What do you think?
Rate this book
The Golden Age Starman Archives #1
The Golden Age Starman Archives, Vol. 1
A scientific genius and millionaire, Ted Knight developed an amazing Cosmic Rod which channeled the power of stars. Looking to make a difference in a world caught in the middle of a global war, Knight took the identity of Starman and joined the Justice Society of America, becoming a super-powered protector of the nation. The Golden Age Starman Archives Vol. 1 reprints Starman's classic adventures from the 1940s as he uses his abilities to fire energy blasts and generate energy fields against an assortment of powerful enemies, such as his archnemesis, the intangible Mist.
224 pages, Hardcover
First published May 1, 2000
About the author
Gardner Francis Fox
1,195 books90 followersGardner Francis Cooper Fox was an American writer known best for creating numerous comic book characters for DC Comics. Comic book historians estimate that he wrote more than 4,000 comics stories, including 1,500 for DC Comics.
Fox is known as the co-creator of DC Comics heroes the Flash, Hawkman, Doctor Fate and the original Sandman, and was the writer who first teamed those and other heroes as the Justice Society of America. Fox introduced the concept of the Multiverse to DC Comics in the 1961 story "Flash of Two Worlds!"
Pseudonyms: Gardner F. Fox, Jefferson Cooper, Bart Sommers, Paul Dean, Ray Gardner, Lynna Cooper, Rod Gray, Larry Dean, Robert Starr, Don Blake, Ed Blake, Warner Blake, Michael Blake, Tex Blane, Willis Blane, Ed Carlisle, Edgar Weston, Tex Slade, Eddie Duane, Simon Majors, James Kendricks, Troy Conway, Kevin Matthews, Glen Chase
Fox is known as the co-creator of DC Comics heroes the Flash, Hawkman, Doctor Fate and the original Sandman, and was the writer who first teamed those and other heroes as the Justice Society of America. Fox introduced the concept of the Multiverse to DC Comics in the 1961 story "Flash of Two Worlds!"
Pseudonyms: Gardner F. Fox, Jefferson Cooper, Bart Sommers, Paul Dean, Ray Gardner, Lynna Cooper, Rod Gray, Larry Dean, Robert Starr, Don Blake, Ed Blake, Warner Blake, Michael Blake, Tex Blane, Willis Blane, Ed Carlisle, Edgar Weston, Tex Slade, Eddie Duane, Simon Majors, James Kendricks, Troy Conway, Kevin Matthews, Glen Chase
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
September 3, 2012
Ah God, this was bad. Just terribly, awfully bad. Not so-bad-it's-good bad, not bad-when-viewed-through-a-modern-lens bad. Just bad like sour milk. And I've read some pretty tepid, juvenile, malformed Golden Age comics in my day -- but nothing as joyless, as stiff-jawed, as poorly-written and just plain lazy as the stuff in this volume. Pretty much every story ended with me shaking my head and grimacing and saying "what the fuck was THAT?"
The formula for each and every story here runs exactly like this:
1)Something, somewhere is happening. The place it's happening is never clear, the reasons for why it's happening are unexplained, but it's Bad and there are probably "tribal" or "savage" henchman involved.
2)Woodsy Allen of the FBI pulls out a tiny capsule and presses a button on it.
3)Millionaire playboy Ted Knight, the most unlikable alter ego ever created, feigns an illness and bails on his girlfriend.
4)He then becomes Starman, who wields a "gravity rod" that seems to have one power, which is to do whatever is needed in the story through the use of "star energy."
5)Starman flies to a secluded hilltop where Agent Allen tells him to Go Fight Evil.
6)Starman fights it, and in the middle his girlfriend gets kidnapped. Starman saves her and finishes the mission, which can only end two ways: he turns the villain's Implausible Science-Weapon against him, or he takes off the villain's mask and we find out it was someone planted into the story on page 3. PAGE 3 ALWAYS.
Which is, you know, how a lot of Golden Age comics generally work (and most action-genre media works, to this day.) But Starman is so naked in its use of these elements, and so obsessively repetitious in how the stories play out, that the whole thing boils down to a deeply cynical rip-off of the very same kinds of stories that, when told with a little more care, can be really fun.
