Back Issue #133 by TwoMorrows Publishing

™

February 2022

No.133

Starring the 1990s Starman with JAMES ROBINSON & TONY HARRIS Featuring Star-Spangled Kid ★ Starjammers Lee & Kaluta’s Starstruck ★ 1980s Starman

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ISSUE

STARMEN

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Edited by MICHAEL EURY, BACK ISSUE magazine celebrates comic books of the 1970s, 1980s, and today through recurring (and rotating) departments like “Pro2Pro” (dialogue between professionals), “BackStage Pass” (behind-the-scenes of comicsbased media), “Greatest Stories Never Told” (spotlighting unrealized comics series or stories), and more!

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BACK ISSUE #121

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CONAN AND THE BARBARIANS! Celebrating the 50th anniversary of ROY THOMAS and BARRY WINDSOR-SMITH’s Conan #1! The Bronze Age Barbarian Boom, Top 50 Marvel Conan stories, Marvel’s Not-Quite Conans (from Kull to Skull), Arak–Son of Thunder, Warlord action figures, GRAY MORROW’s Edge of Chaos, and Conan the Barbarian at Dark Horse Comics. With an unused WINDSOR-SMITH Conan #9 cover.

Celebrates the 40TH ANNIVERSARY of MARV WOLFMAN and GEORGE PÉREZ’s New Teen Titans, featuring a guest editorial by WOLFMAN and a PÉREZ tribute and art gallery! Plus: The New Teen Titans’ 40 GREATEST MOMENTS, the Titans in the media, hero histories of RAVEN, STARFIRE, and the PROTECTOR, and more! With a NEVER-BEFORE-PUBLISHED PÉREZ TITANS COVER from 1981!

SUPERHERO ROMANCE ISSUE! Bruce Wayne and Tony Stark’s many loves, Star Sapphire history, Bronze Age weddings, DeFALCO/ STERN Johnny Storm/Alicia Pro2Pro interview, Elongated Man and Wife, May-December romances, Supergirl’s Secret Marriage, and… Aunt May and Doc Ock?? Featuring MIKE W. BARR, CARY BATES, STEVE ENGLEHART, BOB LAYTON, DENNY O’NEIL, and many more! Cover by DAVE GIBBONS.

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HORRIFIC HEROES! With Bronze Age CREATOR-OWNED COMICS! Featuring histories of Man-Thing, the Demon, and in-depth histories of MATT WAGNER’s the Creeper, Atlas/Seaboard’s horrifying Mage and Grendel. Plus other indie heroes, and Ghost Rider (Danny Ketch) sensations of the Bronze Age, including rides again! Featuring the work of CHRIS COLLEEN DORAN’s A Distant Soil, STAN CLAREMONT, GERRY CONWAY, ERNIE SAKAI’s Usagi Yojimbo, STEVE PURCELL’s COLON, MICHAEL GOLDEN, JACK KIRBY, Sam & Max, JAMES DEAN SMITH’s Boris MIKE PLOOG, JAVIER SALTARES, MARK the Bear, and LARRY WELZ’s Cherry TEXIERA, and more. Man-Thing cover by Poptart! With a fabulous Grendel cover by RUDY NEBRES. MATT WAGNER.

BACK ISSUE #124

BACK ISSUE #125

“Legacy” issue! Wally West Flash, BRANDON ROUTH Superman interview, Harry Osborn/Green Goblin, Scott Lang/Ant-Man, Infinity Inc., Reign of the Supermen, JOHN ROMITA SR. and JR. “Rough Stuff,” plus CONWAY, FRACTION, JURGENS, MESSNER-LOEBS, MICHELINIE, ORDWAY, SLOTT, ROY THOMAS, MARK WAID, and more. WIERINGO/MARZAN JR. cover!

SOLDIERS ISSUE! Sgt. Rock revivals, General Thunderbolt Ross, Beetle Bailey in comics, DC’s Blitzkrieg, War is Hell’s John Kowalski, Atlas’ savage soldiers, The ’Nam, Nth the Ultimate Ninja, and CONWAY and GARCIA-LOPEZ’s Cinder and Ashe. Featuring CLAREMONT, DAVID, DIXON, GOLDEN, HAMA, KUBERT, LOEB, DON LOMAX, DOUG MURRAY, TUCCI, and more. BRIAN BOLLAND cover!

BRONZE AGE TV TIE-INS! TV-to-comic adaptations of the ’70s to ’90s, including Bionic Woman, Dark Shadows, Emergency, H. R. Pufnstuf, Hee Haw, Lost in Space (with BILL MUMY), Primus (with ROBERT BROWN), Sledge Hammer, Superboy, V, and others! Featuring BALD, BATES, CAMPITI, EVANIER, JOHN FRANCIS MOORE, SALICRUP, SAVIUK, SPARLING, STATON, WOLFMAN, and more!

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BACK ISSUE #126

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TwoMorrows. The Future of Comics History.

BACK ISSUE #129

BACK ISSUE #130

TV TOON TIE-INS! Bronze Age HannaBRONZE AGE PROMOS, ADS, AND Barbera Comics, Underdog, Mighty Mouse, GIMMICKS! The aborted DC Super-Stars Rocky & Bullwinkle, Pink Panther, Battle of Society fan club, Hostess Comic Ads, DC the Planets, and Smokey Bear and Woodsy 16-page Preview Comics, rare Marvel Owl. Bonus: SCOTT SHAW! digs up custom comics, DC Hotline, Popeye Captain Carrot’s roots! Featuring the work Career Comics, early variant covers, of BYRNE, COLON, ENGEL, EVANIER, and more. Featuring BARR, HERDLING, FIELDS, MICHAEL GALLAGHER, WIN LEVITZ, MAGUIRE, MORGAN, PACELLA, MORTIMER, NORRIS, SEVERIN, SKEATES, PALMIOTTI, SHAW!, TERRY STEWART, STATON, TALLARICO, TOTH, and more! THOMAS, WOLFMAN, and more! (84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $9.95 (84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $9.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 (Digital Edition) $4.99

BACK ISSUE #131

BACK ISSUE #132

THE KIRBY LEGACY AT DC! Explores Jack Kirby’s post-Fourth World Bronze Age DC characters! Demon, Kamandi, OMAC, Sandman, and Kirby’s Odd Jobs (Atlas, Manhunter, and more). Plus: the SIMON & KIRBY Reunion That Wasn’t! Featuring BISSETTE, BYRNE, CONWAY, GIBBONS, GOLDEN, GRANT, RUCKA, SEMEIKS, THOMAS, TIMM, WAGNER, and more. Demon cover by KIRBY and MIKE ROYER!

1980s MARVEL LIMITED SERIES! CLAREMONT/MILLER’s Wolverine, Black Panther, Falcon, Punisher, Machine Man, Iceman, Magik, Fantastic Four vs. X-Men, Nick Fury vs. S.H.I.E.L.D., Wolfpack, and more! With BOGDANOVE, COWAN, DeFALCO, DeMATTEIS, GRANT, HAMA, MILGROM, NEARY, SMITH, WINDSORSMITH, and more. Cover by JOE RUBINSTEIN. Edited by MICHAEL EURY.

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Volume 1, Number 133 February 2022 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Michael Eury PUBLISHER John Morrow

Comics’ Bronze Age and Beyond!

DESIGNER Rich Fowlks COVER ARTIST Tony Harris COVER DESIGNER Michael Kronenberg PROOFREADER David Baldy

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A GALAXY OF STARMEN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Who are the Starmen in your neighborhood? Find out in this special feature FLASHBACK: Star-Spangled Kid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 From a kid hero with an adult sidekick to Skyman, the saga of Sylvester Pemberton BEYOND CAPES: Starjammers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 The space-spanning X-Men spinoff, filled with dazzle and daddy issues PRO2PRO: Elaine Lee and Michael Wm. Kaluta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 They’re still Starstruck after all these years FLASHBACK: 1980s Starman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 The short-lived career of the post-Crisis Starman, Will Payton FLASHBACK: The History is the Hero: 1990s Starman Retrospective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 An in-depth overview of the fascinating saga of multiple Starmen and DC lore PRINCE STREET NEWS: Night of 1000 Stars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 A new cartoon by Karl Heitmueller, Jr. PRO2PRO: Talking Starman with James Robinson and Tony Harris . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 A lavishly illustrated conversation with the writer and artist of the ’90s hit comic BACK TALK: Reader Reactions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 BACK ISSUE™ issue 133, February 2022 (ISSN 1932-6904) is published monthly (except Jan., March, May, and Nov.) by TwoMorrows Publishing, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614, USA. Phone: (919) 449-0344. Periodicals postage pending at Raleigh, NC. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Back Issue, c/o TwoMorrows, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614. Michael Eury, Editor-in-Chief. John Morrow, Publisher. Editorial Office: BACK ISSUE, c/o Michael Eury, Editor-in-Chief, 112 Fairmount Way, New Bern, NC 28562. Email: euryman@gmail.com. Eight-issue subscriptions: $90 Economy US, $137 International, $39 Digital. Please send subscription orders and funds to TwoMorrows, NOT to the editorial office. Cover art by Tony Harris. Starman © DC Comics. Other characters © their respective companies. All Rights Reserved. All editorial matter © 2022 TwoMorrows and Michael Eury except Prince Street News, © Karl Heitmueller, Jr. Printed in China. FIRST PRINTING.

Starmen Issue • BACK ISSUE • 1

2013 Starman specialty illustration by Tony Harris. Courtesy of Heritage. TM & © DC Comics.

SPECIAL THANKS VERY SPECIAL Brian Augustyn THANKS Ed Catto Tony Harris Chris Claremont James Robinson Gerry Conway DC Comics Peter David Bill DeSimone Grand Comics Database Becky Harris Karl Heitmueller, Jr. Heritage Comics Auctions John Joshua Michael Wm. Kaluta Terry Kavanagh Paul Kupperberg James Heath Lantz Elaine Lee Luigi Novi Zack Smith Roger Stern Len Strazewski Bryan D. Stroud Roy Thomas Mikaal Tomas Toni Torres John Trumbull

I’M STARRO THE CONQUEROR! THIS ISSUE’S SUBJECTS AREN’T THE ONLY STARMEN IN COMICS. JOIN ME FOR THIS STAR-STUDDED, EYE-WITNESS ACCOUNT OF...

THE FIRST STARMAN, TED KNIGHT, PREMIERED IN 1941 IN ADVENTURE COMICS #61 AND COULD CONTROL GRAVITY WITH HIS COSMIC ROD. HE WAS A MEMBER OF THE JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA AND WAS VERY POPULAR AT CHRISTMAS PARTIES.

FIRST SEEN IN 1976’s 1st ISSUE SPECIAL #12, MIKAAL TOMAS WAS AN ALIEN WHO CAME TO EARTH AND TOOK THE STARMAN NAME. WE COVERED HIS STORY IN BACK ISSUE #115.

2 • BACK ISSUE • Starmen Issue

STAR BOY, THOM KALLOR OF XANTHU, FIRST APPEARED WITH THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES IN ADVENTURE COMICS #282 IN 1961. HE COULD CONTROL DENSITY AND WAS THE LEGIONNAIRE WHO KILLED! HE LATER GOT A COOL STARFIELD COSTUME AND JOURNEYED TO THE PAST -OUR PRESENT -- AND JOINED THE JSA.

HUMAN-CELESTIAL HYBRID STAR-LORD WAS FIRST SEEN IN 1976 IN MARVEL PREVIEW #4. ONCE HE HOOKED UP WITH THE GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY HE WENT FROM LITTLE-KNOWN SPACE-HERO TO HOUSEHOLD NAME. SEE BACK ISSUE #119 FOR HIS HISTORY.

PRINCE GAVYN OF THRONEWORLD WAS GRANTED COSMIC POWERS BY M’NTORR AND USED THEM TO FIGHT POLITICAL CORRUPTION AND SPACE MENACES AS STARMAN IN 19791980’s ADVENTURE COMICS #467-478. SEE BACK ISSUE #115 FOR HIS HISTORY.

CRYSTAR MAY HAVE LOOKED LIKE A TOY TIE-IN, BUT THIS SHORT-LIVED COMIC BOOK WAS A MARVEL COMICS CREATION THAT PREMIERED IN 1983. WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE CRYSTAR IN A FUTURE BACK ISSUE?

THIS IS THE STARMAN OF EARTH-JC (JOHN CARPENTER). I WONDER HOW MANY PEOPLE WENT TO THE 1984 STARMAN MOVIE EXPECTING TO SEE TED KNIGHT OR PRINCE GAVYN? (FANS WHO SAW THIS AS A DOUBLE FEATURE WITH THE KARATE KID WERE REALLY CONFUSED!)

WELL, I JUST HAD AN OLD PAL DROP BY AND WE’RE HAVING A BLAST RECONNECTING! THERE ARE MANY MORE STARMEN IN THE PAGES THAT FOLLOW. ENJOY!

Starmen Issue • BACK ISSUE • 3

ONE OF JACK KIRBY’S FINAL ORIGINAL CREATIONS, SILVER STAR -- PART OF A NEW WAVE OF EVOLUTION CALLED HOMO GENETICUS -- APPEARED IN A 1983 MINISERIES. SILVER STAR’S STORY WILL BE COVERED IN BACK ISSUE #135.

RetroFan:

Pop Culture You Grew Up With! If you love Pop Culture of the Sixties, Seventies, and Eighties, editor MICHAEL EURY’s latest magazine is just for you!

SUBSCRIBE! SIX ISSUES: 68 Economy US (with free digital editions) $ 91 Premium US $ 103 International • $29 Digital Only

RETROFAN #14

RETROFAN #15

RETROFAN #19

RETROFAN #20

RETROFAN #21

Interview with Bond Girl and Hammer Films actress CAROLINE MUNRO! Plus: WACKY PACKAGES, COURAGEOUS CAT AND MINUTE MOUSE, FILMATION’S GHOSTBUSTERS vs. the REAL GHOSTBUSTERS, Bandai’s rare PRO WRESTLER ERASERS, behind the scenes of Sixties movies, WATERGATE at Fifty, Go-Go Dancing, a visit to the Red Skelton Museum, and more fun, fab features!

MAD’s maddest artist, SERGIO ARAGONÉS, is profiled! Plus: TV’s Route 66 and an interview with star GEORGE MAHARIS, MOE HOWARD’s final years, catching up with singer B.J. THOMAS, LONE RANGER cartoons, G.I. JOE, and more fun, fab features! Featuring columns by ANDY MANGELS, WILL MURRAY, SCOTT SAAVEDRA, SCOTT SHAW, and MARK VOGER! Edited by MICHAEL EURY.

Meet JULIE NEWMAR, the purr-fect Catwoman! Plus: ASTRO BOY, TARZAN Saturday morning cartoons, the true history of PEBBLES CEREAL, TV’s THE UNTOUCHABLES and SEARCH, the MONKEEMOBILE, SOVIET EXPO ’77, and more fun, fab features! Featuring columns by ANDY MANGELS, WILL MURRAY, SCOTT SAAVEDRA, SCOTT SHAW, and MARK VOGER! Edited by MICHAEL EURY.

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RETROFAN #16

RETROFAN #17

RETROFAN #18

Holy backstage pass! See rare, behind-thescenes photos of many of your favorite Sixties TV shows! Plus: an unpublished interview with Green Hornet VAN WILLIAMS, Bigfoot on Saturday morning television, TV’s Zoorama and the San Diego Zoo, The Saint, the lean years of Star Trek fandom, the WrestleFest video game, TV tie-in toys no kid would want, and more fun, fab features!

Sixties teen idol RICKY NELSON remembered by his son MATTHEW NELSON, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., rural sitcom purge, EVEL KNIEVEL toys, the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers, Saturday morning’s Super 7, The Muppet Show, behind-the-scenes photos of Sixties movies, an interview with The Sound of Music’s heartthrob-turnedbad guy DANIEL “Rolf” TRUHITTE, and more fun, fab features!

An exclusive interview with Logan’s Run star MICHAEL YORK, plus Logan’s Run novelist WILLIAM F. NOLAN and vehicle customizer DEAN JEFFRIES. Plus: the Marvel Super Heroes cartoons of 1966, H. R. Pufnstuf, Leave It to Beaver’s SUE “Miss Landers” RANDALL, WOLFMAN JACK, drive-in theaters, My Weekly Reader, DAVID MANDEL’s super collection of comic book art, and more!

Dark Shadows’ Angelique, LARA PARKER, sinks her fangs into an exclusive interview. Plus: Rankin-Bass’ Mad Monster Party, Aurora Monster model kits, a chat with Aurora painter JAMES BAMA, George of the Jungle, The Haunting, Jawsmania, Drak Pack, TV dads’ jobs, and more fun, fab features! Featuring columns by FARINO, MANGELS, MURRAY, SAAVEDRA, SHAW, and MICHAEL EURY.

Our BARBARA EDEN interview will keep you forever dreaming of Jeannie! Plus: The Invaders, the BILLIE JEAN KING/BOBBY RIGGS tennis battle of the sexes, HANNABARBERA’s Saturday morning super-heroes of the Sixties, THE MONSTER TIMES fanzine, and more fun, fab features! Featuring ERNEST FARINO, ANDY MANGELS, WILL MURRAY, SCOTT SAAVEDRA, SCOTT SHAW!, and MICHAEL EURY.

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TwoMorrows. The Future of Pop History.

RETROFAN #10

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RETROFAN #13

NOW BI-MONTHLY! Celebrating fifty years of SHAFT, interviews with FAMILY AFFAIR’s KATHY GARVER and The Brady Bunch Variety Hour’s GERI “FAKE JAN” REISCHL, ED “BIG DADDY” ROTH, rare GODZILLA merchandise, Spaghetti Westerns, Saturday morning cartoon preview specials, fake presidential candidates, Spider-Man/The Spider parallels, Stuckey’s, and more fun, fab features!

HALLOWEEN ISSUE! Interviews with DARK SHADOWS’ DAVID SELBY, and the niece of movie Frankenstein GLENN STRANGE, JULIE ANN REAMS. Plus: KOLCHAK THE NIGHT STALKER, ROD SERLING retrospective, CASPER THE FRIENDLY GHOST, TV’s Adventures of Superman, Superman’s pal JIMMY OLSEN, QUISP and QUAKE cereals, the DRAK PAK AND THE MONSTER SQUAD, scratch model customs, and more!

CHRIS MANN goes behind the scenes of TV’s sexy sitcom THREE’S COMPANY— and NANCY MORGAN RITTER, first wife of JOHN RITTER, shares stories about the TV funnyman. Plus: RICK GOLDSCHMIDT’s making of RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER, RONNIE SCHELL interview, Sheena Queen of the TV Jungle, Dr. Seuss toys, Popeye cartoons, DOCTOR WHO’s 1960s U.S. invasion, and more!

Exclusive interviews with Lost in Space’s MARK GODDARD and MARTA KRISTEN, Dynomutt and Blue Falcon, Hogan’s Heroes’ BOB CRANE, a history of WhamO’s Frisbee, Twilight Zone and other TV sci-fi anthologies, Who Created Archie Andrews?, oddities from the San Diego Zoo, lava lamps, and more with FARINO, MANGELS, MURRAY, SAAVEDRA, SHAW, and MICHAEL EURY!

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by B r y a n

D. Stroud

Very much a product of the times, the Star-Spangled Kid, along with sidekick Stripesy, made his debut in Star Spangled Comics #1 (Oct. 1941). Just prior to the issue’s release, there was a three-page preview of the new feature in the pages of Action Comics #40 (Sept. 1941). The brainchild of writer (and Superman co-creator) Jerry Siegel with art by Hal Sherman, the Kid actually bore more of a resemblance to Bruce Wayne than Clark Kent. Sylvester Pemberton was a brilliant, wealthy, seemingly entitled young man in the lap of luxury who led a double life as the Star-Spangled Kid, fighting against fifth columnists and spies of the Third Reich with nothing more than his acrobatic and handto-hand combat abilities along with a souped-up car dubbed the Star Rocket Racer, driven by his family’s chauffeur and master mechanic, Pat Dugan, a.k.a. Stripesy. He even pulled a couple of tools from his belt in that first story. The obvious twist on the hero-andsidekick theme was that in this partnership, the youngster was the hero and the adult served as sidekick. The duo fought crime together in Star Spangled Comics up until issue #86 (Nov. 1948). They were also part of the roster of the Seven Soldiers of Victory, or “Law’s Legionnaires,” a super-team whose adventures began in Leading Comics #1 (Dec. 1941). Interestingly, the other members of the team including the Crimson Avenger, Green Arrow and Speedy, the Shining Knight, and the Vigilante, were, like the Kid and Stripesy, costumed crimefighters with no superpowers. That title ran until its Spring 1945 edition before giving way to funny-animal stories. [Editor’s note: A previously written Golden Age SSOV script was finally illustrated in the 1970s and was serialized in Adventure Comics. See BACK ISSUE #64 for the story.] As if they weren’t busy enough, the Star-Spangled Kid and Stripesy also appeared in World’s Finest Comics beginning in issue #6 (Summer 1942) through issue 18 (Summer 1945). Ultimately, the patriotic pair went into cold storage at the end of 1948.

BRONZE AGE REVIVAL

The Kid’s next appearance was again in the company of the Seven Soldiers of Victory when the team was revived for the annual Justice League of America crossover event beginning in issue #100 (Aug. 1972). The story’s writer, Len Wein, shared the genesis of the revival in an introduction titled “Too Much of a Good Thing?” in Crisis on Multiple Earths vol. 3 (2004). Newly assigned to write JLA, Len recalled len wein talking it over with editor Julius Schwartz: “Oh, and one more thing,” © DC Comics. Julie added, ‘Your first issue? It’s to be issue #100. It’s the first part of the tenth annual JLA/JSA crossover. You might want to think about doing some-

With Stripesy, the Man Wonder Star-Spangled Kid and Stripsey reversed the adult hero/kid sidekick dynamic. Back cover to Star Spangled Comics #1 (Oct. 1941). Art by Hal Sherman. TM & © DC Comics.

Starmen Issue • BACK ISSUE • 5

Coming Out and Coming Back (left) Hal Sherman’s cover to 1941’s Star Spangled Comics #1 introduced the Kid and Stripesy. (right) Nick Cardy’s cover to 1972’s Justice League of America #100 introduced them anew—alongside their Seven Soliders of Victory allies. TM & © DC Comics.

thing special.’ So, I thought. Dear God, did I think. A story big enough to celebrate this comics milestone needed to be something more. And that’s when I remembered the Seven Soldiers of Victory. I don’t recall at this late date exactly where I had first read about the Law’s Legionnaires, as the Seven Soldiers were sometimes called, though I imagine it was probably Roy Thomas’ seminal fanzine Alter Ego. I did remember that the Seven Soldiers had only appeared together twice, both times in the pages of DC’s now long-defunct Leading Comics. “There they were, a third super-team, already owned by DC, just waiting for someone to give them their due. I called Julie and pitched him the idea. ‘You do realize you’re crazy, don’t you?’ he asked. ‘That’s an awful lot of characters to cram into a two-part story.’ ‘Then why don’t we make it a three-parter?’ I suggested. Julie didn’t have to think about it long. ‘Sure, why don’t we?’ “So, there I was, now faced with having to come up with a story that incorporated the entire membership of the JLA, as many members as possible of the Justice Society (I omitted a few for simplicity’s sake), and all eight members of the Seven Soldiers (read the story; you’ll understand). I even included all the JLA’s auxiliary members, like Metamorpho, Zatanna, and my old pal, the Elongated Man. Every Justice Leaguer made an appearance, even if it was only a cameo. “33*HEROES*33 – The Greatest Gathering of SuperStars Ever Recorded! the cover of JLA #100 exclaimed proudly. Who was I to say otherwise? I must have been out of my mind.”

6 • BACK ISSUE • Starmen Issue

The appearance of the Star-Spangled Kid in the JLA tale wasn’t that auspicious, but did serve both to introduce readers to this new/old character after nearly a quarter-century absence and to explain that a battle between the Seven Soldiers of Victory and the Nebula-Man led to their being lost at various points in the mists of time. It wouldn’t be nearly as long until the readers saw the Star-Spangled Kid again.

SUPER SQUAD

The Kid fully bounded into the Bronze Age, appropriately enough, in the pages of the newly revived All-Star Comics #58 (Jan.–Feb. 1976), retaining the numbering sequence from the final issue in the Golden Age series. As can be seen on its cover, he’s wielding Starman’s cosmic rod. What gives? And what exactly is the cosmic rod? To answer the latter question, a short visit to Starman’s full reintroduction in the Silver Age is in order, contained in the pages of The Brave and the Bold #61 (Aug.–Sept. 1965), though it should be noted that he made his first Silver Age appearance in the annual JLA/JSA crossover in Justice League of America #29 and 30 in 1964. The B&B story contains a text feature by Julius Schwartz recapping Starman’s origin: “From his boyhood, Ted Knight had an absorbing interest in astronomy. Born to wealth, he was able to devote much time to his hobby, and eventually made a remarkable discovery. He found a way to utilize infra-rays from distant stars with his amazing gravity rod, which was first described as ‘an invention that overcomes the forces of gravity and launches bolts of energy” by radiating starlight.’”

Schwartz further explained how the gravity rod evolved into the cosmic rod: “During his years of retirement, Ted Knight continued to improve his gravity rod until he developed the highly superior cosmic rod, which draws its incredible power from the cosmic forces of the universe.” In fact, within this team-up tale with Black Canary, Starman presented her with a miniature version of the cosmic rod as a contingency weapon for battling the Mist, telling the Blonde Bombshell, “It draws its power from quasars, the greatest known source of energy in the universe!” At the story’s end, Black Canary returned the quasarpowered rod to Ted Knight. Returning to the Star-Spangled Kid: It seemed that Ted Knight was currently relegated to the sidelines with a broken leg and had decided that the cosmic rod shouldn’t sit idle with him, so he loaned it to the Star-Spangled Kid, who made good use of its powers to deal with the criminals of Earth-Two. While he seemed to be having the time of his life learning to use the powers (particularly flight) of the cosmic rod and mopping up criminals, it was soon established that the Star-Spangled Kid was very much a hero out of time. He briefly basked in his victory, but then realized that the only home he ever knew was over 20 years in the past. His former partner, Stripesy, had retired, leaving the Kid feeling very much alone, despite being taken in by the Justice Society of America and being part of a new sub-group dubbed the Super Squad, along with Robin and Power Girl. Writer and editor Gerry Conway had some specific ideas in reviving the Star-Spangled Kid, as he reveals to BACK ISSUE: “I wanted to bring back the AllStar book and the Justice Society, but I also wanted it to focus primarily on the younger members of the group, along with a handful of the older members in a guiding role. That was why I created Power Girl, as a strong, young female lead for the book. Robin, obviously… and the Star-Spangled Kid was the only original Earth-Two hero, as a member of the Seven Soldiers of Victory, who was a kid, literally. So, it was really kind of a no-brainer, even though I didn’t know that much about the character, but he was someone I could specify having as a new, young member of the All-Star [Super] Squad.” gerry conway As far as deciding to give Starman’s cosmic rod to the Kid, Gerry shares, “I don’t really recall my rationale, but it was probably along the lines of trying to give him a superpower that would connect with the power that Starman previously had to the Star-Spangled Kid. That would increase his viability as a superhero member of the group. It was probably just some random thought that I had. Roy Thomas, who had far more affection for the original JSA and original characters from the Golden Age than I did, really hated a lot of my choices. He was not happy that I just mixed and matched and picked things at random to accomplish my goals. It wasn’t a judicious, well-worked-out rationale. It was more, ‘This is how I Cosmic (Rod) Boy want to end up, how do I get there?’” (top) The Kid wields Starman’s cosmic rod on the Mike Grell-drawn Were there any plans to feature the original Starman in All-Star Comics? “I wasn’t planning on bringing Starcover of All-Star Comics #58 (Jan.–Feb. 1976), introducing the man back,” Conway says, “because I did a 1st Issue Special with an entirely new Starman. I created a different Super Squad and rebooting the JSA’s series. (bottom) A closeup of character and tied him to the Earth-One universe, and the young hero and his hand-me-down weapon, from issue #63. it had nothing to do with the original Justice Society Starman. It wasn’t part of my plan to do anything with TM & © DC Comics. Starmen Issue • BACK ISSUE • 7

Trapped in a World He Never Made Original art to story page 5 of All-Star Comics #58, showing the Kid lamenting his time displacement. Story by Gerry Conway, art by Ric Estrada and Wally Wood. Courtesy of Heritage (www.ha.com). TM & © DC Comics.

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that character, especially since I’d given the cosmic rod to the Star-Spangled Kid. Without that, what is Starman?” Conway made a conscious effort to bring depth to the Kid by having him deal with his feelings of being out of place, in a different time. “I wanted to bring the kind of Marvel sensibility of characterization to DC at that time. That was my first run at DC after working at Marvel. So, my charter from Carmine [Infantino, DC’s publisher] was to bring what I’d learned from Marvel to DC. Both technically, in terms of how we would tell stories, and thematically, the kind of stories and the kind of characters that we would develop. So, that definitely was part of it, to give him a little more depth. As a character, he wasn’t that developed even in that JLA/JSA crossover, and certainly going back to the original material, there was really nothing. He was more interesting because of Stripesy than anything else, this little kid with the big guy.” While the Star-Spangled Kid was only in Gerry Conway’s hands for a short time, Conway felt that he’d begun to set a good foundation. “I think I set it on the track I wanted it to go on. A lot of the things I wanted to do on All-Star Comics with regard to team dynamics I ended up being able to do in Justice League when I came back to DC and was writing that book. So, I wasn’t frustrated. I wish the book had been more successful in the long run, but I guess there was kind of an inherent conflict between the nostalgia readers who wanted more focus on the Justice Society elements and the potential new readers who were more interested in the younger characters like Power Girl and the Star-Spangled Kid and Robin. That conflict never got completely resolved and the book didn’t quite work for either audience to the degree that it could have. People like Roy hated it because it flouted a lot of JSA traditions, and younger readers didn’t really relate to it because it embraced some JSA traditions.” With All-Star Comics #63 (Nov.–Dec. 1976), Joe Orlando stepped into the editor’s slot and Paul Levitz joined him as both assistant editor and as the writer. With the next issue, the Star-Spangled Kid had taken the cosmic-rod technology a step further, developing it into the cosmic converter belt. Since the great Wally Wood was doing both penciling and inking at this point in the series, it was perhaps inevitable that the belt bore a striking resemblance to the Thunder Belt worn by his character Dynamo from the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents series. Additionally, we learned that the Kid’s new converter belt was actually more powerful than the cosmic rod. Despite these advances in the Kid’s abilities, there was more trouble ahead. In issue #71 (Mar.–Apr. 1978), it was discovered that a new foe was actually Arthur Pemberton and that he was planning to take over the Pemberton fortune that the Star-Spangled Kid, a.k.a. Sylvester Pemberton, in reality Arthur’s uncle, had left behind when he disappeared all those years ago. This development led the Kid to announce at the tale’s end that he was leaving the Justice Society “…for a while. There’s a whole life that I abandoned—and I know now that I have to go back and try and put it together again.” This would mark the Star-Spangled Kid’s final bow in All-Star Comics, and the series itself would come to an end just two issues later.

