When you think The Red Star chances are you’re thinking about communism or a certain video game. But did you know that this game is basically a complement to a comic? It won a few Eisners but recently its albums have left storefronts. I can’t even access the official store because its security is so old and vulnerable. So with both of these gems about to become hidden, let’s go over what makes this franchise so notable. Although quick disclaimer we won’t be going over the tabletop game, that’s the hardest thing to find out of all of this.
The Red Star: Soviet Star Wars
First let’s talk about the creator Christian Gossett, an artist who got his start in the late 80s. This was the era that a few trends took place: black-and-white indies and ninjas trying to ape TMNT. But what really got Gossett going was a recommendation to Dark Horse’s Legends era of Star Wars. Which led to a few other things like designing Darth Maul’s light saber. The science-fantasy elements and ship designs give Gossett an outline to work with. By combining this with Soviet military history and Russian folklore, Gossett would lay out Red Star’s foundations.
But there was one other thing that makes Red Star stand out. It’s one of the first successful CG comics!
Boo!
Computer Generated!
Not in the way you might be familiar with CGI models. The technology wasn’t there in its production in 1999… or at least not to creators without Pixar level budgets. Otherwise it might’ve looked like this:
So to get around the limitations, Gossett’s 3D artists made the models from his designs while line-art was traced and arranged into cinematic sets. Then colorists and SFX artists would decorate everything to make it look spectacular.
As for the characters, Gossett and his co-writers would often make the dialogue and narrations more like prose. It makes these characters feel like they are writing war poetry.
What Makes A Soldier
One of The Red Star‘s strengths comes from confronting what turns people into soldiers. In both the present and past, readers experience characters conditioned by their environment into duty. From propaganda posters that tower over civilians to going through intense training to use special equipment. Because who wouldn’t want to be a one-man army for a cause? Even if you basically become a living cannon that has to rebuild herself every time it’s fired? Or go into your next battle knowing your superiors push for it despite bad intel and no urgency? Every character is driven to be a part of something bigger than themselves fully aware that the ideals of this state have long decayed.
Much like the real Red Army, this republic is driven to follow the legacy of a revolution like some kind of founding myth. But the fact that it’s treated like a legend that people lost the nuances. By following a culture where service means martyrdom, most soldiers fail to realize that they’ve become the slaves they wanted to free. And who suffers the most from this? Not the soldiers who reaped the rewards, fully aware of their atrocities. But the very people who were supposed to be united equally under the republic.
A Child Soldier
It’s like this, the real Soviet Union always spoke about welcoming everyone under communism. But some places were more important to the Soviets than others. In fact only people with privileges actually thrived, usually farm heads or officials. Everybody else had to settle for less. What most poorer children had for toys prepared them for war, an ideal that was turned against the Union. Nowhere is that more apparent in The Red Star than with Makita. She was 14 when this universe’s Ukraine(?) declared its independence after its Soviet-Afghan War. Before she was orphaned by the following conflict, Makita got an impressive body count thanks to getting familiar with weapons and gear. Everything that the Republic left behind like the sickle and hammer Makita uses is another weapon to use against them. Whatever symbolic unity these states had is long gone, doubly so with Makita’s parentage.
The Red Star: Swords of Truth and Lies
So is this a grimdark reality like with Warhammer? Doesn’t feel like it. For one the main characters are honest and upright. Unlike their superiors, they believe in the ideals of brotherhood, unity, duty, and honor. Hence why they have the support of the spiritual Red Lady, a servant to a goddess called Pravda. This spirit represents the ideals of truth her first champion betrayed. Liberating people from monarchies meant their souls too, not using them as an energy source.
Remember that bit about a culture of sacrifice? When a soldier dies, they either go to the afterlife for their service or continue it as a ghost for sci-fantasy spells. It was either that or be held prisoner by monarchy to twist them into some abominations of reapers. It’s just that after a while, the afterlife was co-opted by the Red Lady’s ex-champion Imbohl. Because what better way to fuel a nation under an energy crisis than encouraging people to serve productively? Imbohl would get his own champion named Troika to carry out his will. Troika doesn’t even look human anymore, more like a perfected state of those reapers, harvesting souls for a nation.
For these people, the only thing that matters are the wars. For Troika, it’s practically his religion, wanting to honor the sacrifices these souls have made. But the power hungry Soviet stand-ins he’s against see this for what it all really is. Nothing more than a means of profit.
