Sun Devils (comics)
Encyclopedia
Sun Devils is the title of a science fiction
"space opera
" comic book
series published by DC Comics
for 12 issues between July 1984 and June 1985. Writers Gerry Conway
, Roy Thomas
and artist Dan Jurgens
created the series.
"Sun Devils" was composed of four acts, each of which was composed of three monthly issues whose covers could be assembled to make a larger image. At the end of the series, each act's covers could be stacked on top of one another, so that an even larger central image was created by putting the books three wide and four tall.
Originally set in its own unique world, Dan Jurgens later incorporated the characters into the DC Universe
in a story called "The Last Sun Devil" which featured an aged Rik Sunn and a woman implied to be Scyla's daughter teaming up with Superman
(Superman #86; February, 1994). The issue was written and drawn by Jurgens, and inked by Steve Mitchell, who inked Jurgens's work over the last six issues of the original maxi-series.
In a March, 2008 interview, Booster Gold co-writer Jeff Katz responded to a question about the Sun Devils' role in his series by telling Comic Related that Rik Sun is a secret member of the Time Stealers, a team of supervillains currently known to be composed of Despero
, Per Degaton
, Supernova (comics)
and The Ultra-Humanite
. The next month, speaking to the same interviewer, he dismissed this claim as a joke. The in-story connection between the Sun Devils and Booster Gold, then, is unclear.
The series featured some of Jurgens' earliest pencilling work and his first work as a writer/ artist. He began to script Conway's plots with #8 and fully took over the writing duties on the title with #10. Conway was originally both the writer and editor of the title; he remained the series' editor until its conclusion. It was one of the many series that DC published in "maxi-series" format throughout the mid-1980s, meaning that it was a closed-ended, 12-issue limited series--longer than most comics miniseries.
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
"space opera
Space opera
Space opera is a subgenre of science fiction that emphasizes romantic, often melodramatic adventure, set mainly or entirely in outer space, generally involving conflict between opponents possessing advanced technologies and abilities. The term has no relation to music and it is analogous to "soap...
" comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
series published by DC Comics
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...
for 12 issues between July 1984 and June 1985. Writers Gerry Conway
Gerry Conway
Gerard F. "Gerry" Conway is an American writer of comic books and television shows. He is known for co-creating the Marvel Comics vigilante The Punisher and scripting the death of the character Gwen Stacy during his long run on The Amazing Spider-Man...
, Roy Thomas
Roy Thomas
Roy William Thomas, Jr. is an American comic book writer and editor, and Stan Lee's first successor as editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics. He is possibly best known for introducing the pulp magazine hero Conan the Barbarian to American comics, with a series that added to the storyline of Robert E...
and artist Dan Jurgens
Dan Jurgens
Dan Jurgens is an American comic book writer and artist. He is best known for creating the superhero Booster Gold, and for his lengthy runs on the Superman titles Adventures of Superman and Superman , particularly during The Death of Superman storyline...
created the series.
History
Printed in DC's deluxe paper "baxter format" and priced at the then-high price of $1.25 the series followed a group of cosmic adventurers led by Rik Sunn, the series' main protagonist. Additional cast members included Anomie Zitar, an apparent feline-human hybrid (fittingly, the team's resident "sex kitten"); a smuggler-pilot named Scyla, a tall, powerful woman whose personality borrowed heavily from Han Solo and who was identified as being from a colony on an asteroid belt; Three clones, genetically-raised as starship repairmen, who had no name and were referred to only as "One," "Two" and "Three" (at the start of the series, they spoke in unison or finished one another's sentences, but as the book moved along they started to develop independent personalities. Toward the end, Two and Scyla became drinking buddies and possibly more); and Shikon, a member of the Sauroid race. It was the Sauroid Empire who Sunn and his mates were fighting after Karvus Khun, the leader of the Sauroids and a half-Sauroid, half-human hybrid, destroyed Sunn's homeworld of Wolfholme. At the end of the first story arc, the team was joined by a ghostly figure called Myste, a woman who had apparently "died" while serving the Sauroids, but had in fact remained somehow alive, obtained powers and turned against them, attaching herself to the Sun Devils and giving them information and direction for the rest of the story."Sun Devils" was composed of four acts, each of which was composed of three monthly issues whose covers could be assembled to make a larger image. At the end of the series, each act's covers could be stacked on top of one another, so that an even larger central image was created by putting the books three wide and four tall.
Originally set in its own unique world, Dan Jurgens later incorporated the characters into the DC 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...
in a story called "The Last Sun Devil" which featured an aged Rik Sunn and a woman implied to be Scyla's daughter teaming up with Superman
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
(Superman #86; February, 1994). The issue was written and drawn by Jurgens, and inked by Steve Mitchell, who inked Jurgens's work over the last six issues of the original maxi-series.
In a March, 2008 interview, Booster Gold co-writer Jeff Katz responded to a question about the Sun Devils' role in his series by telling Comic Related that Rik Sun is a secret member of the Time Stealers, a team of supervillains currently known to be composed of Despero
Despero
Despero is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appears in Justice League of America #1 Despero is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appears in Justice League of America #1 Despero...
, Per Degaton
Per Degaton
Per Degaton is a fictional character, a DC Comics supervillain who can travel through time. Per Degaton made his first appearance in All Star Comics #35 and was created by John Broome and Irwin Hasen...
, Supernova (comics)
Supernova (comics)
Supernova is an identity used by three characters in the , all related to the Carter bloodline. The first appearance of this character was in the weekly DC Comics series 52 where the mystery of his true identity and purpose was one of the recurring themes of the series.-52:The character of...
and The Ultra-Humanite
Ultra-Humanite
The Ultra-Humanite is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in Action Comics #13 , and was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster...
. The next month, speaking to the same interviewer, he dismissed this claim as a joke. The in-story connection between the Sun Devils and Booster Gold, then, is unclear.
The series featured some of Jurgens' earliest pencilling work and his first work as a writer/ artist. He began to script Conway's plots with #8 and fully took over the writing duties on the title with #10. Conway was originally both the writer and editor of the title; he remained the series' editor until its conclusion. It was one of the many series that DC published in "maxi-series" format throughout the mid-1980s, meaning that it was a closed-ended, 12-issue limited series--longer than most comics miniseries.