Fletcher Hanks’ ‘Stardust’ Gets A Statue That Destroys All The Civilized Planets

Until a few years ago I'd never heard of Fletcher Hanks. But ever since I came across I Shall Destroy All The Civilized Planets! and You Shall Die By Your Own Evil Creation!, the Fantagraphics collections of the Golden Age cartoonists' work, I've been semi-obsessed. Hanks' most famous creation, Stardust The Super Wizard, is a twisted version of Nietzsche's Übermensch. His stories read like fever dreams, with a near omnipotent Adonis flying through the sky and handing out his flat out messed up version of justice to criminals -- turning them into rats, crushing their torsos with one hand, or throwing their heads into the deepest corners of space. Equal parts bizarre and fascinating, the stories somehow manage to tap into many of our subconscious fears. Basically, I love them.

And now collectible toy company Goldenagefigurines.com is making a dream of many Hanks fans come true, as they've created a figurine of Stardust, and have announced upcoming statues of other Hanks creations, including The Black Terror and Fantomah, believed to be the first comic book superheroine.

A Kickstarter to create the figure launched last November, but fell short of its goal. Fortunately, the creators found another way, and the statue is now available. Priced at $27.95, the Stardust figure is 4" tall, hand-painted polyresin, and features Stardust on the verge of tossing a disembodied head into space, as is the character's wont. There are three different versions, and each has a print run of less than 200. So if you'd like one, I'd suggest you get on that now.