Starman Omnibus Volume 2

The Starman Omnibus, Vol. 2 by James Robinson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Jack Knight continues to grow into the legacy of Starman, encountering old friends and foes of his father along the way.

As I've said before, the best comics have an underlying theme. Starman has always been about family, with Jack trying to fill the shoes of both his father and dead brother. In this particular volume, Jack continues to learn what a lot of us learn as we get older, that our parents were regular people before we were born.

This, the second Omnibus, contains Starman 17-29, Showcase '95 12, Showcase '96 4-5, and Starman Annual one. It also contains two of my favorite stories in the whole series, namely the intro of Bobo Benetti, a super-powered bankrobber from the 40's who inadvertently becomes a hero, and the one where Jack teams with Wesley Dodds, the Sandman of the Golden Age. Wesley Dodds handng Jack his gasmask before he goes into battle is probably my favorite sequence in the entire series and almost yanked a man-tear from my dried up ducts. Seriously, Sand and Stars is one hell of a great read.

As with the previous volume, the book has gotten even better with age. I caught way more of the references this go-round. Robinson does a wonderful job making new characters seem like they were an integral part of the DC Universe for ages. The O'Dare family, Red Bailey, and Bobo Bennetti all seem like I could dig up an issue of Adventure Comics from the 1940s and see them all alongside Ted Knight.

One thing I didn't mention in the review of the previous volume is how James Robinson played the long game in this series. Seeds are planted that won't bear fruit until years later, like Jack's inevitable trip into space and future clash with The Mist over their son. Heavyweight stuff, especially considering what everyone else was doing in the 1990s.

This is the volume where things really come together for me. Tony Harris' art seems a lot more confident and the look of the series is fully realized, a look that will carry on once Harris leaves the book. James Robinson respects the past without being handcuffed by it. Re-reading this omnibus reminds me why I regard Starman so highly. It was head and shoulders about 99% of the comics at the time and still is. Five out of five stars.



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