But nothing makes sense here. Who the hell is Starman? What the hell are his powers? Why are these villains doing what they're doing? How do any of their schemes make sense even within the world of the story? How are we supposed to invest, even superficially, in any of it?
Since they were originally written for very small children, Golden Age comics aren't usually known for holding to any kind of rigorous narrative standard. Even with that in mind, Starman sinks below expectations. It's mostly because it insists on taking itself so seriously that its flaws stand out in sharp relief.
The one really interesting thing about the series is Jack Burnley's art, which is shockingly photorealistic, given his medium and reprinting limitations of the day. I'd guess he might be the first comic artist EVER to use photo reference for his characters, and for that alone it's worth giving Starman a look on purely aesthetic grounds.
But like Image comics of the 1990's, Starman only works as an artist's showcase. It brings nothing enjoyable or unique to the genre, and only fouls the waters by reinforcing a lot of stereotypes about Why Comics Suck.
The formula for each and every story here runs exactly like this:
1)Something, somewhere is happening. The place it's happening is never clear, the reasons for why it's happening are unexplained, but it's Bad and there are probably "tribal" or "savage" henchman involved.
2)Woodsy Allen of the FBI pulls out a tiny capsule and presses a button on it.
3)Millionaire playboy Ted Knight, the most unlikable alter ego ever created, feigns an illness and bails on his girlfriend.
4)He then becomes Starman, who wields a "gravity rod" that seems to have one power, which is to do whatever is needed in the story through the use of "star energy."
5)Starman flies to a secluded hilltop where Agent Allen tells him to Go Fight Evil.
6)Starman fights it, and in the middle his girlfriend gets kidnapped. Starman saves her and finishes the mission, which can only end two ways: he turns the villain's Implausible Science-Weapon against him, or he takes off the villain's mask and we find out it was someone planted into the story on page 3. PAGE 3 ALWAYS.
Which is, you know, how a lot of Golden Age comics generally work (and most action-genre media works, to this day.) But Starman is so naked in its use of these elements, and so obsessively repetitious in how the stories play out, that the whole thing boils down to a deeply cynical rip-off of the very same kinds of stories that, when told with a little more care, can be really fun.
But nothing makes sense here. Who the hell is Starman? What the hell are his powers? Why are these villains doing what they're doing? How do any of their schemes make sense even within the world of the story? How are we supposed to invest, even superficially, in any of it?
Since they were originally written for very small children, Golden Age comics aren't usually known for holding to any kind of rigorous narrative standard. Even with that in mind, Starman sinks below expectations. It's mostly because it insists on taking itself so seriously that its flaws stand out in sharp relief.
The one really interesting thing about the series is Jack Burnley's art, which is shockingly photorealistic, given his medium and reprinting limitations of the day. I'd guess he might be the first comic artist EVER to use photo reference for his characters, and for that alone it's worth giving Starman a look on purely aesthetic grounds.
But like Image comics of the 1990's, Starman only works as an artist's showcase. It brings nothing enjoyable or unique to the genre, and only fouls the waters by reinforcing a lot of stereotypes about Why Comics Suck.
March 21, 2012
For those of you who think that Golden Age comics are mostly unreadable, this volume, either stands out in contrast or proves the exception to the rule. Created to out-do Superman, the art and the writing are indeed superior to the writing on either Superman and Batman at the time. Unfortunatly, Starman never really caught on, and it's a shame, but you can see perhaps the best series of the Golden Age in these two volumes, as easily the best artist of the era.
January 1, 2019
This book collects all of the Star Man comics drawn by Jack Burney (except for those done for the JSA Crossovers.) This book features Starman stories from Adventure Comics #61-76.
The Good: The art is marvelous, simply put some of the best Golden Age Art I've seen not drawn by Jack Kirby. Really some great stuff for the era. Starman is a cool design and I love the gravity rod (even though more explanation of the whys and wherefores of how it worked would have been nice.) The ride is what you'd expect from a book mostly written by Gardener Fox, with a nice mix of sci fi and battling mobster giving way to battling saboteurs as America moved to a war footing. However, Fox also came up with a very strong villain in the Mist and to have a villain turn out to be a keeper in these golden age books is rare.
