| |
|
I loved loved loved Starman. After Zero Hour, I had only 3 main comics on my pull list: Hitman, LSH Vol 4, and Starman and I have never regretted getting either of these comics (except for maybe LSH Vol 4, but that's another discussion).
I loved the idea of Starman as this superhero story that reflected everything that I loved about the superhero genre. It had high melodrama, heroic and moral characters, dastardly villains, and all the really neat details that I loved about the DCUniverse put into the perspective of a reader.
I loved that Diane Bellmont was Jack's favorite writer, or that Copperhead's favorite collectible was old philco radios, or that Batman's favorite Woody Allen movie was "Crime and Punishment." It made the world real to me when I read the story.
The trivia is what finally sold me. One of Shade's earlier discussions with Jack dealt with reincarnation. He was wondering if Jack was the reincarnation of the Black Pirate, and Jack kind of shrugged it off stating that he had dreams about being a spy for the British with the name Rosa. It took me forever, but someone pointed out that Rosa the Spy was a long-forgotten DC character who was an American spy for the British. I found this out last year and it blew my mind that Robinson had all the allusions to previous works figured out to a "T."
As for the Grand Guignol, I really loved that climactic finish that Robinson gave to the story. It really reads well as singles, moreso than as a trade, because I remember that I could not wait for the next issue to come out. The payoff was fine, but I always felt that some of the pieces were a bit short. There were bits like the Dibny detectives, or the introduction of the Phantom Lady (the title held by the best American female spy), or the Black Condor that felt as if Robinson shifted things around to make his conclusion fit everything that he set up in the beginning (like the Pirate story that seemed to just end, even though the resolution really came through for long time readers).
I loved that some of the characters and villains returned out of left field (like the Bonnie and Clyde characters) who was taken out by Adam Strange (in a way that shows that he can outfox even the most cunning of villains through wordplay) or the evil of Dr. Phospherous, who was taken out by Ted Knight (which finally resolved the question of who killed Rag Doll that fateful night of terror in the early 80s), or the grand finale of Ted shaking the Mists' hand, with Ted realizing that he has gained so much for his life for his noble pursuits and the Mist realizing that he had wasted his life in the cause of villainous pursuits.
I think this outshone Robinson's other "Grand Guignol"-style ending for his Ultraverse comic book Firearm, but if you want to get a precursor to this last trade, I suggest you try to find his Firearm book...especially the "Rafferty Saga" parts...where Robinson writes a story that is sort of like taking the Bruce Willis character from Die Hard (and the german villain from Die Hard), giving him a British accent and a love for all things Americanna (like Pulp Novels or Elvis), and placing him in a John Woo ending. His ending for Firearm is sort of like reading a precursor to the end of Starman. You can tell that he has having fun twisting and turning with the material because you don't want the story to end.
There is something remarkable about a writer conceiving and delivering such a grand product within the confines of continuity and grace. I love the Grand Guingol but I also hate it because it means that the end was coming very near.
If you have yet to read the last few stories, then I suggest you go out now and purchase the issues. The mystery of the secret Starman, the revelation of the Thom Kallor, and the Flying with Superman were all such fine issues to read. I love that Jack talked to Superman about meeting Jor-el and Jor-el's father and gave him a sense of closure that Superman wouldn't have had otherwise.
The final issue made my heart stop a couple of times. It made my top list of best endings ever in comic form (Hitman and Preacher, and the Legion V4 are up there too). Grand Guignol was a great climax to the story, but the actual ending that tied up all the loose ties made me want to reread the story from beginning to end.
- Gary |
|
|
