Wow! So much interesting and wise-cracking analysis here!
This story appears in my book, "You Shall Die By Your Own Evil Creation!", the second collection of Hanks' wok that, when combined with the first Eisner Award-winning volume, "I Shall Destroy All the Civilized Planets!", comprises the Complete (God help us!) Fletcher Hanks!
This story is from late in his run of Stardust stories when the format for all the tales in these Fox comics had become tightly structured. Gone are the playful layouts that characterize earlier stories. Yet Hanks work shines through with brilliant coloring (as mentioned above) and his usual bizarre plotting.
BTW: If you order the book through Fantagraphics or come to one of my East Coast book signings this summer, you can score a free Hanks coloring book with a cool cover of Fantomah by Charles "Black Hole" Burns!