The bad: There are a few nitpicks. The book struggles a couple times to be consistent about where Starman's rod was. In one panel, after being captured Starman brags that he had it attached to his wrist even though a previous panel showed he didn't. The personality of Ted Knight is annoying. It seems that Fox got tired of writing the same sort of foppish or nerdy secret identity and it was decided that Ted Knight would be an insufferable hypochondriac. Thankfully, he's usually out of the story rather quickly, ut it a quite terrible idea.
OVerall, a decent book that's a fun read for fans of Golden Age comic art.
The Good: The art is marvelous, simply put some of the best Golden Age Art I've seen not drawn by Jack Kirby. Really some great stuff for the era. Starman is a cool design and I love the gravity rod (even though more explanation of the whys and wherefores of how it worked would have been nice.) The ride is what you'd expect from a book mostly written by Gardener Fox, with a nice mix of sci fi and battling mobster giving way to battling saboteurs as America moved to a war footing. However, Fox also came up with a very strong villain in the Mist and to have a villain turn out to be a keeper in these golden age books is rare.
The bad: There are a few nitpicks. The book struggles a couple times to be consistent about where Starman's rod was. In one panel, after being captured Starman brags that he had it attached to his wrist even though a previous panel showed he didn't. The personality of Ted Knight is annoying. It seems that Fox got tired of writing the same sort of foppish or nerdy secret identity and it was decided that Ted Knight would be an insufferable hypochondriac. Thankfully, he's usually out of the story rather quickly, ut it a quite terrible idea.
OVerall, a decent book that's a fun read for fans of Golden Age comic art.
May 14, 2020
As Ron Goulart says in the introduction, this has a very pulpish feel to it; the Brotherhood of the Electron, which shuts down America's power grid in Starman's first story, could as easily have gone up against Doc Savage.
Ted Knight's Starman gets no real backstory, which was common enough in the Golden Age; he's simply an astronomer who figured out how to tape stellar power and uses it to fight crime. The stories are well executed (usual YMMV warnings about the Golden Age apply), occasionally excellent but Ted is generic (seemingly timid millionaire playboy who fights crime!).
Ted Knight's Starman gets no real backstory, which was common enough in the Golden Age; he's simply an astronomer who figured out how to tape stellar power and uses it to fight crime. The stories are well executed (usual YMMV warnings about the Golden Age apply), occasionally excellent but Ted is generic (seemingly timid millionaire playboy who fights crime!).
July 16, 2019
Really nice Jack Burnley artwork gracing some neat little short stories
September 13, 2015
Wealthy playboy Ted Knight has somehow harnessed the cosmic energy of the stars in his Gravity Rod. As the world moves to war, he decides that the best use of this technology is to become a costumed superhero, taking the name Starman.
Like many characters created during the Golden Age, Starman did not have an origin story as such, (Roy Thomas gave him one decades later); in the first story Ted Knight has already been operating as Starman long enough to have convinced FBI chief agent Woodley Allen to trust him and for his fiancee Doris Lee to be used to his excuses for slipping away. According to Jack Burnley’s introduction to this volume, this first story was not written by Gardner Fox, and is the only one he substantially revised, inserting a villain he named Dr. Doom (and editorial changed for unknown reasons to Dr. Doog.)
The story itself opens with America in a panic as electrical components suddenly heat up, causing electrical outages, fires and explosions. The FBI is called in on the case and Agent Allen decides this is a job for the Starman. Bored playboy Ted Knight is having dinner with his fiancee Doris Lee in Gotham, one of the unaffected areas when the rod in his pocket starts vibrating. He claims not to be feeling well, but Doris opts to stay for the food she ordered while Ted leaves. A blackout happens, which makes it even easier for Mr. Knight to switch to his Starman outfit.
