Cover: Travis Charest & Larry Stroman & Scott Hanna

The Darkstars #1

Oct 1992 · DC · 1.75 USD; 2.25 CAD; 1.00 GBP

☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join free

“Mean Streets”

★ 1st appearance — Mo Douglas★ 1st appearance — Carla White★ 1st appearance — John Flint

About this Issue

The Darkstars #1 launched DC's third major intergalactic police franchise, deliberately positioning itself alongside the Green Lantern Corps and L.E.G.I.O.N. as a moral counterpoint in DC's cosmic landscape — a force that operated with greater ambiguity and occasionally lethal authority than its ring-wielding counterparts. The issue marks the debut of every major character in the series, including Ferrin Colos, Sleer Prigatz, Huvah Jeddigar, Mo Douglas, John Flint, Carla White, Frank Pappas, and Sla-Daniiki, as well as the Controllers-backed Darkstars organization itself. Beyond its own 39-issue run, the concept proved durable enough to seed Grant Morrison and Liam Sharp's Blackstars (introduced in The Green Lantern #1, 2018), a lineage explicitly acknowledged in DC editorial commentary and later incorporated into the Absolute Universe. The issue also represents an early breakout moment for Travis Charest, whose cover work here helped launch one of the most sought-after artistic careers of the 1990s.

writer Michael Jan Friedman · artist Larry Stroman · inker Scott Hanna · colorist Julianna Ferriter · letterer Bob Pinaha · cover Travis Charest, Larry Stroman, Scott Hanna

ComicBooks.com Value

Our Model is In Beta

Raw (NM) $0

Flagged key issue — estimate limited by sparse sales.

Our model’s value — refined as new sales data arrives · CGC census counts shown where available

More listings for this title

NM $2 VG $2.9 FN $2.9 NM $2.99 VF $2.99 VF $3.96 MINT $3.98 NM $3.99

Related listings we couldn't confirm as this exact issue · 32 total · seen 29 days ago

Sell my copy

Have this issue — or a whole collection? Get a fair offer from us, skip the marketplace fees and the hassle.

We Buy Collections ▸

Fast, fair offers · we handle grading & shipping

History

Writer Michael Jan Friedman conceived the Darkstars after DC editors blocked his pitches for both Martian Manhunter and Green Lantern solo stories due to inventory backlogs; over lunch with editors Bob Greenberger and Brian Augustyn, he developed the idea of synthesizing the two characters' most appealing qualities — a corps-based structure from Green Lantern and the isolated-alien pathos of Martian Manhunter — into an entirely new property. Augustyn edited the series, with Jenette Kahn serving as editor-in-chief. Larry Stroman penciled the inaugural issue and designed the look of the Darkstars' distinctive exo-mantles, with Scott Hanna on inks, Julianna Ferriter on colors, Bob Pinaha on letters, and Travis Charest contributing cover pencils alongside Stroman — Charest's work catching enough attention that he was brought aboard as regular interior artist starting with issue #4, his first monthly ongoing assignment. Friedman went on to write all 39 issues of the series himself without a single fill-in, an unusual feat for a monthly title of the era.

Trivia · 8 facts

First appearance of the Darkstars as an organization, along with core cast: Ferrin Colos (Darkstar agent from the planet Zamba), Sleer Prigatz (Darkstar regional administrator, later revealed to have been rejected from the Green Lantern Corps), Huvah Jeddigar (Darkstar director), Mo Douglas (homeless man recruited as deputy), John Flint (Dallas police lieutenant), Carla White (corporate lawyer, daughter of law firm owner Mr. White), Frank Pappas (corrupt Dallas businessman), and Sla-Daniiki (alien Ciminai crime syndicate broker).
Written by Michael Jan Friedman, with interior pencils by Larry Stroman, inks by Scott Hanna, colors by Julianna Ferriter, and letters by Bob Pinaha; cover pencils by Travis Charest and Stroman, cover inks by Scott Hanna.
Edited by Brian Augustyn; on-sale date September 3, 1992, with a cover date of October 1992.
The opening story arc is built around an intergalactic drug called 'Loku' (street name: 'Loco') being pushed on Earth by the alien Ciminai syndicate following a failed Daxamite invasion that left humans biologically vulnerable to the substance.
The Darkstars are established as agents of the Controllers — an isolationist offshoot of the Guardians of the Universe — who created the NEMO (Network for the Establishment and Maintenance of Order) framework before expanding into the active Darkstars program.
Larry Stroman served as the series' inaugural interior artist and visual designer of the Darkstars' exo-mantle armor; Travis Charest took over interior art duties beginning with issue #4, marking his first regular monthly assignment in comics.
The series ran 39 total issues (38 numbered plus a #0 tie-in to the Zero Hour crossover in October 1994), concluding in January 1996; Friedman wrote every issue without a fill-in.
The Darkstars concept directly inspired Grant Morrison and Liam Sharp's Blackstars, introduced in The Green Lantern #1 (2018), which Morrison explicitly framed as a riff on the Controllers/Darkstars mythology; elements of the original Darkstars were also incorporated into the Absolute Universe's Blackstars (Absolute Green Lantern #7, 2025).