STARMAN Issue No. 79
By: Tony WhittDate: Monday, June 04, 2001
Jack Knight is trapped in 1951 where he discovers his formerly deceased brother, David, has taken over the mantle of Starman from their mentally unstable father. His old enemy The Mist has plans to spread mass hysteria via a hallucinogenic gas released in a local movie theater. As Jack and David work together to control the maddened crowds, their father makes a startling realization that may bring him back from the abyss and return him to his former glory.
Don't you hate it when you discover a 'diamond in the rough' type of comic just before its scheduled to end? Sigh. STARMAN never received quite the same hype as SANDMAN, despite the fact that the two are very similar in style (long-form epics done in beautifully plotted story arcs). Maybe it's because the super-hero title didn't fall under the Vertigo imprint, keeping it free of the sex, violence and other self-indulgences that have become the hallmarks of its sister series. Then again, it really hasn't needed them. For several years now, James Robinson has managed to produce stories that work on both the pure comics-as-fun level and the high concept comics-as-literature level. This latest effort issue #79 is no exception.
Of course, it may help that I'm a huge fan of Golden Age characters, despite the fact that I can't get through an actual Golden Age book without dying of laughter. Those were simpler and gentler times, but as far as comic book writing is concerned, they were also quite stupid. In this latest story arc also starring Hourman Robinson writes a Golden Age story without the usual attendant silliness. It's a more innocent era presented through the eyes of an adult and is enough to make us all long for a new title called ALL-STAR or ALL-AMERICAN COMICSor simply that STARMAN weren't ending next month. I found it fascinating that Robinson went out of his way to account for the short-lived Starman from the early '50s. Who else but a huge Golden Age fan would even care?
While artist Peter Snejbjerg has received a great deal of flak for his supposed lack of ability, I see nothing in this book to support that claim. The issue's opening splash page, in which we see the first effects of the gas on the theater, is, to use a term from Anthony Burgess' CLOCKWORK ORANGE, 'serious horror show.' Perhaps fans of the series were decrying the simplistic quality of the artwork, but there's a great deal of subtlety here too. Any Golden Age book would have been lucky to have an artist of Snejnjerg's caliber. Besides, the simpler quality of his artwork fits well within the time period of the story. After all, this is what comics should have looked like in 1951.
The only thing that may disappointor perhaps it simply has yet to be fully explainedis the time travel aspect itself. Ostensibly this issue explains why Jack Knight travels back in time, and yet that explanation makes his trip look like something out of BACK TO THE FUTURE. Jack Knight's existence, according to this, is an unbroken circle in which he's responsible for his own birth, causing what would in any other work be considered a paradox. Here, it simply leads us back to that age-old chicken and egg question: Why is his existence structured this way? Who is the force behind it, and why has it happened? Of course, these are all questions that last issues are meant to answer, and while this series won't go out with a bang, it certainly won't be a whimper either.
Issue: No. 79 | ||
Author(s): James Robinson, Peter Snejbjerg | ||
Publisher: DC Comics | ||
Price: $2.50 | ||
More From Mania
PRINCE OF SPACE / INVASION OF THE NEPTUNE MEN
Starman indefinitely on hold
(Wednesday, August 20, 2003)
STARMAN: VOLUME 1
(Thursday, March 6, 2003)
DC Editor Talks About Batman, Superman, Starman
(Wednesday, January 22, 2003)
Countdown to ZERO HOUR, Part 2
(Wednesday, June 12, 2002)
DVD News and Release Info for August 7
(Tuesday, August 7, 2001)
STARMAN #80
(Friday, July 6, 2001)
See more related content