Going to Waist (top) The JSA admires Star-Spangled Kid’s belt, which replaced his cosmic rod, on the splash to All-Star Comics #64. (bottom) Artist Wallace Wood’s Dynamo, from Tower Comics’ T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents a decade earlier, sported a similar waist-piece. (inset) All-Star Comics #71 cover. TM & © DC Comics.

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Rescued from the Files! An unpublished 1940s Seven Soldiers of Victory script by Joe Samachson was dusted off in the Bronze Age and assigned to several artists. It was serialized as backups in Adventure Comics #438 (Mar.– Apr. 1975)–443 (Jan.–Feb. 1976). Here, courtesy of Heritage, is the final installment’s title page in original art form, this chapter penciled by Dick Dillin and inked by Tex Blaisdell. TM & © DC Comics.

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SKY’S THE LIMIT!

The concept of a Squad of All-Stars would not so easily fade away, and just a few short years later, DC rolled out All-Star Squadron #1 (Sept. 1981). One of the most notable things to happen in this series was the introduction of Infinity, Inc. in issue #25 (Sept. 1983). This new group of youthful heroes would be spun off into their own self-titled series beginning with Infinity, Inc. #1 (Mar. 1984) shortly after their petition to join the Justice Society of America had been rejected. [Editor’s note: See BACK ISSUE #106 for a “Pro2Pro” interview between All-Star Squadron creators Roy Thomas, Jerry Ordway, and Arvell Jones; and BI #126 for a history of Infinity, Inc.] Issue #2 of Infinity, Inc. (May 1984) was particularly significant in that the Star-Spangled Kid—spelled without the hyphen as “Star Spangled Kid” in All-Star Squadron and Infinity, Inc.—again quit the Justice Society of America in order to form the new group, this time Infinity, Inc. Their headquarters was located in Los Angeles, and the members even received a salary! This was all to be bankrolled by the Kid, who, by issue #3 was going by the less cumbersome “Star.” Infinity, Inc. was edited and scripted by Roy Thomas, abetted by his wife Dann Thomas, who also plotted and scripted. “As I’ve said various times, Infinity, Inc. just grew out of a discussion Dann and I had on Liberty Island one day,” Thomas says. “It was only stuck first in an issue of [All-Star] Squadron because [DC Comics Presents editor] Julie Schwartz had no immediate room for it in [the Superman team-up title] DC Presents, which is what DC originally wanted.” With regard to the decision to make the Star-Spangled Kid the leader, Roy relates, roy thomas “Well, he looked young… was a JSAer… had money to keep © Luigi Novi / Wikimedia Commons. them employed.” The notion to change the name to Star was also a move to help shed the “kid” image: “How could these guys decades younger than he was call him ‘Kid’?” Things rolled forward on a relatively even keel for the new team, but another major shift was about to occur in Sylvester Pemberton’s life when he ditched the old costume and persona for good. In Infinity, Inc. #31 (Oct. 1986), he revealed himself as Skyman. There were still stars on the new uniform of the good old red, white, and blue, but he was no longer concealed beneath a cowl and once again improved upon the cosmic converter belt to where it had been integrated into the new suit. The moniker of Skyman may have been partially due to the fact that he was now limited to using the cosmic powers strictly for flight, as the other range of options had proven to be taxing to his heart. As he tried out the new uniform, he monologued a bit about his name change: “Heck, I’ve even considered re-christening myself Starman in his honor—but I just couldn’t. I’m not him. I’m me.” “I just got tired of writing a character called the StarSpangled Kid,” Roy Thomas explains of this monumental change in the character. “And I figured that, if I was the Star-Spangled Kid, I’d get tired of having that name! I originally thought briefly of calling him ‘Star-Spangled Knight’ to keep the same initials, or even ‘Starry Knight,’ which was a partly SSK-type character I’d made up as a youngster myself. But ‘Starry Knight’ sounded too much like a stripper. [laughter] So I swiped the name ‘Skyman’ from the old comics.”(Roy is referring to the Golden Age character originally appearing his own series from Columbia Comics Corporation in the 1940s.) By Infinity, Inc. #42 (Sept. 1987), Skyman had added antigravity capabilities to the cosmic belt, but in essence was

Cancelled Cover (top) From the Heritage archives, a rejected cover by Todd McFarlane and Tony DeZuniga, featuring the Star-Spangled Kid and Jonni Thunder, intended for Infinity, Inc. #24 (Mar. 1986). (bottom) The published cover, by Denys Cowan and Dick Giordano. TM & © DC Comics.

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The Sky’s the Limit (left) The Kid’s flying high, as Skyman! Splash to Infinity, Inc. #31 (Oct. 1986) by Roy and Dann Thomas, Todd McFarlane, and Tony DeZuniga. (inset) Roy, a Golden Age fan, borrowed the hero’s new name from this Ogden Whitney hero of yesteryear. (right) Sylvester dies at the hand of Mister Bones, wielded by the hands of Solomon Grundy, manipulated by the command of Jade, actually the Harlequin (whew!), in Infinity, Inc. #51 (June 1988). By Thomas, Mike Bair, and Bob Downs. TM & © DC Comics.

serving in the capacity of minding the store and dispatching members of Infinity, Inc. wherever they needed to go, seeing little action himself. This administrative role was deliberate, according to Roy, who said that he never intended for him to be a full-fledged active member of the Infinity team. The following year, in the pages of issue #51 (June 1988), came a shocking turn of events, when one of the oldest foes of the Justice Society of America, Solomon Grundy, was goaded into killing Skyman by the Harlequin, masquerading as Infinity member Jade. Roy Thomas came to regret this decision: “[It was] just a way to write him out of the series, because I felt it no longer needed him. But then, since the series was clearly ending, it was a bit gratuitous, and I’d just as soon I hadn’t done it. When I think of the anger I’ve felt at writers who kill off creations/ co-creations of mine, like some of DC’s travesty ‘big series,’ I wouldn’t be surprised if the ghost of my old friend Jerry Siegel would come down to haunt me.” Roy further mused that perhaps the StarSpangled Kid/Skyman wasn’t fully realized under his watch: “I’ll admit that I was never terribly interested in SSK as a character. He was just a device, really. I think SSK and Stripesy were a good series idea back in the day, but I was never wild about him as a JSAer. Nice costume, though. I think a lot more could have been done with him… but in

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Gerry’s All-Star Comics and in Infinity, Inc. he wasn’t even one of the ‘main characters,’ by my way of thinking. He deserved a writer who concentrated on him, or on him and Stripesy.” The Star-Spangled Kid may be no more, but his legacy was picked up later in an unlikely place. Courtney Elizabeth Whitmore, the stepdaughter of Pat Dugan, a.k.a. Stripesy, would discover the old cosmic converter belt among Dugan’s personal items and use it to become the new Star-Spangled Kid, eventually inheriting the cosmic rod, modernized into a cosmic staff, and ultimately changing her name to Stargirl. Pat Dugan even developed a suit of battle armor and dubbed himself S.T.R.I.P.E. in order to assist and help to protect his stepdaughter in her new role. Thus, the twin legacies of the Star-Spangled Kid and Starman live on in this new hero, whose abilities have earned her a place in the Justice Society of America and the Justice League of America—as well as a live-action television series on the CW network. Stargirl will doubtless continue to carry on the legacies in noble fashion. BRYAN STROUD is a longtime fan of DC Comics, particularly the Silver and Bronze Ages.

Like its cinematic counterpart, the X-Men universe in Marvel Comics is full of stars. Some them even travel the cosmos. This is especially true of a group of space travelers created by Dave Cockrum called the Starjammers. As part of our salute to starmen, BACK ISSUE will take a look at this ragtag group of space buccaneers. Don’t let Ch’Od eat the pages before you read this.

THE STARJAMMING BEGINS

James Heath

Legendary artist Dave Cockrum had pretty much made a name for himself in the early to mid-1970s with DC’s Legion of the Super-Heroes and helping Len Wein relaunch the X-Men in Giant-Size X-Men #1. When Chris Claremont became writer on the Uncanny X-Men regular series, Cockrum stayed with Marvel’s merry mutants until issue #107 (Oct. 1977). That issue was Lantz the full-fledged debut of a Cockrum creation that would become a beloved part of the X-Men Universe. He and Claremont took Cyclops and the gang “Where No X-Man Has Gone Before” when they met the Starjammers, who had made a brief cameo at the end of Uncanny X-Men #104. The Starjammers almost never came to be. Cockrum had wanted them to have their own series with a tryout in either Marvel Premiere or Marvel Spotlight. When those anthologies were unavailable, Cockrum showed Claremont his concepts and drawings. Claremont then asked for the Starjammers to appear in X-Men. Claremont even mentioned a Marvel Premiere story for the Starjammers in his interview with Margaret O’Connell in The Comics Journal #50. Yet, that Starjammers adventure never went beyond the proposal stages. Various sources including the aforementioned TCJ interview with Chris Claremont have stated that Claremont himself, knowing X-Men #107 was Cockrum’s last issue, had been unsuccessful in convincing him to not to put the Starjammers in that issue. This was because Claremont had felt Cockrum’s team of intergalactic rebels was a wonderful concept that he shouldn’t have just given away. However, Cockrum was impatient to see the Starjammers come to life on the comics pages. Cockrum did later hold over a creation from his return to X-Men for his creator-owned Futurians graphic novel. The character of Silkie was originally intended to debut in Uncanny X-Men #150. Yet, Marvel didn’t make a deal to the artist’s satisfaction. Uncanny X-Men #107’s “Where No X-Man Has Gone Before,” a title dave cockrum that is an homage to Star Trek, is part © Eliot R. Brown. of “The Phoenix Saga.” We see the X-Men go beyond Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters, Salem Center, and New York in that comic. The band of mutants are transported into the Shi’Ar Empire in search of Erik the Red, who abducted Lilandra Neramani. Lilandra opposes

We Be Jammin’ X-Men #107 (Oct. 1977), the Starjammers’ first appearance. Cover by Dave Cockrum. TM & © Marvel.

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Big Daddy (top) Front and back of a 1992 Starjammers trading card. Art by Jim Lee. (bottom) A Corsair illo by Cockrum, circa 1990s. Courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com). Corsair © Marvel.

her power-mad brother, Shi’Ar Emperor D’Ken. Erik the Red wants to sacrifice her to the Soul Drinker. The Starjammers, led by Corsair, come to the X-Men’s aid when they are outnumbered. Thus begins the introduction of a group of allies who would become an important part of X-Men lore. It should noted that while Dave Cockrum created the Starjammers, Chris Claremont’s work on them is heavily influenced by his love of science fiction. The title of X-Men #107’s story isn’t the only tribute to the genre. Corsair often mentions the works of Asimov, Burroughs, and Heinlein when he discusses his boyhood dreams of voyaging to other worlds. He named the Starjammers’ robot/A.I. “Waldo” after the Robert A. Heinlein story of the same name. The Starjammers themselves are a band of rebel freebooters like those battling Darth Vader in Star Wars, and the interactions and banter between Ch’Od and Raza Longknife could be considered akin to those of Spock and Bones in Star Trek. Claremont and Margaret O’Connell discussed his love of science fiction and its influence on his writing in the interview published in The Comics Journal. The same could be said of Dave Cockrum’s art, for one just needs to look at the pages of Uncanny X-Men #107 and other issues by Claremont and Cockrum featuring the Starjammers to see how space adventures in all types of media had a hand in bringing fans to the Moon, the stars, and to infinity and beyond.

STARS OF THE JAM

The Starjammers’ formation is perhaps best chronicled in a backup story “Starjammers Aloft” by Chris Claremont and John Bolton. That tale is featured in Classic X-Men #15 (Nov. 1987), which also reprints Uncanny X-Men #108 with four extra pages drawn by Chuck Patton. After his wife’s’ death, Christopher Summers is a broken man in the Shi’Ar Empire mines. He defends the white-furred felinoid female, named Hepzibah by Mephitisoid, from being beaten. The amphibious Saurid Ch’Od and the cybernetic Raza Longknife, in their search for Hepzibah, fear he’ll alert the guards of their presence. They debate whether or not to kill Christopher. His next action convinces them to let him live. Yet, Ch’Od also sees remnants of the man Christopher Summers once was lurking within the human’s psyche. He helps Ch’Od and Raza free Hepzibah. She forms a blood-bond with Christopher that grows into a romance. Summers joins their rebellion against Emperor D’Ken, using the moniker that was his flight call sign, Corsair, and thus, the Starjammers, named for the sentient starship they had stolen, were born along with their rebellion against the tyranny of Emperor D’Ken and those that followed him when necessary. The Starjammers, like many groups in the X-Men and Marvel Universes, have a rich roster. Perhaps the best character to begin our look at these intergalactic freebooters is their captain, Corsair. Corsair is actually Christopher 14 • BACK ISSUE • Starmen Issue

Summers, father of Cyclops, Havok, and Vulcan and grandfather of the time-traveling Cable. For those BACK ISSUE readers who may not have read or don’t recall Cable’s history chronicled in issue #102, Cyclops and Cable both may have abandonment issues with their fathers. This is because Christopher and his pregnant wife, Katherine Anne Summers, were forced to place a parachute on their young sons Scott and Alex to save them when the family’s airplane was attacked by an alien vessel. Christopher and Katherine were abducted, forcing Scott and Alex to live in separate foster homes. Storm and Jean Grey learn that Corsair is Cyclops’ father when “The Phoenix Saga” heats up in Uncanny X-Men #108. Yet Scott and Alex don’t discover the truth until issues #154 (Feb. 1982) and 158, respectively. Their mother died at the hands of the evil Shi’Ar Emperor D’Ken when Christopher tried to save her. The unborn Gabriel was placed in an incubation accelerator. He’d later appear in post-Bronze Age X-titles with the mystery of the third Summers brother going on throughout the mid to late 1990s. Looking at Christopher Summers with the Starjammers, it’s easy to see how Scott, Alex, Gabriel, and even grandson Nathan take after the former United States Air Force Major. Cyclops heads the X-Men much like Corsair leads the Starjammers. Havok would eventually take over the Starjammers in 2006’s “The Rise and Fall of the Shi’Ar Empire,” in which he fights his brother Vulcan, who ends up becoming the Shi’Ar Emperor.

Corsair’s grandson Cable would eventually be in charge of the New Mutants, who later became X-Force, proving that the Summers family comes from a long line of leaders. More could be said about Corsair and his relationship with his sons and their families. Perhaps a fatherthemed BACK ISSUE with a more detailed look at Corsair will be published in the future, if you ask nicely, BI fans. Corsair is not the only Starjammer with family issues. Raza Longknife had his share of them even before the team of space buccaneers get together. He and the other Starjammers must fight Shi’Ar Empress Deathbird’s Imperial Guardsmen, including Raza’s brother Zenith, in X-Men Spotlight on… Starjammers (May and June 1990). Avengers #350–351 reveal that Raza Longknife had a wife whose name presently hasn’t been revealed and a son called Rion. Raza’s mate died, but Rion became a slave. Raza and Hepzibah secretly agree to kill the Black Knight for the Kree in exchange for information on Rion’s whereabouts. Raza deeply regrets his actions that nearly lead to the Black Knight’s death, but a dark, greedy side of Hepzibah is also revealed to the readers and Raza, giving the cyborg a reason to feel shame in his family. That is basically what the Starjammers are, a family. There may be no genetic relationship between them, but they are brothers-and-sisters-in-arms during all their space-faring adventures. While they don’t leave the ship as often as their comrades, Waldo and Sikorsky are as much a part of the family of otherworldly buccaneers called the

Papa Was a Rolling Stone (left) In “Reunion” in Uncanny X-Men #154 (Feb. 1982), Claremont and Cockrum reveal the family story of Corsair, Cyclops, and Havok. (right) X-Men Spotlight on… Starjammers #1 (May 1990). Both covers by Cockrum. TM & © Marvel.

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Starjammers Face Front! Really, if you’re not blown away by this astounding Cockrum/Bob Wiacek original cover art for X-Men #156 (Apr. 1982), you need your eyes checked. Courtesy of Heritage. TM & © Marvel.

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Flying High

Starjammers as Corsair and the others. Waldo is the Keeyah joins the Starjammers some time after that resident artificial intelligence that pilots their spacecraft story and before volume one of Starjammers (Oct. and helps with its functions and programming, among 1995–Jan. 1996). He helps the team transport Kree other things. Sikorsky, an insectoid Chr’yllite who resem- refugees in the first issue of the latter. He eventually bles a helicopter, was named after aviation pioneer Igor leaves the group and is believed dead until the recent Sikorsky. He is the Starjammers’ team medic. While Waldo “King in Black” event. Other characters such as Korvus Rook’shir become didn’t debut until Uncanny X-Men #108 (Dec. 1977) and Sikorsky isn’t first seen until #156 (Apr. 1982), both Starjammers in post-Bronze Age X-tales like “The Rise appear in Classic X-Men #14’s (Oct. 1987) extended version and Fall of the Shi’Ar Empire.” Their time in the cosmos of X-Men #107. They discuss if they should go with their is history for another time, BACK ISSUE readers. comrades to help the X-Men or remain on their ship. Sikorsky’s healing skills aren’t limited to the EXPANDED STARJAMS Starjammers and X-Men. He aids the Inhuman Galen As the 1990s came upon Marvel and X-Men readers, in performing surgery on the Black Knight in Avengers the Starjammers sought otherworldly adventure #351 (late Aug. 1992). Sikorsky even helps the Hulk in their own comic books. X-Men Spotlight on… when the Silver Surfer brings him aboard the Starjammers #1 and 2 by Terry Kavanagh and Starjammer in The Incredible Hulk #415’s Dave Cockrum has them on “The Phalkon (Mar. 1994) “The Troyjan War, Part Three” Quest,” where the Starjammers must (right). The entire group of space find elements of a map to a power buccaneers helps the Hulk return to the source called the Phalkon before Pantheon in the next issue. Shi’Ar Empress Deathbird can get While more than two and half her hands on it. decades have passed since “The It may surprise some of our readers Troyjan War,” Hulk writer Peter David that X-Men Spotlight on… Starjammers tells BACK ISSUE of the Starjammers’ was not originally intended for its involvement in the story: “I’m aspublished prestige format. Writer Terry suming that it was my idea because I Kavanagh tells BACK ISSUE that editor always liked the characters, and Hulk Michael Higgins was preparing to editor Bobbie Chase rarely offered launch the biweekly anthology peter david suggestions as to guest-stars.” Marvel Comics Presents, which Androids, robots, and A.I. are not put out serialized tales of Marvel © Luigi Novi / Wikimedia Commons. new in fiction. From Isaac Asimov to characters. “The format for MCP Blade Runner, they’ve been a staple of every media. really lent itself to chapters that spotlighted individual Waldo continues the long line of such beings in the pages team members, so it allowed us to dive deeper of comic books. One of the highlights of Waldo’s time into the backgrounds and depths of the characters,” with the Starjammers occurs in X-Men Spotlight on… Kavanagh explains. “Michael Higgins wanted a multiStarjammers when his mind merges with Charles Xavier part Starjammers story for Dave Cockrum to draw. He during an experiment gone wrong. Xavier joins the accepted my proposal, and we began working on the star-hopping freebooters in Uncanny X-Men #200 to be story. By the time the first issue of MCP was going to print, with his love Lilandra, who had been a Starjammer before Michael had left staff, and I was the new editor of the taking her brother’s place as ruler of the Shi’Ar Empire. title. Since editors at Marvel at the time were not allowed In the aftermath of the Avengers crossover to write for the titles they edited, Mark Gruenwald “Operation: Galactic Storm,” Kree navigator suggested that he [Gruenwald] take over as editor and

(left) Unpublished original art for Sikorsky and Waldo by Dave Cockrum and Joe Rubinstein, produced for, but not appearing in, 1983’s Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe #10. Courtesy of Heritage. (above) Russian aviation pioneer Igor Sikorsky, inspiration for the Starjammers’ character’s name. Courtesy of RussiaBeyond.com. Starjammers TM & © Marvel.

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From Inner Space to Outer Space Just for fun: (right) Dave Cockrum’s iconic cover for Marvel’s The Micronauts #1 was (left) reimagined as a fantasy cover for a Starjammers comic by artist Ian Richardson. From the collection of John Joshua. Micronauts © Takara LTD/A.G.E., Inc. Starjammers © Marvel.

publish the story in a two-issue prestige format as befitted Dave Cockrum’s work. “I would have liked to have worked much more closely with Dave—as I was a huge fan of his work—but most of our communication was through Michael,” Kavanagh continues. “The storyline was mostly developed by Michael and me, but Dave always added his own unique elements. They always added to the fun of the story. I have loved the characters since their introduction. I mean, who doesn’t like space pirates?! It was an honor to contribute to their mythos. Michael requested a fun space opera with emphasis on fun. I did my best to give him what he wanted. I was a fledgling writer at the time, but Michael and Dave were consummate professionals who helped navigate me to the final story that they wanted.” Warren Ellis and Carlos Pacheco took Corsair and his crew through the cosmos in Starjammers (Oct. 1995– Jan. 1996) around the time “The Age of Apocalypse” and “Onslaught” dominated the main X-books. Upheaval in the Shi’Ar Empire leads the Starjammers to battle a being known as the Uncreated, with the future of the entire universe hanging in the balance. Corsair and his

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crew continued their cosmos buccaneering in a second Starjammers miniseries in 2004–2005 by Star Wars and Dune novelist Kevin J. Anderson and art by Alè Garza. Cadet Tolo Hawk must decide who the real enemy is when he takes on the Starjammers. This book was just one of many of the ragtag group of pirates’ appearances in post-Bronze Age Marvel books. The Starjammers and their galaxy-spanning exploits have become the stuff of legend for X-Men and science-fiction fans alike. Their comic-book sagas from the Bronze Age to the present will delight you, dear reader, whether you peruse your local comic shop’s back-issue bins or purchase digital copies of new Marvel tomes for your electronic devices. Don’t forget to thank Waldo for this recommendation. Dedicated to my beautiful and incredible wife Laura, empress of my heart; Jadis, Pupino, Odino, and our four-legged feline and canine Shi’Ar Imperial Guards who can take on all the X-Men; my nephew Kento, who has unleashed the power of the M’Kraan crystal; the late Dave Cockrum; and Chris Claremont, Terry Kavanagh, Peter David, and all the creators past, present, and future that allow Corsair and his fellow space rebels to continue their voyages. May the Phoenix Force always protect you. JAMES HEATH LANTZ is a freelance writer whose stories, essays, and reviews can be found online and in print at Sequart.org, Superman Homepage, his blog, and such publications as his self-published Trilogy of Tales and PS Artbooks’ Roy Thomas Presents Sheena Volume Three. James currently lives in Italy with his wife Laura and their family of cats, dogs, and humans from Italy, Japan, and the United States.

elaine lee WomeninComics.Wiki.

Starwomen They’re Still Starstruck Elaine Lee and Michael Wm. Kaluta

michael wm. kaluta

interview by

Zack Smith

Kyle Cassidy.

It was only a chance encounter at a restaurant in Manhattan, but it led to a galactic adventure that’s spanned the stage, audio, a half-dozen publishers, and more than 40 years of friendship and collaboration. Starstruck is one of those comics that’s almost impossible to describe. It’s profane, whimsical, intricate, cartoony, innocent, sexy, and most of all, completely itself. It’s Star Wars by way of Kurt Vonnegut and Robert Altman, exploring and subverting genres through unreliable narrators, decade-spanning storylines, and many, many puns. It’s been revised, reformatted, reissued, and revived multiple times, sometimes with new material added that gives new context to the old material. It’s never been promoted or hailed as much as such works from the same era as Watchmen and The Dark Knight Returns, but for some fans and creators, it’s considered almost as influential.

And it continues to return and evolve, in comics, as audio adventures, and perhaps even more in the future. To get a sense of the history of Starstruck, on behalf of BACK ISSUE I spoke with its original co-creators, Elaine Lee (Vamps) and Michael Wm. Kaluta (The Shadow) about its origins as an Off-Broadway play, its journey to (and from) Marvel’s Epic imprint, and how the work has evolved over time. Most importantly, we talked about their friendship—one that, like their work, is still going strong all these years later. The following has been edited and condensed from several very chaotic Zoom calls. We would like to thank Kaluta for installing Zoom and figuring out how to use it and getting a new microphone to participate in this article. That’s a professional right there. – Zack Smith

Meet Galatia-9 and Brucilla, on the original Michael Wm. Kaluta cover art for the 1984 Starstruck graphic novel, published as Marvel Graphic Novel #13. Courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com). Starstruck TM & © Elaine Lee and Michael Wm. Kaluta.

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Starstruck– The Stage Play Courtesy of Elaine Lee, photos from the first and second New York City productions of Starstruck, a stage play by Elaine Lee, Norfleet Lee, and Dale Place. Photos by Sean Smith. Starstruck–The Play © Elaine Lee, Norfleet Lee, and Dale Place.

ZACK SMITH: Elaine, good to have you here. What have you been up to lately? ELAINE LEE: Oh, God, what have I been doing? Actually, for the past several years I’ve been the marketing director for an arts organization and kind of getting out of debt and making money. [laughs] And I’m hoping before too long I’ll not have to work at this job anymore and can write again. But until then, with Starstruck, people keep finding it! There are certain characters that you know because you’re hearing them in your head. You know how they’re phrasing things, their vocal patterns, the rhythm of their speech and all of that. Brucilla was one, because she speaks in alliteration, like she’ll have a line that has all words that start with “B,” or some other letter. Sometimes that can take me a little bit to get into the swing of, but once you’re into the swing of it, then you can do it easily. [Michael Kaluta joins us] SMITH: So, let’s go back to the beginning. When did when you first conceive that universe? Did you start building it before the play started? MICHAEL Wm. KALUTA: I remember you and Susan [Norfleet Lee], sitting there at the table in the restaurant [The Library, a bar/café in Manhattan], writing s*** down. 20 • BACK ISSUE • Starmen Issue

LEE: Well, we were talking about props and things like that, then. With the play, a lot of it was written, or at least it was plotted out on those index cards, I remember that. KALUTA: I was extremely impressed because it was science fiction, but it wasn’t MAD magazine-science fiction. You know, it wasn’t pandering. LEE: My feeling is if you’re doing something like humorous science fiction, or if you’re doing humor, it’s better that you don’t want to do like Spaceballs. I mean, I love Mel Brooks for what he is, but I’m not interested in that wacky kind of thing. I feel like what makes it humorous is the fact that the characters take it so seriously. The events are crazy, but for the characters, it has to be real. And certainly, for the actors that played the characters in the play, it had to be real to them. There had to be real life-and-death stakes. And it could be an amorphous blob of a ship made out of the living flesh of Galactic Girl Guides, but it had to be real to the people that were in the ship, and the people that were interacting with the ship. So, I think that was part of it, but the play came out of a confluence of things that just came together. My husband at the time, Dale Place, brought an issue of Heavy Metal home, and I fell in love with the European comics. I was into Moebius and the rest. And, my sister

and I took a writing class that was a really bad writing class, but the first thing they asked us to do was a fight between two people over an object. And so, influenced by this sort of Heavy Metal thing, I had these two women fighting over a box that maybe held a crystal or something. And later I was making a Christmas ornament with stars on it, and I started thinking about that scene and thinking, “Oh, I should do something that’s like Heavy Metal.” I wasn’t trying to be European, though, because I’m American and I have that American sensibility. We were already doing plays; my sister and I had our theater company. I thought our next play should be science fiction, and it should have this crazy tone. So, I had that much and then I met Michael, because my sister and I were talking about how we might stage it in the restaurant, and Michael came up and said, “Oh, hi, are you girls science-fiction fans?” because we had all these Starlogs and different books and magazines like that on the table. And we started talking to him. He gave us his address, and then I was in West Side Comics, like, shortly after that, and I— KALUTA: That was near where we met. LEE: Yeah, and I saw a poster for The Studio book. And one of the pictures on the poster of the art from inside the book was this painting called “The Fate of Dollies Lost in Dreams,” and I had seen that on the back cover of Heavy Metal, and I loved it. I looked at the name on it and it said “Michael Kaluta,” and I’m like, “Oh, that’s that guy we met in the restaurant! “So,” my sister said, “probably a cab driver that draws in his spare time.” So, my sister is funny, not accurate though in that. [laughs] Yeah, so, I called Michael and I’m offering complimentary tickets to the play we were doing at the time, “The Contamination of the Kokomo Lounge,” which had a tiny bit of science-fiction element to it. KALUTA: It was like a good SF short story. LEE: It was set in a little bar in Freeport, Texas, that I was in one time, called the Kokomo Lounge, that had a Fireball machine [a type of pinball machine] in it, which

figures in the story. But he came to the play—he didn’t come the first night, and— KALUTA: I almost made it, but I was way too late. I was on my way, I was all dressed up, I smelled good, everything… but I had to cancel. LEE: I called him the next day and said, “This is the last night of the run, so you’ve got to come tonight.” And he came to it, after, we started talking, I went over to his apartment, I saw his work and Charles Vess lived with them at the time, I saw his work as well. I gradually got Michael to say… well, pretty quickly got him to say he’d do the poster for our play, and then the set, and then the costumes. Well, the costumes first, I guess, because we had to know how the people were going to look in the play. KALUTA: I decided since the play had no hero, it was an ensemble, everyone was a hero. Everyone felt they were a hero and had projected that. So, I thought, “I can’t do a monster. I couldn’t do just a big old monster with a spaceship or something.” But I felt, “If I have all of them in a big circle around a spaceship, maybe that’ll help.” And they agreed, and then I had to figure out, had to find out what these characters actually looked like. I knew the faces of the actors, but, you know, they were going to be interested in science-fiction costumes. And it took a while, but it happened. What impressed me about myself is suddenly there was a poster with 12 characters, all looking like the actors with the big “STARSTRUCK” logo. SMITH: Had you worked in costume design or stage work before? KALUTA: Not so much. I looked forward to doing it because it was new. I had to keep remembering that I whenever I did a comic-book story, I didn’t have to deal with all the stuff that I had to for this play, because there weren’t real people in it. LEE: Yeah, that was the tricky thing for Michael, that the actors don’t have perfect bodies like somebody you might draw in a comic book when you can make them look however you want. One of the things,

Look out, he’s got a glue gun! The comics’ creative team on stage (or backstage)! (left) Lee as Galatia. (right) Kaluta, with a glue gun, behind the scenes. Photos by Sean Smith. Courtesy of Elaine Lee. Starstruck–The Play © Elaine Lee, Norfleet Lee, and Dale Place.

