Hardcore Station
Encyclopedia
Hardcore Station is a location in the DC Comics
Universe
, a corrupt commercial satellite station with a population of several million in a free space zone between a number of trading civilisations.
It is also the title of the DC Comics six-issue limited series
Hardcore Station (July-December 1998) in which the concept was first introduced, created by writer Jim Starlin
.
Hardcore Station is home to Captain Comet
.
in every issue except #4. The series was not a great success, achieving less than 12,000 advance orders by the end of the short run. Starlin was later to say of the series that "When I worked with [editor] Kevin Dooley
on Hardcore Station it was a nightmare" In a later interview he elaborated "I did one thing over at DC called Hardcore Station. You never heard of it, no one ever did, because they had a committee over there that looked through the plot and everyone gave on the committee gave parts that had to be added to it. So by the time I sat down and drew it, I didn't recognize it anymore. And it was gone. ... it had no promotion, nothing, it was just thrown out there and it was a mess"
Hardcore Station then disappeared until Jim Starlin picked the concept back up on his return to DC Comics, with the limited series Mystery in Space
vol. 2 #1-8 (November 2006 - June 2007) with art by Shane Davis
and Matt Banning, and Ron Lim
in issue #7 (May 2007), followed by Rann-Thanagar Holy War #1-8 (July 2008 - February 2009), with art by Ron Lim and Ron Hunter, and Strange Adventures
vol 3 #1-8 (May-December 2009) by Starlin, Manuel Garcia and Al Milgrom
. Hardcore Station is a key location in all three series, although it does not appear in every issue
When Lord Synnar the Demiurge travels to Hardcore Station supposedly to provide a new energy collection system, Max discovers it is a cover for a secret deal with Entreplaneteurs Inc. to destroy their rivals 'Time Wonder World', killing 3 billion people and incidentally capturing ten years worth of energy from the explosion for Hardcore Station. Synnar also gets 50% of Entreplaneteurs Inc. in the deal, although it reverts to Entreplaneteurs Inc. when Synnar is supposedly killed by Max executing the next part of his plan, on Earth.
Some time after this Captain Comet takes up residence in the Zelazny Building on Hardcore Station and uses it as his centre of operations as a freelance telepath. He also has a secret second base, 'The Hole' in the lower region slums of Hardcore Station, away from administrative eyes. Around the same time the 'Eternal Light Corporation', a commercial front for the Church of the Eternal Light, also set up their headquarters there. Eventually they are responsible for the death of Captain Comet and his old friend Star Hawkins
, and the theft of Comet's body to clone a telepath army under their control (aided by the ever-scheming Entreplaneteur Corporation); acts which result in his going to war against the Corporation on his spontaneous resurrection in a new body. In this Comet is aided, largely unwittingly, by a recently revived The Weird
, who disrupts the Church from within. During this battle, the Eternal Light Corporation kill all the residents of the business section of Hardcore Station - the real estate in the 'depopulated area' becoming the property of the Corporation.
Some of the Eternal Light Corporation survived this event, and during the Rann-Thanagar War
, Hardcore Station is subject to a number of attacks by their followers of 'The Profit', almost destroying the Justice Department building. Synnar and Deacon Dark return, and attempt to take over the satellite as part of Synnar's Holy Empire, restructuring part of the station as their new Church. An alliance of Comet, Adam Strange
, Hawkman
, Starfire
, The Weird and others, together with the Church's mortal enemy Lady Styx
and her army elsewhere in space, defeat Synnar at the cost of great structural damage to Hardcore Station, although the war actually ends in deep space between Rann
and Thanagar
.
A year later Hardcore Station suffers further damage when Bizarro runs riot in the Municipal Area.
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
Universe
DC Universe
The DC Universe is the shared universe where most of the comic stories published by DC Comics take place. The fictional characters Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman are well-known superheroes from this universe. Note that in context, "DC Universe" is usually used to refer to the main DC continuity...
, a corrupt commercial satellite station with a population of several million in a free space zone between a number of trading civilisations.
It is also the title of the DC Comics six-issue limited series
Limited series
A limited series is a comic book series with a set number of installments. A limited series differs from an ongoing series in that the number of issues is determined before production and it differs from a one shot in that it is composed of multiple issues....
