Knight in space, 21 Aug 2003
Following the big build up in the previous graphic novel, Jack Knight finally sets out into space on his quest to find his
girlfriend's brother, former Starman Will Payton. The book collects Starman issues 47-53.
Tony Harris is gone. There's still a gallery of his original covers but on the series his art is sorely missed. The depth of
expression that so characterized his Starman artwork is now absent. The early issues in this collection look bland by
comparison and expressions seem to alternate between gob open and gob shut, Jack himself looking frighteningly like the
cartoon Rin Tin Tin. The steady Robinson pen is still there though delivering some great Starman stories.
So Jack Knight in space eh - pretty cool. The look and the feel is certainly more Flash Gordon than Star Trek in a Magical
Mystery Tour sort of way. Some classic stories from the DC archives are given a succession of nods, notably the Superman
origin with a visit to pre destruction Krypton and the classic Swamp Thing 'My Blue Heaven'.
It's still a good comic even with the loss of Tony Harris but I can't help missing Opal and its inhabitants.
As right as it gets, 11 Jul 2003
Collecting issues 17 and 19-27 and includes the Eisner award winning story Sand and Stars featuring the final team-up of Starman and the golden age Sandman. By this third collection in the James Robinson penned Starman continuity the family of characters is really starting to bite and the central character of Jack Knight is as fully realised in all his faults, habits, mannerisms and persona as any characterisation in comic book history. Tony Harris' art, particularly with the depth and realism of the expressions just gets it right. It takes more than one person to make a good comic and this is as good an example of everyone just getting it right as can be seen. Don't just barge through this collection in one sitting - put the thing down when the cliff hangers are delivered and string it out for gods sake because stuff as good as this doesn't come round very often.
"Stars and Sand" is *must* reading for Golden Age Fans, 30 May 1999
This trade paperback of probably one of the *best* books on the market also contains "Sand and Stars", in which the "next generation" (Jack Knight" teams with the one who "started it all" (Wesley Dodds, aka Sandman). A well-written meditation on life, growing old, and age, it even features a "cameo" by Guy Davis, who drew the late, lamented SANDMAN MYSTERY THEATER. Plus, you get the "Demon Quest" arc, a Christmas story with a difference, *and* a "Talking with David" segment. Trust me, at this price, it's a *bargain*. And after reading this, begin reading STARMAN. You'll be glad you did.
What makes a hero?, 11 May 2003
Unlike Bruce Willis, Jack Knight is not unbreakable. He's just a guy with a lot to live up to; the latest of the Knight family to
take up the mantle of Starman, protector of Opal City.
Like a lot of things when something hits you out of the blue, unexpected, they cause a heck of a greater impact. The first
graphic novel , Sins of the Father, collecting the initial story arc of the relaunched Starman did just that. It was something
bloody good from a quite unanticipated quarter. So when picking up Night and Day, which picks up where Sins left off I'm
already aware that I'm going to read a good comic. What I'm trying to clumsily say is I'm not sure whether this book is as good as the first book for the reasons stated. Jack Knight is still a great character, forced as he is to discover the hero in himself the hard way.
The first few issues in the collection detail his encounter at a travelling circus with a character that had been set up previously in Sins; a mysterious blue skinned alien who was once known by some as Starman.
The second story arc is where things get really good. Over several issues, and from as many different perspectives, a day in the life of the inhabitants of Opal city is told and the symbiosis of hero and villain is suggested to both generations of Starman. It's good stuff and highly recommended reading.
Comics get real..., 17 Nov 1998
Robinson grabbed the comics world's attention with his ground breaking mini-series The Golden Age, which present highly belived and whell charecterized versions of the charecters of 40s and 50s, be brought them up to date by giving them realistic foibles (The Tarantual becomes an alcholic because he developes writers block, Starman becomes a manic-depressive because of his role building the A-bomb). Shortly there after Starman exploded onto the scene, the story of the latest Starman (the younger son of the one mentioned above) Jack Knight. Whats kept me dumping my cash into this book (aside from the amazing Tony Harris Art) is the fantastic charecterizations, Jack as a person is proably more intresting then most people you know. So go buy Night and Day because I'm pretty sure what happens here has some pretty important ramfications in the up-coming storylines. Then go buy the other two trade-paper backs and then go a comic book store and not only demand back issues but that they hold Starman for you every month, 'casue if you don't they'll be an ass 'kicking!
A Surprise, 19 Nov 1997
Starman is probably the most popular superhero comic book with adults who liked comics when they were kids. If this fits you, read the book. It manages to be a 90's comic book (much more intelligent than they were in your youth) and makes references to comics of the 40's-60's. This is the second collection. Check out the first, Starman: Sins of the Father.
Simply Amazing, 07 May 1997
Okay, if you haven't read Starman, then read this . It is a prime example of "The best written superhero in comics" (Ken Tucker, Entertainment Weekly). If you like superbly written comics with killer art then you need look no further than this. Nothing more can be said except again READ THIS BOOK
This Book Introduced Me To Golden Age Comics, 06 Nov 2003
I grew up reading Marvel Comics. Time was when comics meant seeing characters in colourful costumes spouting macho nonsense and punching each other out. This book here showed me otherwise. And introduced me to new worlds of reading and the imagination!
