Line #3 ComicBook/StarRaiders


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6	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/StarRaidersGNCover_1703.jpg]]
7	A graphic novel loosely based on the Creator/{{Atari}} game ''VideoGame/StarRaiders'', published in 1983 by Creator/DCComics. Written by Creator/ElliotSMaggin and painted by Jose Luis Garcia Lopez, it was the first title in the DC Graphic Novel series. The story follows Jedediah Poole and Tomorrow "Tommy" Hardtack, two human adventurers who find a desolate planet with the Star Raider, a small, nimble, and ''very'' powerful spaceship. Aided by Zeke Vicker, the planet's only survivor, Poole and Hardtack decide to start a rebellion against the tyrannical Zylons who have conquered the galaxy.
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9	According to [[http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2010/09/17/comic-book-legends-revealed-278/ Comic Book Resources]], the story was originally intended as a 120-page-long limited series. Unfortunately, due to UsefulNotes/TheGreatVideoGameCrashOf1983, Atari canceled the deal with DC Comics midway through development. With 40 pages already completed, DC decided to cut its losses by commissioning an additional 20 pages to finish the story, then released it as a single volume.
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12	!!The graphic novel provides examples of the following tropes:
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14	* ActionDuo: Jed and Tommy's approach to almost any situation is to act first and never bother with planning.
15	%%* ActionGirl: Tommy.
16	* AsteroidsMonster: The Zylons. Blasting one into a dozen pieces will quickly result in a dozen fully-grown Zylons; the only way to completely destroy one is to send it into the vacuum of space.
17	* CoolStarship: The ''Star Raider'' is a fast, nimble one-man attack craft with a warp drive and disproportionately heavy armament and defenses. It's so cool that simply ''discovering'' it inspires Jed and Tommy to start LaResistance against the Zylons and use it as their flagship.
18	* TheEmpath: [[spoiler:Skrimish]] eventually discovers he has telepathic powers. He later uses this ability to [[spoiler:sabotage the Zylons' defenses and fly into their base.]]
19	* TheEmpire: The Zylons are implied to have a tyrannical one for nearly a thousand years, enforced through their HiveMind, but very little of it is actually shown.
20	* HiveMind: The Zylons. Later [[spoiler:becomes their FatalFlaw]].
21	* HiveQueen: [[spoiler:Not a Zylon, but a telepathic Guattean biologist who took control.]]
22	* InsectoidAliens: The Zylons have a decidedly chitinous insect-line appearance, as shown in the work image above.
23	* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Jed Poole yells bombastic insults at anyone within earshot, but he won't hesitate to leap into action if any of his companions are in danger.
24	%%* LaResistance
25	* LastOfHisKind: Skrimish.
26	** Zeke might also count, being the last survivor of the Zylon attack on his planet, though it's obvious there are other humans elsewhere in the galaxy.
27	* LeftHanging: Unavoidable due to the compressed story and truncated ending.
28	* MeaningfulName[=/=]TomboyishName: Tomorrow "{{Tom\|boy}}my" Hardtack.
29	* MerchandiseDriven: The novel was originally created as a marketing tool for Atari's VideoGame of the same name.
30	* PirateGirl: Tommy, a SpacePirate complete with eyepatch.
31	* PoorlyDisguisedPilot: Due to its truncated development, the graphic novel seems [[RandomEventsPlot meandering at times]], setting up plot points and characters that are never explored in detail. It makes more sense as a starting point for either an extended StoryArc (as originally intended) or an ongoing series, however.
32	* PsychicLink: The Star Raider has a "brain bug" to allow the pilot to telepathically communicate with his peers; Jeb uses it to warn Tommy from an ambush. Later, it is implied [[spoiler:that Skrimish uses it to control the Zylons when he attacks their homeworld]].
33	* RagtagBunchOfMisfits: The rebellion against the Zylons consist of Tommy, Jed, Zeke, and a half-dozen alien recruits.
34	* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: Zeke, who somehow acquired immortality due to lingering radiation after the Zylon attack that decimated the rest of his planet.
35	* {{Rewrite}}: The origins and appearance of the Zylons in the graphic novel directly contradict what was previously established in ''ComicBook/AtariForce'' mini-comic #3.
36	%%* SpaceBattle: Lots.
37	* SpacePirates: Tommy and Jeb are implied to be as such. Tommy even sports an eyepatch...
38	* SpearCarrier: The other recruits to the rebellion, except for [[spoiler:Skrimish]] -- aside from a line of two establishing their backgrounds, they're irrelevant to the story.
39	* SpinOff: From ''ComicBook/AtariForce'' (first series) #3.
40	* StandardScifiSetting: [[CasualInterstellarTravel Easy faster than light travel]]? Check. PsychicPowers? Check. ScaryDogmaticAliens? Check. Dozens of inconsequential alien races? Check. TheEmpire and LaResistance? Check. [[SpaceBattle Epic space battles]]? Check.
41	* SupportingProtagonist: Jed. He starts off as the main hero of the story, but around halfway through the focus shifts to [[spoiler:Skrimish]] instead.
42	* TelepathicSpacemen: The Guatteans are a race of empaths, exterminated by the Zylons decades ago. [[spoiler:Skrimish is the LastOfHisKind.]]
43	* ThereIsAnother: [[spoiler:The Zylon HiveQueen, who's actually a Guattean biologist.]]

Context ComicBook / StarRaiders