SATURDAY SIX Book Club: Theme Park Related Comic Books (Galactic Starcruiser, Cosmic Rewind, HHN and More!)

This week’s SATURDAY SIX is the long awaited return of the SAT 6 Book Club series! Here is where we introduce true literature to you, Dear Reader, including detailed looks at both WDW related Little Golden Books and Disneyland Little Golden Books. Today we are going to look at a true passion of mine, comic books. Comics are one of the few things I enjoy more than theme parks, and when the two combine (such as the iconic Mickey and Goofy Explore the Universe of Energy or Marvel Superhero Island Adventures) it is the absolute greatest thing in the world for me.

Over the last few years there has been a good amount of synergy between the Disney owned theme parks and the Disney owned comic book publisher, Marvel Comics (both by far and away the leaders in their respective industries.) How are the results? Well, let’s check it out starting with…

# 6 – Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout!

When Disney announced its first ever Marvel attraction in California was going to be a Guardians of the Galaxy overlay on the Tower of Terror, I mocked the idea as much as anyone (actually maybe a little more than most). However, there has been almost unanimous belief that guest experience in Mission: Breakout! is a monumental leap in quality over the Tower Terror (keep in mind the Disneyland version of ToT wasn’t nearly as good when compared to our iconic version in Florida). Having stated that, I am about to achieve something that is  rarer than a Walt Disney World construction project being finished early. I’m going to perform a historic FIRST in the world of theme park blogging… admit I was wrong. Mission: Breakout! is better in every single way than ToT and allowed Disney to do some really cool things in the areas of merchandise and ancillary tie-ins.

Not only did Disney create a half-hour animated special on GOTG: Mission Breakout!, the company also put out a special comic book on the attraction. The comic actually does a good job getting across the story of the Disney California Adventure attraction. The Collector is displaying his newest pieces, the Guardians of the Galaxy. Like the ride, our heroes escape thanks in large part to the actions of Rocket Raccoon. The actual attraction in California is filled with references to Disney attractions and Marvel movies,  but unfortunately the comic book has absolutely none of that.

Readers should also know that the GOTG characters in the comic book are in line with how they have been represented on the page for years, which is – visually speaking at least – slightly different than the versions we have grown to love as fans of the GOTG movies.

This last panel of the comic book should be blown up and hung on a wall for anyone out there who collects Tsum Tsums, Disney salt & pepper shakers, or Vinylmation.

 # 5 – Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind

If the last 50 years plus have shown us anything, it’s that if Disneyland and Walt Disney World have something similar, Disneyland will have the much better version of it. This can probably best be shown using the example of Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway. When the attraction was put into Disney’s Hollywood Studios, it replaced The Great Movie Ride, the heart and soul of park. That’s right, in a park with less than a dozen rides, Disney removed an all time classic for Runaway Railway. Out in Disneyland, a park with over 50 attractions, they created a new space for Runaway Railway and gave it a queue that – modestly speaking – is at least a million times better than Florida’s version.

So, we just talked about the Guardians of the Galaxy attraction in California. Well, a couple years later a Guardians of the Galaxy attraction opened in Florida with Cosmic Rewind in EPCOT. We also got a one shot comic book to support the attraction. Would the comic book be nearly as good as the one made for DCA…

…not exactly.

The pitch for the comic book is this “The Worldmind is collecting data for the new Xandar pavilion on Terra and who knows Earth better than Peter Quill?” However this pitch what the comic book industry would call a ret-con, something that tries to make sense of an established narrative that contradicts itself.

There is no mention of a Xandar Pavilion anywhere inside the comic book. In fact there is almost nothing that ties this comic book into the actual EPCOT attraction other than it has the same characters and villain of the Cosmic Rewind “story coaster.”

The main villain of the book is Eson, the very same Celestial that we see in Cosmic Rewind.

This is one of the few times where it feels like the creative team from the comic was given almost no information on which to base their story on, so it has absolutely nothing to do with the Cosmic Rewind attraction. There are many nods that COULD have been placed into the story (such as the construction of the Xandar Pavilion/AKA the Universe of Energy Pavilion), references to the songs used in Cosmic Rewind, or maybe even an appearance by Centurion Tal Marik – the character Terry Crews plays in the pre-show – but you won’t find any of that here.

