Starman #45 (April, 1992)
"Star Shadows, Part Four: Starlight, StarBRIGHT!"
Writer - Len Strazewski
Penciller - John Calimee
Inker - Roy Richardson
Letterer - Bob Pinaha
Colorist - Tom McCraw
Editor - Paul Kupperberg
Cover Price: $1.25
Last stop before #BestEventEver! Tomorrow's piece will be the blog's "official" offering to the crossover, and we'll be checking out one of the Annual tie-ins... actually the only one I bought off the racks during the Summer of 1992.
But that's for tomorrow... Today let's focus on putting Starman to bed.
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We pick up with the arrival of the Solar Jet at S.T.A.R. Labs where a confused Kitty Faulkner looks on. She watches as her new associate Bruce Gordon de-boards... and de-helms, revealing himself to be, ya know... Eclipso! She frantically tries to get away, even resorting to transforming into her Rampage persona. Her hulk-out is short lived, however, as Eclipso nails her with some black energy.
A little ways away, Will careens back to Earth... splashing down in (I assume) Metropolis... bay? harbor? gulf? a body of water is what I'm trying to say. He crawls out of the drink and drags himself to a pay phone to contact the Justice League Embassy in... France? Not sure why he wouldn't call the domestic league, but whattayagonnado? Maybe they're still salty at him for turning down membership.
Back at S.T.A.R., Eclipso has Kitty shackled to a wall... which makes me wonder why S.T.A.R. has wall shackles in their labs to begin with. He reveals that he's wanting to use Starman as a storage device... which, I thought we already knew... Oh well, I guess "Part Four" wasn't going to write itself. Kitty ain't keen on hearing the news, and reacts accordingly.
After some more threatening small-talk, Starman finally arrives... putting yet another hole in the wall of S.T.A.R. Labs. This, sigh, actually messes with Eclipso's plan, as it was reliant on Will entering... through the front door. Ay yai yai.
Starman blasts the Black Diamond out of Eclipso's hand and breaks Kitty free of her bonds. The Black Diamond winds up under a table, and so we get to watch... Eclipso, God's vengeance... or something, crawling under a table to retrieve it. Not his best look my friends.
From here, our battle resumes... Will and Eclipso each get some good shots in. Kitty foolishly grabs Eclipso by the arm... and gets back-handed for her troubles. Will yells "Kitty! Stay Back!" about three panels too late... she's already kayoed. It looks as though everything is coming up Eclipso, until...
... Power Girl (and her bouffant) arrives! I know we joked about it on the podcast, but ho-lee cow, I'm not sure how she fits through a door with that hairdo. It's a good thing Will put that giant hole in the wall. Anyhoo, after complaining that the French JLI Embassy staff speak... French... the fight continues... Eclipso blasts Power Girl, Kitty recovers and blasts the baddie with a conveniently-wall-mounted gun... then, Starman and Power Girl play "volleyball" with Eclipso's limp body. Oof.
Now with the upper hand, the heroes start thrashing ol'clipso. The battle ends with Starman appearing to thrust his... midsection in Eclipso's direction and nailing him with light. The moon-face vanishes from the Gordon visage.
Time passes, and Bruce Gordon recovers. He's back in his lab coat... apparently still in the employ of S.T.A.R. Labs, for whatever reason. It's revealed that Will's problematic power is due to... "Super-Hero Puberty". Yup, really. Power Girl is quite tickled by the thought, and razzes poor Will about his pending acne and body-hair growth.
Kitty don't take too kindly to Power Girl's "flirting", and tries to refocus the discussion. Power Girl quickly grows bored, and takes her leave. Not before giving Will a peck on the cheek though.
With Power Girl gone, Will turns his attention to his... girlfriend (?) Kitty Faulkner. She immediately pulls away and jumps down his throat. She says there's no way she can compete with a woman like Power Girl... totally not getting that Will Payton isn't anywhere near being in Power Girl's league.
Will finally gets through to her that he's in it for the long haul, ya know, unless he gets killed sometime within the current calendar year... and the issue... story... and series (!) ends with the couple in a loving embrace, and what I can only assume to be a Beavis and Butthead style laugh.
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Welp...
Out with a bang, am I right?
Now, this whole chapter just feels "off". I can't say that this feels like it was rushed toward cancellation, because the story is anything but (excepting the final scene, but more on that in a bit). As a whole, this story feels like it should have filled two issues. I'm completely talking out my backside now, but it's almost as though the Lobo and Power Girl asides were just stuffed in to keep the series going to cancellation.
Eclipso's plan to use Will as a storage vessel for energy...was less interesting the second time around. The fight was pretty pedestrian. If Will just needed to use his gilded pelvic thrust to defeat Eclipso... why did it take him so long to try it? Seems so anticlimactic. I feel like Strazewski was struggling to get through this... almost as much as I'm struggling to get through this review!
It's not to say this story was outright bad... just uninteresting... and a pretty poor way to close out the volume. Speaking of "closing out the volume"...
