Starstruck (comics) - Merchandise and Collectibles

Merchandise and Collectibles

• Portfolio: During the first run of the Starstruck stage play in 1980, Michael Kaluta illustrated character portraits of six of the main characters. Sal Quartuccio of S. Q. Productions published these as a limited edition portfolio of 2000; the 11"x14" prints were in black-and-white, sealed in an envelope which Kaluta signed and numbered.

• T-shirts: In 1985, Graphitti Designs sold two Starstruck t-shirts with original art by Kaluta. One profiled Erotica Ann, while the other spotlighted Erotica Ann and her lover, Harry Palmer, both with the Starstruck logo. These were offered for sale in the Epic Comics issues. In 1990, these shirt designs were amended with the Starstruck: The Expanding Universe logo, for sale in the Dark Horse issues.

• Buttons: Kaluta designed color lapel pins with individual characters for Graphitti Designs. Set 1 included Brucilla The Muscle, Galatia 9, Erotica Ann, Verloona Ti, E-V, and a faux Erotica Ann (Mary Medea). A second set with Eeeeeeeeeluh, Bronwyn of The Veil, Rah El Rex, and Kalif Bajar went unrealized.

• Convention Poster: In 1990, Kaluta did a poster for a comics convention in Grenoble, France, depicting Galactic Girl Guides playing with hand puppets of the Starstruck cast. The poster was printed in large forms on walls and billboards around the city during the convention.

• WonderCon Convention Program Book: Also in 1990, Kaluta did a cover for the WonderCon 5 program book which depicted Galactic Girl Guides on a San Francisco cable car in Chinatown being watched over by The Shadow.

• Comic-Con Volunteer t-shirt: Volunteers who help out on all four days of the San Diego Comic-Con receive "a rare and extremely limited Comic-Con volunteer t-shirt that is different each year- making the shirts instant collector's items." The souvenir t-shirt for the 1990 San Diego Comic-Con was a Starstruck shirt, printed with Kaluta's spoof of Dave Stevens' Rocketeer featuring Brucilla The Muscle.

• Trading cards: Two sets of trading cards covering Michael Kaluta's art career were released in the 1990s by publisher Michael Freidlander's imprint, FPG. Series 1 (90 cards, 1994) contained 12 Starstruck cards, and Series 2 (90 cards, 1995) contained 4 Starstruck cards. An additional set of cards called Metallic Storms printed on metallic foil contained one more Starstruck card.

• Starstruck script: The script of the stage play, based on the revised 1983 production, was published in March 1985, and advertised in the Epic and Dark Horse issues.

• Audioplay: The first Starstruck audioplay adaption, based on the play, was released on CD and download from the AudioComics Company in October 2010. A second will become a free download in latter 2011.

• 2011 Merchandise: In September 2011, The AudioComics Company offered new Starstruck merchandise for sale at its online store through Zazzle.com, each using the art for the audioplay adaption: a new T-Shirt, a coffee mug, and a customizable iPod Touch case. In October 2011, a separate line of new Starstruck merchandise based on the remastered IDW series was launched, also through an online store on Zazzle.com: ten different T-Shirts in various cuts, which included Brucilla And The Galactic Girl Guides, the Tri-Clone Invasion badge, Galatia And Brucilla The Muscle, The United Federation of Female Freedom Fighters emblem, the villain Verloona with Kalif and Rex, the Skate The Mirror Mission Badge, the Droid Wars Mission Patch, Kalif and the Pleasure Droids, the Bajar twins on a playing card, and the AudioPlay cover art; a coffee mug starring the heroes and another mug for the villains; a poster print of the Vercadian Protector Droid with the Aguatunesian mer-people by Kaluta, and an Aquacade poster designed from Kaluta's original Portfolio portrait of the mermaid Eeeeeeeeeeluh with an update by painter/graphic designer Lee Moyer.