Comics

Stan Lee’s BOOM! Studios Superheroes Deserve More Love

Stan Lee is the legendary co-creator of the Marvel Universe, but the superhero universe he created in partnership with BOOM! Studios is one of his most underrated projects.

Image Courtesy of BOOM! Studios

There is perhaps no bigger name in all of comic book history than Stan Lee. For decades, Stan Lee helped create some of the most iconic superheroes in all fiction, such as Spiderman and the Fantastic Four, and was a pillar for Marvel Comicsโ€™ success as a brand. Few people have left such an impact on comics. However, Stan Lee didnโ€™t just work for Marvel Comics. Stan Lee collaborated with additional publishers to tell stories. From 2010 to 2011, through his POW! Entertainment brand, Stan Lee worked with the comic company BOOM! Studios to develop an all-new superhero universe. Stan teamed up with various writers, including Paul Cornell, Mark Waid, and Chris Roberson, to create three titles:ย Soldier Zero,ย The Traveler, andย Starborn.

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Each of these titles had 12 issues and followed their titular superheroes as they fought to protect humanity from supervillains and evil aliens. Unlike other shared superhero universes, there wasnโ€™t that much overlap between theย Soldier Zero,ย The Traveler, and Starbornย comics. The characters only ever interacted in one or two issues. The partnership with BOOM! Studios was still one of Stan Leeโ€™s most successful projects, as all three titles were major hits when they were published. However, since the titles were short mini-series and attached to a lesser-known comic book company, Stan Leeโ€™s BOOM! Studios superhero universe has been for the most part unfairly forgotten. Even if these comics donโ€™t have the same brand recognition or decades of history as Marvel, they still provided exhilarating plots, interesting characters, and thought-provoking messages that deserve to be remembered.

Who are Soldier Zero, the Traveler, and Starborn?

Image Courtesy of BOOM! studios

For any story to work, a writer needs to have compelling characters. For Stan Lee, making exciting and captivating superheroes was his bread and butter. And he succeeded admirably with the heroes of his new shared universe: Soldier Zero, the Traveler, and Starborn.

The flagship character to launch BOOM! Studiosโ€™ new line of superhero comics was Stuart Trautman, aka Soldier Zero. Stuart was a former marine who lost the use of his legs during a mission. His life dramatically changed again when a dying alien crash-landed and nearly killed Stuart. The alien, known by the rank of Soldier Zero, is a living suit that bonded with Stuart so that they could both survive. The alien gave Stuart the ability to walk again, and together they became the superhero Soldier Zero. In this form, Stuart has the powers of super-strength, flight, energy projection, and energy blades. Their main adversary is Soldier One, a stronger version of Soldier Zeroโ€™s species. Soldier One came to Earth to execute the pair in order to cover up an alien conspiracy.ย 

The second hero to be introduced was Ronald Lessik, aka the Traveler. Ronaldโ€™s story about a superhero with time-based powers, is a surreal blend of past, present, and future. A theoretical physicist, Ronald worked on an experiment that was sabotaged by his partner, Dr. Colding, who wanted all the credit for their scientific breakthroughs. The sabotage caused a massive explosion, which gave everyone in the lab various superpowers. It also caused Ronaldโ€™s girlfriend, Julia, to be lost in time and space. Ronaldโ€™s time-travelling future self actually had a hand in making sure that this scenario played out to avoid a paradox that would kill him. The explosion also caused the present and future versions of Ronald to merge and turned him into the time-manipulating superhero, the Traveler. With his powers, Ronald can stop and accelerate time, fly, enhance his strength, create illusions, and, of course, time travel. Ronald uses his powers in his quest to find Julia and fight the mutated Dr. Colding, who transformed into the repulsive villain and tyrant known as Abaris.

The last of the trio is Ben Warner, aka Starborn. Ben was a man who wrote fantastical science-fiction stories about warring alien empires. However, his ideas werenโ€™t from his imagination but were instead suppressed memories. It turns out that humanity was the forgotten remnants of a galaxy-spanning empire with no memories of their past. Ben was the son of the empireโ€™s deceased ruler, who slaughtered countless alien races across hundreds of worlds as part of a galactic ethnic cleansing. Ben discovered his heritage when various alien races arrived on Earth to kill him and the rest of humanity in revenge for his fatherโ€™s actions. Benโ€™s childhood friend/secret bodyguard is Tara. She knew of Benโ€™s origin and gave him a special power suit so that he could defend himself. As the hero Starborn, Ben works alongside Tara to prevent an intergalactic war โ€“ and to avoid being murdered.

Why Stan Lee’s BOOM! Universe is Worth a Read

Image Courtesy of Boom! Studios

The universe Stan Lee made in partnership with BOOM! Studios may be small, but even in a little time, it contains fun and captivating stories. The artwork across all three titles is stunning, with fluid and creative action and unique and eye-catching character designs. The writing is also top-notch. Stan Lee is well-known for telling stories about flawed superheroes who convey essential messages through fantastical settings. The superheroes he made at BOOM! Studios are no different. Soldier Zero is a story about ableism, the various forms it takes, and how people are more than just their disabilities. As the Traveler searches for his long-lost girlfriend Julia across time and space, the series explores themes of grief and letting go of the past to make a new future. Starborn is a story with a profound message about historical injustices, generational trauma, and the power of empathy and forgiveness.

Even if BOOM! Studios never returned to Stan Leeโ€™s shared superhero universe, the characters and stories that were told were some of the companyโ€™s very best. The heroes Soldier Zero, the Traveler, and Starborn deserve recognition as some of Stan Leeโ€™s finest work in his later years. Excelsior!