundy ,

1248-529: The character Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu , though they only worked on the early issues of the Master of Kung Fu series. Starlin then took over the title Warlock , starring a genetically engineered being created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in the 1960s and re-imagined by Roy Thomas and Gil Kane in the 1970s as a Jesus Christ-like figure on an alternate Earth. Envisioning the character as philosophical and existentially tortured, Starlin wrote and drew

1296-635: The character of Vanth Dreadstar in Epic Illustrated #3. From its beginning in Epic Illustrated , the initial story was painted in monochromatic grays, eventually added to with other tones, and finally becoming full color. The storyline was further developed in The Price and Marvel Graphic Novel #3 and eventually the long-running Dreadstar comic book, published first by Epic Comics , and then by First Comics . Starlin

1344-420: The comics industry in 1972, working for Roy Thomas and John Romita at Marvel Comics . Starlin was part of the generation of artists and writers who grew up as fans of Silver Age Marvel Comics. At a Steve Ditko -focused panel at the 2008 Comic-Con International , Starlin said, "Everything I learned about storytelling was [due to] him or Kirby. [Ditko] did the best layouts." Starlin's first job for Marvel

1392-441: The crew debates how the Society found them, Cheshire confesses to several traitorous deeds, including giving Luthor the coordinates of the Six's base and covertly joining the Society. When asked why she would do such a thing, considering Mockingbird's threat to kill her daughter if she does not comply, Cheshire points out that the baby she is having with Catman would make a fine replacement for a lost child. The Society storms through

1440-508: The enormous hands forcing open a hole in spacetime. Jade is unable to survive the electromagnetic energy surges and dies. In her last moments, she breathes the emerald energy that Kyle Rayner once granted her back into him, increasing his powers significantly. Kyle gives Jade's body to her father, Alan Scott , and he cradles her in his arms, remarking how she seems herself again, until another energy wave destroys her mortal remains. Kyle, once again calling himself Ion , tells Alan that as long as

1488-466: The families of the Six in danger and disbands the team. Also notable is the Society Luthor's apparent murder of Pariah , a character from the original Crisis. In Villains United: Infinite Crisis Special #1, the Secret Six meet to discuss their future as a team, with Deadshot recommending they be a mercenary team for good or evil, "as long as we get paid". In phase one of a master plan,

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1536-541: The first Fiddler , after he was killed by Deadshot on Mockingbird's orders when Mockingbird felt he had not fulfilled his part in a mission. Late one night in the mansion of the Secret Six , Catman and Deadshot have a discussion about their unknown leader, Mockingbird, and about the dramatic change in Catman's life, while Cheshire secretly listens in the shadows. Afterwards, Scandal informs everyone that Mockingbird has just assigned them to steal Thanagarian weaponry from

1584-669: The miniseries Mystery in Space vol. 2, featuring Captain Comet and Starlin's earlier creation, the Weird. In 2007–2008, he worked on the DC miniseries Death of the New Gods and Rann-Thanagar Holy War , as well as a Hawkman tie-in which altered the character's origins. He wrote the eight-issue miniseries Strange Adventures in 2009 and in 2013, became the writer of Stormwatch , one of

1632-474: The process. It becomes clear that all factions have a common enemy: Synn. With the help of Tigorr of the Omega Men and Captain Comet, Strange's team manages to cut Synn into seven pieces, and each piece is inserted into a separate star to prevent him from reforming. At the end of the series, the assorted forces of Rann and Thanagar are faced with a fracture in space that resembles those that were seen during

1680-510: The second of Batman's Robin sidekicks, was killed by the Joker . The controversial storyline was suggested by editor Denny O'Neil and lined up with Starlin's well-known desire to remove the Robin character from Batman's storyline. The death was decided by fans, as DC Comics set up a hotline for readers to vote on as to whether or not Jason Todd should survive a potentially fatal situation. Starlin

1728-405: The series of The New 52 line, beginning with issue #19. In 2016, Starlin's drawing hand was injured in an accident, which limited him to writing stories without the opportunity to illustrate them. "It takes me two minutes to write the sentence and will take the artist a day and a half to draw the scene. But there is a certain satisfaction to the drawing part … you get up from the drawing board at

1776-623: The superheroes. Luthor's team now has over two hundred members with a six-member core team consisting of Luthor, Talia al Ghul , Doctor Psycho , Deathstroke , Black Adam , and the Calculator . Nevertheless, not all the villains offered a chance to join this army are thrilled with this idea. Batman villain Catman has joined a team of five supported by the mysterious Mockingbird including Cheshire , Deadshot , Scandal , Ragdoll , and Parademon to oppose this new Secret Society. Catman replaced