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because I played Galatia 9, one of the things I thought would be fun, would be to have one breast. I was really skinny and flat-chested when I was a girl. And so, I was just going to build a fake breast into one side of the costume. But Michael had made it so revealing that there was no way to put a fake breast in it! So, we put a sleeve on that side of the costume to help contain the fake breast. KALUTA: She came over to my house and helped walk me through her process, especially for the Galatia 9 costume. It’s a bunch of different pieces of clothing— stretchy pants, black sweatpants, and leotard tops. She just cut things into different pieces, then stuck them together with hot glue. There was this whole… like a like a wet suit for the character— LEE: [laughs] I had taken costuming in college. KALUTA: She designed a number of the costumes, proof of designs. LEE: Yeah, they were much more simple than what Michael would do with the idea. I did have the idea that Galatia 9’s costume would be one-sided because it’s got one breast, and part of that because I was going to play it. Back when I was acting, I liked to play my faults in a character. So, I have scars on my back, and I thought, “‘I’ll put one on my face.” I have a limp from spinal surgery, so I had a greater one as the character—I put extra weight in my boot. I liked that, the one-sidedness of the character. KALUTA: The Lon Chaney, Sr. approach! LEE: Or method acting. But Michael’s design was very much more complex than the simple kind of thing that I did. KALUTA: Of course, anyone who watched the play, even the proto one, was impressed because it was inventive and surprising, and had a beginning, a middle, and end and all the other kind of stuff that you’re supposed to have in the story. A lot of memories from people who saw this first production was that they didn’t know what they were looking at, but they certainly did applaud!

Three Times, the Ladies This amazing cast illo by Kaluta deserves to be shared whenever possible. Among its uses: (top) the 1980 Starstruck Portfolio from S. Q. Productions (signed and numbered portfolio cover courtesy of Heritage); (bottom left) an order form for a book containing the script and other information about Starstruck–The Play; and (bottom right) an early page in the Starstruck graphic novel, a.k.a. Marvel Graphic Novel #13. Starstruck TM & © Elaine Lee and Michael Wm. Kaluta.

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LEE: With the Starstruck play, we were thinking more Barbarella than Star Wars, because the sets were made from junk and Christmas lights and refrigerator doors and Hot Wheels tracks and all kinds of crazy stuff we found in dumpsters, and the costumes were made from pieces of old Halloween costumes and just whatever we had. KALUTA: But what they all had in common was the play. It didn’t call attention to itself like, “I’ll go over to the Hot Wheels track and get in touch with the Galactic Overlord,” it wasn’t that sort of thing. It was all there if you looked at it, but it wasn’t there presenting itself as those pieces of equipment. LEE: My favorite were these big levers Brucilla would pull when she was driving the ship, and they were just card table legs with something Michael stuck on the ends of them! But they still went back and forth.

So, we started out that way. I think there probably wouldn’t have been a comic book if we hadn’t worked together on the play first, for a lot of reasons. One is because one of the first things Michael told me was, “I’m sick of comics. I never want to do them anymore.” SMITH: Why were you sick of them? KALUTA: Because every script that came up was, quote, “ripped from the headlines” by the writers, whether they were told to do it or not. I dealt with that in the Frankenstein backup feature [“Spawn of Frankenstein” in The Phantom Stranger] and a few other things. They were all pulling their information from what was happening in the day, so invariably there was a real bad guy that followed a woman and was about to do horrible things to her, and then Frankenstein’s monster came in and killed him. That kind of stuff. I was like, “I want to be a comic-book artist, and then here’s what you have to do, you have to keep regurgitating these stories where

Here’s Bru for You Oh, wow! Kaluta’s delicate linework in this 1980 Brucilla plate from the aforementioned Starstruck Portfolio is extraordinary. Starstruck TM & © Elaine Lee and Michael Wm. Kaluta.

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Pull Up a Stool Bru and Galatia bond, and we say hi to Harry in the Starstruck graphic novel. Story by Lee, art and colors by Kaluta, letters by Todd Klein. Starstruck TM & © Elaine Lee and Michael Wm. Kaluta.

the writer can’t really figure out why there is any action except there’s a girl in trouble, then have the guy come in and rescue her.” So, I had backed away. Understand, I wasn’t doing superheroes, no character that was known, so there was no real form to follow— LEE: There was The Shadow! KALUTA: There was! I lost my place there, sorry. LEE: But, yeah, so we did the play, and we actually sold the option to somebody. We could choose between these two producers that wanted to do the play, and we chose the wrong one, and it became evident nothing was going to happen with it. So, Michael and I decided to work on a graphic novel. We didn’t tell anyone… KALUTA: We were reviewing the contract we had with the producer, and Elaine was going, “There’s nothing in here about comics!” I didn’t actually feel the walls closing in, but it was true, and I went, “I could do that!” SMITH: But it’s funny, because nowadays, there’s a lot of very encompassing contracts that include the rights to all those forms of media… not to mention way too many comics done as “proof of concept” to pre-sell a movie or TV show. LEE: Oh, yeah. No, definitely not. We’re not a proof of concept. We’re not going, “Okay, what would the movie be? Some little tiny slice of this thing…” KALUTA: The Ninja Turtles fellows [Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird; see BACK ISSUE #22—ed.] were here one

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of those years right during that time. They’d gone to the—I guess the ABA here in New York City, trying to sell their comic book because Marvel wasn’t interested; they turned them down three times. All they wanted to do was draw comics—they didn’t realize that they had made up something that would put them into a completely different tax bracket. SMITH: [Superman creators] Siegel and Shuster didn’t realize that either. It’s astonishing what just keeping a bit of ownership in something can result in for you. LEE: It’s true. It’s not like we’ve ever made big, big bucks on Starstruck, but it does pop up once in a while with people wanting to do something with it again. Right now, we’re kind of waiting to hear about a project that might happen, but I can’t talk about it. We’ve optioned this thing about seven times. It’s never been made into anything, but you know, you get little bits of money. So, there’s always that. KALUTA: But it’s sometimes Starstruck filtered by people who think they know what they’re doing, and just grabbed Starstruck as a thing and give it somebody who’s had their own idea in their minds already, and just kind of shoehorn our characters into it. I remember being very, very angry and Elaine telling me, “Calm down, they’re giving us money!” LEE: My feeling about that has changed now that I’m older, because when you’re young you think, “Oh, I’m going to hold on to this and it’s going to be my ticket” or whatever. You don’t think that when you’re our age. You just go, “It’d be nice if somebody gave me some money.” The only thing I care about is that if we wanted to do more comic books, we could do just what we wanted to, and there would be one version of it that’s what we want it to be. I don’t care about the rest of it so much. It’s in the past. The reason we made a bad mistake about who we optioned the play to was that the guy I went with promised that he would keep the cast we had in place, and I wanted all those actors to do the play. It’s the kind of thing you do when you’re younger. But, you know, when you get older you need things like health insurance. [laughs] SMITH: What was it like converting the play into a comic? It’s a very different format… LEE: If you’re talking about plays that aren’t musicals, there are just so many more words in a play than in a movie. A movie is a visual thing, much more so than a play. And it’s the same with comics. For me, it was hard to whittle down the amount of dialogue for me. I had to learn. And we still have quite a bit of dialogue in Starstruck, but then there are some jokes about it where word balloons push characters out of the panel, but it is still not as many words as you’d have in a play. I had to learn that when you’re writing a play you think about maybe three people and this small space around them. And I wasn’t used to thinking in long shots and extreme closeups; I thought about standing there talking to two other people, or whatever. So, you have to sort of learn how to think that way. KALUTA: It was wonderful watching Elaine take something she might have been against at first—because I came in—and would go, “No, he can’t do that three times, he has to do blah blah blah.” But then, just like everything, she’d take what I said and analyze it. She ironed it onto the inside of her brain and started doing stuff like you’re supposed to do, a very quick learner. And not that I had the answers, but I pointed the way—“No, no,

Archie’s Pals and Gals Editor Archie Goodwin’s Marvel imprint, Epic Comics, provided Starstruck a home for a six-issue run beginning in 1985. (above and below) Kaluta-drawn covers to the first two issues. Starstruck TM & © Elaine Lee and Michael Wm. Kaluta.

try that.” And then she said, “Well, I could try that,” and I had a great time drawing hundreds of pages of comics. LEE: At the beginning there were things I didn’t understand, like how much longer it took to draw something than it took to write it. And there was one, it was a panel or a sequence of panels that Michael did, and he drew it so that he switched my dialogue around in my little text boxes, and I went, “It doesn’t work that way! You have to erase that panel!” And he did erase it! That’s—very quickly I got to know that that was not a good thing to ask artists. SMITH: But I think that’s a very interesting thing that you got into there, because you have someone who is based in that kind of visual storytelling, and someone who’s versed in the stage, which is much more dialogue and character, and you were able to find that kind of synthesis. KALUTA: Like, I love rereading it. That’s the one thing I’m very, very happy to overlook. It’s a big thing that I’m very happy with Starstruck, that I get embarrassed at no point. I might get embarrassed by the way I drew a hand or something, but as far as the concept and the presentation and the people that are in it, it’s all real to me every time I come to it. I don’t know how it happened, except that I was working with genius. [Elaine scoffs] Well, I was! Come on! LEE: The only things I’m embarrassed about if I look back at my work are the few things that I did purely for money, because it never worked out well. Michael accuses me of only wanting to work when I’m not being paid—“You never work harder than when you’re not being paid!” KALUTA: Your eyes will light up. SMITH: How did you wind up taking the book to Epic? LEE: It was actually printed and it was serialized in Spain first. It was actually colored in Spain. SMITH: Okay, so how did you wind up in Spain? LEE: We had a publisher before Marvel, and that did not work out… how much can I say about this, Michael? KALUTA: Briefly… we did a lot of art, a lot of writing. And the big announcement was all, “Spain’s going to do it!” and blah blah blah, and we had coloring thing going, and we were growing very excited… but we did need money. Not a whole lot, but some, and it was promised. And we found out that we were third, fourth, fifth on the payment run, even when the money that came in; and the only one that was coming in was money from Starstruck and the Spanish. LEE: We were not paid, and when it came in, that should have gone to us. Our lawyer said, “You should take it to Marvel.” We did take it to Marvel. KALUTA: And luckily, we had colored pages to show them. LEE: Now, we published in Heavy Metal before Marvel and after Spain. It was in Heavy Metal that some of the first stories were published. That was in ’81—no, ’82—and it ran through the time we were doing the play for the second time, in the spring of ’83. And meanwhile, that money was coming in from Spain and Heavy Metal, but we weren’t seeing any of it. So, we took it to Marvel, and then our lawyer said, “Oh, by the way you’ll have to sue your former publisher because he’s going to sue you, certainly,” and we went, “Well, you didn’t mention that when you told us to take it to Marvel!” [laughs] So, we got in a lawsuit. And that went for a little bit. They were suing us for a million dollars, and we were suing them for a million dollars, and if you hung all of us up by our feet and beat us with a stick, you’d get pocket change. You know, nobody had a million dollars. It was all so stupid. So, Michael, you called…? KALUTA: I thought that those people kept putting off the meeting where everyone gets in the room with the lawyers to talk it out before we actually take it to the next step. And I called the publisher up, because we’re friends, and I said, “Why did you cancel the meeting?” And he said, “I didn’t cancel it, your guys Starmen Issue • BACK ISSUE • 25

The Rage in Marvel Age The Epic Starstruck run was promoted in Marvel’s monthly promo comic, Marvel Age #26 (May 1985), featuring a (right) spiffy Kaluta cover. Starstruck TM & © Elaine Lee and Michael Wm. Kaluta. Marvel Age and Forbush-Man TM & © Marvel.

cancelled it!” So, the part I remember of the conversation, I said, “Are you gonna pay us a million dollars?” “No.” “And you know we’re not gonna pay you anything of what you’ve asked.” “Right, yeah.” “So, let’s just drop this. What do you think?” But then we just went, “Okay.” And it kind of went away. SMITH: What was it like dealing with Epic for the graphic novel? At that point, the book was pretty much done, but were there any tweaks or conflicts? LEE: We were at Marvel, and we met with [then-Marvel editor-in-chief] Jim Shooter. And he said, “You know, I could mess with this and tell you what to do to make it more like a Marvel comic, but I’d probably just ruin it. So, one thing that I’d like you to do—we try not to have senseless violence, and these Omegazons are killing these guys called the Dromo Wrestlers on this planet, and we need to have a reason why they’re doing it.” So, I had them do a little song that went, “The Dromes are bad, the Dromes are bad, the Dromes are bad, the Dromes are bad, the Dromes are bad, the Dromes are bad, and so we had to kill them.” That was my reason, and he let that stand!

26 • BACK ISSUE • Starmen Issue

And then, Archie [Goodwin, Epic editor] didn’t ask us to change anything… KALUTA: He said pretty much the same thing—“If I messed with this at all, it wouldn’t be what you meant. So, I’m going to do hands-off.” They came up with this Marvel Graphic Novel number… I think it was #13— LEE: I’ve got it right here… it is #13! Good memory! SMITH: So, trying to keep everything straight—the Epic issues came after the graphic novel… LEE: As a graphic novel, it was successful, it sold enough that they wanted to let us do the series… KALUTA: But it was implied we’d be doing 12 issues, not six. LEE: And it was cancelled, so we kind of had to crunch enough story into it that it didn’t seem like there was no ending. We weren’t satisfied with how those six issues—ultimately, the last couple of them, there was a lot squished into those. KALUTA: One of the subeditors said, “Well, it wasn’t very good.” I said, “It was terrific! It just didn’t make enough money.” “Oh, yeah, that’s what I meant, it’s great.” [laughs] LEE: That was right at that time that the most successful books were selling many hundreds of thousands of copies. KALUTA: If we had Starstruck numbers now that we had back then, there’d be no talk of cancelling it. They’d be talking spinoffs! At that time when we found out that we only had six issues when we’d planned 12, some unnamed professionals told us, “Well, just stop at your fifth issue and f*** them.” And I know I said, speaking for both of us, “No no no no, this isn’t for a company. This is for our fans, and we don’t dare leave the fans wondering what would happen next.” So, we… well, Elaine—

LEE: Oh, God, I feel like I’m taking the blame for it now. KALUTA: —decided to fill that last issue so that if there never was another one, there’d be a sense of enough completeness that we wouldn’t have fans wandering around with a lantern looking for us to lynch us. LEE: But man, oh man, that last book was just chock full of exposition. Not what I would have wanted to end on. KALUTA: Exactly. LEE: On the other hand, I don’t think the blackand-white series we did for Dark Horse was as successful as the color version. KALUTA: We didn’t have any of the good rendering. LEE: Not only that, but we’re asking a lot from people because it was a nonlinear story with a huge cast and the art has all this detail, and the color, when you have someone like Lee Moyer doing it, tells people what to look at and what’s important. You need the color—the color really helps with the storytelling. I think a lot of times with the Dark Horse version, you go, “What am I supposed to be looking at?” because our story was so… some of the story’s in the words, some of it was in the art. What helped [with Moyer’s coloring of the later stories] was that Lee was also a big fan of it. He knew what was important in the story and what he should be drawing people toward. Just giving some love to our color artist there. SMITH: When you were able to come back to the series with Lee Moyer, were you able to spread it out a bit more, feel a little happier with it? LEE: We started doing that with the Dark Horse issues, and then we took the ones of those that were completed, and those went into the IDW book… let me see… also, the Galactic Girl Guides spinoffs that we had started doing for Dave Stevens’ Rocketeer Adventure Magazine. Those went into that book, and some other little features. A guy that we didn’t know at the time [Tym Stevens] had written a history of Starstruck. He was just a fan of it, and I met him online because he said something nice, and I introduced myself, and we started talking. So, we took the thing that he wrote on his blog and put it in the book, and Mike Carey and his wife Linda were kind enough to write the introduction for the IDW book. KALUTA: Mike had used the Galactic Girl Guides in his Felix Castor series. He’d referenced it there. It was very flattering. LEE: That was very nice because we had seen in an interview that Mike had told the interviewer Starstruck was his favorite comic of all time. So, we became friends. He wrote an introduction for us. I liked that collection. Lee did a great job. He also did a lot of design work on the books, as well as doing the color. KALUTA: Is there life after Starstruck? And it turns out that it was never gone. It’s been down for the count, but has always kept coming up, bigger and better. SMITH: And then you did the most recent graphic novel. LEE: There’s a master plan to that, and the plan was that when nobody was doing comic books with women, we did that, so as to confuse people and screw our sales. And when everybody was doing comics with women, we decided to do one with

the macho guy lead to confuse everybody again and screw our sales. KALUTA: She said, “I’m tired of writing women!” LEE: “I’m done.” When the book came out, it seemed like a short run, but there was all the lead-up to doing the play—I’ve done the play twice, and rewrites on top of that. And then we had done the Epic graphic novel and the Epic books. So, when we were doing the run-up to the Epic books, I went, “You know, I think I’d like to write a male character.” And we had this bartender that Michael had drawn for the bar scene. So, we made him into a character for his own story. Harry, originally, was sort of weaving through the girls’ story. But we decided at some point that maybe we would just take all this stuff and put it in a book, give him his own thing.

Stuck on You From the Heritage archives, original art by Michael Wm. Kaluta of Harry Palmer and Erotica Ann created in 1990, during Starstruck’s Dark Horse Comics publication, as the design for a T-shirt produced by Graphitti Designs. Starstruck TM & © Elaine Lee and Michael Wm. Kaluta.

Starmen Issue • BACK ISSUE • 27

They Really Are Still Starstruck! From a 1990 Dark Horse run to revivals at IDW to an Artist’s Edition showcasing Kaluta’s illustrations, Elaine and Michael continue to periodically reunite to continue their Starstruck saga. Starstruck TM & © Elaine Lee and Michael Wm. Kaluta.

KALUTA: And it wound up becoming one of the spines of the story from way back. LEE: The only love story in Starstruck is a guy’s story. So that’s kind of interesting, I think. SMITH: Circling back to the beginning—how would you say your collaborative process has evolved since you first started doing the play, and the graphic novel…? LEE: Well, we started out working in the same room. KALUTA: When we’re into the next iteration or phase or whatever you call it, that’s something that was missing. Because I can hear Elaine in my head, but it’s much better to have her right there because I never really knew what she was gonna say. I always was surprised. She always kicks me further. LEE: Well, I had a child, and I eventually moved out of the city because it’s hard to raise a child in the city if you’re not wealthy. And Michael said, “I can’t believe you’re moving out of the city. In six months you’ll only be able to talk about wells and sump pumps.” That turned out to be only partially true. KALUTA: I only said that to be funny. LEE: You said it to be mean because you were mad at me! So, yeah, at a certain time, it became more that I

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wrote a script and sent it, but we never stopped the back and forth. We always talked things through. You know, sometimes I would say something like, “This is how I’m seeing it, but if you can do the same thing and make it better for you or easier for you in a different way, then I’m okay with that.” SMITH: But suffice it to say, you’re still working together, you’re obviously still friends, and you’ve got some plans for Starstruck in the future. LEE: We have some plans. There’s something going on that might take us into another medium that would be a lot of fun. But we’re just to the point where we’ve gotten sort of a deal memo. We’re in negotiation about it, so I can’t talk about that. Occasionally, Michael goes, “We really do need to finish what we weren’t able to finish before.” It’s kind of gotten to the point where—we can’t do Kickstarter, that was a nightmare and we’re not ever doing that again. But I’ve given Michael some pages for the first part of the next series, which should come out as six comics… if we get it done. I’ve sort of been, “Okay, when you can get these drawn, I’ll send you some more pages.” When we came into Epic, there was just a big creatorowned boom at the time and everybody was going, “Create your own books now!” My son [Brennan Lee Mulligan] and his artist [Molly Ostertag], they did the Strong Female Protagonist webcomic, and put out two graphic novels, but they did webcomics first, which they put out for free. Most of the comic-book companies that do creator-owned stuff, they want you to come with a completed project. They don’t want to pay you for it ahead of time, if you’re gonna own it. They want the rights to it if they’re paying for it. We’ve kept our rights all this time and we’ve been working together since 1980. So, we don’t see that happening. If another book happens it’ll be because we find time to finish it while doing other things. KALUTA: Or if I find a new psychopharmacologist! LEE: Adderall, baby! Pump it into your veins! KALUTA: Luckily for me, Elaine is the spine. Several spines, in fact. But if I get a little crazed and don’t know what to draw, it’s already laid out for me because Elaine’s there to point the way. And all I gotta do is fill in the other stuff. So, at this point, I want to go there. LEE: Right before COVID happened, I went down to visit Michael for a few days. And it was really nice because I was writing, and sometimes in my own house my life gets in the way. You know, people keep wanting me to do things. But I was down there, and Michael was drawing, and I was sitting in the other room writing, we were doing two completely different projects, but I thought, “Oh, this is great, Michael! I’m going to come down here once a month and we’re going to do this because it keeps us on the track!” SMITH: …and then COVID happened. LEE: And then COVID happened, and I haven’t seen Michael in over a year now. He has been worse about getting his vaccination appointment than I have— in another week and a half, I am good to go. But I need to come see you! KALUTA: We will. We’ll catch up. You’ll see. ZACK SMITH is an Eisner-winning comics journalist as part of Newsarama.com, where he’s written since 2006. He holds Master’s degrees in English and Journalism and wrote the acclaimed one-shot The Stars Below, available on Comixology.

Bright star, would I were stedfast as thou art. – John Keats

by E d

Catto

Imagine creating a comic hero with a proud historical name, the everyman quality of Marvel Comics, and a unique fresh setting. It seems like a foolproof recipe for success. Instead, like a competent athlete overshadowed by a younger brother’s extraordinary success, the 1988 Starman’s fame was eclipsed. He would be relegated to the bargain boxes at the local comic shop and occasional guest appearances. But there was something wonderful and bright and optimistic about this 1988 Starman series. Like a glance up into a sky full of stars on a summer night, this comic was full of hope, wonder, and potential.

ANOTHER STAR IS BORN

Lucky Star Meet Will Payton, DC’s latest Starman! Detail from the cover of Starman #1 (Oct. 1988). Art by Tom Lyle. TM & © DC Comics.

While the name Starman has a long history, this incarnation of Starman was meant to be something new and different. In the first issue (Oct. 1988), editor Bob Greenberger provided two text pieces. “Star Light, Star Bright, Fourth Star I See Tonight” explained the history of the various Starmen that preceded this character. The second text piece, “The Rebirth of Starman,” ran on the inside back cover (!) and detailed how DC group editor Mike Gold was challenged at a managers’ retreat to create a hero from an existing name. “The retailers didn’t want to bet on the same thing,” Gold recalls to BACK ISSUE. “They wanted to give something new a try.” As Greenberger recounted, creating a new Hourman was of interest, but that name was already in use in Infinity, Inc. And so they moved on to Starman. The company-wide Invasion crossover series was also being planned, and there were natural synergies that could be leveraged with Starman. Greenberger also detailed how he recruited writer Roger Stern and artist Tom Lyle. The first issue got things rolling along quickly. Readers are introduced to a hiker who is found in the wilderness. It’s all very mysterious and creepy. Soon, the hiker, Will Payton, is on the run from the authorities, discovers his powers, and tries to sort it all out. His saving grace, in his evolution to becoming a superhero, is his sister Jayne. She’s what we would today call a fangirl. Jayne has a deep knowledge of how superheroes operate and has the skills to design his costume. Ed Konecny of Comics, Etc. has fond memories of Starman. “Unlike most characters at the time, there was no direct lineage to the last generation of hero,” Konecny tells BACK ISSUE. “Ted Knight [the original Starman] had long since been obscured by the Crisis [on Infinite Earths] events. Golden Age characters had lost their appeal, and on the rise were characters of ‘true grit.’ Amongst the strangeness of the late ’80s, a story about a lone hiker being found within a circle charred into the ground, and without a mark on him, smacked of aliens, and the title ‘Starman’ was still fresh from Jeff Bridges’ attempt to bring a character of the same name.” Starmen Issue • BACK ISSUE • 29

THE ‘STAR’ MAN’S SECRET ORIGIN OF STARMAN

Getting Star-ted Peeking into Starman #1: (top) Meet the Payton family! (middle) Will grabs his new super-threads. (bottom) Tom Lyle’s early costume designs, from the letters page. TM & © DC Comics.

brian augustyn Gage Skidmore.

Roger Stern’s involvement was fitting. Not only was he a top-notch writer, but the German word “stern” means “star.” So, in essence, he was a star man creating and writing Starman. “Roger Stern is absolutely brilliant,” recalls Mike Gold. “When people talk about his work—particularly about his Marvel stuff—everybody remembers it so fondly, and some of the stories were so critical to the continuity and were so well done and so well received.” “Here’s the Secret Origin of Starman: It all began in late September of 1987,” explains Roger Stern. “I had just finished plotting a Superman Annual and my first two Power of the Atom stories when I got a call from Mike Gold—then an editor at DC—who was wondering if I might be interested in writing a new series for him. Now, I’d known Gold since back in the day, when he was connected with the Chicago Comicon, and I thought that it would be fun to work with him, so I said, ‘Sure, what do you have in mind?’ He said that DC wanted to launch a new Starman comic, and that I would have carte blanche to create a wholly new superhero. Mike told me to start with the name and go from there. The only other direction I was given was to make him different from DC’s previous Starmen. “The name ‘Starman’ suggested a whole set of possibilities as to his powers. I decided that this Starman would be an ordinary man who suddenly has strange new powers and abilities thrust upon him. Through a sort of cosmic accident, he becomes a walking fusion reactor. He’s superstrong, but not infinitely so. He can fly at supersonic speeds. He can radiate blinding light and blistering heat.” Stern may have also been very much in the Superman mindset when he created Starman. “And, lifting a long-forgotten power from the Golden Age Superman, I gave him the ability to change his facial appearance,” reveals Stern. “In that way, Starman could have a different face from that of his civilian identity, so he wouldn’t need a mask.” Stern did have a challenge during the new hero’s development. “Okay, the powers are the easy part,” he says. “The more important thing is who Starman is, and what are the depths of his character. As I recall, I came up with the name Will Payton through the old tried and true method of flipping through a telephone directory and sticking my finger down on a page at random. That’s how I found the ‘Payton’ surname. The ‘William’ came from one of those ‘Name Your Baby’ books. And I decided to make him a young guy in his mid-20s, a creative type who avoids the nine-to-five rat race, to give him enough freedom of movement to lead a double life.

STARMAN AS EVERYMAN

Brian Augustyn, the series’ second editor, says, “One of the things I really enjoyed [about Starman] was the Silver Age vibe. It was not quite as intentional as Spider-Man. Marv [Wolfman] and Len [Wein] had done a similar job with [Marvel’s] Nova. I got that vibe. The heroics on top of the personal life.” Stern reveals that that was indeed the plan. “Anyway, the underlying idea of the series was to follow Will though his suddenly more complicated life, as he learns what it means to be a superhero,” Starman’s writer notes. “You know, the age-old question, ‘What can one man do?’ Well, Will Payton quickly learns that for him the answer is: ‘You can do plenty!’” “Starman had a nice throwback quality”’ adds Augustyn. “Without being anything but modern. Not drippily nostalgic, but it had the right vibe.” 30 • BACK ISSUE • Starmen Issue

“Immediately you could tell Will Payton was meant to be an every-person character,” recalls Ed Konecny. “He messed up, but was developing a good sense of his powers. He learned about his ability to mimic appearances and voices, fly, project energy, and create unfocused explosions. Will Payton also possessed a certain degree of invulnerability, a mistake that played up the science of the comic as a villain attempted to cut him using a knife made for fission, whereas Will’s powers were fusion-based.” That Marvel theme was a key part of the series. Stern contemplates if writing Starman was different from working on Marvel comics. “Not much, as far as I was concerned,” says Roger. “Tom [Lyle, Starman artist] and I were working ‘Marvel style.’ Tom would pencil the story from my plot, and I would then script it from his pencils. The major difference story-wise was that Starman lived in the DC Universe, and that reality was still finding its footing after the Crisis of Infinite Earths series.” The early stories focused on Will Payton grappling with his newfound powers, struggling to find a groove for his rudderless professional life, and interacting with family and friends. “At the time, Roger and Tom were powerhouses, and they were both doing a fabulous job,” says Augustyn.

