Writer: James Robinson
Artist: Peter Snejbjerg
Publisher: DC Comics
(Reprinting Starman #61-73)
Plot: Back from his cosmic adventure, Jack Knight finds his beloved Opal City has been targeted for destruction by an army of villains, and that the mastermind behind these attacks looks to be the Shade. As Jack and a small collection of allies work to save the city, Ted Knight, the original Starman, is called upon to fight one final battle to save Opal City from certain destruction.
The Good: The biggest single story that James Robinson offered up in the pages of this series, and I was impressed by how well the story managed to keep its head of steam throughout the entire arc. Judd Winick deserves a slap on the wrist for essentially lifting his recent Green Arrow arc premise from this story, and it's a little depressing to realize that no one made mention of how similar the two stories were. In any event, James Robinson was out of the gate first, and he runs a far more impressive race. There's a real sense that the fate of the city is very much in the balance. The first sign that the city is in danger is the wholesale destruction of a sizeable chunk of the city's more notable landmarks. James Robinson also manages the seemingly impossible task of making the thirteen issues that he has to tell this story feel like they aren't enough, as toward the end he has no less than half a dozen plot threads vying for attention, and all of them are extremely compelling. In fact, one could argue that Jack Knight has to fight for the attention of the reading audience, as he's surrounded by dozens of characters who are involved in stories that are just as engaging as his own struggle to save Opal City: from Ted Knight's final battle, to the mystery behind the Shade's behaviour. One particular secondary plot needs mentioning; I'd love to see James Robinson deliver a Hamilton Drew miniseries.
Peter Snejbjerg has a style that is at times a bit simplistic, and there are moments when I found myself wishing there was more detail on the page. However, I can't deny the fact that the art does a fantastic job when it comes to the delivery of the big impact visuals of this arc, from the explosive start to the action as Opal City is ripped apart by a series of explosions, to the final moments of Ted Knight. The art also does a wonderful job of delivering a very real sense of danger, as how can one not love the sequence where Jack's cosmic rod runs out of power, and the army of villains surround him, or the explosive scene where the O'Dare family makes their final bid to clear the family name. The art also deserves credit for its work on the quieter moments from the death of Solomon Grundy, to the last shot of Ted Knight and the Mist. Plus there's also the impressive fact that this series was able to offer up a single creative team for the entire thirteen issues.
The Bad: I realize that this is a common occurrence in comics, as the arrival of the Calvary has a greater dramatic punch when they arrive right when it looks like the hero is about to be killed, and chances are if I had read this story in a monthly format rather than in the collected format I probably wouldn't have paid it much attention. However, James Robinson does the character of Jack Knight a disservice by continually backing the character into a seemingly inescapable corner, only to have the character rescued by the timely arrival of another hero. I mean I realize that part of the charm that Jack Knight has had that is that he's always been a reluctant hero and with a month wait between the chapters I'm sure the reading audience was sitting on pins and needles when Jack found himself surrounded by an army of villains with a powerless cosmic rod as his only defence, but the timely arrival of his heroic allies serves to rob the character of the opportunity to display that he brings more to the table than the power that his cosmic rod provides. Also while it has nothing much to do with the story itself, I found it difficult to enjoy the Elongated Man's contribution to this story, as while it's the best guest-appearance the character has ever received, the current events that have played out in the pages of the Identity Crisis miniseries cast a pall over these scenes, and it's a telling display of what was destroyed simply for the sake of shock value.
Final Comments: A truly expansive story that left me kicking myself for not getting on board this series when it was a monthly title, as reading the series via the trades does feel a bit like I'm singing the praises of a performance long after the audience has left the theatre. Now I'm assuming I'm not the only one reading up the series via the trades, as DC has seen fit to collect the entire series. New readers are in for a treat, as this is the most enjoyable trade since the first volume since it offers up an extremely busy reading experience with dozens of characters involved in dozens of plots, and in spite of the seeming chaos, James Robinson does a wonderful job of keeping all these balls in the air. The battle to save Opal City made for a great story, and this trade acts as a shining example of a writer who offered up a story that didn't leave room for even the slightest bit of padding, which makes it a bit of a novelty in today's comic industry.
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