Adam Graham's Blog: Christians and Superheroes - Posts Tagged "hellboy"

The Starman Omnibus, Vol. 4 by James Robinson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book collects Issues 39-46 of Starman, The Power of Shazam #35 and #36, Starman 80 Page Giant #1, Starman-The Mist #1 and Batman/Hellboy/Starman #1 and #2

The Book starts off with #39 and #40 and the crossover with the Power of Shazam. It's probably one of the oddest given that Starman was a pretty edgy title and Power of Shazam was as close to a "kids" book as DC had. Jack tries to protect a Golden Age superhero and give his dad cover to get the superhero to safety which includes a battle with the Big Red Cheese. There are some inconsistencies (and not just in writing style) between the two books. Not bad, but not a great fit either.

Issue #41 has Shade and Matt O'Dare killing a bunch of people who know he's a crooked cop so he can be a good one. This one does develop the Shade's relationship with O'Dare.

Issue #42 is a tale of Times Past when the original Starman's naturalism is challenged by the demon Etrican.

The 80-page Giant starts with Jack coming after the Ragdoll but the reader discovers the plot centers around an object that's tied into the history of many characters in the Starman universe going back to the Old West. Very fun with a variety of different styles and stories.

Issue #43: We see Jack's new shop in great detail and he goes to see the Justice League about getting a spaceship. It's a nice story and sees Jack interacting with DCU characters.

Starman-The Mist #1: A story on the mother of Jack's son getting involved in a job for the Black Hand and meeting Mary Marvel. It's part of a series on "Girlfriends" of Superheroes that was done back in the 1990s. Okay, but not particularly remarkable.

Issue #44: Things that go Bump in the Night-Introduces Sandra Knight (aka Phantom Lady.) Kind of shallow characterization. Okay, but not all that interesting.

Issue #45: Jack leaving Earth on a spaceship to find his current girlfriend's brother and making sure city stays in safehands. Jack started the leaving Earth thing back in the previous Omnibus and it says something about the series that it can work with this much digression.

Issue #46: Another tale of Times Past from the 1950s involving the Supervillain Bobo coming to the Shade because someone's going to kill Starman. A pretty good story.

Batman/Hellboy/Starman #1 and #2: Jack's dad is kidnapped by a group of Nazis and Batman and Hellboy investigate in Issue 1 and then Hellboy and Starman go and fight them in Issue 2. This story is right up Starman's alley. I felt like this could have just been Hellboy and Starman, but that someone at one of the companies concluded that Starman wasn't popular enough to carry the crossover on his own. Batman didn't need to be in this book. Still doesn't hurt the story.

Overall, this volume still good, but not as much as previous installments. There's still that golden age nostalgia, but not quite as much foreward momentum. Still, even at less than it's best, this is still really good and I'll be checking out the next volume for sure.



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