THE SUPPORTING CAST

Stern may have borrowed the unofficial Marvel template to develop the supporting cast. He remembers: “Well, I wanted to have Starman associate with different people than Will Payton did. The only exception was Will’s sister Jayne, who was the nerdy superhero fan. She was, after all, the one who gave him his first costume. And I did my best to give them a warm brother/sister relationship, despite their differences. They were only two years apart in age, but Will was the artistic, creative type, who had worked with rock bands, whereas Jayne was the science whiz who wound up teaching mathematics to kids in junior high. Their mother, Marie, was a hard-working single mom who wanted the best for her kids. And while she was proud of them both, she kept after them to wise up and find better-paying work.” Beyond the Payton clan, “Will had a handful of friends like his musician buddy, Phil Easton, and Carol Simon, his old co-worker—and possible romantic interest—from their ad agency days,” Stern relates. “There were many more stories that could have been told about those two, but we never got the chance.” Starman also featured an outer circle of supporting players, like Arizona Highway Patrolman Glenn Wharton and his wife, Silvia. “I introduced the Whartons into the series because a straight-shooter like Starman needed a contact in law enforcement,” Stern explains. “Starman also needed someone with the scientific credentials to help him understand his powers, so I imported Dr. Kitty Faulkner from the Superman titles. Kitty provided Starman with both a contact at S.T.A.R. Labs, and a superpowered ally through her other identity as Rampage.”

GO WEST, YOUNG MAN

Originally, DC heroes lived in fictionalized versions of big cities (Metropolis, Gotham City, etc.). Soon, other cities were featured in the superhero mythologies. For example, Hawkman’s Midway City evoked Chicago (even though they started out by fighting an alien monster at New Jersey’s Lincoln Tunnel). Starman’s geographical setting was unique. “As I recall, Mike Gold suggested that the series be set in a real locale, rather than one of DC’s fictional cities,” says Stern. “Since I had relatives living in Arizona, I knew a few things about the area. Plus, have you ever seen the Arizona state flag? It has a big

honkin’ star in the middle of it. It just seemed right that Starman would hang out there. “And since we’re talking about Arizona, I should mention an odd little error connected with Starman,” continues Stern. “Will Payton and his family lived in a suburb of Phoenix, of course. But in DC’s Who’s Who, he’s listed as living in Tucson, which is totally wrong. I’m sure that Tucson is a perfectly nice city, but Will didn’t live there. We never even mentioned Tucson in any of the stories I wrote. And it’s a mistake that keeps getting repeated, whenever there’s a new edition of Who’s Who!” Editor Brian Augustyn admired the realism and research that Tom Lyle put into his artwork, even though one time it had unintended consequences. When one of Roger Stern’s scripts specified a parking lot of a local convenience store, “Tom went out of his way to get references,” recalls Augustyn. “Tom had drawn this convenience store from reference and included the logo. It was spot-on. And that sparked a call from the legal department. “We didn’t get into a huge amount of trouble…”

The Stars Behind Starman Writer Roger Stern and artist Tom Lyle, as introduced on the text page of Starman #2. TM & © DC Comics.

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TM & © DC Comics.

GUEST-STARS Much like the Silver Age Amazing Spider-Man series it evokes, Starman had many superhero guest-stars drop in. “One of my major themes in Starman was that Will Payton was new to this game,” says Roger Stern. “His sister Jayne actually knew more about superheroes than he did. So I was always trying to find ways for Starman to encounter other super-folk and to—slowly, but surely—get involved in the greater superhero community.” “It was hard to get Batman as a gueststar,” explains editor Brian Augustyn. “At the time, Denny [O’Neil, Batman group editor] didn’t lend out Batman much.” But Stern had “great relationships” with DC’s editors, and Batman ended up guest-starring in Starman, first with a two-parter in Starman #9–10 (Apr.–May 1989). “Having Batman guest-star was definitely my idea,” said Stern. “And I know that Tom enjoyed getting the opportunity to draw Batman for the first time. Since we were introducing a new Blockbuster, and he was related to the previous Batman villain of that name, it just made sense that Batman would get involved in our story.” Batman would once again make a trek out west to help Will in Starman #34 (May 1991). This time the team-up adventure was written by Len Strazeweski and illustrated by Dave Hoover and Scott Hanna. “We also worked in guest-appearances by Superman, the Atom, Green Lantern, the Blue Beetle, and Adam Strange,” Stern says. “The first two were easy ones, as I was writing their books at the time. And I used that Invasion! series as an excuse to work in the others.” Superman was a guest-star in a unique fashion. Starman joined the Man of Steel in the “Krisis of the Krimson Kryptonite” multi-issue storyline in the Superman titles, of which Starman #28 was officially included as Part Two/A. Earlier, Superman had gueststarred in Starman #14 (Sept. 1989). Writer Len Strazewski admits he would have eventually liked to have seen more interaction between the Justice Society and Starman. “As a JSA fan, I never got that far. When we started the Justice Society of America [limited series], it was meant to be a permanent series. But it was gone in the blink of an eye. The rumor was, ther e was a battle between editors, and certain editors didn’t want senior citizens as heroes. It never had a real chance.” Other guest-stars during Starman’s run include Firestorm, Firehawk, Lady Quark, Power Girl, Starman (David Knight), Valor (formerly Mon-El), Phantom Lady, and Lobo. 32 • BACK ISSUE • Starmen Issue

WHERE THE ACTION IS!

During the time Starman was being published, Action Comics was undergoing a makeover as well. For 43 glorious issues, the long-running series morphed into Action Comics Weekly, a double-sized weekly comic with several short stories in each issue. [Editor’s note: See BACK ISSUE #98 for a history of Action Comics Weekly, which ran from issue #601 (May 24, 1988) through 642 (Mar. 15, 1989).] Starman writer Roger Stern was also writing a weekly Superman serial (with gorgeous Curt Swan and Murphy Anderson art) in this comic. Action Comics Weekly #622 (Oct. 18, 1988) served up a unique treat for Starman fans—a seven-page adventure of the character by the regular creators. The setting for this adventure starts in a quintessential ’80s mall, where fans can see logos of CVS and Walden Books in the background. Will Payton, looking stylish in his white sportscoat, is shopping with his sister Jayne. She gets distracted by the talk show being broadcast on the TVs for sale in a store window. (This was before there would be widescreen TVs everywhere.) On that talk show, a local author is promoting his idea that superheroes are bad for society. The author even equates the Justice Society to Hitler. The Payton siblings take umbrage. Viewing this sequence from the lens of today, it seems eerily prescient in an age when we’re all concerned about fake news and rewriting history. When the broadcast is interrupted by a live alert that an armored “supervillain” is on the rampage, Will Payton flies into action as Starman. Providing a very human touch to the transformation, Jayne is left with the thankless duty of gathering up Will’s civilian clothes. “Ah, yes, this was when Action was a weekly comic book,” says Stern. “Some other Action Weekly feature was running late, and Tom and I were asked to whip up a short seven-page Starman story to fill its space.” The whole episode ended with an optimistic plug, urging readers to read the ongoing series after having sampled this short adventure. The ad copy proclaims: “He’s the brightest star in the new DC Universe! Starman on sale every month!” “My hope was that this might gain Starman a little extra exposure that would lure new readers to his book,” Stern reveals. “I don’t know if that worked or not. I do know that it put Tom and me a week behind on our regular deadlines.”

25 ISSUES STRAIGHT, NO FILL-INS

In comics, it’s often rare, but commendable when one creative team sticks with a series for a length of time. Writer Roger Stern and artist Tom Lyle would create 25 issues of Starman in row, plus the short story in Action Comics Weekly. It was impressive run. “I started off with high praise for Roger,” says Mike Gold. “His name should be on the list of every comic-book reader. If you’ve got to check anything out and if you don’t feel like reading 600 issues of [Amazing] Spider-Man—which is a worthy thing, by the way—Starman is the go-to place. I really admire the way guys like [DC group editor] Mike Carlin at DC always went to bat for him at DC. They were right.” Penciler Tom Lyle went out with a bang in issue #25 (Aug. 1990), as he debuted a new costume for Starman on the final page. Roger Stern would soon leave the series as well, but not before one last important story— a story that would bring the series full circle.

Meeting the Star Man (top left) Our friend Wayne Brooks, one of BACK ISSUE’s (and RetroFan’s) most dedicated readers, and Starman scribe/co-creator Roger Stern. Courtesy of Wayne Brooks. (top center) Cover to issue #2 (Nov. 1988). (top right) Don’tcha love the “Deadline Doom” pun on the cover of #15 (Oct. 1989)? (bottom) Courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com), signed Tom Lyle original art (sans some trade dress) to the cover of Starman #9 (Apr. 1989), which introduced the brother of the original Bat-baddie, Blockbuster. TM & © DC Comics.

FAMILY MATTERS

With issue #26, Starman entertained fans in the summer of 1990 with a Golden Age/Modern Age team-up of sorts. DC fans had previously enjoyed the annual summer pairings of the Justice League of America with their predecessors, the Justice Society of America, in the pages of JLA. After the landmark Crisis on Infinite Earths, when the JLA was revamped into its “Justice League Detroit” incarnation [see BI #58—ed.], the get-togethers vanished, leaving DC’s Golden Age characters in limbo for a while. In Starman #26 (Sept. 1990) and 27, fans were first introduced to David Knight, the son of Ted Knight, the Golden Age Starman. He was intent on reclaiming the superhero name Starman and carrying on the family tradition. A contrived battle ensued, courtesy of the evil Mist, the archenemy of the 1940s Starman, before the two Starmen teamed up to defeat the villain. Will, as an all-around good-hearted guy (although clearly struggling to hold tom lyle onto his humanity), offered to give up the name Starman and apologized to David for any unintentional harm his claim of the name caused. In the end, David realized that Will was the better Starman and informally ceded the Starman mantle. Starmen Issue • BACK ISSUE • 33

STARMAN 2.0

All-Star Makeover From Starman #25 (Aug. 1990): (left) Will’s sometimesgirlfriend Dr. Kitty Falkner, a.k.a. Rampage, assists the tattered titan. (right) Tom Lyle closes out the issue—his last—with this blazing new Starman costume! By Stern, Lyle, and Scott Hanna. TM & © DC Comics.

Strazewski’s approach to writing DC heroes With issue #26, a second phase for the Starman series didn’t stem from powers or costumes. “I wanted started. Starman had just received a sleek, new costume, to have real characters,” he says. “I wanted to see and a sleek, new artist, with penciler Dave Hoover people have real personalities. Whenever I got a shot at writing some stuff, I tried to give the characters starting in the issue. Yet Stern was not long for the title he started. real personalities. “What interested me [about Starman Starman #28 (Nov. 1990) was his last. It guestwas that] it was clear he wasn’t human starred Superman and was an adjunct to the anymore. He felt like he should be. But four-issue “Krisis of Krimson Kryptonite” sethere was plenty to take him away from ries-within-a-series that spanned the humanity.” Superman books that month: Superman Strazewski was fascinated by the fact #49, Adventures of Superman #472, that Will Payton struggled to stay huAction #659, and Superman #50. man. “He would tell jokes. He could Disappointingly, the Starman #28 get seduced. His inner drive to be cover was not included in a DC house ad human.” The erosion of Payton’s for the “Krimson Kryptonite” story arc. humanity was a running theme during A new writer (and seemingly, the Stern’s run, but it was pushed to the ringmaster) for the second act of Starbackground and played out without man, Len Strazewski, would take over any sense of foreboding. from Stern with issue #29 (Dec. 1990) len strazewski “When I first was offered the and continue to the end of the series. character—I loved Roger Stern’s Len Strazewksi has had, in his own YouTube. words, a series of 20-year careers. He spent 20 years as work—but I think [DC] had other plans for him. I was a business reporter, almost 20 years in comics, and then kind of warned that the character might not last long.” At the same time, Strazewski distrusted DC 20 years a college professor. “All those were good,” he tells BACK ISSUE. Looking back at his comics career, management when they would tell him about Starman’s although he had more heart and soul for his 1991 Justice sales figures. “I could never trust anyone at DC about Society of America maxiseries for which he is best remem- sales. When I did JSA, the editors told everyone the series wasn’t selling well,” he explains. But all the bered, he fondly recalls his time on Starman.

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STARRY-EYED Throughout his brief career and short series, dynamic women surrounded Will Payton, and infused the series with relationships that held romantic possibilities.

Power Girl

Originally an Earth-Two Supergirl counterpart during the mid-1970s’ All-Star Comics revival, Power Girl’s tough demeanor and sexy look made her a fan-favorite. She teamed up with Starman several times. “Power Girl originally entered Starman’s life due to a crossover that was part of the Invasion! miniseries,” says Roger Stern. “I liked the way she interacted with Starman, almost as a romantic interest, so I kept trying to find ways to bring her back.”

Carol Simon

TM & © DC Comics.

This beautiful blonde was the owner of a struggling boutique ad agency based in Phoenix. Earlier in their careers, she and Will had worked together at Vision Associates. Having grown into an entrepreneur-owner, Carol wanted to be able work with Will as a copywriter and indicated that she wished to pursue a romantic relationship with him. However, throughout the series, Will always seemed to let Carol down. He chose to switch to his role of Starman in times of emergency rather than be responsible as an employee. Eventually, Will redeemed himself in the final arc, as he (finally) helped Carol land a big account with a mixture of his copywriting, client service, and superhero skills. In an unusual twist, near the series’ end when Will finally revealed his secret identity to Carol, she burst out laughing. She was incredulous at the absurdity of the irresponsible and unfocused Will also being a superhero. He quickly convinced her of the truth, and they briefly embraced. He was, however, whisked away into his next adventure, and she was never seen again. creators earned royalties, and sales were about 70,000 copies. “You couldn’t trust them.” Mike Gold confirms. “The [JSA] series that we did sold very well. It sold really well. And it was a fun series to produce. I really enjoyed working on that one.” Strazewski was told to continue producing the Starman series, even though by that time the character was sort of a throwaway. “I tried to find something interesting,” Len discloses. Despite his notions of the character losing his humanity and the direction given by management, Strazewski didn’t foresee the end of the character. “I didn’t have an endpoint.”

‘THE SEDUCTION OF STARMAN’ AND ‘THE STAR FUND’

Strazewski’s four-part series-within-the-series, “The Seduction of Starman,” started in issue #30 (Jan. 1991). At that time, having worked as a business reporter for leading magazines like Crain Communications and AdAge, the Starman scribe was “interested in writing about the way businesspeople act.” In this storyline, Starman is lured into a business scheme by two unscrupulous partners.

Phantom Lady

Originally a Quality Comics heroine (as well as a target in Wertham’s Seduction of the Innocent), a new version of Phantom Lady was created by Len Strazeweski in Action Comics Weekly #636. This incarnation was Dee Tyler, a super-sexy adventuress/model who partnered with Starman to defeat Colonel Computron, and appeared later in the “War of the Gods” crossover. “Phantom Lady was in my stable,” says editor Augustyn, “so she was a natural guest-star.”

Lady Quark

As part of the royal family of Earth-6 (which was destroyed in the Crisis), Lady Quark was an overbearing and domineering woman. In Starman #8 (Mar. 1989), she decided to make Starman her consort, although he rejected the notion. “I don’t remember why we wound up using Lady Quark,” says Stern. “That might have been an editorial suggestion. All I really recall about Quark was her incredible arrogance. Seriously, she made the Sub-Mariner seem friendly and easy-going in comparison.”

Kitty Faulkner

The S.T.A.R. Labs scientist was a brilliant, albeit older woman, and may have been an unlikely romantic choice for Starman. She excelled in her roles at the Metropolis S.T.A.R. Labs and earned a promotion to Phoenix’s adjunct, where she met Starman. Sparks seemed to fly, despite Will’s interactions with striking women such as Carol, Phantom Lady, and Power Girl. Eventually, in the series’ final issues, Will and Kitty embraced as a couple. The events of the Eclipso: The Darkness Within crossover would force a hasty conclusion to the couple’s happiness. He emerges from this experience all the wiser, and seeks to establish a fund designed to do positive things beyond the scope of an average superhero’s activities. In an on-air interview, Starman describes the fund as focusing on “Housing start-ups, soup kitchens, community self-help. Any projects that deal with people… on a personal level… to get them started on a better life.” In the “Bright Ideas” letters column of Starman #33 (Apr. 1991), Strazewski talked about his frustrations about making positive changes in the real world, then made a plea to fans, when writing to the lettercol, to also cite any charities that they are supporting in the real world. Strazewski pledged to donate his royalties from the issue to one of the charities, and at least $50 “from his own pocket,” too. In Starman #34, the subsequent issue, when Starman solicits gueststar Batman’s endorsement for the project, the Masked Manhunter, who is secretly millionaire philanthropist Bruce Wayne, curtly responds, “Sorry, I’m not a social worker. I’ve found it best to leave charity to the professionals.” Will’s disappointment is short-lived, when he is later surprised to find that the Wayne Foundation made a sizable donation. “Wow! I’ve never seen so many zeros in a row!” exclaims Will. Strazewski recalls with pride that many letter writers wrote in to note the charities to which they were inspired to donate. Starmen Issue • BACK ISSUE • 35

FALLING STAR

dave hoover Comic Vine.

Starman changed editorial hands several times during its run. Bob Greenberger edited issues #1–12; Bob and Brian Augustyn transitionally co-edited issues #13 and 14, Brian taking over with #15–25; and Katie Main, who had worked with Brian later in his editorial run, took over the book with Starman #26, staying on board through issue #37. Paul Kupperberg was the final editor for this Starman series, being assigned the title with issue #38 (Sept. 1991). He was new to this editorial staff position, although he had done fill-in stints. “I was in the [DC Development] group [under group editor Mike Gold],” Kupperberg explains to BACK ISSUE. “It was handed to me. They told me, ‘Take care of this. Edit this. Do that.’” It was also clear to Kupperberg that the series would be ending and that he would be its care-

taker during the final issues. “I was running out the clock.” It was all “very custodial” for Starman’s last editor. Kupperberg fondly remembers reaching out to artist Randy Duburke to develop two Starman covers. Issue #41’s innovative cover layout shattered the Starman logo. Although told he “couldn’t do that,” Kupperberg pressed forward, creating one of the most striking covers of the series. When the crossover “Eclipso: The Darkness Within” was being developed for DC’s 1992 Annuals, and it was clear that the Starman title was ending, there was a realization that the character could be sacrificed within the crossover. Essentially, the powers-that-be said, “Here, throw this guy to the wolves,” explains Kupperberg. The last issues seemed to shoehorn Lobo and Eclipso into a fourpart adventure, the curtain drawing on Starman with issue #45 (Apr. 1992). Sweetly, the series ends as Will and Kitty realize they were meant for one another.

Totally Rad Cosmic Rod (left) Artist Dave Hoover signed on with Starman #26 (Sept. 1990), guest-starring the Golden Age Starman (learn more about this issue in our 1990s Starman coverage following!). Original art courtesy of Heritage. (right) Issue #41 (Dec. 1991) busted up the logo! Cover art by Randy Duburke. TM & © DC Comics.

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Krimson Kryptonite Krossover The Superman titles’ “Krisis of the Krimson Kryptonite” story arc included Starman #28 (Nov. 1990), which included (bottom) artist Dave Hoover’s interpretation of Will’s power to alter his facial features. TM & © DC Comics.

TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE SUN

Starman immediately appeared in the company-wide crossover Eclipso: The Darkness Within. In #2, the concluding “bookend” Eclipso issue and the culmination of the crossover, it’s revealed that Eclipso has been secretly using one of Starman’s powers to deceive the other heroes. “One of our missions of the Eclipso: The Darkness Within crossover event was to elevate a supervillain that originally cowered from a flashbulb into a major threat,” recalls BI’s own Michael Eury, the crossover’s editor (with KC Carlson). “Mission accomplished. Still, Eclipso was, essentially, a creature of darkness, so what better adversary to topple him than Starman, a being of light? Also, the Starman monthly comic was running out of steam at the time of the crossover, so Will Payton was ‘expendable’—and made a noble sacrifice in the Eclipso conclusion.”

THE SUN ALSO RISES— ALMOST

But Paul Kupperberg’s stint on Starman stayed with him. Not long after the book was cancelled, Kupperberg was talking with DC editor Dan Thorsland about writing a DC book or developing a new one. “I guess this was around ’93 or ’94,” recalls Kupperberg. The notion of reviving Starman was brought up, although Kupperberg couldn’t remember if it was initially his or Thorsland’s idea. “We started developing Starman… bringing back Will Payton,” says Kupperberg.

THE ARTISTS OF STARMAN Only three main artists created the art for the Starman series, although there were a few other fill-in artists and some strong cover artists.

TM & © DC Comics.

Tom Lyle was there from the start, providing both covers and interiors to the series, as well as creating the character templates as well as Starman’s unique costume. “Oh, it was an absolute joy to work with Tom,” says Roger Stern. “He was already a good storyteller, and he just got better with every issue. Eventually, Tom became so accomplished that the Batman office lured him away to draw Robin stories. Couldn’t blame him for that, though working on Starman was never quite the same after he left. Tom also had a great sense of design, though I would occasionally kid him about the headaches he’d given himself in giving Starman an asymmetrical costume. “I was so lucky, in that I later got to work with Tom on a Spider-Man Annual. He was a great talent and a good friend. I will always miss him.” Lyle died in 2019. Dave Hoover was a talented artist who worked for other comic companies including Marvel (Captain America), Zenoscope (Charmed), and Moonstone (Savage Beauty).

Along with Len Strazewksi, Hoover ushered in the second phase of this Starman series with a vibrant sturdiness. Hoover died in 2011. The third main artist was John Calimee, an illustrator with a strong mastery of figures and composition skills, like Steve Rude. “John Calimee was a very talented artist,” says Paul Kupperberg, the series’ final editor, but “he never got any traction [at DC].” After Starman, the plan was that Calimee would continue working with editor Kupperberg on an eight-issue Space Ranger miniseries to be written by Michael Jan Friedman that was even listed in Starman’s final issue’s letters page. Sadly, it never came to fruition. Calimee has since drawn Marvel’s Alpha Flight, among other work. For the covers of the last four issues of Starman, editor Kupperberg reached out to his past collaborator, Mike Mignola, the artist for writer Kupperberg’s 1987 Phantom Stranger miniseries. “He was a very big name,” Kupperberg says. “The reason I put him on those covers was the Eclipso connection,” since that was also the villain in The Phantom Stranger. “When I got Eclipso into the series, I got Mike.”

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Star Power (left) Starman unofficially became “Star-Spangled Love Stories” on this touching last page to the final issue, #45 (Apr. 1992). Script by Roger Stern, art by John Calimee and Roy Richardson. (right) Will Payton’s moment in the… well, you know. From Eclipso: The Darkness Within #2. Story by Keith Giffen and Robert Loren Fleming, art by Bart Sears, with Mark Pennington, Randy Elliott, and Ray Kryssing. (below) Kupperberg recycled in Takion some of his ideas intended for a Starman reboot.

TM & © DC Comics.

The idea for the reboot was straightforward: REFLECTIONS ON A STAR Although his body had been destroyed in the battle Roger Stern reflects to BACK ISSUE on the success with Eclipso, his essence would have survived, and of the Starman series. “Well, since the book is no would be reconstituted. It happens all the time in longer being published, I wouldn’t say that it was comics, after all. After they worked on the reboot a too successful,” Stern jokes. “Starman was probably bit, the word came down from on high: “James the most Marvel-like series I wrote for DC. Robinson is developing Starman.” Unfortunately, the powers-that-were “But DC history—and the theme of this didn’t seem to understand it or know edition of BACK ISSUE—has shown us how to promote it. In fact, considering that there’s always another ‘Starman’ how little promotion the series ready to shine… and that old Starmen received, it’s a minor miracle that don’t always fade away…” says Eury. it lasted as long as it did.” “As it was unavailable, we decided Nonetheless, it remains, well, to work on something new,” says a bright spot with its writer/ Kupperberg. Not wanting to leave creator. “The readers who did find good ideas on the table, Kupperberg it, seemed to like it,” Stern observes. would take the Starman reboot “And I’m personally pretty happy ideas and pour them into a new with the stories that Tom [Lyle] hero. Since it was big and cosmic, and I produced. Aside from the paul kupperberg they decided to tie it into the ’80s technology pictured in the Fourth World mythology. Takion series, the stories don’t seem © Luigi Novi / Wikimedia Commons. debuted in his own 1996 series dated at all. At least not to me. “as an avatar of the Source Wall.” While it ran Your mileage may vary.” only seven issues in late 1996, the character was included in later Fourth World series. “[John] Byrne picked it up, and it was used by Walter [Simonson],” ED CATTO is a marketing and startup strategist, with remembers Kupperberg. Starman fans can only a specialty in pop culture. imagine what a rebooted series would have been like. As founder of Agendae, Ed is Starman eventually did reappear. James Robinson, dedicated to helping brands in his Starman series, found a clever way to revive and companies innovate and grow. As part of the faculty at the character and give him an important role in the Ithaca College’s School of Business, dense Starman mythology he developed, as explored Ed teaches entrepreneurial in depth in this issue. In fact, it was Starman’s sister courses and one unique class Jayne, who appeared in Robinson’s Starman series first, focusing on comic conventions complete with a huge reveal designed to fake out and and Geek Culture. Ed’s also an surprise longtime readers. illustrator, having won the two Since then, the Will Payton version of Starman has Pulp Factory Awards, and an rejuvenating reappeared from time-to-time, most recently in the entrepreneur, brands like Captain Action. Justice League series.

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“With conscience-deprived heroes indistinguishable from their adversaries, the Dark Age was typified by implausible, steroid-inspired physiques, outsized weapons (guns, knives, claws), generous blood letting and vigilante justice.” – Mark Voger, The Dark Age: Grim, Great & Gimmicky Post-Modern Comics

by B i l l

DeSimone

…With one notable, contrasting exception: Starman, created by James Robinson and Tony Harris. Robinson and Harris created a story unique to the moment of the ’90s. Thematically and visually, their Starman offers an alternative to the clichés of the Dark Ages, from the style and physiques of the main players to the supporting cast of low-profile characters as allies and enemies. They acknowledge, but don’t get derailed by, company crossovers and continuity. Years before Grant Morrison did it in his Batman R.I.P. run, Robinson connected previously inconsistent bits of stories using the Starman name through his then-current (1990s) sensibility. For Harris’ part, if Batman: The Animated Series was Dark Deco, what he did here was Stars Deco. Starman, the series, ran for over 80 issues, with the penultimate arc, “Grand Guignol,” tying all but one of the previous plotlines together. Background stories branched off into Annuals, Specials, and short stories, with a few company crossovers added in. Robinson wrote them all, so there is coherence, a thread connecting all the appearances. There are no throwaway lines; lines that don’t seem to fit actually pay off in later issues. Robinson uses Golden Age and Silver Age stories and characters as inspiration for “new history”: retelling events and relationships to tie into his current story, as well as creating characters that feel Golden Age-ish, but are completely new. Robinson used not only the characters’ history, but his own history as a fan to inform the overall story, making history the hero of the 1990s Starman.

THE STORY

I Don’t Want to Be a Star Following its “Zero Hour” spinoff Starman #0, came the electrifying Starman #1 (Nov. 1994). Cover by Tony Harris. TM & © DC Comics.

The narrative of the series followed the adventures of Jack Knight, reluctant inheritor of the Starman legacy, who grows into the role and makes it his own. Jack is the son of Ted Knight, the original Golden Age Starman. After various physical and mental crises, Ted had decided to pass the Starman role to his other son, David. When David is murdered, Jack takes on the role; first to avenge David, but also to convince, maybe coerce, his dad to use his scientific genius for bigger purposes. From Starman #3 (Jan. 1995): JACK: I want you to be Edison, pop. The next Edison. You’ve played around with your science… squandered it, inventing cosmic-powered weapons for fighting silly, sad villains. You should have been inventing cosmic-powered cars and heating and… ecologically safe devices for mankind. Superheroes. Supervillains. It’s all self-propagating kid stuff. A chance for grown men to put their underwear on outside their tights. You’ve wasted a lot of your life with all that, Dad. I don’t want you to waste any more of it. You begin developing your cosmic science in better wiser ways… and I’ll carry on being Starman. Not by going out on patrol, though. That’s what cops are for. But if I’m needed… if I see a wrong being committed, I’ll don the sheriff’s star again. TED: …You have a deal. Admittedly, Robinson spends a lot more pages on Jack’s end of the deal than Ted’s, but this passage does reflect the attitude Jack tries to affect, that superheroing may be silly but someone needs to do it. Not always successfully, but it’s his consistent attempt that makes him unique as a ’90s hero. And he does grow into the role as he experiences the events of the series. Not necessarily in story order: • He avenges his brother by killing David’s murderer, then gets drugged and raped by the murderers’ sister. • He reconciles with his brother after his death, not just as a psychological metaphor, but through an extra-natural interaction explained by the end of the series. Starmen Issue • BACK ISSUE • 39

Golden Age All-Stars Writer James Robinson began working with DC’s earliest superheroes in the 1993–1994 four-issue prestige format miniseries The Golden Age, breathtakingly illustrated, as shown here, by Paul Smith. Page 2 of issue #1 (Sept. 1993) in original art form, courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com), and the published page lushly colored by Richard Ory. TM & © DC Comics.