Hardcore Station (July-December 1998) in which the concept was first introduced, created by writer Jim Starlin
Jim Starlin
James P. "Jim" Starlin is an American comic book writer and artist. With a career dating back to the early 1970s, he is best known for "cosmic" tales and space opera; for revamping the Marvel Comics characters Captain Marvel and Adam Warlock; and for creating or co-creating the Marvel characters...
.
Hardcore Station is home to Captain Comet
Captain Comet
Captain Comet is a fictional DC Comics superhero created by DC Comics Editor Julius Schwartz, writer John Broome, and artist Carmine Infantino....
.
Publication history
DC Comics initially published a self-titled six-issue limited series introducing writer and artist Jim Starlin's concept of Hardcore Station (July-December 1998). Starlin produced the script and all pencil art for the series, including the covers, and inks were by Josef RubinsteinJosef Rubinstein
Josef "Joe" Rubinstein is a comic book artist and inker, most associated with inking Marvel Comics' The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe.-Career:...
in every issue except #4. The series was not a great success, achieving less than 12,000 advance orders by the end of the short run. Starlin was later to say of the series that "When I worked with [editor] Kevin Dooley
Kevin Dooley
Kevin Dooley is a former editor at DC Comics.-Biography:During his time at DC, he served as the assistant editor to Andy Helfer, and then took over many of the titles following Helfer's promotion. Dooley edited the various Green Lantern books and Aquaman...
on Hardcore Station it was a nightmare" In a later interview he elaborated "I did one thing over at DC called Hardcore Station. You never heard of it, no one ever did, because they had a committee over there that looked through the plot and everyone gave on the committee gave parts that had to be added to it. So by the time I sat down and drew it, I didn't recognize it anymore. And it was gone. ... it had no promotion, nothing, it was just thrown out there and it was a mess"
Hardcore Station then disappeared until Jim Starlin picked the concept back up on his return to DC Comics, with the limited series Mystery in Space
Mystery in Space
Mystery in Space is the name of two science fiction comic book series published in the United States by DC Comics, then known as National Comics. The first series ran for 110 issues from 1951 - 1966, with a further 7 issues continuing the numbering during a 1980s revival of the title...
vol. 2 #1-8 (November 2006 - June 2007) with art by Shane Davis
Shane Davis
Shane Davis is an American comic book artist, currently under exclusive contract for DC Comics.-Career:Davis broke into the industry in 2003 by illustrating Robin #110 and a spot illustration in JLA-Z #3...
and Matt Banning, and Ron Lim
Ron Lim
Ronald "Ron" Lim is an American comic book artist living in Sacramento, California.-Biography:Ron Lim's first published work was an independent comic book entitled Ex-Mutants, which he worked on from 1986-1988....
in issue #7 (May 2007), followed by Rann-Thanagar Holy War #1-8 (July 2008 - February 2009), with art by Ron Lim and Ron Hunter, and Strange Adventures
Strange Adventures
Strange Adventures was the title of several American comic books published by DC Comics, most notably a long-running science fiction anthology that began in 1950.-Original series:...
vol 3 #1-8 (May-December 2009) by Starlin, Manuel Garcia and Al Milgrom
Al Milgrom
Allen "Al" Milgrom is an American comic book writer, penciller, inker and editor, primarily for Marvel Comics. He is known for his 10-year run as editor of Marvel Fanfare; his long involvement as writer, penciler, and inker on Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man; his four-year tenure as West...
. Hardcore Station is a key location in all three series, although it does not appear in every issue
Fictional history
Hardcore Station is a commercial satellite station owned by 'Entreplaneteurs Inc.' which began as part of an asteroid mining operation. Its location in space is at the crossroads of five major commercial districts, so it became a business and smuggling centre and grew into a major city complex with a population of over five million citizens in a free space zone between the five trading civilisations. It is "the new hotspot for making questionable deals" and "feels like a haven for every cut-throat, degenerate and con-man in the Universe." Hardcore has its own laws as it does not come under any planetary jurisdiction. Whatever Municipal law exists is the responsibility of Head of Security, Maximillion DeVille, known as Chief Justice Max; who is the only surviving Knight of the Order of The Fist and has a genetically altered skeleton. Entreplaneteurs' Corporate Security also deal with security issues, often in opposition to Municipal Security; especially if it contradicts their secret machinations.When Lord Synnar the Demiurge travels to Hardcore Station supposedly to provide a new energy collection system, Max discovers it is a cover for a secret deal with Entreplaneteurs Inc. to destroy their rivals 'Time Wonder World', killing 3 billion people and incidentally capturing ten years worth of energy from the explosion for Hardcore Station. Synnar also gets 50% of Entreplaneteurs Inc. in the deal, although it reverts to Entreplaneteurs Inc. when Synnar is supposedly killed by Max executing the next part of his plan, on Earth.