The ending with Will and Kitty hashing thing out... oh boy, that felt tacked on. It's like they finished up a few pages short... and needed to throw in this odd little aside. Kitty flipping out on Will because she didn't "measure up" to a super-powered friend of his... eh, maybe if it wasn't so out-of-nowhere it would have read better... but, it really did feel like it didn't quite fit. It felt unnatural... especially with how quick Will was able to diffuse the situation. I know I can't be the only one who has had arguments with a significant other... if I had a dime for every time I was able to "fix" things with a couple of sentences... I'd have no dimes.
Overall... this really isn't a story you need to read. If you're a fan of Will Payton (or Eclipso... or Lobo) you'll probably get something out of this. Otherwise, you'd be perfectly fine letting this one pass by under your radar.
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Letters Page (and Farewell):
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The Darkness Continues...
Starman #44 (March, 1992)
"Star Shadows, Part Three: Dark of the Moon!"
Writer - Len Strazewski
Penciller - John Calimee
Inker - Roy Richardson
Letterer - Bob Pinaha
Colorist - Tom McCraw
Editor - Paul Kupperberg
Cover Price: $1.25
We're officially past the midway point of the dark journey that is #BestEventEver... if you squint a bit, you might just be able to see some light at the end of that there tunnel...
All joking aside, this has been a really fun event to take part in. I really want to (once again) extend my thanks to the community for allowing me in with their moon-faced reindeer games.
An updated listing of all the participants will be allllll the way at the bottom of this piece, and will be finalized once... well, everything's final!
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Picking up where we left off, Lobo has soundly pounded Starman into the ground... and Eclipso has made his presence felt. What he doesn't realize is that he just made Lobo's bounty-hunt all that much easier in the process!
Before we know it, we've got ourselves a three-way-dance. Lobo cinches Eclipso in a headlock for a little while... Eclipso breaks free and diamond-zaps Starman. It's all quite riveting. They briefly stop fighting and stare at one another... this would be the point in an indie wrestling match where the crowd would applaud. Starman pleads with Bruce to fight the darkness... Lobo promises there will be some fraggin' going on.
And the fight resumes. Lobo continues to kick butt, because that's kinda what Lobo does. Eclipso is pelted into a crater, and Payton gives chase. At this point, Bruce Gordon is briefly able to break through the darkness, and speak. He reveals to Will that Eclipso has been manipulating the two of them to bring them together... as, if there powers combine... they can produce black light! He also explains why Lobo might be after his hide. It's that Lords of Chaos thing from the Phantom Stranger mini (1988), but you already knew that. Anyhoo, they decide to team-up against their common foe.
It's not long before Gordon's face returns to its mooney visage... and before Lobo comes a'calling. It's pretty neat... Lobo pulls a headlight off the ol' spacehog to light the way. Starman sucker punches him, then gives him the nyah-nyah treatment... showing just how ugly this character can be. I mean, he's downright homely.
Starman continues cheapshotting Lobo... knocking the headlamp out of his hands. In the total darkness the combined forces of Will and Eclipso shine some light in Lobo's direction. Lobo calls Starman a "hippie"... and I'm not sure I've ever seen a hippie with a mullet. Maybe a leftover hippie who joined the work force or something... business in the front and all'at.
Starman and Lobo resume their tussle. Will hurls a blast at Lobo, who sidesteps it! The deflection causes the light to hit Eclipso... rendering him into a pile of smoking dust! Welp, that's good enough for Lobo, the turtle just wanted Eclipso offed. The Main Man grabs the tatters of Eclipso's tunic as proof and hops on his headlightless hog to claim his credits.
Once Lobo's outta sight (dy-no-mite) Eclipso pops his head out of his hidey-hole. Ya see, this was all a ruse to get Lobo gone. Will naively suggests they take care of their initial business... and Eclipso's all "stupid boy, don't trust Eclipso", because, duh.
He blasts Will with his diamond-eyes (you like dub-step?) before revealing his true intentions. He is going back to Earth to, get this, get Kitty Faulkner? Wha---?
The issue ends with Starman collecting himself and going Earth-bound himself... though, with a threat as big as Eclipso, he knows he's going to need some powerful help. Don't look at the next cover lest the power-ful guest-star be spoiled.
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Welp, it was a fight scene. Not much to discuss here, right?
Wron... er, no... that's right, actually. Just a fight.
I guess to differentiate it from, ya know, all other book-length battles, we can mention that Will and Eclipso had to briefly put their differences aside to take down a common foe. Hmm, now that I read that back, that doesn't really differentiate this from the rest.
Um, pulling a fast one making Eclipso appear to be dead was... a good idea, I guess. Not mindbendingly original, but a good enough way to take the stupidly-powerful Lobo off the stage. Can't think of another way they could've done that. 1992 Lobo was not to be messed with... I don't see him "doing the job" for Will Payton in the penultimate issue of his series. Hey, I set up a sentence in such a way that I could use the word "penultimate", how 'bout that? Here's hoping I used it right!