Conferring with Agent Allen in a cabin outside the city, Starman is informed that the Secret Brotherhood of the Electron is behind the attacks. The FBI can’t locate them, however, as their communications and transportation have been wrecked by the Brotherhood’s electrical control device. Starman’s Gravity Rod is immune to outside control, and can trace the energy to its source in a mountain stronghold.
Inside the stronghold, most of the Brotherhood is ordinary criminals, but Dr. Doog has stolen the Ultra-Dynamo from a Dr. Davis by means of his hypnotic powers. Starman’s rod protects him from hypnosis, and Doog apparently perishes in one of his own death traps. Starman seals the mountain just to make sure.
The stories tended to be formulaic, but reasonably entertaining individually. Starman’s most frequent foe was The Light, a mad scientist who had been laughed out of the scientific community, and developed a shrinking ray (which gives off a hot bright light) to get his revenge. He returned twice, each time with a different scheme. The most iconic villain, however, was the Mist, an elderly man whose head appeared to be floating on a moving cloud. He’d developed an invisibility formula for use in World War One, but been turned down by the government for unknown reasons. Having perfected it, he turned to crime.
The most out-there villain was Cuthbert Cain, a sallow, puny-looking fellow who had combined an advanced knowledge of photo-electric energy and black magic; he could capture the will of anyone he photographed. The story also had one of the best covers of the series on Adventure Comics #66.
Jack Burnley had been a sports cartoonist before going into comic books, and had a style well-suited to the superhero genre, with dynamic poses and framing. But Starman never broke out as a major character. Part of this, I think, is that Ted Knight wasn’t a very compelling character. This hypochondriac made Clark Kent look like a dynamic man of action, and was so dismissive of Doris Lee that at one point the writer makes her explain that he’s much more likable off camera, thus her continuing to put up with him.
As Starman, Ted is fairly generic–his inability to use his powers during the daytime did add some suspense, but the combination of square-jawed virtue and battle wisecracks was shared with over half of the other costumed characters being published at the time.
There’s some period ethnic stereotyping. This may have been the inspiration for Roy Thomas making Starman particularly anti-Japanese in his All-Star Squadron series.
At the time this compilation was published, a modern Starman series featuring Ted’s son Jack Knight was being run with creator James Robinson. I highly recommend it.
As for this book, the art is good, the writing is decent, and it has rare stories. Recommended to Golden Age fans, those who enjoyed the Robinson series, and people who have a good library near them.
Like many characters created during the Golden Age, Starman did not have an origin story as such, (Roy Thomas gave him one decades later); in the first story Ted Knight has already been operating as Starman long enough to have convinced FBI chief agent Woodley Allen to trust him and for his fiancee Doris Lee to be used to his excuses for slipping away. According to Jack Burnley’s introduction to this volume, this first story was not written by Gardner Fox, and is the only one he substantially revised, inserting a villain he named Dr. Doom (and editorial changed for unknown reasons to Dr. Doog.)
The story itself opens with America in a panic as electrical components suddenly heat up, causing electrical outages, fires and explosions. The FBI is called in on the case and Agent Allen decides this is a job for the Starman. Bored playboy Ted Knight is having dinner with his fiancee Doris Lee in Gotham, one of the unaffected areas when the rod in his pocket starts vibrating. He claims not to be feeling well, but Doris opts to stay for the food she ordered while Ted leaves. A blackout happens, which makes it even easier for Mr. Knight to switch to his Starman outfit.
Conferring with Agent Allen in a cabin outside the city, Starman is informed that the Secret Brotherhood of the Electron is behind the attacks. The FBI can’t locate them, however, as their communications and transportation have been wrecked by the Brotherhood’s electrical control device. Starman’s Gravity Rod is immune to outside control, and can trace the energy to its source in a mountain stronghold.
Inside the stronghold, most of the Brotherhood is ordinary criminals, but Dr. Doog has stolen the Ultra-Dynamo from a Dr. Davis by means of his hypnotic powers. Starman’s rod protects him from hypnosis, and Doog apparently perishes in one of his own death traps. Starman seals the mountain just to make sure.
