Review by Frank Plowright

There are unlikely to be readers arriving at Starseeds 3 without having enjoyed what Charles Glaubitz offered in the previous two volumes. The short review is that they’re visually inventive presenting grandiose ideas, but only barely connected to any conventional method of storytelling as Glaubitz has a vastly creative mind, but is a poor communicator. Starseeds 3 is more of the same, although keeping the more accessible colour scheme used in Starseeds 2.

Glaubitz thinks big, universe and alternate realities big, and merges science with mysticism to create a veil of almost impenetrable postulations illustrated in attractive, pattern-based abstract forms. Words are generally supplied in captions, with dialogue infrequent, yet it’s almost all descriptive, with emotions and feeling absent. It’s already difficult to care for abstractions, and when the few beings are endangered the lack of knowing them means there’s no sympathy. It affects an early scene when the infected Indigo requires a starseed to heal, found on the astral plane, and is then threatened while incapacitated by the gloriously designed Black Illuminati Delta Squad. They’re straight from the Kirby concept book, with ornately patterned guns and armour.

As an individual scene it holds the interest, as does the next with the manifestation of the blatantly malevolent Lizard King and fawning minions, but for all the cosmic background there’s never any sense of connection between one scene and the next. Each journey is merely the start of another journey into an equally incredible realm, where threats and dangers are only revealed as such by captions telling us they’re threats and dangers. However, there’s no denying that a story that has to be taken on faith is an interesting manipulation of the comics form.

Not that this site would ever encourage anyone to dabble in illicit substances, but Starseeds probably transmits better that way. Otherwise read a scene every week and be amazed at the creative energy. Pile one on top of the other, though, and Starseeds overwhelms with conceptual density.

Is this the end or will there be a Starseeds 4? Like so much about the entire project, you can read it all the way through and never be sure.