# 4 – W.E.B. of Spider-Man

In support of the attraction WEB SLINGERS: A Spider-Man Adventure in DCA, Marvel released a 5 issue comic series called W.E.B. of Spider-Man. Major props for the first issue variant cover (pictured below) which features both the Mission Breakout and WEB SLINGERS show buildings. That is one of the best ever theme park comic book covers.

There are some small references to what we see in Avengers Campus in DCA, including the W.E.B. building.

Each issue of the series also includes the Spider-Bots, which you will see during the attraction and around the WEB SLINGERS area.

Outside of that, there’s really not much to tie in the comic book to the actual attraction in DCA. Its important to note that the comic book features regular “616” Peter Parker as Spider-Man, so he’s a bit older than the Tom Holland MCU version of Spider-Man that is featured in the WEB SLINGERS attraction. They do bring in a bunch of younger characters for Spider-Man to interact with, including Squirrel Girl, but its just not the same. You can check out the trade paperback collection yourself by CLICKING HERE.

# 3 -Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge

When the Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge comic book series was originally announced back in January 2019, I couldn’t wait. On a scale of 1-10, we were all at an “11” waiting for the land to open, and as a comic book fan this was like the day chocolate met peanut butter, pepperoni met pizza, or Disney met upcharges (well, maybe not the last one). Not only that, unlike the actual Galaxy’s Edge in Disneyland and Walt Disney World, this version would feature classic Star Wars characters such as Han Solo. I was all in.

The covers for the series were spectacular, because they featured elements from Galaxy’s Edge…

…including Oga’s Cantina!

While the comic was announced at the beginning of the year, it didn’t ship until later that Summer, when Galaxy’s Edge had its disastrous opening in Disneyland.

Opening up the book, I immediately had a moment straight out of A Christmas Story. Remember when Ralphie was using his Little Orphan Annie decoder ring to decipher a message only to discover it was an ad for Ovaltine? Well, check out the very first panel of this comic book.

Why is this robot holding what looks to be a hotdog in a taco shell? Because that’s an item Disney would be offering at Ronto Roasters, a quick-service location in Galaxy’s Edge.

You may be thinking, “okay Derek, but that’s just one panel. Maybe they just wanted a little fan service.” Okay, so let’s look at the next panel…

Honestly, at this point I was surprised the comic didn’t mention that mobile ordering was available.

Anyway, turns out that the first issue of the Galaxy’s Edge comic  is only used as the “bookends” of the comic book, as the middle is a flashback sequence on a different planet featuring Han Solo and Chewbacca trying to obtain a baby sarlacc for Doc-Ondar (proprietor of a gift shop in Galaxy’s Edge the theme park land). It was still neat just seeing references to Black Spire Outpost and had me day dreaming of a comic series devoted to Adventureland, Pandora: The World of Avatar, or even a one-shot on Main Street USA.

The other issues of the series did a fantastic job of giving us exactly what we want in a Galaxy’s Edge comic book: seeing parts of GALAXY’S EDGE. This includes a DJ R-3X appearance in Oga’s Cantina!

You also get to see the Black Spire Outpost marketplace, the star port area (where the Falcon is docked) and even the outskirts (the more tree lined area where Rise of the Resistance is located.) Have to say that the Galaxy’s Edge series is one of the best ever done for theme park fans and you can check out the trade paperback collection by CLICKING HERE.

Star Wars Life Day

We’re going to spend a quick moment on another comic Disney put out that spends some time in Galaxy’s Edge.

The one-shot Life Day comic starts off with Han and Chewbacca coming to Batuu, and even has Chewie entering Oga’s Cantina.

Later in the comic we even meet Oga Garra herself, a crime boss on Batuu and the proprietor of the Cantina. As far as I know this is the first ever physical appearance of Oga that we have seen.

A lot of the issue takes place on Chewbacca’s home planet of Kashyyyk, but the stuff we get on Batuu is pretty neat.

