The Starman Omnibus, Vol. 3 by James Robinson

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


The genius of James Robinson in Starman is that he succeeds at doing things which on other writers come off as pretentious or far too twee.

This book collects the four issue Shade Mini-Series as well as Issues 30-38 of Starman, Starman Annual #2, and Starman Secret Files #1.

The Shade mini-series is all about the anti-hero turned hero Shade running into a family in the 1840s with a murderous secret that he stops and how he finds himself haunted by them for centuries. It's an incredibly story and shows how much Robinson did on re-invigorating the character.

The main body of the book is somewhat unremarkable. There are no big DC events, no earth-shattering threats to Opal City. Much like its antique owner hero Jack, it has a great sense of nostalgia but makes that nostalgia seem cool and intriguing. This is helped by the changing relationship between Jack and his Father as they're much more at peace and that makes the nostalgia and respect feel more natural. The book dives into the history of Opal City and even into the far more obscure 1988-1992 Starman.

The book is not perfect. The idea of Jack meeting his dead brother is a bit of an oddity. That it happens every year to the point that the story here references the year as an annual is a bit nuts in a series that comes out with one issue a year.

Still, while the book isn't perfect, it's beautifully written and quite stylish.





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