Childhood friends Wolf (creator of Roger Rabbit
) and Myers (Roman Catholic archbishop of Newark, N.J.) combine forces to resurrect 1950s pulp action adventures in this hollow space western. Silver–space-suited galactic marshal Capt. Victor Corsaire is distracted from arresting smalltime crook Gil Terry when infamous (and impeccably dressed) criminal mastermind Space Vulture raids the planet Verlinap. Capturing Corsaire and a “feisty” planetary administrator, Cali Russell, Space Vulture triggers a battle of wits as he seeks to auction the lawman off to 12 of the galaxy's most wanted criminals. Meanwhile, back on Verlinap, Gil helps Cali's sons, boy genius Eliot and innocent waif Regin, fix rockets and pick pockets as they race to a final confrontation. Gimmicks like midair fistfights off the side of 600-foot cliffs trigger readers' nostalgia at the expense of bolstering the threadbare plot or defining the characters, who change moods and personalities at whim. (Mar.)
