The Darkstars #0

Oct 1994 · DC · 1.95 USD; 2.75 CAD; 1.25 GBP

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“Wayward Son”

★ 1st appearance — K'lassh

About this Issue

The Darkstars #0 is the definitive origin issue for one of DC's most ambitious early-1990s cosmic concepts, consolidating in a single story the full institutional history of the Controllers, NEMO, and the Darkstars themselves — material that had been parceled out across nearly two years of regular issues. As a Zero Month tie-in, it also stands as a snapshot of DC's post-Zero Hour continuity housekeeping effort, illustrating how a mid-tier cosmic series used the line-wide mandate to deepen its mythology rather than simply recap existing events. The issue's framing device — Ferrin Colos narrating his career to an estranged grandfather who demands he choose family over duty — gives what might have been a dry origins recap genuine emotional stakes, making it one of the more character-driven entries in the entire Zero Month initiative.

writer Michael Jan Friedman · artist Mike Collins · inker Ken Branch · colorist Steve Mattsson · letterer Bob Pinaha · cover Mike Deodato Jr.

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History

Michael Jan Friedman, best known at the time for his long run writing DC's Star Trek: The Next Generation comics, conceived the Darkstars after DC editorial blocked his pitches for solo Green Lantern and Martian Manhunter stories; editors Bob Greenberger and Brian Augustyn encouraged him to synthesize those two inspirations into something new. The resulting series launched in October 1992, and Friedman wrote all 39 issues without a fill-in — a remarkable feat of editorial consistency for the era. Issue #0 was produced in step with the October 1994 Zero Month initiative that followed the Zero Hour: Crisis in Time! crossover event, during which every mainstream DC Universe ongoing series published a special #0 issue designed to reveal a previously unknown aspect of its title character's background; The Darkstars #0 was slotted in the publication schedule between issues #24 and #25. The issue was penciled by Mike Collins, with cover art by Mike Deodato Jr., and edited by Paul Kupperberg.

Trivia · 8 facts

Story title is 'Wayward Son'; the issue carries the Zero Month cover treatment — a silver-toned logo and the 'The Beginning of Tomorrow!' banner shared by every DC Universe #0 in October 1994.
Written by Michael Jan Friedman, penciled by Mike Collins, cover by Mike Deodato Jr., and edited by Paul Kupperberg; additional interior art credits include Phil Jimenez, Jim Balent, Travis Charest, Howard Porter, and Stuart Immonen, suggesting a gallery or pin-up section supplementing the main story.
The issue functions as the first consolidated origin story for the Darkstars organization, tracing the institutional lineage from the Controllers' peace-keeping network NEMO through the creation of the Darkstars and their first agent Druu.
Narrative is structured as Ferrin Colos recounting his entire career as a Darkstar to his grandfather on his homeworld Zamba, framing the in-universe history as personal testimony rather than omniscient recap.
John Stewart — former Green Lantern who by this point had been folded into the Darkstars as field commander after the destruction of the Green Lantern Corps in 'Emerald Twilight' — accompanies Colos, underscoring the thematic bridge between the two cosmic-police organizations.
The large guest cast indexed for this issue (including Hal Jordan/Parallax, Donna Troy, Hawkman, Hawkgirl, members of the Legion of Super-Heroes, Waverider, Captain Atom, and virtually the full Zero Hour hero roster) is consistent with the flashback/historical framing of the story, which surveys the broader DC Universe timeline in the wake of Zero Hour's continuity reset.
Placement in the series: published between issues #24 and #25, the issue arrives at a turning point when Donna Troy has recently joined as Earth's new Darkstar and John Stewart has taken the NEMO field-leader role — both developments making Colos's retrospective narration timely within the series' own arc.
The Darkstars series, including this issue, has not been collected in a trade paperback as of available records, leaving the #0 accessible only in its original single-issue form.