The original Starman is Theodore (Ted) Knight. He appeared in comics around 1941. This here story, however, is about his sons, David Knight and Jack Knight. David inherited his father's costume and took over the family superhero business. Jack is cynical about his roots and moved on to become a junk-peddler! An old nemesis of the Starman, the Mist, shows up with his own children and waged war on the Knights - injuring Ted and killing David. Jack is then forced to reluctantly take up his father's mantle.
This first volume of the Starman paperbacks help the reader get into the setting of Opal City (beautifully designed in an art deco style by artist Tony Harris) and its many residents - the Knight family, the O'Dare family of cops, the Shade, the Mist family, a fortune teller, etc. The reader does not need any background knowledge of Golden Age comics to enjoy this - although, like me, you may want to track down the old comics in the Archive Editions just to get more into the history of it all. After all, Starman is ultimately about history. History and family. This is, to me, the most human comic in the world. You'll laugh and cry with the Knights. And you'll grow with Jack. And speaking of Jack...
James Robinson has done an absolutely amazing job creating Jack Knight. In many ways, James IS Jack - and in other sense, we all are Jack (we, as in, all those who grew up in from the materialistic '80s into the cynical '90s). Jack is about finding the old values without looking campy or sounding corny. Jack is about making being a hero without necessarily having to wear spandex. Jack is about clinging on to everything you love - whether it be junk or family legacy. Finally, Jack is about romance - the romance of chivalry and standing up for what's right.
Read this book. Get the rest of the volumes. And let's revisit the Golden Age.....
Sins of the Father- Pure gold, 12 Dec 2002
To call this collection a Superhero comic would be doing it a grave injustice. Not that there is anything wrong with superheroes, but Starman is about far more than that. James Robinson's writing is wry and lyrical, the artwork is routinely beautiful and is some of the issues nary is punch is thrown. It is ultimately a story of a father/son relationship told in a Superhero mileu.
In Starman, we meet Jack Knight a twentysomething seller of collectables, and son to a garishly clad 1940's superhero. This is a legacy he has gone out of his way to avoid over the years.
When David, Jack's brother and current wearer of the Starman mantle is killed rather ingloriously, Jack finds himself sucked reluctantly into the world of the hero.
Jack's way of going about the job is a little different too. He is a character that cannot be easily categorised. On first glance, you might think him a slacker, he is thoughtful and conscientous, but happens to rub his father up the wrong way from time to time. To steal a line from the book, he is a man more in love with the past than the future.
In this collection, we also get to meet The Mist (the original Starman's arch-enemy) and the rather sinister Shade, a Victorian gentleman and sometime villain.
This all takes place in the fictional art-deco environment of Opal City. In fact the design of the city and aesthetics in general play a big part in the story.
The book is rounded off with the offbeat "Talking with David" issue where Jack spends an issue talking with (and beating seven shades of hell out of) the brother who died in the initial story. No explanation is ever given for this.
Starman was one of the greatest series in recent years, which richly deserves to be discovered.
Buy it. You'll be glad you did.
READ THIS BOOK NOW!, 24 Aug 1999
Starman: Sins Of The Father is the perfect book for people who think comics are infantile and insipid, because it proves they are idiots. The protagonist, Jack Knight, is a refreshing change of pace from typical comic hero. As the son of the legendary hero Starman, Jack has no desire to take his fathers place as defender of Opal City, and is content to run his "antique" shop(He sells 1950's Hawaiin shirts, old comics, vintage transistor radios, etc.) But Fate intervenes and Jack must become the new Starman to save his city, his Father, and himself. Mature without being vulgar, sentimental without being sappy, and all around well written, Starman: Sins Of The Father is a must have.
James Robinson and Tony Harris are Brilliant!, 24 Feb 1999
This excellent reprinted trade of issues 0-5 of the rgular Starman series, perfectly sums up everything that should be good in comics.
The art is tragic in a way, yet absolutely spectacular. And the writing and character information is absolutely the best I have ever seen in a comic.
Do yourself a favor and get this book!
An poetic and beautiful comic book., 05 Aug 1998
I've been reading books and comic books for about 18 years of my life, and seeing how I'm only 21, that's quite a portion. This book was the first comic book I read where the writing impressed me enough to notice that there was GREAT writing in comics, and that I didn't have to settle for the usual X-men tripe or the hackneyed retread versions of the same story over and over again that comic books had been doing for the last 10 years. It truly opened my eyes to the literary (Yes, just because there are pictures, does not make it any less a book, or a literary artwork) skill in many books. I began with James Robinson, found Alan Moore, Warren Ellis, Grant Morrison, Garth Ennis, Mark Waid, Kurt Busiek, and many, many others. I think that comic books, (which are in desparate need of a new name, much like scifi), often get a bad view as childrens books, but books like this one helped me to mature, and showed me mature things that I was desparate for. In the pages of this! book, we see Jack Knight's growth from a rebellious, even repellent boy and into a powerful, responsible, respectable man. This is truly a literary work of art, in both the writing and the art. I highly recommended it.