1824-563: The two groups, as each blames the other for their predicament. Aware that war could erupt at any time, Strange goes to Earth to recruit the help of Hawkman and Hawkgirl, who are from Thanagar, in preventing a war. Meanwhile, Kyle Rayner and Captain Comet go to Thanagar to investigate, finding Onimar Synn and engaging in a battle, with Synn escaping through a drop ship. They then find hundreds of bodies buried underground, supplying Onimar Synn with energy, where Kilowog shows up. Later, Kilowog and Rayner terraform Thanagar back to life and save

1872-469: The two of them live on, her unique spirit and energy will continue. Upon Kyle's ascension, the Guardians note that he is the first of a "new breed, the next step in the evolution of our cause". There is debate of whether so much power can be wielded by any Lantern, but Kyle's previous experience is considered, and the Guardians agree that being able to monitor him this time is an important difference. On

1920-596: The underground bodies. When Strange and the Hawks arrive on Rann, they are shocked to see that the war has already begun. They form a team, including the Thanagarian Hawkwoman and the Tamaranean Blackfire . More and more planets are drawn into the war as Rann and Thanagar each call on their respective allies. Seeing a chance to seize power, Blackfire betrays the group, killing Hawkwoman in

1968-464: The woman's desk reveals that her father is the immortal Vandal Savage . Before the conversation can progress past basic greetings, Catman ambushes Deadshot and admits knowing that he (Deadshot) masqueraded as the villainous Deathstroke and murdered the lions in his pride. The two scuffle before finding the real Deathstroke leading a small band of villains to the front door of the House of Secrets . As

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2016-507: The writer of Batman , and one of his first storylines for the title was "Ten Nights of The Beast" in issues #417–420 (March – June 1988) which introduced the KGBeast . Starlin then wrote the four-issue miniseries Batman: The Cult (Aug.–Nov. 1988) drawn by Wrightson, and the storyline " Batman: A Death in the Family " in Batman #426–429 (Dec. 1988 – Jan. 1989), in which Jason Todd ,

2064-411: Was as a finisher on pages of The Amazing Spider-Man . He then drew three issues of Iron Man which introduced the characters Thanos and Drax the Destroyer . He was then given the chance to draw an issue (#25) of the "cosmic" title Captain Marvel . Starlin took over as plotter the following issue, and began developing an elaborate story arc centered on the villainous Thanos which spread across

2112-563: Was born on October 9, 1949, in Detroit , Michigan . He had a Catholic upbringing. In the 1960s, Starlin served as an aviation photographer in the US Navy in Vietnam . During his off duty time, he drew and submitted various comics. After leaving the navy, Starlin sold two stories to DC Comics . After writing and drawing stories for a number of fan publications, Jim Starlin entered

2160-899: Was fired off the Batman title soon afterward. Other projects for DC included writing The Weird drawn by Wrightson and Cosmic Odyssey drawn by Mike Mignola . Starlin wrote and drew Gilgamesh II in 1989 before returning to Marvel. Back at Marvel, Starlin began scripting a revival of the Silver Surfer series and introduced his creation Thanos into the story, which led to the The Infinity Gauntlet miniseries and its crossover storyline. Here, Starlin brought back Adam Warlock , whom he had killed years earlier in his concluding Warlock story in The Avengers Annual #7 and Marvel Two-in-One Annual #2 in 1977. The Infinity Gauntlet proved successful and

2208-670: Was followed by the sequel miniseries The Infinity War and Infinity Crusade . In 1998, he created Hardcore Station in 1998 for DC Comics. In 2003, Starlin wrote and drew the Marvel Comics miniseries Marvel: The End . The series starred Thanos and a multitude of Marvel characters, and subsequently, Starlin was assigned an eponymous Thanos series. Starlin then worked for independent companies, creating Cosmic Guard (later renamed Kid Cosmos ) published by Devil's Due and then Dynamite Entertainment in 2006. Starlin returned to DC and, with artist Shane Davis , wrote

2256-442: Was given the opportunity to produce a one-shot story in which to kill off a main character. The Death of Captain Marvel became the first graphic novel published by Marvel itself. Starlin and Bernie Wrightson produced Heroes for Hope , a 1985 one-shot designed to raise money for African famine relief and recovery. Published in the form of a " comic jam ," the book featured an all-star lineup of comics creators as well as

2304-620: Was written by Jim Starlin with art by Ron Lim . In January 2006, this series was collected in a 160-page trade paperback ( ISBN   1-4012-0839-8 ). The one-shot special was collected in Infinite Crisis Companion ( ISBN   1-4012-0922-X ). The Rann-Thanagar: Holy War limited series was collected in two volumes. Villains United Villains United is a six-issue 2005 comic book limited series , published by DC Comics , written by Gail Simone and illustrated by Dale Eaglesham and Wade Von Grawbadger , and later by Val Semeiks and Prentis Rollins. Villains United

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