The stories tended to be formulaic, but reasonably entertaining individually. Starman’s most frequent foe was The Light, a mad scientist who had been laughed out of the scientific community, and developed a shrinking ray (which gives off a hot bright light) to get his revenge. He returned twice, each time with a different scheme. The most iconic villain, however, was the Mist, an elderly man whose head appeared to be floating on a moving cloud. He’d developed an invisibility formula for use in World War One, but been turned down by the government for unknown reasons. Having perfected it, he turned to crime.
The most out-there villain was Cuthbert Cain, a sallow, puny-looking fellow who had combined an advanced knowledge of photo-electric energy and black magic; he could capture the will of anyone he photographed. The story also had one of the best covers of the series on Adventure Comics #66.
Jack Burnley had been a sports cartoonist before going into comic books, and had a style well-suited to the superhero genre, with dynamic poses and framing. But Starman never broke out as a major character. Part of this, I think, is that Ted Knight wasn’t a very compelling character. This hypochondriac made Clark Kent look like a dynamic man of action, and was so dismissive of Doris Lee that at one point the writer makes her explain that he’s much more likable off camera, thus her continuing to put up with him.
As Starman, Ted is fairly generic–his inability to use his powers during the daytime did add some suspense, but the combination of square-jawed virtue and battle wisecracks was shared with over half of the other costumed characters being published at the time.
There’s some period ethnic stereotyping. This may have been the inspiration for Roy Thomas making Starman particularly anti-Japanese in his All-Star Squadron series.
At the time this compilation was published, a modern Starman series featuring Ted’s son Jack Knight was being run with creator James Robinson. I highly recommend it.
As for this book, the art is good, the writing is decent, and it has rare stories. Recommended to Golden Age fans, those who enjoyed the Robinson series, and people who have a good library near them.
October 27, 2016
This was an impulse buy at my last DragonCon, and I have to admit I was surprised how fun these stories are. With authors like Gardner Fox and THAT Alfred Bester, the plots and action are very strong, even by ultra-pulpy Golden Age standards. The art from Jack Burnley is excellent as well - as I understand from the introduction, Starman was basically created as a vehicle for showcasing Burnley's talents.
The problem is with Starman himself, who -despite the strength of the writing- is a weak character. Not "weak" in the sense as not being able to hold his own as a superhero, but weak as in poorly fleshed out. Starman's gravity rod, which draws its power from starlight and can perform pretty much any task the plot requires, is essentially a magic wand with nearly unlimited abilities. His alter ego Ted Knight, on the other hand, is such an insufferable hypochondriac wimp that he makes Clark Kent look like Hulk Hogan. No attempt is made to give Starman any kind of origin or explain where his gravity rod came from. Did Knight invent it? What drives him to fight crime? No answers ever come.
The problem is with Starman himself, who -despite the strength of the writing- is a weak character. Not "weak" in the sense as not being able to hold his own as a superhero, but weak as in poorly fleshed out. Starman's gravity rod, which draws its power from starlight and can perform pretty much any task the plot requires, is essentially a magic wand with nearly unlimited abilities. His alter ego Ted Knight, on the other hand, is such an insufferable hypochondriac wimp that he makes Clark Kent look like Hulk Hogan. No attempt is made to give Starman any kind of origin or explain where his gravity rod came from. Did Knight invent it? What drives him to fight crime? No answers ever come.
October 4, 2016
This was a pretty fun Golden Age Archives from DC. Artist Jack Burnley is the real star here, as his illustrations are far above the standard GA comics art at the time. Gardner Fox's stories are fairly formulaic, but he comes up with some interesting adversaries for the Man of Night. As for Starman himself, I never knew that his alter ego of millionaire Ted Knight was such a milquetoast. Quite the opposite from his superheroic identity.
One thing of note, even though Starman never wore a mask, his fiancee and associates never figured out who he really was! Only in comics!
One thing of note, even though Starman never wore a mask, his fiancee and associates never figured out who he really was! Only in comics!
November 19, 2015
this one was worth fifty bucks. story and art are so much fun!
April 17, 2020
Really nice Jack Burnley artwork gracing some neat little short stories
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews