The Last Starfighter is getting a sequel as a graphic novel

Mad Cave Studios has opened pre-orders for The Last Starfighter-Vol. 1, an official graphic novel sequel to the 1984 sci-fi film.

We covered this a while ago. The pre-order is currently live.

The Last Starfighter was one of the first movies I saw in the theater. I know it is cheesy, but I adore this movie. There have been a few tries at sequels and prequels over the decades, but nothing ever actually released. We had rumors of a television spin-off in the late 2000s and a script floating around called The Starfighter Chronicles, but they all fizzled out in development hell.

The Atari game that never was

The original movie holds a strange place in video game history. The entire plot revolves around an arcade cabinet placed in a trailer park that secretly tests players for starfighter aptitude. Atari actually developed a real Last Starfighter arcade game to tie into the movie release. It was a 3D polygon shooter, built on more advanced hardware (Motorola 68000, System IV) than the classic Star Wars arcade game, which utilized vector graphics and different underlying hardware. Atari canceled the project because the hardware was too expensive to manufacture at the time. The movie's central arcade cabinet remained a pure Hollywood prop.

The film was also a pioneer in computer-generated imagery. Instead of using practical models for the Gunstar ships, the production used a Cray supercomputer to render the space battles. Translating those early polygonal ship designs into a modern comic art style is going to be an interesting visual challenge for the new creative team.

Forty years later

The new story picks up four decades after the credits rolled on the original film. Alex Rogan is now the leader of the Star League. He is also its only member. He has to rebuild the galaxy's defense force from scratch to fight off the returning threat of Xur and the Ko-Dan Armada. The book introduces a new cast of recruits alongside familiar characters.

The writing team includes Benjamin Raab and Deric A. Hughes, who previously worked on television shows like Warehouse 13 and the recent Quantum Leap revival. They are working alongside artist Willi Roberts and colorist Francesco Segala. The project also has direct input from original Last Starfighter writer Jonathan Betuel and filmmaker Paul Davidson.

$20 for the physical book

The physical trade paperback costs $19.99. A digital PDF version is also available for $14.99.

As for whether this is a one-off project, the "Vol. 1" in the title gives it away. The book is meant to launch an expanded universe. We will likely see subsequent volumes if this initial run does well. Comic continuations of 1980s properties have a solid track record lately, so a multi-volume run seems like a safe bet.

It took 42 years to get a proper continuation of Alex Rogan's high-score recruitment trip.

Source: madcavestudios.com