8/18/09 (LONDON) Joel Meadows

GRAPHIC NOVEL REVIEW

TITLE: Starman Omnibus Volume 1
Writer: James Robinson
Artists: Tony Harris & Wade Von Grawbadger
PUBLISHER: DC Comics

Starman started life as a spinoff out of one of DC’s sprawling crossovers, Zero Hour, back in 1994. Starman was one of the JSA’s founder members but DC hadn’t had much success trying to resurrect the name over the years: Jim Starlin turned Starman into an alien prince while the ’80s saw a straight superhero title, which ran for about four years before running out of steam. Robinson and Harris’s Starman was a little bit different: Jack Knight was the son of the original hero, Ted Knight, and he is thrust into the role when his brother is murdered.

This omnibus is part of DC’s attempt to put some of their more worthwhile back catalogue into durable hardcovers and with seventeen issues reprinted here, it’s a really nice idea. Starman does come from the revisionist hero concept that was so popular in the ’80s and ’90s but unlike many of its contemporaries, Robinson understands the legacy attached to the character and so, rather than discount Starman’s past, he incorporates it while adding his own spin to proceedings. Harris’ art starts off as rather primitive and a little bit ugly but he soon grows into the settings and makes Starman his own. The team also created a fantastic place, Opal City, which is a character in its own right with a mythology, leading players and a dark secret. But the creators also took what was a minor DC villain, The Shade, and turned him into one of the most likable and complex figures in modern mainstream comics. Recast as a gentleman villain and the soul of Opal City, The Shade is a fantastic foil for the activities of Jack Knight and we get to see a story from The Shade’s past, set in 1882, which reveals his interaction with real historical figures like Oscar Wilde.

Starman is not your typical superhero book and, in fact, there is an intelligence and an erudition here that no other modern superhero series has ever possessed. By the end of this first hardcover collection, the reader is fully invested in the main protagonists. Jack Knight is a flawed and contemporary hero who is easy to empathise with, having had the Starman role foist upon him. The ’90s were a pivotal period for comics and Starman was one of the market’s most important and groundbreaking series. It is admirable that the company is making the whole run available in the Omnibus format. If you’ve not read Starman before, then you have an enviable time ahead of you, because Robinson, Harris and the other artists who also contributed create an increasingly sophisticated graphic narrative that immerses the reader.