• He allies with reformed villains like the Shade, Solomon Grundy, and Jake “Bobo” Benetti, then has to fight de-reformed villains like the Shade, Solomon Grundy, and Jake “Bobo” Benetti; then re-allies with them… or not. It’s complicated. • He meets the original Golden Age Justice Society members, including rejuvenated ones like Alan Scott, the Green Lantern/Sentinel; normally aging ones like his dad and Wesley Dodds, the Sandman; and the deceased ones, and not via time travel. • He is mentored by members of the original Society, and in turn mentors their legacy heroes. • He meets, works, and occasionally fights with the 1990s Justice League, some New Gods, Captain Marvel, Batman, Hellboy, and Ultra the Multi-Alien, but in his most desperate fight his allies are a non-powered family of cops and a handful of low-powered, low-profile heroes: the Elongated Man, Black Condor, Adam Strange, the new Phantom Lady, and an extra, non-blood-related Starman or two. • He meets immortals, reincarnations, spirits, psychics, and magicians. Did I mention he wanted his dad to pursue science? • He travels back in time to meet Superman’s father on Krypton, overshoots his point of origin to go forward in time to find an ally from his present time jeopardizing existence, gets back to his present time, then travels back in time again to ensure that his father meets his mother—and if that wasn’t enough to wrap his head around, he can’t figure out how to get back to his present. • His rape resulted in a child. Let’s just say he ultimately wins the superpowered custody battle and takes full responsibility for raising his son, which leads to… • He finds love, loses love, and then must decide how being Starman affects regaining that love. • He passes his name and tech legacy on to the next generation and walks away, never to be seen again. Not in terms of publishing, but in continuity: Since Starman #80 (Aug. 2001), the Jack Knight character has not been used in-story by DC. Jack’s story is told in arcs within in the series. The timeline from Starman: Secret Files and Origins #1 (Apr. 1998) puts about half of the events in chronological story order, not reading or publication order, because many of the events are revealed outside of Jack’s current timeline. The related adventures outside the series aren’t necessary to follow the plots, but they fill in gaps between the issues. Setups and backstories are presented in individual episodes between the arcs, such as the “Times Past” chapters and the annual “Talking with David” issues, which then “back fill” the chronological timeline. Robinson wrote in the text page of Starman #0 (Oct. 1994): “…we’re going to have an irregular series of single tales loosely grouped together under the banner of TIMES PAST… when they appear, they’ll focus on different moments/events/singular occurrences in Opal City’s history and the surrounding Turk County… They’ll feature guest artists and be little sojourns away from Jack’s adventures in the present. Any excuse to get back to my history books.” As a reader, you can enjoy these issues as a break in the action. But if you pay attention to them, you see where Robinson foreshadows events in the current and future storylines. David Goyer, in his introduction to the 1999 trade paperback Starman: Times Past, wrote: “The tales are narrated by the Shade, Opal City’s immortal scoundrel—a former villain who may or may not have turned over a new leaf. Our entry point into the stories is the Shade’s own journal-pages that we, and Jack himself, are now privy to…” 40 • BACK ISSUE • Starmen Issue

Goyer continued, “What seemed unique to me (at least in terms of contemporary comic-book writing) was the way in which James was using the past to foreshadow the future… James has dropped countless hints and oblique references into these Times Past stories, which makes reading them all the more fun. If you’re not interested in the big picture, then hey, enjoy them for what they are—wonderful snapshots of bygone days. If you are interested in the big picture, then strap yourself in and keep your eyes peeled—for the past is not necessarily as benign or dead as we might wish it to be.” The “Talking with David” issues did not get their own separate collection. These are visits from David, after his murder, usually with Jack, occasionally with others. They fill in much of the family dynamics between the Knights, and as David explains: “…I try to forewarn him of things… when I feel I should…” During the series, there is no explanation as to how David is communicating after his murder. For the reader, it is a metaphor for coming to terms with the death of a loved one; interactions that could have occurred between brothers. Eventually, the in-story explanation involves a curse first hinted at in a scene on a rooftop in issue #2 (“Funny smell. The sea. Salty. And …limes? Caraway seed?”) and an ally of Ted Knight’s from the Golden Age. As with “Times Past,” we can look at these as snapshots within a bigger picture. The reconciliation that comes from these talks makes you wish for a shared adventure between them when they were all alive, which is delivered in the final arc, “1951” (#77–79, May–July 2001). This arc gives the unfortunate David his “moment in time” and is a critical point in the life of the Starmen after 1951. In his introduction, Goyer also wrote: “In the world of STARMAN, the past informs the present in a very real way. I can’t think of another comic book where history plays such an important role…” It’s not just the in-story history of the characters. Robinson’s own history as a fan plays a big role as well.

ROBINSON ON STARMAN, BEFORE STARMAN

In the introduction to All-Star Comics Archives vol. 4 (1998), Robinson wrote: “I’ve been asked many times where I get the inspiration for my ongoing STARMAN comic. Why do I choose to dwell on this lost era in comics to draw so much inspiration? The answer to that lies in my comic-book reading as a kid… I chanced upon a JLA adventure guest-starring the Justice Society… This was heresy to all I knew as lore—and needless to say was wildly exciting… My first JSA/JLA adventure was the one that culminated in the death of Larry Lance, the husband of the Golden Age Black Canary. How that storyline began, however, was with Starman rising up to meet some astral threat in battle. True, Starman didn’t fare too well, but his costume and powers were enough that I was utterly intrigued. It was the start of something for me, to be sure, although there was no way of knowing back then quite how much of a something was starting…” Robinson again, from the text page of Starman #0 (Oct. 1994), comparing Starman to the Flash, Green Lantern, and the other DC legacy heroes: “With STARMAN, however, we have a name and a Golden Age heritage that have been left pretty much untouched. People are familiar with the character and his powers and his green and red costume, and yet they’re not. In fact, I’d brazenly hazard a guess that I developed the character of Ted Knight more within the pages of THE GOLDEN AGE miniseries than was ever done before. And that’s not saying much… although he was never a first-rung hero, his powers are far, far greater than that of the acrobatic masked men that comprised about half the 1940s super-hero roll-call…”

Video Killed the Radio Star Robinson’s Golden Age Starman inspirations include: (top left) the Astral Avenger’s team-up with Black Canary in The Brave and the Bold #61 (Aug.–Sept. 1965, cover by Murphy Anderson), the first of two issues featuring this combo; and (top right) Starman as one of the dozens (!) of heroes in Len Wein’s three-part centennial celebration in Justice League of America. Shown here is JLA #101 (Sept. 1972), Part Two of the saga, with a Nick Cardy cover. (bottom) A pivotal moment— and a beautifully drawn page—from JLA #73 (Aug. 1969), including the Golden Age Starman and transitioning Black Canary from Earth-Two to Earth-One. Written by Denny O’Neil, drawn by Dick Dillin and Sid Greene. Courtesy of Heritage. TM & © DC Comics.

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On Starman’s prior role in the DC Universe, Robinson wrote: “If there is a flaw in the past incarnations of Starman, I see it being that they’ve all been a bit too insular. None of them interacted to any degree with any of the other Starmen. There was no overriding hook that anchored them to the DC Universe other than the fact that they shared a name with Ted Knight. In this book, there will be a sense of lineage and history… Every person alive or dead who bore the name of Starman will have some resonance and bearing on this new ongoing comic, even David Knight, the poor schmuck who gets blown away on page four… I want to imagine that while Barry Allen and Hal Jordan and Ray Palmer were off having their Silver Age adventures, Ted Knight was, too; older, but still active. Starman has always been around, a light in the darkness, in his own little corner of the DC Universe.” In these pieces and other interviews, like the one with Mike Kooiman in TwoMorrows’ Quality Companion, Robinson makes clear what an impression the comics he read in the 1970s made on him, where he read the contemporaneous JLA stories, guest-starring the Justice Society, and the Golden Age backups. His appreciation of the Golden Age of comics came first via their Silver and Bronze Age appearances and reprints, not directly from the original comics.

SPECIFIC SILVER AND BRONZE AGE EXAMPLES TWEAKED BY ROBINSON

The JLA story he mentions is from Justice League of America #73–74. Issue #73’s “Star Light, Star Bright—Death Star I See Tonight!” was written by Denny O’Neil, penciled by Dick Dillin, and inked by Sid Greene, with a cover by Joe Kubert. The story starts with Starman investigating and being beaten by a cosmic invader, Aquarius, who used his cosmic rod to amplify his powers and send Starman crashing

back into his observatory, where Black Canary and Larry Lance are waiting. In #74, “Where Death Fears to Tread” (by the same creative team, with a Neal Adams cover), Lance dies saving Black Canary during the fight with Aquarius. As the JLA leaves, Black Canary decides to leave, too: “I can’t bear to go on living in this world…! It’s too full of memories… too full of Larry!” Funny thing about this particular grouping of heroes: Starman, Black Canary, Larry Lance. The Starman-Black Canary team had a two-issue run in 1965’s The Brave and the Bold, #61–62. The combination doesn’t really make sense. They originally did not overlap in the JSA, and one is a cosmic-powered adventurer, the other a street-level crimefighter. In his interview with Kooiman, Robinson said, “I tried to honor the feel of these old stories, but sometimes I think it’s better for the character to approach it with the eyes of someone from today who is trying to create the modern-day continuity and have the sophistication of today’s storytelling.” Robinson’s 1990s explanation was, well… they were having an affair, apparently ending on good terms, because she and her husband were at his observatory when he came crashing through the skylight. Now Black Canary leaving the JSA for the JLA looks differently: the guy she had an affair with failed, leading to the death of her husband. Another less racy bit from 1972’s JLA #101 (by Len Wein, Dillin, and Joe Giella) that showed up is Starman’s mental control of the staff. Ted teaches Jack about this in the Captain Marvel crossover, and Jack later uses it in an outer space battle. The idea originated from Batman: “Starman—!! Maybe you can’t bring your cosmic rod here—but you still control its atoms! You’ve got to concentrate—let the cosmic rod show us the way out!” Starman: “I’ve never attempted it before—but...well, it’s worth the try!” (P.S. It worked.)

STARMAN IN THE GOLDEN AGE

Kooiman asked if this was intended as an “Elseworlds” or in continuity. Robinson: “It was written to be in continuity… now there are things that have happened, like flashback stories to the 1940s that make the Golden Age redundant, but I’ve always written as if the Golden Age happened and was ‘the past.’” So at least where Starman the series is concerned, Golden Age is “the past.” In the series, Ted Knight took a year off in 1951, attributed to guilt over helping develop the atom bomb and the murder of his girlfriend. The Golden Age reveals a few more aspects. It’s 1946, and it’s explained that Einstein helped Ted design the Gravity Rod and Ted helped design the atom bomb. Ted is in a sanatorium, paralyzed by guilt over the bomb during the day and maniacally theorizing at night. He explains that it’s not just the bomb, but that he thinks his experiments on cosmic power drew enough radiation down to create the powered superheroes and “irrational” crimefighters. In 1949, Ted completes work on an improved gravity rod (a version of the staff we eventually see in Starman), re-powers it, and, still feeling guilty over the bomb, attempts suicide, and fails. He disappears from the action, until in a last-ditch attempt to beat a superpowered Hitler, he’s summoned to save the day. Except he fails again, taken out by a thrown tire, the gravity staff shattered (although soon used in a less technical way by another hero to win the battle). And this is a character Robinson likes. What else could he do to the guy? “It was also very satisfying (as horrible as that sounds) to kill Ted Knight,” Robinson wrote in the afterword to Starman Omnibus vol. 6 (2011). “I always knew this was part of the ending, from the very start, and I think (modesty aside) that I gave the old guy a great, really heroic death—something I was keen to do after the shoddy send-offs that the Golden Age Dr. Mid-Nite and Atom got during the ZERO HOUR miniseries.”

The Fault in Our Stars A painful father-and-son exchange from Starman #1 (Nov. 1994). Written by James Robinson, penciled by Tony Harris, and inked by Wade Von Grawbadger. TM & © DC Comics.

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THE FINAL MYSTERY: HISTORY MAKES THE HERO

(Spoiler alert, for those about to read for the first time.) As Robinson set out to do, he tied all the incarnations of Starman together, leaving one to the end. Jack is the seventh, Ted first, and David, sixth. David Bowie and Jeff Bridges do not make the list, probably an issue with music and movie rights. The third is Mikaal Tomas, “the Starman of ’76,” a oneshot character by Gerry Conway and Mike Vosburg covered in depth by Richard Arndt in BACK ISSUE #115. He was “Alien. Defender of our world against the invading forces of his own.” He plays a big role in the series, with Robinson following up the events of the one-shot in a “Times Past” drawn by Craig Hamilton (“1976: Super Freaks and Backstabbers,” issue #28, Mar. 1997), and adding Tomas’ own descent and rise as a hero. David tells Jack, though, that his destiny is not as another Starman but under his own name “…and the great adventures of his life lay ahead.” Robinson connects numbers Four and Five by more than the Starman name. Prince Gavyn of Throneworld, Four, was created by Paul Levitz with Steve Ditko, with later contributions by Jim Starlin. James Heath Lantz covered this, again in BI #115 (“Adventure Star: Starman Prince Gavyn”). Will Payton, Five, created by Roger Stern and Tom Lyle, had a four-year run in Starman vol. 1, explored by Ed Catto in the article preceding this one. Robinson uses Will’s absence from continuity to become part of Jack’s relationship with his girlfriend (and Payton’s sister) Sadie and the reason he goes to outer space. From James Heath Lantz’s summary: Gavyn “…was believed to be dead… His body was actually converted to pure energy. Gavyn would reappear in ‘The Secret of Will Payton’ serial in James Robinson’s Starman series. It was discovered that Gavyn had possessed later Starman Will Payton. He and the other Starmen helped free Throneworld…” Payton/Gavyn makes a final appearance in “Grand Guignol” as an ally of Jack’s. Afterwards he returns to outer space, but not before his reconciliation with Sadie brings her to a decision regarding her life with a superhero. Which leaves us with Starman II, the Starman of 1951. Originally, this was an identity of Batman. During one of his psychotic breaks, he develops a phobia of bats, so he replaces them with stars. (Or something like this: See Detective #247, Sept. 1957.) This changed in Starman Secret Files #1 (Apr. 1998): “STARMAN II: All data unknown… Starman II fought crime in Opal City in 1951 in Ted Knight’s absence, after which he vanished. His secret identity was never

Another Star (inset) David Knight as Starman, in the previous volume of Starman, issue #26 (Sept. 1990). (top) From the Robinson/Harris Starman issue #3 (Jan. 1995), this flashback reveals a glimpse into David and Jack’s relationship and reveals Jack’s (and the writer’s) love for pop-culture collectibles. (bottom) Mikaal Tomas, the Starman of 1976 from 1st Issue Special, was featured in a funky flashback in Starman #28 (Mar. 1997). Disco-licious interior art by Craig Hamilton and Ray Snyder. TM & © DC Comics.

Starmen Issue • BACK ISSUE • 43

Swinging on a Star (left) Even the obscure Starman from the Bill Finger/ Sheldon Moldoff/ Charles Paris Batman story in Detective Comics #247 (Sept. 1957) found his way into James Robinson’s Starman saga. (right) Starman II makes the scene at the end of Starman #76 (Apr. 2001). Art by Peter Snejbjerg. TM & © DC Comics.

revealed, nor was his fate.” Until the “1951” arc. In #0, after a few days of taking over as Starman from Ted, David was assassinated, but continues to appear to Jack and others, always being disingenuous as to how. In the final “Talking with David” (#76, Apr. 2001), he explains. The curse of Jon Valor (first hinted at in #2, explained more in #68–71) kept the spirits of the deceased in Opal from moving on to their final rest. That and some post-mortem help from Dr. Fate Kent Nelson allowed David to interact with the living, but with the curse lifted, Fate’s power alone wouldn’t be enough. David, Jack, and the now-deceased Ted have enough time to review the entire Starman history before Dr. Fate returns Jack to Opal. David hints all along at how well Dr. Fate has treated him in the afterlife, and while Jack assumes he’s referring to their talks, there’s more to it. As Jack asks about the omission of the Starman of 1951, he’s sent back to Opal City, only in 1951, and is confronted by… the Starman of 1951. Again, Robinson uses his history as a fan. Instead of Batman, Dr. Mid-Nite, who was used as a Batman analogy in those JLA-JSA stories from the 1970s, had taken over in Ted Knight’s absence. He was assisted by Robotman, used by Robinson in The Golden Age and Roy Thomas in All-Star Squadron; and Jim Lockhart, the Red Torpedo from Quality Comics (1940). Borrowing from Detective #247, Mid-Nite is not outfitted like the classic Starman; while Ted is institutionalized, and his doctors think seeing those images (like Batman and the bats) would cause a setback. When Jack meets him, though, it’s David in the outfit, functioning as Starman.

44 • BACK ISSUE • Starmen Issue

SPOILER (I MEAN IT THIS TIME)

Unknowingly, David was sent back at the moment of his death by Dr. Fate to the gap year, taken over from Mid-Nite, and performed admirably (his “Moment in Time”). And Jack spills his guts, telling David everything, even about his murder and afterlife. David handles it heroically, earning Jack’s admiration. David, Jack, and the Rex Tyler Hourman team up to defeat the Mist, and Ted recovers. Jack convinces Ted to go to a party where, David reminds him, he meets his future wife and their mother. At the time the Starman of 1951 vanishes from the “historical” record, David is called back to the moment of his death; and since Jon Valor’s curse and Dr. Fate’s magic is in effect, begins the “Talking with David” encounters that run through the series. Jack, seemingly stuck in 1951, decides to explain to his father: “I think about David… dead in the future. And Dad in the past not knowing who his sons were. I resolve to let fate change the future or not. I write Dad a letter. I explain everything. Who David is. Who I am. I hide the letter in one of his journals. He’s still making notes in it, so I assume he’ll find it at some point. And if he doesn’t, he doesn’t.” The gap in the Starman history, the replacement Starman of 1951, is filled by the short-lived Starman (David) moving back in time from 1994. The next, Jack, assists him and ensures that the original Starman Ted finds the way that leads to David and Jack and the full Starman history. Ted tells Jack in the afterlife, “There will always be a Starman. You were. Now someone else will.”

Fallen Star (top) Starman #73 (Jan. 2001), the death of the Golden Age Starman issue. Cover (top inset) by Andrew Robinson. (bottom inset) A handsome Christopher Reeve-like Superman flies high with Jack on the Andrew Robinson cover of Starman #75 (Mar. 2001). (bottom) Thom Kallor, formerly Star Boy of the Legion of Super-Heroes, and Jack on the splash to the final issue of Starman, #80 (Aug. 2001). TM & © DC Comics.

PASSING THE COSMIC TORCH: THE STARGIRL CONNECTION

In “Eulogy,” the Ted Knight funeral issue (Starman #73, Jan. 2001), a dying Matt O’Dare, ally of the Knights and the reincarnation of Brian Savage, a.k.a. Scalphunter, has some final words. He claims to reincarnate in the future as Thom Kallor, Star Boy from the Legion of Super-Heroes, and an older version named Danny Blaine, “protector of Earth.” Jack can vouch for those identities, having met them in his outer space and time travel arcs. But there’s another replacement in the more immediate future. In the Superman issue, “Sons and Their Fathers” (#75, Mar. 2001), Jack reminisces about his adventures with the new JSA, including the new Star-Spangled Kid, Courtney Whitmore: “The best was seeing the woman Courtney will become. The heroine to be.” In the very last issue, “Arrivederci, Bon Voyage, Goodbye” (#80, Aug. 2001), Jack leaves Opal City with his son, to rejoin Sadie. His last farewell is with Courtney. After clearing the air with her, Jack gives her the cosmic staff, leather jacket, and goggles, and tells her “…When you’re ready… be as much of a Stargirl as you want to be.” She accepts, and he has a flash of a vision of her as a grown hero in a combination of his gear and hers. Geoff Johns, the creator of Stargirl, wrote in the introduction to Starman Omnibus vol. 6, “In many ways, James is the Ted Knight to my Jack Knight—or more literally the Jack Knight to my Courtney Whitmore… he would help me with my own comic-book writing career geoff johns by looking at my proposal for STARS & S.T.R.I.P.E. and even suggesting it launch © Luigi Novi / Wikimedia Commons. out of STARMAN, ultimately turning into the special issue that was STARS & S.T.R.I.P.E #0 that we co-wrote together. I learned more about writing comics in that experience than I did anywhere else.” Johns had written earlier, in the introduction to the A Starry Knight collection (2002), “James Robinson knows how to make a hero. And he knows how to make characters. James has the special ability to reach into an older concept and find the diamond in the rough. Without throwing away what’s gone before, James takes that diamond in the rough and polishes it, adding his own intricate, faceted design work along the way, adding levels of humanity, joy, and sorrow.” Stargirl, the television show, debuted in 2019, with Johns listed as Showrunner and an Executive Producer on the Writers Guild of America West website. As of this writing, Jack hasn’t made an appearance, as they’re using Sylvester Pemberton as the Golden Age Starman identity, but the cosmic staff has, and in the final scene of Season One, the Shade. After reading Johns’ comments, it shouldn’t be a surprise that also listed as producer and writer on three episodes is James Dale Robinson. Starmen Issue • BACK ISSUE • 45

Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star (top) Courtney Whitmore takes charge of the cosmic staff at the end of Starman #80! (bottom) What better way to appreciate Peter Snejbjerg’s remarkable talents than a look at his original artwork— in this case the splash page to Starman #63 (Mar. 2000). Courtesy of Heritage. TM & © DC Comics.

READING STARMAN NOW: HOW DOES IT HOLD UP?

James Robinson is obviously the director of Starman, guiding the storyline through all 80-plus issues of the series and offshoots (with some co-plotting credits to David Goyer). But a big part of what makes it readable almost 20 years later is the contribution of the other creator, Tony Harris. Harris did the interiors for most of the issues up to #45 (Aug. 1998), many of the covers after that including #80 and 81 [the latter, a “Blackest Night” special issue cover-dated Mar. 2010], and all the covers on the various collected editions [as well as the cover for this edition of BACK ISSUE!—ed.]. Robinson, from Starman Omnibus vol. 2: “I was convinced what Starman needed in terms of artistic representation was shadow. Obviously, the sun is a star, so there’s no reason Starman need restrict himself to the nighttime, but inspired by the Golden Age Starman à la Burnley and Meskin, who seemed to reserve most of Ted Knight’s crimefighting for after dark, I felt this new Starman should be a light in the darkness too, not a bright shiny knight of daytime. This required an artist who enjoyed drawing stark contrast. I had had my eye on Tony Harris for some time.” About Opal City, the fictional city they created for Starman, Robinson credited Harris with having the “visual talent and skill to bring off the architectural diversity we have in mind.” About specific plot points, Harris’ interest in pirates (he called his studio the Jolly Roger) encouraged Robinson with the Jon Valor/Black Pirate storyline, and his depiction of a different Solomon Grundy expanded that storyline as well. Harris avoided the visual clichés of the ’90s Dark Ages. Instead of skin-tight bodysuits, Jack wears pants, Hawaiian shirts, T-shirts, and a leather jacket; Ted, suits and fedoras. No juiced-up bodybuilders with mullets: Jack is skinny-fit, Ted is built appropriately for a man his age. For the women, no shoulder pads or exposed, enhanced cleavages: Hope O’Dare, Charity, and Sadie, the ones with the most pages, again are all built and dress like normal human beings. Around the figures, Harris gradually works in star images, and geometric designs around the panels, not necessarily having anything to do with the plot, just decoration: Stars Deco. And while the story was written and based in the 1990s, visuals like these keep it from looking dated. Unlike Watchmen or Dark Knight, which took place in contrast to a quite different mainstream comics world, you don’t lose the context years later. Starman just looks like a story that just happens to be set in the 1990s, not of the 1990s. Harris wrote and drew a two-page spread for Starman #46 (Sept. 1998), saying goodbye and thank-you to the readers and collaborators as he had just left the title. For his part, “If this book has been anything to me, it has been a proving ground, an arena of ideas. It has given me the chance to grow and spread my wings creatively. To find my place.” He closed with, “So when you pick up that copy of Starman every month and don’t see my art inside, don’t fret. Rejoice at the brilliant stylings of Peter Snejbjerg. He’s a welcome addition, and I think he’ll breathe new life into the book.”

COLLABORATORS AND CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE WORLD OF STARMAN

While Harris penciled the bulk of the issues from #0–47, Snejbjerg did the same for issues #50 (Feb. 1999)–80. Snejbjerg also wrote one of the greatest opening lines to an introduction in Omnibus vol. 5 (“Like I know 800 words of English…”). According to Robinson in Starman #80, Snejbjerg was his “personal peter snejbjerg choice” to replace Harris, as they had worked together previously and he wanted the new Snejbjerg.com. artist to “put his own stamp on the book.” Having two main artists, with different ones for fill-ins, “Times Past” episodes, and background stories outside the 46 • BACK ISSUE • Starmen Issue

Big Stars A tip o’ the hat to portraitist Tony Harris for the covers of the two Starman Annuals, (left) issue #1 (1996), featuring the Shade and three Starmen, and (right) #2 (1997), part of DC’s “Pulp Heroes” Annuals theme, and its sultry illo of Jack and Sadie that could have easily doubled as a seedy dimestore paperback novel cover. TM & © DC Comics.

main title, accomplished a couple of things as a series. The consistent #46, “Archie Goodwin took a chance. Not just on me but on pairing of writer and one then the other artist identifies visually the James and Starman when we dumped it on his desk. A hero main storylines. The guest art immediately signals a step away from without a costume who doesn’t even want to be a hero. And he the main storyline; important to the overall world, but not necessarily hates the notion of it plus his dad and brother to boot! Whew! requiring knowledge of the previous issue’s events. Practically, these Bravo, Archie, for having the vision to see what James and I were breaks gave the main artist some breathing room, kept the title visible, after with Jack and all the rest of them. Archie did a lot more than that. He steered us on to great things, pushing us creatively to and added a world to the events of the plots. The idea of reinvigorating the book with a new collaborator produce some of the best work of our careers.” Harris drew a also comes up with David S. Goyer as co-plotter of the “Stars My tribute page in #45, with the cast of Starman looking over Goodwin’s desk and the note “Archie Goodwin 1937–1998.” Destination” and “Starman 1951” arcs. In his Afterword to Omnibus Recently there have been on-again off-again announcevol. 5, Robinson explained that in a relatively short time, ments of a new Starman Cosmic Omnibus. Until that’s Tony Harris left, Archie Goodwin died, and he [Robinson] available, there are a few formats to choose from, each went through a divorce, so he considered dropping the with their own advantages. There are almost 100 book. He ultimately didn’t, and said of Goyer, “David original floppies, counting #0–81 and adding to was a lifesaver—the guy I have to thank for Starman them all the side issues and stories. One advantage continuing through to the end of its run.” to the early numbers is the letters pages, many by In addition to Harris, Snejbjerg, and Goyer, Robinson, which range from text pieces to letters Robinson listed all the people who worked on Starman to discussions about collectibles to playlists for reading in issue #80’s “Lost in the Stars” text page: Peter to “Shade’s Journals” to acknowledging the passing Tomasi, Greg Wright, Bill Oakley, Wade Von of comics greats like Archie Goodwin and Mort Meskin. Grawbadger, Keith Champagne, Chuck Kim, John Much of this material isn’t reprinted elsewhere. Workman, Gaspar, Teddy Kristiansen, Matt Smith, There are ten trade paperbacks from 1996–2005 Gary Erskine, Tommy Lee Edwards, Stuart Immonen, archie goodwin covering the main storylines, missing a few issues Chris Sprouse, Amanda Conner, John Watkiss, not specifically in those arcs, but with new covers Steve Yeowell, Craig Hamilton, Ray Snyder, Bret and introductions. The best collections so far are the Blevins, JH Williams III, Mick Gray, Guy Davis, Mark Buckingham, Richard Pace, Dusty Abell, Dexter Vines, Norman Lee, six hardcover Omnibus volumes published 2008–2011. These include Lee Weeks, Phil Jimenez, Robert Campanella, Mitch Byrd, Stefano almost everything except the letters pages and trade introductions. Gaudiano, Gene Ha, Drew Geraci, Mike Mayhew, John Lucas, Steve They have brand-new wraparound Tony Harris covers and back matter Sadowski, Tim Burgard, Paul Smith, Russ Heath, L. A. Williams, Alex not reprinted previously: cover designs, pencils, roughs, merchandise. What really makes these impressive though are new “Afterwords” Ross, Michael Zulli, and Andrew Robinson. Both Robinson and Harris praised Archie Goodwin for his by Robinson. Much more mature, almost humbled from his breezy involvement in Starman and in their careers. Robinson was a fan letters pages of the original run, these include very personal reflections of Goodwin’s writing. Goodwin got Robinson started at DC with on his behavior during parts of his career and life. “I think that’s The Golden Age and Legends of the Dark Knight, and when the what I’m proudest of with Jack’s odyssey from beginning to end. Will Payton Starman book was cancelled, remembered Robinson’s He does grow and mature; something I’ve been unable to do, it ideas for the Starman character. Harris wrote, in his goodbye in seems. All I’ve done is age. Starmen Issue • BACK ISSUE • 47

“Still, Jack and I both found love in the end, and we both found a home in San Francisco, so maybe while not doing as well as Jack’s fictional life, I’m not doing so bad at that.” A big part of Jack’s fictional life, and Robinson’s at the time, was their love of collectibles. They were collecting older items of quality and meaning—at least to them—and scarcity. Not necessarily the forced collectibles of the 1990s: the polybagged issues with trading cards; covers with holograms, foils, and special inks; the multiple copies of the same “historic” issues. “Collecting”—as a verb—can easily turn into “accumulating,” which can mean ending up with a lot of junk. “Curating” a collection, looking for specific items with significance beyond their monetary value, becomes a physical record of a time, a part of history. One last time, from #0: “STARMAN is about superheroics and shadows and nighttime horrors and all of that, but it’s also about old books and records and collectibles and all the odd facts and details that drift through and around the mind of a fellow such as Jack. How different is he from me... or any of you, for that matter, with your comics collections and your Sandman hologram cards and your Otis Redding boxed sets and signed Ray Bradbury hardcovers and vintage Levi red tags and/or whatever else is the rarity/oddity you hold near and dear to your heart?” Just as in the “1951” arc loops the story of the Starmen onto itself to create its own history, Starman, the story about collectibles and history, has become its own collectible piece of history. Until that new Cosmic Omnibus comes out, happy hunting!

THE SERIES AND ITS BRANCHES

A Million Stars (top) Meet future (for us) Starman Ferris Knight, in Starman #1,000,000 (Nov. 1998). Cover by Tony Harris, with Pat Garrahy. (bottom) Starman was back from the dead—in more ways than one—as the Shade and Black Lantern David Knight are featured on Harris’ cover for the one-shot Starman #81 (Mar. 2010). TM & © DC Comics.

The first time around, Starman vol. 2 ran from ran from #0 with a cover date of October 1994 through #80, cover-dated August 2001. Issue #0 starts the narrative of vol. 2 and comes out of the “Zero Hour” crossover event: note the more prominent Zero Hour stamp, the zero-shaped button on the upper right of the cover. There are extra issues not part of the vol. 2 numbering that feed into, elaborate, or just tangentially connect to the main narrative, but help create the overall tapestry of the Starman legacy. Showcase ’95 #12 (Dec. 1995) has a short story with the Shade meeting Neron of the “Underworld Unleashed” crossover, who later “powers up” enemies of the Knights. Showcase ’96 #4–5 (Apr.–May 1996) has short stories with the Shade teaming with Dr. Fate, dealing with the magics that are used years later in the final arc, “Grand Guignol.” Dr. Fate also has a “behind the scenes” role in the “Talking with David” issues and “1951” arc. Starman Annual #1 (Dec. 1996) is part of DC’s “Legends of Dead Earth” Annuals which told “post-apocalyptic, possible future” stories. Robinson’s future is a framing device to tell two past stories, one with the Golden Age Ted Knight Starman and the Prairie Witch, the other with a Starman unrelated to the Knight family. Starman Annual #2 (Nov. 1997) is part of the “Pulp Heroes” Annuals, in which we learn about the less-than-lucky love lives of Ted Knight, David Knight, and an eventual ally, Brian Savage, the Scalphunter. Questions are raised about Jack’s current love life, which later leads to moving the action from Opal City to space and time travel and fills in the complete picture of the Starmen. Starman: Secret Files and Origins #1 (Apr. 1998), released about midway through the run, brings you up to speed with profiles, journal entries, a map of Opal City, a timeline, and more. Starman: The Mist #1 (June 1998) was part of “Girlfrenzy!,” a company-wide event that Robinson used to update a key player who had dropped out of the main action and was headed back in. Starman #1,000,000 (Nov. 1998), part of the Grant Morrison-engineered “DC One Million” crossover, ties into that crossover while foreshadowing events in the regular Starman title. Starman 80-Page Giant (Jan. 1999) begins and ends with a framing sequence with Jack Knight and Ragdoll, then features short stories with the supporting cast members: the Shade and Scalphunter, Ted Knight as Golden Age Starman, Bobo Benetti and Starman 1951, the O’Dare family, and the ’70s blue Starman. The shorts solve the mystery between the open and close frames. All-Star Comics 80-Page Giant (Sept. 1999) has “The Ropes,” a short story with Jack Knight augmenting his jiu-jitsu with boxing and life lessons from Ted Grant, a.k.a. Wildcat. JSA All-Stars #4 (Oct. 2003) features Ted Knight in “Starman: FBI Agent,” a short story set in the Golden Age, by Robinson and Harris, a few years after Harris stopped doing the interiors in vol. 2. Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight Annual #7 (Nov. 1997), part of the “Pulp Heroes” crossover, takes place in the geographic area of vol. 2, and features Steve Savage, Balloon Buster, the son of Scalphunter. In Starman, Scalphunter, reincarnated into an ally of Jack’s and then further into the future, has a role in the Starman lineage. Batman/Hellboy/Starman Book 1 (Jan. 1999) has Ted Knight getting captured by neo-Nazis and rescued by Batman and Hellboy. In Book 2, Batman is out and Jack Knight is in. Robinson later used the mystical/electrical powers sought by the neo-Nazis here in a flashback story with Ted Knight and the Demon. Issue #81 of Starman vol. 2 (Mar. 2010) came years after #80, as part of the “Blackest Night” crossover, featuring David Knight, the Shade, and Hope O’Dare. Not a part of the Starman legacy, except in title, more of a favor to Geoff Johns and a chance for Robinson to revisit the characters. BILL DeSIMONE wrote the Machine Man Flashback in BI #132. He confesses that at one time he had the entire Starman run and has no one to blame but himself for passing it on years ago. And yes, he had to rebuild the Starman collection after bingeing on Stargirl.

48 • BACK ISSUE • Starmen Issue

All characters TM & © their respective owners.

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interview by

J o h n Tr u m b u l l

Jack Knight wasn’t your usual superhero, and Starman wasn’t your usual comic book. In the sea of books that debuted in the early ’90s comics boom, Starman was unique. It established a heritage for the name where none existed before, tying the five unrelated Starmen DC had previously published together into one heroic dynasty. It gave us the new fictional playground of Opal City. Moreover, Starman let us see the DC Universe in a whole new way, as we discovered the pop-culture passions of the characters that inhabited it. We learned that the villain Copperhead collected Bakelite radios, that ’80s Starman Will Payton was part of the KISS Army, and that Batman’s favorite Woody Allen movie was Crimes and Misdemeanors. Our guide on this journey was Jack Knight, son of the Golden Age Starman from the Justice Society, a collectibles dealer who wanted nothing to do with superheroing, going into the family business against his better judgment. Jack Knight was a character who spoke to me and many other readers during his 80-issue run from 1994–2001, and it was a pleasure to finally speak with James Robinson and Tony Harris, the writer and artist who started it all. This interview is compiled from separate phone conversations with Robinson and Harris in June 2021 and copy-edited by myself and James Robinson. – John Trumbull

A STAR(MAN) IS BORN

JOHN TRUMBULL: James, how did your involvement with Starman start? Did you have a particular attachment to that character, or an interest in the Golden Age characters in general? JAMES ROBINSON: Actually, it was neither. It was me really desperately wanting a monthly comic. At the time, the Will Payton Starman was limping towards cancellation, and so I came up with an idea for Will Payton, not realizing that they were planning to kill him off. And then at the same time, I looked at Starman as a character, and I realized there’ve been all these incarnations of Starman, and yet there was nothing that linked any of them. There was no sense of the lineage in the way there was with the Flash or the Atom, or any of the others. The most there was,

You Don’t Know Jack Starman promotional poster from 1994. Art by Tony Harris. TM & © DC Comics.

Starmen Issue • BACK ISSUE • 53

was the Will Payton meets David Knight story, which is in a couple issues of the Will Payton Starman. [Starman vol. 1 #26–27, Sept.–Oct. 1990.] And this was also at a time when comics at DC were sort of changing a little bit, because they were beginning to have a bit more of a mature feeling, while still retaining some of the innocence they had earlier to that… I’m thinking things like Batman: Year One, Matt Wagner’s Demon, Gaiman’s Sandman, and Chaykin’s Blackhawk. Now, comics seem so mature, I wonder who their audience is, but back then, there were still books that sort of were all ages in that you could read them when you were relatively young and then get something out of them as you were older. Then, a bit later you had the advent of Vertigo and while there were some fantastic books coming out of Vertigo, it was very much an adult line, and as a result, I felt that that DC Comics kind of decided they didn’t need as much of that sense of maturity in their superhero titles... and that mix of maturity and innocence I had enjoyed as a fan seemed to ebb, and the books started to be feel little bit less sophisticated. At least that’s how I felt. I’m sure others would beg to differ. And at the time in DC’s lore, Ted Knight was off in Valhalla [with the JSA] fighting the Norse gods, so there was no way that another cosmic rod could be built. That cleared the field for Will Payton in the comics. So by the time they killed Will Payton I was like, “Oh, my God, I could do Starman now!” And Archie Goodwin,

Seeing Stars (top) Starman writer and co-creator James Robinson. (bottom) Original Starman artist and co-creator Tony Harris (left) with Jason Adams (and the cosmic staff) at HeroesCon 2006 in Charlotte, North Carolina. Robinson photo © DC Comics. Harris photo courtesy of Becky Harris.

54 • BACK ISSUE • Starmen Issue

who I had done The Golden Age with, knew I wanted a book, [and] was on the lookout for something for me as well. I’d come up with an idea for Captain Comet earlier on that had been squelched, so I was trying to find the right property. And when I found out that they killed Will Payton off and cancelled Starman, Archie secured me Starman to do as a new character, and that was when the idea of Jack Knight and David Knight and everything fell in place for me. TRUMBULL: What were your initial ideas to revamp Will Payton? ROBINSON: I wanted it to be edgier and more down to earth and have more of a noir feel. I know that obviously the sun is a star, and so the term “stellar energy” is meaningless. It’s really solar energy. So obviously there’s the real physics, but I still felt that artistically, the fact that Will Payton would never do much at night when the stars are out just felt odd to me. I wanted to inject more of a sense of noir, and because he was always out in the Southwest, that “Western Noir” feel… the movie Red Rock West with Nicholas Cage being a good example. I wanted to give Will Payton’s adventures a more uneasy feel, so everything didn’t look so clean. That was the initial general feeling. It was more a tone I wanted to set than any great story ideas. TRUMBULL: Was there any point when you said, as you were developing the series, “Hey, I’ve got this David Knight character right here”? Did you ever consider using David as the protagonist, or was he always just going to be the sacrificial lamb? ROBINSON: I was going to try and form more of a lineage even with the Will Payton stuff. But when Ted Knight returned to the DC Universe, having a blood link between him and the latest Starman, I thought was better and stronger. And then obviously I wanted to start with this dramatic death, which eliminated David Knight. It feels like a bit of a trope now, but as a younger writer, I just thought that it was a great way to start it. But it did make Jack clean and fresh and a new character. TRUMBULL: And how did Tony Harris come into the picture? ROBINSON: We were looking at different artists, trying to find the right person. And I thought very strongly that it had to be somebody that understood and enjoyed drawing shadows and darkness. So actually at the time, that eliminated about three quarters of the artists [available] because so much of the artists back then did stuff that was bright and open. So finding available artists that enjoyed drawing shadows became quite the manhunt. I had been aware of Tony through being friends with the Gaijin Studio guys [Author’s note: An Atlanta-based art studio with Tony Harris, Cully Hamner, Adam Hughes, Brain Stelfreeze, and others]. So I had met these guys at conventions. I’d met Tony. He hadn’t done very much at the time, but I remember seeing and being impressed with— he did three issues of Nightbreed, the Clive Barker book, that stuck in my head. I brought him up to Archie, and Archie liked him too, and so he came on board. TRUMBULL: Tony, where were you in your career at that point? TONY HARRIS: I had been doing work for the independent market for Now and Innovation and First Comics and Nightmare on Elm Street stuff and Twilight Zone and Doc Savage and just a lot of anything that I could get, basically. That was a time when there was just a ton of small publishers and they all paid page rates. That time had not died yet in the industry. At that time, the way things were done pretty much were, you spent your time in the trenches working for the indie market until you had

Art Deco-opolis (top) Harris’ exquisite Opal City captivated the reader’s eye from the very first Starman installment, Starman #0 (Oct. 1994). (bottom) From Starman Secret Files and Origins #1 (Apr. 1998), an in-depth look at the architecture of Jack Knight’s home city. TM & © DC Comics.

enough published work or you were noticed to actually take your portfolio to the Big Two and then cross your fingers, and s*** in one hand and wish in the other. [laughs] And it’s a different time. You had to go to shows [comic-cons]. There was no internet, so you couldn’t reach out to people digitally. So I did that for a while, and I was at San Diego Con one year with the Gaijin crew. I met James Robinson and we hit it off immediately. He was doing Firearm with Cully Hamner at Malibu. He said that he had Archie Goodwin’s ear at DC. And James pitched me his idea and asked me if I was into it, and I immediately was just enthralled. Not just at that, but at the idea of being able to work at the Big Two. I had done a little bit of inking at that point and a short story in Green Lantern Corps Quarterly, but no penciling work yet. I got my first work at DC as an inker. So I said, “Yeah, I’m into it.” And James and I went our separate ways and he said he would keep me updated. Then life came knocking and I went through a really rough period where I don’t care to go into the particulars of it, but my personal life just kind of fell apart, and I ended up having to leave Gaijin Studios after a year and moved back to Macon, Georgia, in with my fellow comic-book artist and my original mentor, Craig Hamilton. And I didn’t want to go back to my parents, and he gave me a place to stay until I could get on my feet. In the interim, I lost touch with James, but then somehow, I got wind that he was moving on with the project and assumed that I just was not interested anymore. And he was going to ask Cully Hamner, his Firearm partner and my studio partner, to come in and take the art over. And I just flipped out and I was like, “Oh God, hell no! No, no, no, no, no, no, no!” And I did whatever I could to—again, no internet—I did whatever I could and called whoever I could to try to reach out and find James again. And I did. And I was like, “Please, do not give this away to somebody else. I want to do it.” And so James and I re-hooked up, and I recommitted to the work. I started doing some character designs, and I came up with a look I thought was cool and gave that to James, and then we turned in the official pitch to Archie, and he said yes. I don’t even think they made us jump through any hoops. I think they were so blown away with James’ idea. I had to tweak my designs a little bit, but I got lucky right off the bat, and I hit on something. The right people came together at the right time in their lives, and I don’t want to call it luck, but just something fires. And I firmly believe that that’s what happened with me and James. I can’t explain it any other way. I’ve done a lot of other stuff since, and I’ve had a very successful career over 30 years now, and I’ve done a lot of stuff that I’m very proud of, but Starman remains this mystery to me. TRUMBULL: The book also got a high-profile launch, spinning out of the “Zero Hour” crossover. ROBINSON: I guess so, but actually there was more to it than that. Starman was due to come out, “Zero Hour” or not. We’d done two, maybe three issues of the book. And then they came up with “Zero Hour” and retroactively folded our book into that narrative. But we came first by quite a good while, actually. Starmen Issue • BACK ISSUE • 55

TRUMBULL: I see. And was it originally intended as just a miniseries? ROBINSON: Well, the way that things worked at DC at the time is that every project had to be approved by all the group editors. So after the reception of—I don’t know if negative is the right word—but the unfavorable reaction to Will Payton, [group editor] Mike Carlin was doubtful that we could immediately do another Starman book and it would work. So he said, “Why don’t we do it as a miniseries, and if it’s successful, we’ll launch another monthly.” But then after he saw two issues of what we were doing, two and a half, he was like, “You know what? This is silly. Just do it as a monthly book.” So at the end of the first four issues, there’s Mikaal, the blue alien Starman, drugged up in a circus, and you have Will Payton imprisoned on Prince Gavyn’s planet. And that was deliberate. I was like, “Okay, if this is just a four-issue miniseries, I want it to end as best I can to help convey what I want to accomplish with this hierarchy of Starmen.” That’s why what would have been issue #4, but with “Zero Hour” became issue #3, of “Sins of the Father” ended like that. TRUMBULL: So it was just a teaser for a potential follow-up. ROBINSON: Yes, but then it became a moot point. But I just liked the way that those four issues still made you want to know where the book was going, so I kept it the way it was.

DESIGNING JACK KNIGHT

TRUMBULL: Was there any point where you considered having Jack Knight look more like a standard superhero, or was he always planned to be in street clothes? ROBINSON: That was always my goal, to have Jack somewhat wear street clothes. At the time it seemed cool. It’s one of those things that at the time seemed fresh and new. Now there’s so many heroes in street clothes, it doesn’t feel special anymore. But at the time, it was a little bit of a gamble. Tony drew himself as Jack Knight in the series. HARRIS: That’s pretty much what I looked like at that point. I never went to a formal art school or anything, but the little bit of instruction that I did have, and stuff that I read with creators and writers, they always say, “Write what you know, draw what you know.” And I

figured, “Okay, well, if I’m going to be doing a monthly and I want to use photo reference, I don’t want to have to be beating a dead horse and knocking on empty doors, trying to find models and whatnot for the main character. I may as well just base it on myself.” You know, I was still young and fabulous [laughs], and I hadn’t gained all the weight and gotten old yet. So I just decided to use myself. TRUMBULL: Your initial designs changed a little bit. On your first design for Jack, he’s got long hair and it’s pulled back in a topknot. Did you decide on that change, or did DC veto that? HARRIS: I think it was a collective thing. James and I, and Archie as well, didn’t think it was the right way. And once James got into more details about Jack’s character, his look just presented itself to all of us. You know, he was into a lot of 1950s stuff, the rockabilly look with the greaser leather jacket, and he was a collector, and had this junk shop that he ran, and he just had this deep-seated love for old things. So I thought, “Okay, it might be cool to have him have this groovy sort of rockabilly look that kicked back to the ’50s a bit, but still had a little modern edge to it.” It’s not totally ’50s greaser, but you can see it there. So that’s how we finally arrived at Jack’s final character. ROBINSON: He gave Jack his own tattoos. HARRIS: Yeah, I did, actually. And then we sort of diverged at some point and Jack went off and got different tattoos than I’ve got. But we do share his first initial, his first blush of ink that he got. TRUMBULL: The “T. H.” on his shoulder. HARRIS: Yeah. I’ve got the panther on a different spot than he does. It’s on the inside of my left arm, my lower left arm, and Jack’s is on his shoulder, on his left. That might be the only one we share because I don’t have the phoenix that looks like a chicken on my side that he’s got. It was joked about tons in the series. And then he’s got the Inuit tattoos on his chest, on his left chest. I don’t have those. TRUMBULL: So it’s not a one-to-one thing. HARRIS: No, no, no, no. I’ve got a bunch more that Jack does not have. And I always envisioned that Jack got stuff over the years, and especially after I left the series, that you just didn’t see on screen. So by the time he left Opal for San Francisco, that he was pretty tatted up, you know? If you do an image search on the internet, I’ve done a lot of con sketches where I just came up with these crazy tattoo ideas. And I’ve got Jack with no sleeves on his shirt or shirtless and I’ve got all these crazy fishbone tattoos and just, whackadoo s***. So God knows what he’s got. ROBINSON: Tony actually had those goggles, the right goggles that I had in mind, and he had other aspects of it. He had all of the clothing. Most of what I was imagining for Jack was stuff that Tony had in his wardrobe. HARRIS: Honestly, if James says that the goggles were his idea, I’m not going to get into an argument over it. Here’s how I approach character design: I’ve never been much for superheroes. I respect the genre and the medium because that’s where I live and that’s where I eat. But I’ve always loved the old, clunky, practical, 1940s [look]. All my favorite superhero stuff is all from the ’40s. I’ve got this deep-seated love for that period, and I’m a World War II buff and a collector. I like a military utilitarian look to

A Star is Born (top) Courtesy of James Robinson, artist Tony Harris’ self-portrait inspiration for Jack Knight. (center spread) Original art by Harris for Starman’s tattoo, contributed by John Trumbull via ComicArtFans.com. Starman TM & © DC Comics.

56 • BACK ISSUE • Starmen Issue

Staff Infection (right) Original Starman Ted Knight (and colorist Richard Ory) make electrifying use of the cosmic rod in The Golden Age #3 (Feb. 1994), by James Robinson and Paul Smith. (left) In the pages of Starman, Tony Harris modified the staff’s appearance, as detailed in this Starman Secret Files and Origins #1 diagram. TM & © DC Comics.

stuff when I design costumes. The Great Machine in Ex Machina is the same way. And I don’t buy people becoming seamstresses and they can instantly sew these amazing costumes. So I said, “Well, if I was Jack, and my dad gave me this powerful cosmic rod and I had to defend the city in my own way and become Jack, what would I do?” Well, my first inclination was, “I’ve got this cosmic rod that is bright as hell and blasts all this energy out of it that’s harnessed from planets and from the cosmos. That’s going to be really bright, and I don’t want my corneas burned out. I’ll just give him some goggles.” So I don’t know if it was James’ idea, but I do know that I remember having that line of thought. ROBINSON: And it should be said that we introduced the long spear-like cosmic rod, which was a holdover from The Golden Age. So [we] brought that over to the main comic. So he had the spear-like cosmic rod, which we had for the first arc, and then Tony redesigned it into the shape it is now. HARRIS: I even went to the engineering school here locally and spoke to electrical engineers and a bunch of different departments there. And if you look in the Secret Files and Origins, you remember the page of the entire diagram of the cosmic rod? If you look at all the numbers pointing to different sections of it and then read what each thing is, every single thing there came directly out of the mouths of engineers. I explained to them what this cosmic rod was supposed to do. I went to these experts, the nerds, [asking], “If this could actually be built, what would this s*** be called? How could you even possibly do this?” And they gave me all these terms and I can actually sit with any fan, if they ever care to at a show, we can go through the diagram and take each term for each part of the cosmic rod, and I can tell you what those guys told me. TRUMBULL: Yeah. I’m looking at the diagram now. You’ve got the discharge scoop, the energy level indicator, the focusing lens... HARRIS: Those are all actual engineering terms that came from these guys. And when I explained to them that you’re supposed to be able to plug, stab it into the earth or any celestial body, and it harnesses the gravitational field and the power of gravity, and then puts it into this rod and transforms it into raw energy and harnesses it in the rod. And then it has focusing beams and all this kind of stuff. So it’s all like, Nerd Real. Starmen Issue • BACK ISSUE • 57

ROBINSON: Which we see still in the Stargirl TV show. HARRIS: Yeah. And I’m very honored that they decided to stay with it. Them sticking with that is super cool. They’re actually shooting Season Two right now. James is in Atlanta. And I was just talking to my wife today in the car, and I said, “You know what? I should call James and see if we can go up for a visit on the set because I would love to get my picture taken with the cosmic rod.” [laughs] COVID kind of nixed everything when they were doing Season One. Because I even invited James to my wedding in October, and he was told that if he left to go anywhere that he’d have to be quarantined again before he could return to set. So it was just impossible for him to come to the wedding. TRUMBULL: That’s a shame. HARRIS: But that’s over now. So I’m hoping that I can talk to James and arrange something so we can go up and see stuff. Cause there’s all these rumors now flying around that Jack is going to be showing up in Season Two. And then my version of the Shade ended Season One, which I was also very flattered about. So yeah, I don’t know. These pictures are floating around, and I can’t confirm anything obviously, but it sure as hell looks like Jack to me. [laughs] ROBINSON: Sorry, Tony. I guess I can reveal now, as this interview won’t appear until 2022, that Season Two features Eclipso, and the Shade has a prominent role, but Jack Knight doesn’t appear.

58 • BACK ISSUE • Starmen Issue

THE SHADE: AMORAL ALLY

TRUMBULL: James, I understand the Shade grew out of an idea you had for the Ringmaster as an amoral character in a Doc Samson proposal you did for Marvel. ROBINSON: Yes! That’s absolutely right. I had pitched a Doc Samson series a long time ago and again, it had more of a creepy, darker feel in terms of the kind of book I had in mind for that was sort of like when Bruce Jones did an incredible run of the Hulk [The Incredible Hulk vol. 2 #34–76, Jan. 2002–Oct. 2004]. I had this vague template of this character in my mind, who at Marvel would have been the Ringmaster, and who obviously became the Shade in Starman. Originally, I had planned for him to be much more of an amoral character. He’s still pretty amoral, but the series in a way is about him growing a conscience and regaining his humanity. So the character grew and evolved, but originally, he was going to be a much more amoral character. In fact originally, I kicked around the idea that he’d reveal himself to be a real villain for Jack to face. However, ultimately, I turned him into a hero, which I think suited him. TRUMBULL: And he certainly had a long history as a villain, although he was much more generic before you got your hands on him. He didn’t even have an origin, did he?

ROBINSON: No, he didn’t have an origin or a secret identity or anything. Interestingly, in terms of the inspiration for adding the Shade, it stems from a misremembrance on my part. At the time I was putting everything together, I recalled an issue of The Flash by William Messner-Loebs, which was sort of a Rogues’ Gallery get-together [The Flash vol. 2 #19, Dec. 1988]. They all meet up to honor the memory of Barry Allen, who was dead at the time, and then they all ended up fighting each other, being how charmingly goofy the Flash’s Rogues’ Gallery was back in the day. And what I remembered at the time, was that at the very end, the Shade is sitting on the curb, and he’s talking to Wally West, saying, “Now I see the genius of Barry Allen. He had us running around in circles chasing him, and it distracted us from being the master criminals we could have been.” And I was impressed with the thought behind that. That the Shade, who as you say, hadn’t any secret identity or really much of any personality, could be so reflective and introspective. However, it’s since been pointed out to me that it was actually Captain Cold who said that. So, I guess we can thank my faulty memory, pre-the internet, when stuff wasn’t as easy to look up, for the Shade being in Starman at all. TRUMBULL: Tony, what went into the Shade’s visual design? He was a pre-existing character with a preexisting look. How did you revamp him? HARRIS: I’ll give you the honest answer. When they said, “Okay, the villain’s going to be this guy called the Shade,” I had no knowledge, ’cause I started reading comics late in life. I don’t have this encyclopedic knowledge that a lot of my fellow artists do ’cause I didn’t collect when I was young. So there’s a lot I didn’t and don’t know, but I’m constantly educating myself about the medium. So anyway, they said, “Yeah, this is the villain, he’s called the Shade, and this is what he looks like.” And I was like, “F*** you.” [John laughs] “I’m not drawing that. That is the stupidest looking villain I have ever seen in my life, and I will not draw that.” I literally said that. I was like, “No disrespect, Archie, you’re the boss, but I just cannot see drawing this guy running around with curly elf shoes and a turtleneck with Star Trek shoulders on it. It’s not gonna fly.” It didn’t have the right tone of that character, and the s*** that he was going to do, that I had already read that James had written, it was just the completely wrong tone. It was very tongue-in-cheek-looking to me. And so I immediately set about talking to James, and of course, he had this whole backstory that he came up with that the guy was hundreds of years old and came up in Victorian England. That was his background, and I’m like, “Oh, there you go. Right there. Look how those guys dressed. They were kickass-looking, these dandies, running around with top hats and canes and these kickass black suits, and let’s do that.” And so I basically did not come up with anything fantastically new. People have seen that kind of stuff forever, but I just applied it in a way that I think works really well with James’ ideas, as far as who the characters should be. TRUMBULL: It definitely gave him more presence and more of a mystique.

HARRIS: Oh, absolutely. And the idea to give him sunglasses and just no color, just a solid black suit, and the cane became really his symbol more than anything. That’s actually my grandfather’s cane. That’s the one piece of the costume that’s very personal. The one thing I have from my granddad on my father’s side after he passed was that cane. Physically, I used my studio partner and inker for over ten years, Ray Snyder. He is the physical embodiment of that character. I used him as the model for my entire run on the series. Again, out of convenience, because we’re studio partners. TRUMBULL: I’m looking at your original Shade model and he’s got a bit of a Cabinet of Dr. Caligari look to him. Maybe a little bit of Nosferatu, too. HARRIS: A little bit, but actually, to be completely honest, it’s John Barrymore as Hyde in a silent film [1920’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde], and I just kind of ripped it off. And when I sent it into Archie, him being his age and being a huge film buff, he was like, “You’re not basing the Shade on John Barrymore!” He’s like, “Hit the drawing board again, kid.” [John laughs]

Shady Character Robinson’s original desire to include the Ringmaster (left inset) in a Marvel project morphed into his use of the Golden Age DC villain the Shade (right inset) in Starman. (main) A 1995 convention ink sketch of the Shade by Tony Harris, courtesy of Heritage. The Shade TM & © DC Comics. Ringmaster TM & © Marvel.

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Face-Off with the Shade James Robinson teamed with rotating artists on a four-issue Starman spinoff in 1997, The Shade. Tony Harris painted all four covers, including this one featuring the Golden Age Flash, for issue #3 (June 1997). Courtesy of Heritage. TM & © DC Comics.

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SADIE AND NASH: JACK’S TRUE LOVE AND FIERCEST FOE

TRUMBULL: A big villain of the series is Nash, the new Mist. She was an evil parallel to Jack’s story. Her brother Kyle was the heir apparent to that villainous dynasty, but instead it becomes Nash, the person you don’t expect. ROBINSON: Yeah. I wanted to make her vulnerable and show she was this eager daughter of the Mist, [rather than] the typical bad girl. I wanted to make her complex and show that she was so keen to please her father that she became a villain due to that more than through any real intentions of her own. Although after a while she became a real villain. TRUMBULL: Another character you introduced was Sadie Falk, who became the love of Jack’s life. Did you always know that she was going to be Jayne Payton from the previous Starman series? ROBINSON: No, that was something that came a little later. All I knew is that Jack’s intended was going to be named Sadie because I liked the name from the Beatles song [“Sexy Sadie”]. TRUMBULL: Sadie made a couple cameo appearances early on, and then you weaved her back into the series as Jack’s love interest. Their relationship built much more gradually than you typically see. ROBINSON: That was intentional, to not present somebody and immediately they’re the one and it’s cut and

Nash bridges… …the 1940s with the 1990s. (top) The players are gathered on pages 21–22 of Starman #10 (Aug. 1995), which features a page-turn reveal of (bottom) Nash, the new Mist, taking on the mantle of (inset) the Golden Age Starman enemy. TM & © DC Comics.

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Counting Stars (top) Jack feels almost naked without his trademark goggles on this actionpacked Harris/Von Grawbadger original art page from Starman #12 (Oct. 1995), courtesy of Heritage. (bottom) A great portrait by Harris showcasing Jack’s eyewear, on the cover of Starman #37 (Dec. 1997). TM & © DC Comics.

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KNIGHTS ERRANT: FATHER TED AND BROTHER DAVID

TRUMBULL: So much of the heart of the book is about Jack and his father Ted learning to understand each other and love each other. Did that relationship play out the way you wanted it to when you started the series? ROBINSON: Pretty much. There were things that I always knew I wanted. Jack wouldn’t say, “I love you” until the final issue of the “Grand Guignol” arc when Ted Knight is about to die. That I knew from day one. Some of it was definitely stuff that came as I went along, but the idea of these two being somewhat at odds due to a generational disconnect, but over the course of time Jack came to see his father as a young man and really see all that his father had accomplished, was something I knew I wanted to do from day one. The love was always there, but the respect and the understanding wasn’t, which is something that—

dried. I definitely wanted to bring her back in at the right time, and then it was not long after that I began to realize I wanted to make her into Will Payton’s sister. And make their meeting—actually, so there was a reason behind it, which makes sense. So that came soon after. TRUMBULL: And that was yet another connection with the previous Starmen. At what point did you say, “I’m going to tie together every single Starman that DC has ever done,” including the one from that one-shot Batman story in Detective Comics #247 (Sept. 1957)? ROBINSON: Pretty early on. As I recall, I did not intend to do the Batman one. Because at the time, it was a secret identity for Batman in the Golden Age, who post-Crisis no longer existed. So I was thinking very literally. And then obviously as time went on, I decided, “You know what? I have to involve all the Starmen and do the Batman Starman.” And so the final little arc, I managed to squeeze it in before the end [“1951,” Starman #76–79, Apr.–July 2001]. TRUMBULL: So did you not know who the Starman of 1951 would be at first? ROBINSON: No. TRUMBULL: Wow. I imagined that was something you’d planned either from the very beginning or very close to it. ROBINSON: No. I’ve said this before, I read somewhere, this was in an interview with Neil Gaiman, as he was talking about coming to the end of Sandman, how much was planned. He said that, and he felt this was sort of true of most things, what’s planned was about 75 percent, and then you get surprised by the ideas that pop up out of nowhere that you end up incorporating. So David Knight being the 1950s Starman, the Batman Starman, that was very much something that came as a bolt of lightning. HARRIS: And you know what? As a creator, that kind of stuff, sometimes you don’t really have a say in it. And I’ve spoken to fans about this before, and it’s difficult sometimes to get them to understand what we mean. And they’re like, “Oh, bulls***. You’re just grandstanding.” But sometimes when you are neck deep in writing or drawing a story, you are really not in control. And you can believe that or not believe it, it doesn’t matter to me, but it’s fact. And sometimes it goes in directions that you never could have dreamed when you were doing the outline. And that’s exactly what James is talking about there.

well, I’m not sure about the respect perhaps, but the understanding wasn’t there. And I think that sometimes that does come with age and walking the path that you come to realize your parents walked before you. TRUMBULL: Tony, who did you use as the model for Ted Knight? HARRIS: Me. TRUMBULL: Just you aged up? HARRIS: [laughs] Yep. Because I figured, you know what, I’m Jack already, and it just made sense to use myself for his dad too, and just age him up. ’Cause you know, fathers look like their sons all the time, and I’m always available. TRUMBULL: And what about David, Jack’s brother, who’s killed off four pages into the first issue? HARRIS: David was based on this friend of mine named John Calvin Smith. And he was this really young kid who was an artist himself and hung around the studio and became really tight with a lot of the guys in the group. And I used him a lot for stand-in stuff, if I needed somebody to hold something and pose or whatever. When it came time to cast Starman, I did it just like a casting director for a film, and I thought about what he should look like. And John Calvin had the right look to me as the faithfulto-his-father’s-legacy older brother, who’s kind of a jock-looking dude, got some muscle on him and “Yes, I’ll take up the mantle,” that kind of thing. He just had the right look. Plus, he was a student at the time and not working, so he had a lot of free time. He was always available when we were doing photo shoots. TRUMBULL: How did you guys decide to do the “Talking with David” issues where once a year, Jack talks with his dead brother in some sort of black-and-white afterlife? ROBINSON: I know the idea came to me, and I felt, and it was nice that—that was also the issue, I think, where I feel Tony’s art really took a leap in terms of growth. I was very proud of what he did with the issue. HARRIS: I’ve had people tell me at shows, “Man, the issue before this, and then this one, it doesn’t even look like the same guy. It looks like two different people drew it, or another guy drew it like a couple of years later or something.” ROBINSON: These things sort of fall into place somehow. I will say this, that Archie was all about trying things and experimenting, and he definitely encouraged me and Tony to think outside of the box and not just always do what was expected. So the idea was originally, it was a single issue and then the idea of doing it every year just fell into place very quickly. We had so much fun doing that one.

Shining Star Tony Harris’ disco-era pastiche painting featuring the Mikaal Tomas Starman, from Starman #28 (Mar. 1997). If it makes you feel like dancin’, then get down and boogie! TM & © DC Comics.

TRUMBULL: Tony, a name we haven’t brought up yet is your inker on the series, Wade von Grawbadger. Was it your choice to have an inker on the series, or was that more of a time/deadline thing? HARRIS: It was just the way things were done then. That was not a time when you could even try to talk an editor into allowing you to ink your own stuff. It was totally about time. I knew Wade back from the Gaijin days and worked with him a couple of times on smaller stuff. I asked for him specifically, because we had a good synergy, he understood how to translate my pencils into ink, and we just worked well together. TRUMBULL: How many issues were you able to pencil a year? HARRIS: I think I averaged about ten. It depended, because sometimes we used the “Times Past” as a cushion for me, which I thought was a really great idea. TRUMBULL: Yes, the “Times Past” issues filled out the history of Opal City and Turk County, and many of the characters. How did those come about? ROBINSON: It was knowing that Tony was doing his best, but he wasn’t a guy that could do 12 issues a year. So as opposed to having fill-in art, which has always been disappointing, actually giving it a structure, so that each one had a meaning and a place and also, by having these written ahead of time, it gave artists that worked a little slower the chance to take their time and do work in the book. TRUMBULL: Like Craig Hamilton doing that issue with the 1976 Starman in Starman #28 (Mar. 1997). ROBINSON: He did both that one, he did the one that explained how the Victorian rocket was built [Starman #54, June 1999], and part of one of the Annuals as well. But yes, Craig Hamilton is the perfect example of someone that needed a little more time, and so the idea of the “Times Past” was perfect. HARRIS: Because you didn’t have to read them to follow the regular storyline, and so it wouldn’t affect you as a fan reading the series if you did or did not read it. But I still, at the end of the day, I think they were integral to the book as a whole. And those books, a lot of times ended up coming back and weaving into the regular storyline, too. Starmen Issue • BACK ISSUE • 63

BUILDING OPAL CITY

TRUMBULL: What went into the creation of Jack’s hometown of Opal City? ROBINSON: At the time it seemed to me that DC was doing their best to try and turn into Marvel in terms of cities. There were no new fictional cities. Obviously, there was still Gotham, and there was still Metropolis and some of the others, but they weren’t introducing any new ones. Everything was in real cities. The New Teen Titans, their biggest book, all took place in Manhattan. And I thought what’s fun about the DC Universe are these fictional cities that are sort of based on New York, or sort of based on Detroit or Chicago. I always thought Central City was Chicago, Keystone was Detroit. Gotham was New York, obviously. But by the time I came along they’d stopped doing this. So I deliberately chose to go back to coming up with a fictional city and really embracing it and having fun with it. TRUMBULL: And you really started a wave of more new fictional cities in the DC Universe. A couple of years after that, we had Nightwing in Blüdhaven and John Byrne put Wonder Woman in Gateway City. ROBINSON: And then Grant Morrison and Mark Millar did Aztek, they set that in a fictional city [Vanity City]. It isn’t often that people go, “That was me first,” but I

think in terms of the renaissance of fictional cities, I am the one that can be thanked for that, actually. TRUMBULL: What places inspired Opal? Was it one city in particular or was it a mish-mosh of several? ROBINSON: Anything cool that I liked in a city. I like Victorian architecture. I like Deco architecture. Tony loves pirates. He was partly responsible for that whole storyline coming in. HARRIS: That was totally me poking at James going, “You gotta give it to me, you gotta give it to me.” And actually, it wasn’t the Black Pirate originally. It was Captain Fear. That’s who we originally intended on using. And it was terrible timing. We found out from DC that we couldn’t after James had come up with this whole storyline and then they were like, “Nope, you can’t have him.” And so then we just switched to the Black Pirate. And it was still a good fit. So it didn’t ruin anything. ROBINSON: Tony was obsessed with pirates. So that was why we had the pirate ghosts and the Black Pirate. It was just fun to use that character. It was an historical character, but it was part of DC’s history from the Golden Age, too. But you know, how far into America do pirates get? They’re not explorers. They’re more on the East Coast. So, a little bit confusing, and probably my weakest aspect of conceiving the Starman comic, in terms of plotting in advance and setting things up. HARRIS: [Opal] was very much me and James, hand-in-hand, going back and forth. It was not all him, it was not all me. That was very much a collaborative effort. Because he had mentioned early on that there was going to be Old Town, and then there’s going to be the new section of Opal. And I let him know how passionate I was about Art Deco. I still have just a deep

Yo Ho No! DC editorial nixed the use of (top inset) Captain Fear in the pages of Starman, so (bottom inset) another buccaneer, the Black Pirate, was shanghaied into service. (main) Original cover art to Starman #30 (May 1997), featuring the Black Pirate. Courtesy of its artist, Tony Harris. TM & © DC Comics.

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itch for that stuff. I just love it. And so I tried to incorporate that to the nth degree. James came up with the notion that industry and a depression set in, like it did everywhere else in the country, in the ’30s. And that the architectural industry and building of things in Opal died. It didn’t bounce back like a lot of major cities did. It just stopped. And then we talked about where it stopped and then the Seven Colors River cutting through everything. Opal had that river, the Seven Colors, running through the middle. Old Town was on one side and Opal proper was on the other, except for two tips on the outside, like a crescent moon, and Old Town spread across the river into the heart. And then beyond that, this is how he described it to me—Opal looks like Emerald City in The Wizard of Oz shooting up out of nothing but wheat and corn fields. There are no suburbs. It’s just Dead Turk County outside of there, and that’s it. So then I always thought, “Okay, well then it’s got to be north of Kansas.” Maybe not in Kansas, but definitely north of there. ROBINSON: Towards the end when I had to think, “Where was this place geographically in America?” I didn’t really think it through enough. And so it’s, “Well, where is this, James? Where can you put this in the world? ’Cause it seems a little bit like it’s Baltimore, it’s maybe a little bit like somewhere else and somewhere else.” TRUMBULL: So you didn’t have a particular geographical place in mind for Opal? ROBINSON: If I had to pick one, I guess only because it feels northern, but it’s actually southern, I think it was the northernmost of the Confederate states, actually... Maryland. So I would probably say Baltimore.

ARCHIE GOODWIN, GUIDING LIGHT

TRUMBULL: Can you talk about editor Archie Goodwin’s influence on the series? ROBINSON: Archie was a huge influence in my life in terms of taking interest in me when I was first trying to get in. And believing in me, getting me The Golden Age to write, which was a prestige format book, when I was a very young writer. So he really helped me to work to be a better writer and showed me how to write and all of that. But it wasn’t just me. Everybody has their own story with Archie, where he tells them, or informs them, or inspires them to be creators, and he was just a fantastic guy. So things were great in terms of working together. HARRIS: Archie was the absolute best. I could not have asked for a better editor and father figure and friend. And just the knowledge that guy amassed during his career as a freelancer was indispensable, working on that series. He just gave James and me so much leeway and he was like, “Okay.” And I’m sure in his own head, he was like, “All right, I know exactly how much rope I’m going to give these guys before they hang themselves. And every once in a while, that rope’s going to get a little bit tight, and I’m going to pull back.” And he always knew when to do that. Case in point: There’s only one time that Archie ever yelled at me or raised his voice in any way, and didn’t

Will You Look At That? The Will Payton Starman dominates Tony Harris’ painted cover to issue #36 (Nov. 1997). Original art scan courtesy of Heritage. TM & © DC Comics.

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Archie Goodwin, 1937–1998 Tony Harris illustrated this beautiful, yet heartbreaking, tribute to Starman’s beloved editor, which was published in issue #45. (For BACK ISSUE’s examination of the life and career of the late editor/writer/ cartoonist/all-around good guy, see issue #103.) TM & © DC Comics.

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Cowboy and Indian James Robinson brought DC Western character Scalphunter— first seen in 1977’s Weird Western Tales #39—into his Starman saga. Another legacy character, Scalphunter was the son of DC Western hero Matt Savage, but raised by the Kiowa tribe, who gave him the name Ke-Woh-No Tay. (left) Issue #54 (June 1999), cover by Tony Harris. (right) Issue #74 (Feb. 2001), cover by Andrew Robinson. TM & © DC Comics.

have a conversation with me about creativity or ideas, where he just said, “It’s going to be my way or the highway.” It was over a cover. I could not tell you which one it was, but in those days, I did have to turn in thumbnails for covers. I had to turn in three roughs every time I did a painted cover, and then he would choose the one that he wanted. Of course, I always had my favorite, and I was kind of unabashed about that. And sometimes I wouldn’t put as much work into the other two sketches, but I tried to make them all equally finished and strong ideas, because I never knew which one he was going to pick. I didn’t want to get stuck painting something that I hated, you know? So there was this one cover—again, I really wish I could remember which one it was—but he said, “Okay, I want to do this one.” And I was like, “Man, I really don’t want to do that one. I think number two over here is really the strong play.” And we went back and forth maybe once or twice, and then he literally shouted at me over the phone and was like, “We’re not discussing it anymore. We’re doing the third one. That’s the end of it.” And I didn’t have anything to say, but “Yes, sir.” That was it. I didn’t say another word. I just said, “Yes, sir,” and I painted it, and everybody loved it. ROBINSON: And then [Archie] got sick and sicker and sicker and his assistant editor at the time, Chuck Kim, really was heroic as he took over and kept the book going at its lowest point, in terms of the morale of everybody and everything. HARRIS: Chuck really did take over the book for quite a while. ROBINSON: And he was there until they decided to have an official new editor come onboard. Chuck lobbied to be that new editor, and when they gave it to Peter Tomasi, I think that was the end for Chuck. He left DC and New York both and moved to the West Coast, and I think he’s doing very well. He’s very happy there from what I know. HARRIS: Chuck doesn’t get enough credit for having steered that ship. Because when Archie got sick, even before he passed, Chuck really was running the show. And I hope I’m not talking out of school, but Chuck really had hoped that they were going to give the book to him. And James and I were fine with it. Because he’d been there since day one, he knew everything, you know? And he did a great job. And in the end, they just decided not to, and it broke everybody’s heart, I think, on some level. But you couldn’t have picked a better

editor to take the reins [than Peter Tomasi]. I mean, Peter was superlative. He was really amazing. TRUMBULL: How did Peter Tomasi change the dynamic when he came in? ROBINSON: Peter was a very encouraging editor, and he’s super smart. And he knew, much like Archie would, that if I did something that was odd or narratively was striking, introduce a character and it wasn’t necessarily obvious why, he’d ask, “Why have you done this?” or “Why have you done that?” And if I could tell him, he’d go, “Oh, okay. I understand, fine.” But if you couldn’t, he’d say, “Why don’t you think about it, and I’ll ask you again in a week and see if you have an answer.” So that way of being aware that their writer might be making a mistake but giving him the freedom and the trust to explain himself and forge his own way, Peter kind of picked that up and ran with it. He’s a fantastic guy, a fantastic editor, and really did an amazing job of carrying this book through to the end.

THE CURVEBALLS OF COLLABORATION

TRUMBULL: How did you two influence each other while you were doing the book? ROBINSON: The O’Dares are a perfect example of how Tony would throw me a curveball and I’d run with it. The O’Dare cops are at Ted’s bedside, in issue #1. Out of the blue he drew one of the cops with this big Sam Elliott mustache, and that was the beginning of Matt O’Dare. That wasn’t [something] visually I created and said, “Hey, Tony, I want this character to look like this,” that was Tony just putting this character into the group and me going, “…Who the hell is that guy?” [John laughs], and then running with it. And ultimately, his storyline is a secondary story that runs throughout the entire series, leading to me showing the death of Scalphunter in issue #74, the last “Times Past” I did, with Russ Heath. Tony’s crazy about pirates, so bringing in the pirates was definitely something that began with Tony, and I picked up on. And then… just little things. Like, for instance, the way that Solomon Grundy doesn’t look like the classic Solomon Grundy. HARRIS: Yeah. That was another case where he explained to me Solly’s manner and how he was going to act and whatnot. I looked Starmen Issue • BACK ISSUE • 67

at the original concept of that character, and he just looked like Frankenstein, with the big torn-up suit and the sloppy white hair and just kind of a ghoul for a face. And I just didn’t find that interesting. So I said, “Oh, I’ll try this,” and I got lucky. And again, that was my first blush on that character. And James loved it. ROBINSON: It led to me creating this sort of new, gentler, more poetic character. You know, Tony has always been a bit of a wild card when it comes to depicting DC characters. That’s why those Justice Society Liberty File books he did were so… The costumes were tweaked in ways that made them very true to the things he likes to draw. So he would throw these curveballs at me sometimes whether I liked it or not, and I would fix it or make it work. And most of the times I think it worked really well. We had a little bit of a debate on this or that, but mainly, it was me rolling with the punches a little bit, and Tony is a very independent spirit, but it always led to a better book in the end. TRUMBULL: And of course, it’s much easier to adjust the script on the fly than to ask the artist to redraw something. So would you sometimes get pages back with elements you weren’t expecting? ROBINSON: It isn’t like Tony was off being all independent. He’s very professional. It isn’t that he was going hog wild. He would throw these little subtle curveballs in terms of a design or a thought or something, and that would send me down a creative path. It wasn’t that I was constantly dealing with a madman who was sending in crazy art. It was a much easier relationship than that, I promise you.

EXIT TONY HARRIS

When You Wish Upon a Star Last page of Starman #45 (Aug. 1998), co-creator Tony Harris’ farewell to the series as its interior illustrator. TM & © DC Comics.

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TRUMBULL: Tony, I’m sure on your end there were times when you got a script where it was like, “Oh, my God, what the hell is James doing now?” HARRIS: Yeah. That would be when Jack went into space, and I left the series. [laughs] TRUMBULL: Okay, let’s talk about that. HARRIS: We talked about where the series was going at that point. And [James] unveiled his plans to me about Jack leaving Earth and going into space and having this grand adventure out there… And I absolutely hated every bit of it. I just couldn’t stand any of it. [laughs] Because we briefly talked about some of the characters that would be coming in. And again, I didn’t have a lengthy knowledge of everything like James does. So then I started doing my research, like I always do. And the more I looked into it, the more I just hated every single stitch of all of it. I understand now that the work is... It’s brilliant. It may not have been my cup of tea, but it’s lauded for being as amazing as anything that happened in Opal. Because the series is a long haul, it’s not a sprint, and you’re talking about the whole package here. And when everything came full circle, it ended amazing. But we were both young and full of piss and vinegar. And we were fighting all the time about ideas, and push and pull, and where things were going to go, and we had a falling out and we got to that point, and I told James, “If you f***ing write that s***, I’m going to f***ing quit.” Those were my exact words. And Archie had gotten really sick, too, at that point. ROBINSON: It was an odd time. This is when Archie Goodwin died. Huge blow. HARRIS: I was not close with my father at all at that point, and so Archie was very much a father to me. And so Archie’s passing just crushed me. And then I was equally pissed about this space adventure. And I just said, “F*** you, I quit.” And so [James] wrote Jack leaving Earth on the last issue that I drew and

just made it, “Tony’s gone when Jack’s gone.” And it was, I think, a very decent segue into Peter [Snejbjerg] coming in. ROBINSON: And you know, doing a monthly book for an artist… All writers do more than one book a month, but a monthly book for an artist is a huge responsibility. And I think after a while, that wears you down and it means you don’t have enough time to pursue any of the other creative avenues that you might want to pursue. So I think that it’s fair to say that Tony was at that point. Towards the end there, you’ll see that he wasn’t managing the amount of issues he used to. There’s a few places where Mark Buckingham and/or Steve Yowell would fill in for him, as opposed to doing “Times Past.” And this isn’t me saying anything negative about Tony. It was just a lot to take on for a long time. TRUMBULL: James, you’ve written that you nearly left the book at that point as well. ROBINSON: When Archie passed, it was a blow for both me and Tony. And I think there was an emotional aspect to [Tony] saying, “Maybe this is time for me to go.” I almost sent Jack into space, with the idea that another writer could pick up if they wanted to, or he goes off into space, the book would end, and the reader could write their own further adventures of Jack. But if you want to get all poetic about it, Jack was ringing my ear, “You can’t give up on me yet,” and I stayed around. And also, at the time I had made friends with David Goyer, who wrote the “Stars My Destination” arc with me, and really kept me creatively engaged at a time when I was down. You know, I was going through a divorce too, at the time, which was very depressing. So it was an odd time for me. And David Goyer really kept me engaged, which I’ll always be grateful for. And also there was the uncertainty of finding the right artist to take over. Luckily, I had known Peter [Snejbjerg] for many, many years because I had done a Grendel series with Teddy Kristiansen’s studio, and I had met him many, many years ago. But I knew Peter Snejbjerg then. So when his name came up— I might have even suggested him, thinking about it— he was the perfect replacement for Tony, in that he also understood shadow, and he immediately got all of the sort of feel of the stuff that I needed from him. So that helped to reenergize me as well, apart from David Goyer’s involvement. To be fair to Peter, he almost did as many [issues] as Tony, and it really did become his book by the end. It definitely feels like a book with two artists in their styles. I find that very interesting, without choosing one. The stories that Tony and then Peter did definitely suit the styles of Tony and Peter in a big way. TRUMBULL: I understand there was also some bad feeling between you two when Jack lost his tattoos as a result of the cliffhanger in Starman #52 (Apr. 1999). ROBINSON: [Jack] got blasted and his body was incinerated, when he saved the life of Adam Strange’s wife Alanna. That was the cliffhanger. TRUMBULL: And when Jack was resurrected in the next issue, most of his body was cloned, so he lost all of his tattoos. HARRIS: I felt like that was really a personal “F*** you, Tony. You don’t like my ideas for this or that?” I really did feel like he did that on purpose. ROBINSON: I hadn’t intended to remove the tattoos. That wasn’t even on my mind. It was only after I was writing it, I realized, “Oh, my God, he’d have no tattoo.” So it was an accident, but I think Tony, having left the

book, saw it as a personal slight. He was upset. Then I got a bit upset, he thought I was capable of being so petty. We had a disagreement for a little while, but we obviously made up, as we always seem to. I actually understand his point of view that he must’ve thought it was deliberate, but it absolutely wasn’t. HARRIS: James and I are very different. But he insists that he never ever meant for that to be a personal thing. And he’s my friend. We have both forgiven each other for a lot. And if my friend tells me that he didn’t mean it and he didn’t do it on purpose, then I have to take him at his word.

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Look Who Jack ‘Rann’ Into DC’s Earthborn spaceman and hero of Rann, Adam Strange, guested in Starman #53 (May 1999). (left) Original art scan of the issue’s painted cover by Harris, courtesy of Heritage. (right) Jack is tat-less on this humorous page from the issue. Written by James Robinson and David Goyer, with art by Peter Snejbjerg and Keith Champagne. TM & © DC Comics.

TWO ARTISTS, SIX STARMEN, AND ONE FEZ

TRUMBULL: Tony, after you left Starman with issue #45, you continued to do covers for a while. Were you keeping up with what was going on in the book? HARRIS: There’s no way I could have done a cohesive cover if I wasn’t reading the script. So I was reading the scripts as they were coming in because I wanted to make sure I was doing a cover that was going to be story specific. I don’t really care for random covers that don’t really mean anything. If I have my druthers, I’d rather do something that’s story specific. TRUMBULL: So would you look at what Peter Snejbjerg was doing to match what he was drawing? HARRIS: Yeah. Anything that he was designing or that was specific to the storyline that I didn’t know about, I would make sure that it was working and jibing with the interiors. TRUMBULL: You also did six covers with Alex Ross, which were made into a poster (Starman #57–62, Sept. 1999–Feb. 2000). What was that collaboration like? HARRIS: It was crazy, man. I think back on that now, and… [laughs] A publisher just would not put up with that s*** now. I mean, maybe they would because it’s Alex Ross, but we designed it [together]. We were super close at that point, and we were on the phone all the time while we were working, so it was no big stretch for us to be on the phone talking. So we both said, “Yeah, we’d love to work together.” And I can’t

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remember if it was Alex or me that came up with the idea. “Let’s do one big image and let’s do six covers.” Alex is an ambitious son of a bitch, so it was probably his idea. And there were so many different characters that have been Starman that there were enough to do six. So it just made sense to do it. And because we were on the phone all the time anyway, we designed it on the phone. And we had fax machines—HA-HA, dinosaurs! [John laughs] So I would do a sketch, and then he would do a sketch, and we would just fax them back and forth and then tweak each other’s work. And so we got everything distilled down to a design that we thought worked really well and would work cut apart six ways like that. Because we knew that DC was going to be interested in releasing a poster as well. Which, that’s a no-brainer. And here’s the crazy bit: We decided what size we were going to do the original, got specs written down, and I don’t recall if Alex started first or me, but we had a final layout that he did based on our sketches back and forth, and then got the specs down, and then purchased the illustration board, and it was one big piece. I think Alex was the one that roughed everything in, went through and drew the lines that separated all six covers and then did a rough. We decided that he was going to pencil—and the credits on the book and for the poster and stuff still piss me off to this day, ’cause I got cut short. What happened was, we decided which characters that we liked the best,

which ones were his favorite and which ones were my favorite. And then he was going to pencil half of the six, I was going to pencil the other half, and he was going to paint over my pencils, and I was going to paint over his pencils. TRUMBULL: Gotcha. HARRIS: And we’d never heard of anything done like that before. Usually, it was Alex working with somebody [else] and Neal Adams or somebody would do this really cool pencil layout and then Alex would Xerox it and blow it up to whatever size he needed. But in this case, I’d never heard of anything where two guys went back and forth like that. So it’s an absolute, 100%, true collaboration. You can’t tell where one guy stops and the other one starts. And that just really set us on fire. And DC agreed to it.

So we set about, and then I think Alex started and so he penciled everything that he was going to pencil and roughed in just outlines of where my stuff was going to go. And then [he] constructed a gigantic box and FedExed it to me on DC’s bill. TRUMBULL: Wow. HARRIS: And then I got it and went in, and penciled all my stuff, did the same thing until the entire thing [was done]. And there were a lot of supporting characters in the background. So he penciled half of the Starmen, and I penciled half of the Starmen and then we both just said, “Ooh, I’d love to do the O’Dares in pencil and you paint me,” and back and forth. And we decided to cut all that stuff up. And of course, I penciled Jack, ‘cause, you know, it’s my book. So once it was all penciled,

There’s a Starman for Everyone Tony Harris and Alex Ross collaborated on the covers for Starman #57 (Sept. 1999)–62 (Feb. 2000), which combined into this utterly fantastic poster depicting James Robinson’s galaxy of DC Starmen. TM & © DC Comics.

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All Together, Now Harris’ original art to the wraparound cover of Starman Omnibus vol. 5 (2010). Courtesy of Heritage. TM & © DC Comics.

I went back and painted over all of his pencils and then FedExed the whole thing back to him again. TRUMBULL: On DC’s dime… HARRIS: …on DC’s dime [laughs], from Georgia to Chicago. And then he painted over all my pencils. I think it went back and forth one or two more times for the background characters and to do all the airbrush special effects. Because he had developed this technique that I just thought was brilliant, I’d never seen it done before, for doing space techniques for nebulas and galaxies and s*** like that. He said, “Yeah, man, I’ve got this fez.” And I’m like, “…A what?” And he goes, “You know, like the Mummy wore! A red fez that’s got the tassel on it?” And he goes, “I take the tassel, and I’ll mask off the area that I want, and I’ll airbrush down a color. And then I know I’m going to put a darker color on top or a lighter color, it just depends on the piece or the section. And then I take the tassel and lay it on that section, and then physically with my fingers go in there and move the tassels around in these random patterns, and then take the airbrush with a different color and airbrush directly at the tassel over the top of that.” And go back and look at those covers; you’ll see what I’m talking about. TRUMBULL: Yeah, I’m looking at the cover of #57, the one that focuses on Jack. There’s this nebula behind him and yeah, it’s gorgeous. HARRIS: …That’s how that was done. And then when he sent the painting to me, he FedExed me that fez! [John laughs] So I didn’t have to go look for one.

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I could’ve gone and got a tassel, but he said, “Yeah, I’ll just send it, and that way we used the same one on the whole thing!” And so I used the same tassel on that fez, and then I would do the nebula stuff and everything on my sections where I was painting it. And that’s how that whole thing was constructed. It was the most laborious project I’ve ever done, just because it was analog. There was no digital—nothing! But the most rewarding. I mean, just everything was tactile and physical and just the time we spent talking about the design on the phone, and then going back and forth with sketches and changing each other’s stuff, and it was a true collaborative process, in every sense of the word. TRUMBULL: That is something else. How long did that take you altogether? HARRIS: Oh, God, I couldn’t even tell you. But we did have to work within the parameters of deadlines, I’ll tell you that. TRUMBULL: And after that, you stopped doing the covers, and your friend Andrew Robinson took over. HARRIS: When I decided to leave, I said, “You know, I think it’s time for me to go and pursue the rest of my career.” My studio partner, Andrew Robinson, is just brilliant. We were constantly painting and looking at each other’s stuff on a daily basis in the studio. I just couldn’t think of another guy that was more suited to take that mantle. I asked him to do it, and of course he said yes. And I’m just so proud of the work he did after my departure. He just did some absolutely brilliant covers. He brought a lot to Jack, I think. And actually,

when he first took over, he was having me pose, doing photo reference for his paintings. [laughs] TRUMBULL: Oh, wow. There’s an irony to that, definitely. HARRIS: Specifically, I remember posing for the one where Jack is up against the Art Deco background, and he’s being pinned to the wall with all those arrows [Starman #67, July 2000]. And then his first cover, the one where Jack is flying right at you holding the cosmic rod and you can see Opal behind him [Starman #63, Mar. 2000].

