Editorial Review:

This superb black-and-white hardcover features a continuation of Barry Windsor-Smith's "Storyteller" of sorts, focusing as it does on the "Young Gods" character Adastra. Originally conceived as an X-MEN story in the "LifeDeath" series, ADASTRA IN AFRICA has been reinvented by Windsor-Smith as a touching (and magnificently drawn) fable, and is supplemented by background information and an amusing fake interview with the character.

Customer Reviews:

Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0

"Ad Astra" means "To the stars":

-- but I don't know the Latin for "From the stars," the original home of this alien princess.
As with any good art, this story leaves a tumult of feelings behind it. The first, for a reader sensitive to women's beauty, is beauty. Adastra captures all that the cover picture promises: youth, strength, and that strength unique to women's bodies. Given that vital beginning, the story seems to miscarry. Children and adults both suffer, but in different ways, and Our Heroine's attempts at Heroism land with a... more info

No other way to tell the tale:

I have to detract from the previous reviews which focus on the the art and the story's original place as part of the over-burdened pantheon that is Marvel's X-Men comics' continuity. Instead I want to focus on the eloquence of a story that pits miracles againt hope and reality. Miracles may save a life, a village, a world but it cannot be counted upon. People have to sacrifice in order to get what they want. That's the universal truth that brings conflict to the relationship between a well meaning goddess... more info

Now I know what over-illustrated means:

Barry Windsor-Smith was one of my favorite comic artists when I used to collect comics in the 1970s and 80s. His sense of detail steeped in Art Nouveau and Symbolism combined with strong storytelling pacing pulled me in another world and lingered with me after I turned each page. His sense of the supernatural was always spellbinding to me.

When I found out that a new book of his was out, I eagerly purchased it without knowing anything about it based on how much I loved his work from before. His... more info

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