Some time after this Captain Comet takes up residence in the Zelazny Building on Hardcore Station and uses it as his centre of operations as a freelance telepath. He also has a secret second base, 'The Hole' in the lower region slums of Hardcore Station, away from administrative eyes. Around the same time the 'Eternal Light Corporation', a commercial front for the Church of the Eternal Light, also set up their headquarters there. Eventually they are responsible for the death of Captain Comet and his old friend Star Hawkins
Star Hawkins
Star Hawkins is a science fiction detective character published by National Comics in their flagship science-fiction anthology title Strange Adventures...
, and the theft of Comet's body to clone a telepath army under their control (aided by the ever-scheming Entreplaneteur Corporation); acts which result in his going to war against the Corporation on his spontaneous resurrection in a new body. In this Comet is aided, largely unwittingly, by a recently revived The Weird
Weird (comics)
The Weird is a fictional DC Comics character created by Jim Starlin and Bernie Wrightson. He first appeared in his own self-titled miniseries The Weird in 1988.-Publication history:The Weird appeared in the eponymous mini-series....
, who disrupts the Church from within. During this battle, the Eternal Light Corporation kill all the residents of the business section of Hardcore Station - the real estate in the 'depopulated area' becoming the property of the Corporation.
Some of the Eternal Light Corporation survived this event, and during the Rann-Thanagar War
Rann-Thanagar War
Rann-Thanagar War is a six-issue comic book limited series published by DC Comics in 2005. Written by Dave Gibbons, and illustrated by Ivan Reis, Marc Campos, and John Kalisz, the series concerns a war between the planets Rann and Thanagar, and features Adam Strange, the Green Lantern Corps,...
, Hardcore Station is subject to a number of attacks by their followers of 'The Profit', almost destroying the Justice Department building. Synnar and Deacon Dark return, and attempt to take over the satellite as part of Synnar's Holy Empire, restructuring part of the station as their new Church. An alliance of Comet, Adam Strange
Adam Strange
Adam Strange is a fictional superhero published by DC Comics. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Mike Sekowsky, he first appeared in Showcase #17 .In May 2011, Adam Strange placed 97th on IGN's Top 100 Comic Book Heroes of All Time....
, Hawkman
Hawkman
Hawkman is a fictional superhero who appears in comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Dennis Neville, the original Hawkman first appeared in Flash Comics #1, published by All-American Publications in 1940....
, Starfire
Starfire (comics)
Starfire is the name of several fictional comic book characters published by DC Comics. The most prominent Starfire is Koriand'r, the fourth character to use that name...
, The Weird and others, together with the Church's mortal enemy Lady Styx
Lady Styx
Lady Styx is a fictional supervillain in the . Her first appearance occurred in the weekly series 52.-Publication history:Lady Styx first appeared in 52 #31 as the main antagonist to Adam Strange, Animal Man, and Starfire. She later made appearances in Omega Men and Countdown to Adventure...
and her army elsewhere in space, defeat Synnar at the cost of great structural damage to Hardcore Station, although the war actually ends in deep space between Rann
Rann
Rann is a fictional planet in the Polaris star system of the whose capitol city is Ranagar. Rann is most famous for being the adopted planet of the Earth explorer and hero Adam Strange and for their teleportation device called the Zeta Beam...
and Thanagar
Thanagar
Thanagar is a fictional planet in the . Thanagar is the original home of the humanoid Thanagarian race, noted for the discovery of gravity-defying Nth metal...
.
A year later Hardcore Station suffers further damage when Bizarro runs riot in the Municipal Area.