If you know anything about me, you know seeing a review for this (by me) is pretty strange. Never been a fan of the Starman run that so many people go ga-ga over. It just never appealed to me; it also doesn’t help that I am not a fan of James Robinson or the grade school art that was Tony Harris for the book. So why did I give this a shot? I literally have no idea. Maybe it was because the success rate for these BN one-shots have been good? It doesn’t matter now, I’ve read it and well…..it was surprisingly good.

Now when I say good I mean, ‘it didn’t make me wanna puke’ like so much of Robinson’s work. I know nothing of these characters, nor am I engross into the world of Opal City. But this read very favorably to new readers (or just random people) so it wasn’t too hard to grasp the characters. It still has the same old ‘oh this lantern is gonna make you feel bad about yourself’ type of dialogue, but Robinson seems to be very good at making it somewhat interesting. Anyways, I did love the beginning conversation with the cops, and the stuff with Shade is pretty good. He is a pretty interesting anti-hero and I would love to read more about him…..Not in Starman trades, I mean a good book.

Here’s the big problem with this book though: Bill Sienkiewicz. This is the second time he helped another artist for a BN one-shot (The Question coming later) and…..Look I like the man and his work, don’t get me wrong. But this book can look down right ugly sometimes. Now it isn’t as ugly as the Question one shot, there are some great pages in this. Like the two page sequence in the museum, or the page where Starman (original) takes Shade’s heart. But there are other instances where people just look damn horrible. Faces are a joke sometimes and they look like after thoughts. Then there’s the pacing and the layout of some of these instances. Some things just happen so quickly or randomly, I question on how we got to where the comic goes. Finally the coloring….less said about that the better.

So it is a bit of a miracle for me but: I read a James Robinson book and I didn’t feel the need to burn it, bury it, or outright throw it in the trash. It was a decent read and it’s nice even for a new reader into this world. I did go on a bit about the art and it’s problems, but it still isn’t a bad looking book…..for every other page at least. Overall it was a decent comic and nothing else. Does that mean I am willing to give Robinson a second chance? ………No.