“And you wanted to go bird watching.”
Star Power #15
(July, 2016)
“Star Power & The Mystery Of The Zel Gux Dynasty” finale
WRITER: Michael Terracciano
ARTIST: Garth Graham
Danica has arrived on Zicuri Ro, a desert planet that opted not to join the Millenium Federation. The Zicuri are untrusting of strangers and the planet is death trap matched only by Eternia. However, the locals welcome the Star Power Sentinel and take her to the final temple, though Star Power has to save Dr. Brightman and Shi Lalis when their ship gets close to one of those death trap monsters. At the temple they see a recording by the Zel Gux, who turn out to be Scintillians who turned against the Eight Wormhole, even taking the blasphemous name Zel Gux (translating to “love” and “compassion”), a name that infuriates the Countess in her continued discussion with the Federation agent, as well as the quasar well that created the Star Power, though this is a weaker well, meaning that Danica and Mitch won’t be at full potential strength without meeting the others…and Mitch is the last of the Star Power. They do unlock an upgrade but don’t know what it is yet. Skyle and Bug leave Burke to get captured, Beena is rescued along with the robot, T-O-M, who is secretly tasked with keeping an eye on the Sentinel in case she turns out not to be up to the job…in which case he must eliminate her!
What they got right: The method used to tell the story of the Zicuri’s meeting with the Zel Gux throughout this arc saves us from a lot of in-story exposition dumps while still telling us all we need to know to follow along, Danica and Mitch learning it all this issue off-panel during the recreated walk to the temple/quasar well. Between the Countess’ telling and this recording we also learn how the Star Power Sentinels came to be a force for good instead of war in the Eighth Wormhole Invasion. The Zicuri actually need the joke explained to find it funny, which benefits Danica.
What they got wrong: The only problem with the story of the Zel Gux arrival is that, at least in the webcomic version I’m working from, the usual lore dump of the races is a bit longer since they weren’t in the regular issues. Whether is this true for the downloadable version or how the printed trade version handled this (both of which are available on the pages you’re reading the comic from if you’re reading along) I can’t say.
What I think overall: This was a brilliant way to tell the story of the Zel Gux and the origins of the Star Power without boring the audience or confusing the characters. We still had action, fun, and hopefully the last of the Void Angels, except for Burke because he’ll become important later. I continue to enjoy this series. Also starting this “issue” the website gives each individual page its own title, which benefits me going back through to find names I need to get correct. That helps me as a reviewer or to any reader trying to find the right page for referral to something you want to double check.
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