Review by Frank Plowright
“Moments ago before I left for my journey into the future-present, I received a message in a droplet from the crystal sigil. It gave me a glimpse of the unfolding entanglements of all quantas in time.” Beginning Starseeds 2 with those lines might indicate Charles Glaubitz is unconcerned about inviting anyone into his world who’s not read the first Starseeds. That isn’t the necessarily the case, but the following pages of synopsis are barely more lucid. Glaubnitz dreams large and the Starseeds of the title figure heavily as his creative abstractions again dominate over any narrative priority.
Once again, the nearest comics touchstone to what Glaubitz creates is Jack Kirby’s more mind expanding productions, but Glaubitz isn’t anchored to the conventional forms of comic narrative. He introduces exotic humanoids, all categorised, then all affected on a grand scale, events of cosmic significance illustrated and described in matter of fact captions as unique entities serve unknown purposes in the blink of an eye, one after the other expiring when their purpose is served. Incredible transformations occur by the page, and we move on to the next as there are many starseeds.
In small doses Starseeds is fascinating, and Glaubitz’s art grabs the attention throughout, more so than in his first volume due to a more accessible colour scheme, this time muted red and grey, sometimes with a hint of purple. Try to read very far, though, and it becomes apparent that Glaubitz throws grandiose terms at us defying us to decode his mind, which is as convoluted as the Illuminati myths he exploits. He also hints at fable and folklore, scraps of creation myth tales passed down through the generations, but it’s repetitious, each momentous event piling on top of the previous as more seeds find their destiny to the point where it’s difficult to care any longer.
That being the case, the best way to experience Starseeds is not to cling to any expectations of plot, but to head for a thorough visual immersion and skim Glaubitz’s incredible mind. The conceptual strangeness continues in Starseeds 3.