Um, other than that... Eclipso (duh) turns on Will. Tsk, tsk... c'mon Will this is the, er... penultimate... issue of your series, you really oughta be smarter than that by now. His plan of heading back to Earth... ehh, really feels like we're taking the long way around here, though, I suppose he had to leave Earth in the first place to Eclipso-up. I dunno, this whole thing feels a bit time-filly.
The art is back under the pencil of John Calimee... and it's, ya know... pretty uneven. It looks like he's got a keen eye for Lobo... but his Starman and Eclipso feel a bit "off". Very flat.
Overall... it's a fight scene. If you like fight scenes (and Lobo) you'll probably like this. If not... this bugger's safe to skip.
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Letters Page:
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The Darkness Continues...
you is here y'all
Starman #42 (January, 1992)
"Star Shadows, Part One: Sun Spots!"
Writer - Len Strazewski
Pencillers - John Calimee & Andrew Smith
Inkers - Roy Richardson & Alan Kupperberg
Letterer - Bob Pinaha
Colorist - Tom McCraw
Editor - Paul Kupperberg
Cover Price: $1.00
As mentioned yesterday, the most recent (as of this writing) Cosmic Treadmill is part of a collaborative effort Reggie and I took part in alongside several bloggers and podcasters to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of what might be referred to as the #BestEventEver, Eclipso: The Darkness Within.
The issues we covered for the occasion were the lead up to the even proper, which occurred in the final four issues of Starman (volume 1). Now, being a fella who is still tied to the task of providing daily discussions, reviews, whatever it is I do here... I figure I may as well cover the Starman issues here as well, leading up to the blogs "Big" contribution to the event, which will hit on Friday. It's been awhile since I've done the whole "companion piece" blog bit... so let's get to it!
By the by, keep scrolling past our "Interesting Ads" for links to the other great sites involved with #BestEventEver... all June long!
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The issue opens with Starman, Will Payton in all manner of facial disarray. He is with gal pal Carol Simon... who now knows of his dual identity. Everything suddenly becomes clear to her... Will would blow off assignments and vanish from time to time, not because he was a flake, but because he is a super-hero! She embraces him, and he pulls away... his face continues to change, and his body begins to overheat... also, we're about to learn that there might just be another lady occupying his heart.
Perhaps one who works for S.T.A.R. Labs... where Will heads with the quickness! Speaking of whom, we catch up with Kitty Faulkner as she meets with her new associate Bruce Gordon. She just so happens to be reading over some Starman-related data when the man himself bursts through the wall... now wearing the visage of an old man.
When Will awakens he finds himself on an examination table. Kitty explains what had just happened, and introduces him to Bruce. I gotta mention, Bruce has a very ugly mullet for the first half of this issue. Will sits up, at which time, Bruce attaches a... I dunno, plug (?) to his face. Will don't dig that, and yanks out the plug.
Kitty attempts to diffuse the situation by listing Dr. Gordon's credentials... and also, transforming into the monstrous Rampage! She does so by pressing a button on an amulet around her neck... which Bruce Gordon invented for her! Maybe dude ain't all that bad after all. I still wouldn't trust him, but whattaya gonna do?
At this point Will and Bruce make nice, and they exchange origin stories. We've already seen Starman's, out camping, struck by a blast of something or another, and woke up a time later with strange and super powers. Bruce recounts his time "dealing with" Eclipso, and wraps his sad story with the revelation that his "dark half" has been destroyed. Likely story, pal...
With Will's trust earned, Bruce posits that he can conduct tests if they travel into an environment without any interference... which is to say, outer space! Will is cool with it, and agrees.
But not before pulling Kitty Faulkner aside to spill the beans on both his secret identity and his true feelings for the Doc. They lock lips to commemorate the event. How nice.
With the hanky panky out of the way, Bruce loads into his Solar Jet and readies for launch. Will acts as his, I dunno... propulsion unit... and flies them to the Moon... along the way, they (literally) run afoul of the Main Man himself, Lobo!
... and, oh yeah, Bruce Gordon changes into Eclipso. [to be continued...]
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Looks like we start with a bang! Hmm, where was that sarcasm button again...?
Honestly, a pretty underwhelming start to Starman's final story arc. I thought it was pretty neat that Will and Kitty get to share their true feelings for one another, but that was probably the only "high point" for the issue. Otherwise it's kinda talky, and table-setty. I suppose I can't hold that against them... but it's still not terribly interesting. Boilerplate origin stuff... with a sometimes-mulleted Dr. Bruce Gordon. Whatayagonnado?
And, the art... it's inconsistent, and ya know... kinda rough. In researching for the Cosmic Treadmill episode, we learned that John Calimee is pretty self-depreciating insofar as his artistic style during this time. He didn't like it... and, from what he says, many of the fans agreed with that sentiment. I can't say that I hated it... but didn't much care for it either...
How's that for riding the fence?
Anyhoo, I suppose I can tell ya... the action will ramp up over the next few issues. Despite the slow start here, I couldn't tell ya to avoid it outright. If you are so inclined, you're gonna be stuck getting your fingers dirty in the bins... this bugger hasn't been collected nor made available digitally.
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Letters Page:
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The Darkness Continues...
