Sometimes it’s easy to forget that comics, like everything else, don’t exist in a vacuum. Everything that comic-book readers think of as conventions, as benchmarks, even as clichés of the genre, had to appear somewhere first. Even something as basic as, say, the team-up. Before 1941, despite the fact that the newsstands were positively overflowing […]
He’s a water-breathing strongman from the ocean’s depths, he’s the rightful king of Atlantis, and he’s often been allied with some of Earth’s most powerful superheroes. And he’s not Aquaman. DC’s Aquaman may get better publicity, but the original, accept-no-substitutes undersea hero is Marvel Comics’ Prince Namor, the Sub-Mariner, who first appeared a full two […]
Previously in Comics 101: As our mammoth coverage of James Robinson’s STARMAN series winds down, we find Jack Knight in an unexpected place: with the help of his friends, he’s saved Opal City, and even found the son he’d thought lost forever, but at a heavy price: the death of his father, Ted Knight, the […]
For Those Who Came In Late: We continue our STARMAN discussion where we left off last week: after a lengthy sojourn through space, followed by a speedy induction into the revived Justice Society of America, Jack Knight has returned to his beloved hometown Opal City, which despite the prediction of its destruction in a previous […]
Previously, in Comics 101: As our STARMAN marathon barrels on, Jack Knight has just returned from outer space, to find an Opal City as beautiful and intact as the day he left her, despite an ominous declaration in an earlier issue that Jack would return from space to find the city in ruins. How did […]
For Those Who Came In Late: As our marathon STARMAN coverage continues, Jack Knight has just taken off into deep space in an antique starship powered by his Cosmic Rod, in search of Will Payton, a predecessor in the role of Starman and more significantly the brother of Jack’s girlfriend Sadie. This has left both […]
Previously, in Comics 101: When we left off in our look at the brief but brilliant superhero career of Jack “Starman” Knight, the gentle giant Solomon Grundy had sacrificed his life to save Jack’s and repay the debt incurred by his accidental killing of the Star-Spangled Kid, and Jack had met and fallen in love […]
Last Time, in COMICS 101: Our coverage of James Robinson and Tony Harris’s STARMAN series has continued unabated, ending last time with the series’ big promotional push of 1997. However, as the series entered into the 30s, big changes were afoot that would push the series in a surprising direction:Jack’s next continued adventure was “Infernal […]
Previously, in Comics 101: It’s been all Starman, all the time around these parts in recent weeks, as we’ve turned our attention to James Robinson and Tony Harris’ landmark 1990s legacy hero, Jack Knight. At about two years into the series, the book was really hitting its stride. Let’s get back to it, shall we?STARMAN’s […]
For Those Who Came In Late: In recent weeks, we’ve been exploring the wonder that was James Robinson and Tony Harris’ STARMAN series, arguably the best comic book of the 1990s. Last time, we took a closer look at the art of Tony Harris, saw the first of the recurring favorite features “Talking With David” […]
Previously in Comics 101: Last time, we were introduced to Jack Knight, youngest son of original Golden Age Starman Ted Knight, who has reluctantly taken up the name and role of Starman (if not the costume), following the murder of his older brother David by their father’s longtime enemy the Mist. With the help of […]
Longtime readers of my work may recall that I’ve often over the years referred to James Robinson and Tony Harris’ STARMAN series as my favorite comic book, bar none. There are plenty of reasons why, which I’ll be getting to over the next couple of weeks. But I’ve got to cop to the fact that […]
Last time, we began our look at DC’s STARMAN, focusing on the original, the Golden Age Starman Ted Knight, as created by artist Jack Burnley in the pages of ADVENTURE COMICS. While Ted got a considerable promotional push from the publisher, including membership in the company’s trademark super-team, the Justice Society of America. However, Starman […]