# 2 – Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser – Halcyon Legacy

An entire comic book series dedicated to the 2023 Theme Park Turkeys of the Year winner, who’da thunk it?

That’s right, we have a five issue series dedicated to the Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser!

There is a lot of great stuff in this series for fans of the Starcruiser, including many great drawings of the ship itself, the Halcyon…

…and some of the characters on it, including Captain Keevan and cruise director Lenka Mok.

When reading the series when it came out, one of the biggest shocks was getting to the last page of the first issue and seeing it close with an ad for Universal’s Islands of Adventure. This was straight up BONKERS. I’m not even sure if there is anything we can even compare this to. Maybe if Coke produced it’s own magazine touting how cool visiting the World of Coca-Cola in Atlanta was and the very last page of that magazine was a giant ad for PEPSI.

For those who don’t know the backstory of the Galactic Starcruiser, when the actual hotel existed the storyline was that the guests and crew were celebrating the 275th anniversary of the ship. This means the ship has existed in pretty much all the eras of Star Wars that we know. So, issues of the series included various characters from Star Wars Universe over time and their interactions with the Starcruiser, including Anakin Skywalker and Padme. Here the two are having a conversation in the Climate Simulator of the Starcruiser, and the dialogue is just as gripping as what we saw in the Star Wars prequels.

Here is the Climate Simulator on the actual Starcruiser. Not a bad recreation at all.

Another issue had Hondo Ohnaka inside one of the beds in a Starcruiser stateroom.

Just like TouringPlans’ own Guy Selga!

The series ended with a quick tie-in to Galaxy’s Edge and hinting at a larger story between the Halcyon and Batuu. We even got to see the character Vi Moradi.

Here is Vi Moradi in Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge.

Overall, the Halcyon Legacy series had some really fun stuff for fans of the Galactic Starcruiser. If I had my druthers, the comic would have included more characters from the actual ship experience, such as Ouannii, Gaya, or Sammie. You can check out the trade paperback collection by CLICKING HERE.

# 1 – HHN: Tribute To Terror

It is hard to imagine there will ever be a comic created for a theme park that is so intrinsically tied to a theme park experience than the TRIBUTE TO TERROR comic book that was created by Universal for Halloween Horror Nights 32.

A staple of the HHN experiences over the past few years has been the Tribute Store. These are elaborately themed merchandise locations. For HHN 32, the Tribute Store was themed to a HAUNTED COMIC SHOP. Each room of the Tribute Store was entirely themed around a comic book story.

The comic book features all of the stories that were featured in the HHN 32 Tribute Store. We did an entire article on this store which you can read by CLICKING HERE.

The comic book also featured fake ads, such as the one below for the Halloween Horror Nights board game that was featured in the front window of the Tribute Store. The ad has even MORE fun details about the game.

The book closed with a tease for a second issue. Please send me all your thoughts, prayers, and pixie dust that this actually comes to fruition, because I’ll be first in line to buy it.

The comic book was so successful, it had three separate printings during HHN.

Now, here’s where we take it to the next level. For recent Tribute Stores, Universal has given guests the opportunity to be featured in the store. For the HHN 32 Tribute Store, guests could be featured on variant covers of the comic book!

When Universal allows people to be featured in the Tribute Stores, my usual favorites are the ones who submit their pets.

However, I think for HHN 32 my favorites were the ones who submitted themselves with their pets.

All of the variant comic book covers were hung up in an area of the Tribute Store called the Hallway of Frights.

A chance to be featured on a comic book cover? INSIDE the actual park?! I had to get in on this, so I submitted a “photo” for the Hallway of Frights featuring Bacini – the official dog of DisTwitter – and Derek (from TouringPlans’ David & Derek series). The art was done by none other than Brian Cooper, headline artist of the Theme Park Turkey of the Year awards.

As far as I know, this was the first time in Tribute Store history that a drawing was submitted instead of an actual photo. I was a little nervous that it wouldn’t be accepted, but c’mon, this was for a COMIC BOOK. What better reason than to use a drawing. Lo and behold, my cover idea was accepted and appeared on the wall!

