Well, it had to be Davey...

David Knight and his brutal, premature murder were always the elephants in the room for the central characters of Starman, and it had to be him that Robinson resurrected along with his much missed signature comic book.  I had insanely excessive hopes for this book and opened it with a real sense of both trepidation and excitement - how could it possibly measure up?! This was MY book, I went through adolescence with Jack Knight, buying it from #0 through to the bitter end, it could never be the same.

Which it wasn't.  But it came so bloody close, it really did.  There have been some Robinson comics in the past year or two where his style felt awkward and even clunky.  Not so in this book.  Here it was like coming home.  He's slipped into the old cadences like he never left.  We catch up with what happened to old friends from the series, realise how many of them we now miss, and then we crack on with the action.  It centres on Shade and Hope O'Dare, now a couple since Jack left the city.  The Shade is in love with her, she's not so sure.  While this turn of events should have seemed out of character for the old anti-hero, Robinson makes it work.  Seems his friendship with Jack made the old villain somewhat human again.  I damn near cheered when he first confronted David/Black Lantern, it was just like old times. 

The fight itself and everything in between were all about character, specifically the O'Dares and the Shade, and the point to which they've come.  Their lives have gone on these past eight years, and they've grown and changed, yet they'e also still, thankfully, our old friends.  The joy of Starman was always the many disparate characters and how they interacted, and there's still a perfect pleasure the way Robinson juggles all that.  It occurs to me that, following the Don't Miss podcast, he's set up the perfect Shade mini series.  If he throws in Hope, we've got the perfect Nick and Nora Charles story that we never got with the Dibny's.  I salivate at the very thought.

Sure Tony Harris is missed (although the cover fits perfectly with the old ones), but then he always was.  The book's look was defined by his original deco stylings and when he left it has to be said it was never quite the same.  Still Dagnino isn't bad, and turns in some lovely page layouts, like the double with the cops in the museum and that aforementioned Shade confrontation.  He shouldn't have given Hope some kind of Checkmate/Shield ensemble, I know that.  It's clearly inked by Sienkiewicz, and while at times he's a little overpowering, he gives the story some great atmosphere.

I'm so glad that the book is true to the original series.  It's a nice catch up with old friends and, in the end, I think I'm glad Robinson's sticking to his guns and leaving Jack in peace.  This story is no weaker for his absence that's for certain, I just hope that Robinson feels free to keep dipping into this well, as there's obviously loads of stories left to tell.

Now, where did I leave my spats......