Citizen: Stardust Is a Gorgeous Throwback to a Golden Age Comics Icon

Ahead of NYCC 2026, IGN can exclusively reveal one of Oni Press' biggest new projects of 2027. Citizen: Stardust is a new collaboration between Mary Tyler MooreHawk's Dave Baker and Black Hammer's Malachi Ward. This 12-issue, prestige maxi-series offers a surrealist reimagining of classic Golden Age superhero Stardust the Super Wizard.

Check out the slideshow gallery below for an exclusive look at uncolored artwork from the first issue of Citizen: Stardust:

Citizen: Stardust is written by Baker and illustrated by Ward, with colors by Hellboy's Dave Stewart. As mentioned, the series serves as a postmodern overhaul of the character Stardust the Super Wizard, who was originally created by Fletcher Hanks and debuted in 1939's Fantastic Comics #1.

Here's the official summary of the new series:

In 1947, no Hollywood star shined more brightly than Barclay Flagg – the rugged and cocksure leading man better known to an adoring public as STARDUST, post-war America's first and most bankable on-screen superhero. Across dozens of films, serials, and radio shows, he entertained millions in STARDUST's hyper-violent, cinematic spectacles – until an attempted assassination by a crazed fan ended his once-luminous career with a bullet. Twisted by pain, excess, and unfailing ego in the decades since, Flagg's decaying, Los Angeles mansion – and the fallen star within it – have become rotting effigies of their former selves ... until a fortuitous and well-timed invitation arrives unexpectedly on the doorstep.

Barclay Flagg has been invited to join The Institute – an experimental arts retreat dedicated to advancing innovation through radical creativity. It’s here that Barclay Flagg can finally craft the long-gestating STARDUST masterpiece he’s always dreamt of making. He can restore his reputation. He can rekindle his celebrity. He can finally save the day.

With a near-unlimited budget and an obsessive crew of fellow Institute creators dedicated to bringing his vision to life, Flagg is about to discover that some dreams are too good to be true … and that the two-dimensional comic book hero inside him could never, ever be truly locked away. The Golden Age is over. The time of STARDUST shall soon begin.

"The probability of Stardust: The Super-Wizard becoming one of the most bizarre and unique comics to be published in 2027 seems extraordinarily high, to me,” said Baker in a statement. “Malachi Ward and I are bringing a new perspective to the superhero world informed by psychogeography, cult sacrifices, and technology beyond human comprehension. If that doesn't make you want to read it? Just know that there's a cat of nine tails made of human skulls.”

Citizen: Stardust #1 will be released in April 2027. Oni will reveal more about the new series at their NYCC panel, which will be held on Friday, October 9 from 4:30 PM - 5:15 PM ET in North-Room S 406.1.

Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on BlueSky .