A who’s who of theme park blogging greatness made the pilgrimage to the Tribute Store to see this comic cover in person, including the grand poohbah of TouringPlans himself, Len Testa.

After HHN 32 ended, Universal mailed out copies of the comic to anyone who had signed up to be featured in the store.

I’ve done a lot of cool things in life while having some amazing experiences, and it would be impossible to narrow it down to a top 5…but getting this comic book, that was featured inside a theme park, during HHN, featuring Bacini on the cover, and has art by Brian Cooper? That’s definitely on the list. A legitimate dream come true moment.

Honorable Mention – Iron Man: Hong Kong Heroes

Here’s how Marvel Comics billed Iron Man: Hong Kong Heroes # 1…

 The Marvel Universe story of Disney’s newest & coolest ATTRACTION!”

Here’s the thing though, while I’ve never been on the Iron Man Experience at Hong Kong Disneyland, I have watched full videos on the attraction. I’ve read the full comic book. Having done both, I can say that I have absolutely no idea what this comic book has to do with the theme park attraction. A large part of the comic takes place in Hong Kong, so it does share that with the ride. The comic does reference Stark Expo, which is a component of the Marvel-themed land in Hong Kong Disneyland. Other than that, there’s not much the two have in common.

As a comic book fan, I really loved the artwork as it appeared to be “painted” rather than just drawn. While it may have been overall the least interesting to me in terms of how it relates to a theme park attraction, visually it may have been the best.

Double Secret Honorable Mention – Disney California Adventures Summer of Heroes

Back in 2017 – to celebrate the opening of GOTG: Mission Breakout – DCA had a “Summer of Heroes” event. There were special Marvel-related food and drink options (such as the awesome I am bread themed to Groot). The park debuted some new meet & greets (including Black Widow), had a kid-friendly show with Avengers Training Initiative, and had a fun “dance off” show featuring GOTG’s Starlord and Gamora. Guests could also go to a Hero Action Center and take an interactive quiz to discover which superhero they were most like (spoiler alert: for theme park bloggers the “hero” was Syndrome from The Incredibles). After the quiz, guests could get free Marvel superhero stickers and this Summer of Heroes comic book.

The book featured character profiles of several characters and a quick story featuring the Avengers teaming up with the Guardians of the Galaxy to defeat a menace. It wasn’t much, but the book was a giveaway so you have to keep that in mind.

So there you have it: SATURDAY SIX Book Club – Theme Park Related Comic Books! See you next weekend for the latest installment of the SATURDAY SIX, where we’ll look at something fun from the world of Disney and Universal. If you enjoyed yourself, be sure to check out the THEME PARK ENJOYMENT INDEX, giving a monthly recap of all the theme park news you need to know (and a lot more you don’t need to know, but we’re gonna tell you anyway). You can also follow Your Humble Author on Twitter (@derekburgan).

If you enjoyed this article, you will surely like the following: 

SAT 6 Book Club – DISNEYLAND Related Little Golden Books

SAT 6 Book Club – DISNEY PARKS Related Little Golden Books

SATURDAY SIX: Tribute to Josh easyWDW

SATURDAY SIX: Tribute to Ian Barritt

Special Thanks to The Elite Brandon Glover, Digital Maestro Scott Walker, the bio-est of all reconstructs @bioreconstruct, Captain Cruiseline Scott Sanders of the world famous Disney Cruise Line Blog, my personal protege Hunter “Elvey” Underwood, artist @SonderQuest, the mighty maven of merchandise Hedgehog’s Corner, the SAT SIX Fun Squad of Parkscope Joe and “the Dadalorian” Nick, hot shot Michael Carelli, charter member of the Universal Four @Nitro230, the permit princess Alicia Stella, master cartographer Tommy Hawkins, and Hermione Granger’s tutor Megan Stump for their invaluable assistance with this article. Absolutely no help was added by SeaWorld Influencer @SuperWeenieHtJr. The SAT SIX is inspired each week by goofballs Aengus Mackenzie and LitemAndHyde and you Potterheads will  enjoy Meg’s other blog work over at the Central Florida Slug Club.