An EXCLUSIVE INSIDE LOOK at the comics master’s return to drawing…

The big news this week is that Jim Starlin is returning to his signature, creator-owned character Dreadstar — as writer and artist — for an original graphic novel that was funded on Kickstarter in a mere 14 hours.

Dreadstar Returns — from Ominous Press and Creation.INK — is a new, 100-page story inked by Jaime Jameson and it marks Starlin’s first illustration work in years. (A hand injury kept him away from the drawing board but he worked his way back, an unexpected development to longtime comics readers.) Not only that, the OGN will be accompanied by a Who’s Who-style Dreadstar Guidebook by Starlin and comics historian Robert Greenberger.

Dreadstar, for those not in the know, was the debut title of Marvel’s Epic Comics imprint in 1982, later moving to First Comics and Malibu Comics. Fans have long thought the story was over but Dreadstar Returns brings the original characters back in full force.

The crowdfunding campaign has three more weeks to go but as I write this, it’s raised nearly twice its $28,000 goal. Click here to check it out — because the beauty is that not only is this project already happening but there are all sorts of big-time stretch goals to aim for.

And you want to know what else is cool? Right here, right now — as a 13th Dimension EXCLUSIVE — we can show off 13 “PAGES” from the project: the OGN’s first 12 pages and a special BONUS: Rick Leonardi’s sketch cover of a new printing of the original Dreadstar #1, which will be available as one of the stretch goals.

A couple of pages are floating around here and there and you can see a number of them as thumbnails on the Kickstarter, but now you get to see the opening sequence in all its hi-res glory:

And here’s Leonardi’s sketch cover:

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For more information on the Kickstarter, click here. You can also check out Ominous Press for updates once the Kickstarter ends. Click here.

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MORE

— Inside BLACK BOOK: THE ART OF JIM STARLIN. Click here.

— Inside JIM STARLIN’S MARVEL COSMIC ARTIFACT EDITION. Click here.