Happiness vs. Satisfaction
So what makes our ragtag group of soldiers so special? Throughout the series, readers can feel what brings them all together, despite their differences. Like the way Makita moves with smooth gymnastic flow shows her adaptability in such situations. Unlike the others, Makita has an all or nothing approach to battle, no telekinetic equipment, just pure agility and looted weapons. While Makita is very vulnerable, this approach allows her to recognize genuine mercy from an enemy soldier. That way readers recognize someone who lost her childhood, finding the small blessings where she could. Especially when Makita delivers a message for her enemies’ defectors.
Sure liberating imprisoned souls from exploitation is nice, but what drives the command more than anything is something selfish. They want to reunite with someone they love and thought lost. Marcus Antares is one soldier who does nothing but defy odds. You don’t manage to convince your command to work with your wife without being good at what you do. For Marcus, that means being a soldier who recognizes people’s character. Like his wife’s love for formerly banned books or seeing the ghosts that power spells. Hence why the Red Lady made him her new champion.
Selfish, Not Bad
As well as give his sorceress wife Maya a message that he is alive and fighting for the dream, asking her and his brother to join. It’s a good thing too as Urik believes in honor and sees soldiers as more than just cannon fodder. That’s what got him the loyalty of most of his airship crew when they decide to join Marcus in the fight. Better him than the zealotry of their ex-SO.
But let’s get back to Maya. As a sorceress, she’s probably the most powerful character on the crew. There is a reason you have to unlock her in the game. But what makes Maya so powerful is her empathy. She reads formerly banned books because she wants more points-of-view, not just what her superiors tell her. Even the way Maya uses her techno-spells shows how when she looks at the entire context of her best friend’s death. When she finally breaks away from the Republic’s ways, Maya becomes closer to Marcus than ever. Having the power to see the spirits of exploited people after a near-death experience will do that. She’ll probably need to ask permission to spell sling after this, but they should be more powerful.
Bonus Section
Can’t forget about Maya’s bodyguard Kyuzo. Apparently this sneaky giant used to a shoe-in for a one-man army. Which he proves when he fought against one of them by himself entirely off-panel… Yeah you can only get the feel of how strong Kyuzo is in the game. Most players take him over Makita since he can take hits more easily. Not to mention his minigun which resupplies itself with surrounding ammo. Wait I think that’s just the comic. You don’t fight the other supersoldier either, let alone grind on rails.
But we’ll get back to that. In any case, Kyuzo is probably the most loyal soldier out of everybody there. Yet he turned down that one-man army job to be around Maya.
Wait so…
I dunno, you don’t need to be in love with someone to love them. Maybe that love let Kyuzo keep his humanity unlike the killing machine he fights. There’s more to him in that tabletop. Somewhere.
Is Any of This In The Red Star Game?
The game has the same outline but it approaches the story differently. For example, that intense battleship section against the cast’s former SO is the game’s tutorial level. Then they find themselves in Makita’s home then in the Afghanistan stand-in. The game focuses on making players feel like the cast are facing impossible odds. Between the beat-em-up sections, bullet hell elements, and a performance reward system for RPG-esque upgrades, four hours of gameplay engross players.
But if you’re expecting anything like say Metal Gear Solid, the developer Acclaim was in its last year. With a few video game slumps, they didn’t have the resources to be as ambitious as Kojima. For that matter it took three years to release the game after Acclaim’s bankruptcy. During this time, the game’s co-developer Archangel would publish comics as advertisement and complements. Then the company…blah-blah-blah…jargon, jargon, jargon.
Where Is The Red Star?
All that you need to know is the licenses went around to different people. IDW was the latest for comics and I was lucky enough to read both deluxe edition volumes. But they missed issues like Makita’s debut in an annual…sorry, sorry, that’s basically a bonus comic. The license expired sometime after 2020 anyway. If you’re looking for a full set, you’re gonna have to go around places.
…
Also, the closest this franchise’s story got to an ending is in the game; without all of the nuance. According to the Facebook and Instagram pages, Christian Gossett had some new designs for something called Red Star: Rapid Fire. But between Gossett getting busy with TV-
and a Substack newsletter for a prose series called Cthulhutown, The Red Star appears to be on hold.
Rise and Shine?
The Red Star is like a movie production with its sense of scale, rotating artists, and development hell. Despite that, it’s more than enough to have a big niche following. How could it not with people feeling the odds these characters go against? From a grounded setting with fantastic displays, this epic is an unforgettable experience. Most people who only play the video game however are missing out on just how big the scale is. The only thing left to do is become more accessible.
But the ink’s not dry yet on this franchise!