ARRIVEDERCI, BON VOYAGE, GOODBYE

TRUMBULL: James, when you ended Starman with issue #80, you got something that we hardly ever see in mainstream superhero books: You had a definitive ending. We only really saw that in that era with Sandman and when John Ostrander and Tom Mandrake finished their run on The Spectre. How did that come about? How did DC let you say, “I’m going to finish up the story of Jack Knight?” ROBINSON: Well, at the time, the feeling was that I was so much ingrained in Starman… that it was my character and my story, that anyone else picking up, carrying on afterwards, would be a mistake. It wouldn’t feel the same. And sales were at a point that, me on the book meant it was worth keeping it on. But it was at that point instead of bringing in a new guy, using the new guy on a new project would probably be a better use of his or her time. So it just made more sense to end the book on a high. TRUMBULL: Did you ask that Jack basically be retired from the DC Universe and that no one else pick up the character again?

ROBINSON: I didn’t ask them. Again, I was very lucky that that seems to have happened. I did make the conscious decision to give the star rod to Courtney Whitmore, to Stargirl—to Geoff [Johns]—I mean, you can take the metaphor of that as well. But I knew that if he had it, then there might be a version of Jack with the rod that would spring out of nowhere in a few years. It was an attempt to keep that from happening. And you know, Stargirl is the face of Geoff’s writing and is a very popular character and has become a TV show that I actually worked on. TRUMBULL: So when the book ended, Jack drives off into the sunset to go live in San Francisco with Sadie, and he decides to become a painter. And he hasn’t appeared since. HARRIS: Correct. That’s by design. TRUMBULL: So they can’t use Jack without your permission? HARRIS: Correct. We have character equity. We own part of the character. Not of Starman, but we own a piece of Jack. Which I’m very grateful that DC saw fit to do that. ’Cause you know, they’re a big corporation. They didn’t have to. And they did. ROBINSON: We have a contract that if they do anything with Jack, they have to come to us first [and] give us the option to do it. TRUMBULL: Okay. So like a right of first refusal. ROBINSON: Yes. HARRIS: I think it says something like if he has a speaking part or something. ’Cause he did appear in a few books, like when a character died and there was a funeral and whatnot. But if they wanted to do a new series, or a one-shot, or a graphic novel, they would have to offer it to us before they could offer it to anybody else.

And Here’s to You, Mister Robinson While no artist was more identified with Starman than the series’ co-creator Tony Harris, Andrew Robinson illustrated some astounding covers toward the end of the book’s run. Cover art to (left) Starman #63 (Mar. 2000) and (right) 67 (July 2000). TM & © DC Comics.

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UNFINISHED BUSINESS: STARMAN: KAIKO

TRUMBULL: So would the two of you ever revisit Jack Knight? James, you came back and wrote Starman issue #81 (Mar. 2010), but it focused on the Shade as part of the “Blackest Night” event, and Jack didn’t appear. Would you two ever get back together to do another Jack Knight story? HARRIS: I’m going to give you a little tidbit here that not anybody knows about. And I got nothing to lose because I already lost. James and I were talking years and years ago, back when we were both still on the book as a team; we wanted to do a graphic novel, fully painted, of Jack having an adventure in Japan. TRUMBULL: Yeah. James teased that a few times when you two were doing the book. HARRIS: And it never came to be. Not even after I left. We didn’t pursue it. And after we started working together again… The fanbase has been so loyal and rabid for this book, and it’s been in print since the series ended. They have reprinted this book in every country on the planet, and in every incarnation you can possibly imagine in America, from hardcovers to softcovers, to oversized, to omnibus, and it’s coming out again. They’re reprinting everything again. James and I were talking, and we said, “Well dammit, you know, let’s do that adventure. We always wanted to do that, and we never got around to doing it.” You know, Jack is happy and retired where he is, this would not take place [now]. He would not be coming out of retirement; this story would take place back when he was still active as Starman. He’d still be that young guy, you know? TRUMBULL: So it’d be a flashback to Jack’s time as Starman? ROBINSON: Yes. It would take place between issues #27 and 29. HARRIS: And James came up with this f***ing great story. I wish I could share it with you. He wrote this beautiful story. And I did the artwork that’s going to be on the cover of this magazine. That was the art for the pitch. [Editor’s note: And wow, are we thrilled to feature it on our cover!] ROBINSON: Tony and I were actively trying to do that story, to work again on Jack Knight, but DC said no. [The title is] Starman: Kaiko, which is a Japanese word that translates to “recollection,” which was a part of the story’s underlying theme. It would have introduced a cool new character too, so there’s that as well. HARRIS: [James] came up with this amazing pitch and wrote it, and I did some artwork to go with it, and we pitched it, and 74 • BACK ISSUE • Starmen Issue

Starman: Kaiko Courtesy of Tony Harris, uncolored presentation art for Starman: Kaiko. DC, won’t you please reconsider publishing this project? Starman TM & © DC Comics.

[Marie] Javins [editor-inchief of DC Comics] came back and said, “There’s no interest here.” TRUMBULL: …That honestly just boggles my mind. HARRIS: …Oh, your mind? [laughs] I can’t get anybody to ask me to draw anything else at a con. And every time he’s mentioned in any capacity whatsoever, everywhere, everybody’s all freaking out. Even the rumors of him being on the Stargirl show, people are losing their f***ing s***! The book has [hardly ever] been out-of-print, only short stints. And then BOOM, it’s back in print again. My royalty checks and James’ royalty checks alone should be a testament to the popularity of that character. TRUMBULL: I don’t get that at all. It just seems like they’re leaving money on the table. HARRIS: Well, that’s what I jokingly said to the editor who was shepherding this thing, who’s no longer with the company. And I said, “Man, you guys would be printing money!” I mean, it’s a no-brainer. Not everybody, but a large contingent of the fanbase, knows about this adventure, ‘cause we talked about it in interviews umpteen times like 20 years ago. But then ultimately, they said they don’t want to do it, and they’re not interested. So we have this beautiful story that James has worked out, the number of issues, the beats, everything that happens. He’s worked out this amazing tale. I’m willing to start tomorrow, and we don’t have a publisher who wants to do it. TRUMBULL: And there’s only one possible publisher you can take it to. HARRIS: It’s out of our hands. You know, we don’t own the character and we can’t do s***. It’s frustrating to have so much invested emotionally and years into work you did, and you don’t own it. Well, a small piece, but not enough to force their hand. ROBINSON: I think it has to do with who’s in charge. At the time we pitched it, I have no idea if it even went to the right people. Dan DiDio is out, someone else is in, everyone’s moving

around. So I don’t know who said yes, or who said no, or why. HARRIS: I spoke to the editor who was shepherding it, he was super pumped and passionate. He was a big fan of the book. He was really pushing hard for it. And then he was let go. And so then it just kind of went away and we got this rejection letter. And when we pitched it, we said to Marie, “We are ready to f***in’ start tomorrow and dedicate our schedules completely to the book until it’s done and out.” No side projects, no delays, just total pouring 1000% of our love into the book and giving the fans the story they’ve wanted for over 20 years. And we felt like it was going to be that closing chapter to the character where we could step away ’cause I always felt a hole that we never did that. I even said in a couple of interviews that I’ve only got one regret in my career, just one, and that was leaving Starman when I did. I should’ve never left. I should have done all 80 issues. TRUMBULL: It’s unfinished business. HARRIS: It is. And I felt like that story would have finished it. ’Cause I think of [Jack] being where he is now, San Francisco with his family, that’s what needs to be. He doesn’t need to come out of retirement. It would just be silly. But being able to tell that story, man, and end it like that for me and James… Boy, that would have been something.

Good Morning, Starshine

TRUMBULL: That’s a shame. Well, hopefully this article will lead to fans letting DC know we want to see it. Honestly, if I can be of some small part of helping make this happen, my life will not be in vain. HARRIS: [laughs] Well, I appreciate that. That property has put me on the map. It made me and James. And I think he’ll attest to that, too. So I’m forever indebted to Jack. He’s my best buddy.

(left) Starman #80 (Aug. 2001, cover by Tony Harris and Andrew Robinson) brought the celebrated series to an end. (right) As explored in the 1990s Starman retrospective preceding this interview, the torch, and cosmic staff, was passed to Stargirl. By Robinson and Snejbjerg. (inset) Geoff Johns and television Stargirl, Brec Basinger. TM & © DC Comics.

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JACK KNIGHT: WHERE IS HE NOW?

‘Starman, FBI Agent’ (bottom) James and Tony reunited for this Ted-as-a-Fed backup in JSA: All Stars #4 (Oct. 2003). Original art courtesy of Heritage. (top) The issue’s cover, by John Cassady and Mark Lewis. TM & © DC Comics.

TRUMBULL: In a weird way, I still miss Jack and I wonder how he’s doing these days. I feel like he’s like an old buddy from college that I’ve lost touch with. HARRIS: Yeah, people say that all the time. And they apologize too when they ask me to do a sketch of [him] like, “Oh, I really want to ask you to do Jack, but God, I’m sure you’re sick of drawing him.” I’m like, “No, I’m not.” Exactly the opposite! I have a very, very deep connection to that character and I owe my entire career to that property. So I will always be happy to draw Jack for anybody who asks. TRUMBULL: Do you have a picture in your mind of what Jack and Sadie are doing now? HARRIS: I don’t think they had any more kids, for sure. I think they’re fine where they were, and that’s that. I think they’re that kind of couple. Not that they don’t like children or anything, but God, they went through so much. And to get to steal away from all that bulls*** and it be final, and them being able to start over, I think was enough for them. And I don’t think Jack, even for a minute, not ever, even for a minute, thought about going back and picking up that cosmic rod again. I mean, he lost his dad, he lost his brother, you know, he lost everything. And I think what he’s got in San Francisco is dear, dear, dear to him, and I think he’s content. That’s just me. TRUMBULL: James? Same question. ROBINSON: I think he’s sort of 50-ish. I don’t know if he’s still in San Francisco—San Francisco is not the city it was, so I doubt it—he probably moved. He might’ve moved out to Napa or out of town, or he’s somewhere where there’s good light, good north light for painting, as when we left him he had become an artist. He has his father’s fortune, too, from all Ted’s scientific patents. So he’s a wealthy guy. He doesn’t worry about money. And he enjoys a glass of wine with his wife and they have kids and probably one of them is as artistic and rebellious as him, and the other one is as square and annoyingly perfect as David, and they probably have almost a reverse dynamic to the dynamic that Jack and Ted had. TRUMBULL: Well, that sounds like a spinoff show to Stargirl to me. ROBINSON: That literally just popped into my head now. That’s actually pretty good, isn’t it? [laughs] TRUMBULL: It is. You’d better start staffing up for next season. So James thinks that Jack and Sadie had more kids, but Tony, you say they didn’t. It’s interesting that you two disagree on that point. HARRIS: Yeah. …S***. Let me inform you why. TRUMBULL: [laughs] …Have I caused the next rift now? HARRIS: No, no, no, no. Absolutely not. But I’ll tell you why. And I’ve told this to James. He knows, too. And I’ll rectify it at some point, I promise, but I’ve not read the whole series. I have not read the lion’s share of Peter’s run on the book. And I absolutely have not read the end. I know about the end through conversation and conventions over the years and talking with James person-toperson, but I’ve not read it. And I absolutely intend to, but in my own time. And when I can give it my full attention that it deserves. …But I still drew more issues than Peter—HA! [John and Tony both laugh]

ROUNDEYE REUNION AND THE HOSTAGE SKETCHBOOK

TRUMBULL: You two reunited for one more Ted Knight Starman story, in the JSA: All Stars backup feature, “Starman, FBI Agent” [JSA: All-Stars #4, Oct. 2003]. ROBINSON: I knew that there was this FBI connection with the Golden Age Starman that had never been picked up on. So it was feeling like there was a story that I hadn’t told. And it was fun. Everything is about fighting Nazis in Golden Age, so the idea of Ted Knight fighting communism was funny. It made a change that was apropos to the history of that time. TRUMBULL: What was it like working together again after several years apart? Did your dynamic change at all? ROBINSON: Not really, no. I think he was working on Ex Machina, at the time, and his style had changed again and evolved 76 • BACK ISSUE • Starmen Issue

towards the style he has now. So it was nice that I got to write a story with him while he was using that style, and it was just a fun little story. They got some really good artists and writers to do those little backups, so I was glad that they involved me and Tony in it. HARRIS: And also, beyond that, we did the C-3PO one-shot at Marvel, where he has the red arm [Star Wars Special: C-3PO, June 2015]. TRUMBULL: What was it like reuniting for that project? HARRIS: It was like we were working together yesterday. I’m not going to say it was that same lightning that Starman was, but it felt so comfortable. James wrote to my strengths, and we truly collaborated on that book, and it turned into so much more than it was intended to be. He really gave Threepio so much heart. And then I have a creator-owned book that I’ve been developing for over a decade and a half, called Roundeye. I was pursuing it alone for a long time. And then I finally decided, “You know what? I really should bring in a writer.” I’m a great idea man, but I don’t fancy myself a writer, at least not proper. I don’t feel like it would be strong enough. I felt like Roundeye was meant to be a oneoff when I was going to do it myself, write and draw it. And then I asked James, “Would you come in and be a part of it?” And he loved it and said, “Absolutely.” I said, “You would be coowner. You would not be work-for-hire. So you would have as much invested in this as me.” And James came in, and it flowered into this beautiful epic tale that is so much bigger in scale than I ever could have f***ing imagined. TRUMBULL: That’s great. HARRIS: The first arc is six issues, and he’s written five. They’re in the can, and I’ve already begun artwork on the first issue. TRUMBULL: That’s wonderful. Do you have a release date yet? HARRIS: No, we do not. It’s completely creator-owned from whole cloth, from scratch. People are going to love it. There’s things like it out there, but there’s nothing quite like Roundeye. It’s gonna blow your wig off. It’s me and it’s James at full octane, all cylinders firing. And I’m biased, I’m absolutely biased, but all the stuff I’ve read of what James has written, and I know I’m biased, but I also know what bad writing is and what good writing is. And it’s my favorite stuff that I’ve ever read from James. It’s beautiful. TRUMBULL: And James’ writing has such a wonderful lyrical quality to it. HARRIS: And this does, yeah. This absolutely has that. It’s like a fairy tale. With blood! [laughs] TRUMBULL: Okay, one last question, to update people on something that was mentioned in James’ 2010 afterword in the last Omnibus volume: Tony, are you still holding James’ sketchbook hostage? HARRIS: No, no, he’s got it. I did have it for over ten years. I had it during that period where we had that falling out, and I moved a couple times, and I literally had forgotten it was in my possession. And then I ran across it on my shelf one day. And then after we reunited and healed all those old wounds and started working together again, he said, “…Do you still have my f***ing sketchbook?” [John laughs] And I said, “Yeah, but I haven’t done that sketch yet.” [laughs] So I sat down, and I did this really elaborate sketch of Jack in the book for him. TRUMBULL: That’s lovely. I’ll have to ask James if he can share a scan of that with us.

HARRIS: Yeah. I’d love that. I’d love that, ’cause nobody’s ever seen it, but him and me. TRUMBULL: And it’s got a lot of symbolic meaning to it, too. HARRIS: It does. Full circle. God, I’m so happy that we were able to mend fences and work together again because Roundeye feels as rewarding to me as Starman ever did. Thanks to James Robinson and Tony Harris for sharing their memories with BACK ISSUE. And a special thank-you to Becky Harris for her assistance in contacting her husband Tony. JOHN TRUMBULL has been writing for BACK ISSUE since 2012. This article is dedicated to the memory of his friend and brother-in-spirit Frankie Viturello, who passed away in 2020. See you again in that black-and-white afterlife, buddy.

Hit the Road, Jack We sign off with this original Tony Harris artwork for a Starman promotional poster, circa 1995. Courtesy of Heritage. (inset) Cover for James and Tony’s creatorowned Roundeye. TM & © DC Comics. Roundeye TM & © Tony Harris and James Robinson.

Starmen Issue • BACK ISSUE • 77

Send your comments to: Email: euryman@gmail.com (subject: BACK ISSUE) Postal mail: Michael Eury, Editor-in-Chief • BACK ISSUE 112 Fairmount Way * New Bern, NC 28562

Since many of those properties were not adapted into American comic books, I suspect there are a lot of readers who would like a glimpse at these Argentinian adaptations. Toni Torres, by the way, provided #128’s excellent look at the rare adaptation of the Lynda Carter TV Wonder Woman show. Toni, if you’d like to explore any other adaptations, please do! And thanks for sharing these comic scans…

Find BACK ISSUE on

MORE DIECASTS, PLEASE

I couldn’t resist picking up the latest edition of BACK ISSUE [#127] after seeing that rugged Sgt. Rock cover by Brian Bolland. It was an all-around great issue, and I especially enjoyed the pieces on Sgt. Rock, Blitzkrieg, and The ’Nam. However, the real standout for me was the article on the Sgt. Rock diecast vehicles. I’ve been a Sgt. Rock fan for decades, and I collect model cars on the side, but for the life of me I never knew there was a line of Sgt. Rock vehicles. I remember seeing the action figures in the shops as a kid, and as your correspondent Mike Pigott mentioned, they were widely advertised in DC Comics at the time, but the vehicles went completely under my radar. It was a fascinating history that was incredibly well-researched. I saw on the BACK ISSUE Facebook page that the author Mike Pigott had another feature in this month’s RetroFan. I don’t usually get that mag, but I was really impressed by his history of the Ideal Evel Knievel diecast toys. I remember these, but I never had any, and I was surprised there was so many of them in the range. Another great article with good insight on a largely forgotten range. I assume that Mike Pigott is some sort of specialist on licensed diecast toys, and he sure knows his stuff, writing very entertaining articles. The question is, why isn’t he in every edition of Back Issue and RetroFan? Toy cars were part of everyone’s childhood, and I’d sure like to see more of this material in BI and RF. – Joe Maguccio Mike Pigott is indeed an expert on diecast toys and has contributed a few similarly themed articles to BI in the past. While I can’t promise regular features on diecasts in every issue of BI and RF, Mike is a welcomed contributor, and I’m sure he’ll be back with us before too long. I loved the TV series issue [#128]. I wanted to let you know that in Argentina, Editorial MOPASA made some issues La Mujer Nuclear (The Bionic Woman) in color and in black-and-white. Here in Argentina, the series The Six Million Dollar Man was known as El Hombre Nuclear, hence the title of La Mujer Nuclear for the Lindsay Wagner Bionic Woman series. They didn’t put credits in the comic, so we don’t know who made them. I’m sending you a couple of covers, for if you want to put one of them in a next letters page (I always read them). And please send them to Dewey Cassell, who wrote the Bionic Woman article. I think a collector like him will want to know about them. MOPASA also made comics of Police Woman, Starsky and Hutch, Kung Fu, Serpico, S.W.A.T., Planet of the Apes, Maverick, Zorro, and some animated series like Pink Panther, Mr. Magoo, and Astro Boy. – Toni Torres 78 • BACK ISSUE • Starmen Issue

ARGENTINIAN BIONICS

SKIIII-PERRRRR!

I’ll keep this short, as you’ll probably get an avalanche of mail on this one. Your TV Tie-Ins Issue, #128, was one of your finest hours. Every feature was great fun to read. I’ll bet you had a lot of fun putting this issue together; your love of the medium showed with every page. I enjoyed the Lost in Space article. I was a huge fan of the TV show as a kid, and the Gold Key books confused the heck out of me. I wouldn’t mind seeing another article on this subject, going into more depth on the relationship between the Gold Key series and the TV series. How did Irwin Allen get away with using the name? And what were the similarities and differences between the two? I didn’t read the Gold Key book that much so my memory is fuzzy; what was their family unit? Did their spaceship look like the Jupiter 2? Did they have a robot? And frankly, I was astounded to learn that, in all these years, Gilligan’s Island never made it into comics?!? Here’s a show that is ingrained in pop-culture consciousness forever. It would make a terrific comedy title, in the style of the old Bob Hope and Jerry Lewis comics. Sure, it was cancelled decades ago, but it lives forever in syndication. And, I might add, Batman, Wonder Woman, and Superman movies and TV shows are past glories, but comics are being minted from them today. Come on, someone! Give us a Gilligan’s Island comic book! – Michal Jacot Michal, while the Gold Key Space Family Robinson/Lost in Space comic’s origins predates BACK ISSUE’s Bronze Age purview, if you’ll forgive the plug: I wrote about them in my 2017 TwoMorrows book, Hero-A-Go-Go: Campy Comic Books, Crimefighters, and Culture of the Swinging Sixties.

LUST IN SPACE?

As a longtime Lost in Space fan, I had very mixed feelings about Innovation’s Lost in Space comic-book series. At the time, I was more than thrilled at the news that there was an honest-to-goodness Lost in Space comic book, but sadly, even though I have great respect for Bill Mumy, the writers and artists turned the series that I was fond of (no, not the campiness of the second and third years of the series) into LUST in Space. I did not appreciate at the time that the writers and artists seemed to focus on turning the two female characters, Penny and Judy, into sluts who always wore skimpy outfits with lots of cleavage. Even June Lockhart’s character was drawn with lots of cleavage as well. The most offensive one was the Annual featured in your magazine with Penny and Judy chained and being whipped by some leather-clad guy. This series was an embarrassment to me. The Lost in Space comic should have not been known for its “good girl” artwork, and if that’s how the production thought that’s how they could sell the series, then I’m glad it was cancelled. To me, Lost in Space was not about the campiness, but about the survival and exploration of the universe by the Robinson family after being lost in space due to sabotage. It’s really too bad the writers didn’t seem to understand this basic concept. The second year of the comic book was much better. I have to also say that all three actresses openly complained about the good-girl artwork that was in the Innovation series. And the only book I liked from the first year was the second issue, which dealt with flashbacks before the Robinsons left Earth. Again, I was sorely disappointed with the direction the first year that the comicSuperman © DC Comics. BACK ISSUE © TwoMorrows Publishing.

book series took with its sexual escapades. Most of the comic books I read, like The Avengers, Fantastic Four, and Justice League of America, didn’t contain any sexual innuendo at all, and I wished Lost in Space hadn’t, either. – Christopher Krieg

STONE COLD CRAZY FOR STEVE AUSTIN!

I just received BACK ISSUE #128, “Bronze Age TV Tie-Ins,” and was very excited for the issue as this is what I collected in both books and comics growing up. I don’t purchase every issue of BACK ISSUE as I do RetroFan (never miss an issue), but grabbed BI #128 as soon as I saw what it was about and pre-ordered issue #129 before reading #128 just because of its content. I was very excited, as you do not see full issues of a magazine devoted to this subject very often. But while I enjoyed the issue very much, I was very disappointed by the fact that there were some tie-ins not covered in this “Bronze Age” issue because they were covered in previous issues. I was looking forward to reading information regarding Six Million Dollar Man as well as Space: 1999 and Battlestar Galactica, which were my favorites, as well as others that were omitted. The checklist on page 11 was a convenient option to be able to look up where these comics were discussed, but I’m not going to purchase 5–24 back issues just to read an article that was omitted from this issue. I guess I looked at this issue (and the follow-up issue) as a somewhat all-included issue of this topic. Still, a good issue, and still looking forward to #129 and 130. Love RetroFan! – Michael Fraieli Thanks for your letter, and for being a reader! I understand your disappointment about the absence of those TV tie-ins in BI #128, and my lengthy editorial (which mushroomed into an article) gave nods to those previously covered TV shows just so they’d be included in this special theme. But it wouldn’t be fair to our regular readers to revisit material we’ve previously covered just to be more comprehensive with an issue’s theme. One thing I’ve attempted to do with BACK ISSUE since we launched this magazine way back in 2003 is keep each issue fresh, and judging from most of the response we received, we’ve been successful at that. As I’ve stated previously when this topic has arisen, and it has before and probably will again, our themes are designed to provide editorial structure for a given issue but do not promise to be an all-inclusive study of the entirety of the thematic subject. That’s the purview of an encyclopedic book, not a magazine. Which affords me the opportunity to plug a new book from TwoMorrows, coming in Spring 2022: American TV Comic Books, 1940s–1980s, by Peter Bosch, designed by our own Rich Fowlks. It will comprehensively cover all American comics “from the small screen to the printed page.” That’s one I’m looking forward to as a reader, and it might be to your liking as well. Next issue: Bronze Age Rarities and Oddities, spotlighting rare European Superman comics of the 1980s! Plus: CURT SWAN’s Batman, JIM APARO’s Superman, DAVID ANTHONY KRAFT’s Marvel custom comics, MICHAEL USLAN’s unseen Earth-Two stories, Leaf’s DC Secret Origins, Marvel’s Evel Knievel and Kool-Aid Man, early cover variants, a new Prince Street News cartoon by KARL HEITMUELLER, JR., and more! Featuring EDUARDO BARRETO, DAN DeCARLO, KERRY GAMMILL, PAUL KUPPERBERG, PAUL LEVITZ, JIM SALICRUP, ALEX SAVIUK, and more. Superman cover by JOE KUBERT. Don’t ask—just BI it! See you in sixty! Your friendly neighborhood Euryman, Michael Eury, editor-in-chief Starmen Issue • BACK ISSUE • 79

FROM TWOMORROWS & JON B. COOKE

JOHN SEVERIN: TWO-FISTED COMIC BOOK ARTIST A spirited biography of the EC COMICS mainstay (working with HARVEY KURTZMAN on MAD and TWO-FISTED TALES) and co-creator of Western strip AMERICAN EAGLE. Covers his 40+ year association with CRACKED magazine, his pivotal Marvel Comics work inking HERB TRIMPE on THE HULK and teaming with sister MARIE SEVERIN on KING KULL, and more! With commentary by NEAL ADAMS, RICHARD CORBEN, JOHN BYRNE, RUSS HEATH, WALTER SIMONSON, and many others. By GREG BIGA and JON B. COOKE. NOW SHIPPING! (160-page FULL-COLOR HARDCOVER) $39.95 • (Digital Edition) $14.99 • ISBN: 978-1-60549-106-6

OLD GODS & NEW SOFTCOVER

AND LIMITED HARDCOVER EDITION JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR #80 is a double-size

book titled “Old Gods & New”, documenting the genesis of Kirby’s FOURTH WORLD series, his use of gods in THOR and other strips prior to the Fourth World, how those influenced his DC epic, and affected later series like THE ETERNALS and CAPTAIN VICTORY. To commemorate this landmark publication, TwoMorrows is offering both a SOFTCOVER EDITION, and a LIMITED HARDCOVER EDITION (just 400 copies), only available directly from the publisher! By JOHN MORROW, with contributions by JON B. COOKE. (160-page full-color LIMITED HARDCOVER EDITION) $35.95 • (Std. trade paperback) $26.95 (Digital Edition) $12.99 • Softcover ISBN: 978-1-60549-098-4 • NOW SHIPPING!

CBA BULLPEN: The Magic Is Back! COLLECTING THE UNKNOWN ISSUES OF COMIC BOOK ARTIST! COMIC BOOK ARTIST BULLPEN collects all seven issues of the little-seen labor of love fanzine published in the early 2000s by JON B. COOKE (editor of today’s COMIC BOOK CREATOR magazine), just after the original CBA ended its TwoMorrows run. Featured are in-depth interviews with some of comics’ major league players, including GEORGE TUSKA, FRED HEMBECK, TERRY BEATTY, and FRANK BOLLE—and an amazing all-star tribute to Silver Age great JACK ABEL by the Marvel Comics Bullpen and others. That previously unpublished all-comics Abel appreciation (assembled by RICK PARKER) includes strips by JOE KUBERT, WALTER SIMONSON, KYLE BAKER, MARIE SEVERIN, GRAY MORROW, ALAN WEISS, SERGIO ARAGONÉS, MORT TODD, DICK AYERS, and many more! Includes the never-released CBA BULLPEN #7, a new bonus feature on JACK KIRBY’s unknown 1960 baseball card art, and a 16-page full-color section, all behind a KIRBY COVER! (176-page TRADE PAPERBACK with COLOR) $24.95 • (Digital Edition) $8.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-105-9 • NOW SHIPPING!

OUR ARTISTS AT WAR THE BEST OF THE BEST AMERICAN WAR COMICS The first book ever published in the US that solely examines War Comics published in America. It covers the talented writers and artists who supplied the finest, most compelling stories in the War Comics genre, which has long been neglected in the annals of comics history. Through the critical analysis of authors RICHARD J. ARNDT and STEVEN FEARS, this overlooked treasure trove is explored in-depth, finally giving it the respect it deserves! Included are pivotal series from EC COMICS (Two-Fisted Tales and Frontline Combat), DC COMICS (Enemy Ace and the Big Five war books: All American Men of War, G.I. Combat, Our Fighting Forces, Our Army at War, and Star-Spangled War Stories), WARREN PUBLISHING (Blazing Combat), CHARLTON (Willy Schultz and the Iron Corporal) and more! Featuring the work of HARVEY KURTZMAN, JOHN SEVERIN, JACK DAVIS, WALLACE WOOD, JOE KUBERT, SAM GLANZMAN, JACK KIRBY, WILL ELDER, GENE COLAN, RUSS HEATH, ALEX TOTH, MORT DRUCKER, and many others. Introduction by ROY THOMAS, Foreword by WILLI FRANZ. Cover by JOE KUBERT. (160-page FULL-COLOR TRADE PAPERBACK) $27.95 • (Digital Edition) $14.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-108-0 • NOW SHIPPING!

AMERICAN TV COMIC BOOKS (1940s-1980s)

FROM THE SMALL SCREEN TO THE PRINTED PAGE Hot on the heels of Back Issue #128, AMERICAN TV COMIC BOOKS (1940s-1980s) takes you from the small screen to the printed page, offering a fascinating and detailed year-by-year history of over 300 television shows and their 2000+ comic book adaptations across five decades. Author PETER BOSCH has spent years researching and documenting this amazing area of comics history, tracking down the well-known series (Star Trek, The Munsters) and the lesser-known shows (Captain Gallant, Pinky Lee) to present the finest look ever taken at this unique genre of comic books. Included are hundreds of full-color covers and images, plus profiles of the artists who drew TV comics: GENE COLAN, ALEX TOTH, DAN SPIEGLE, RUSS MANNING, JOHN BUSCEMA, RUSS HEATH, and many more giants of the comic book world. Whether you loved watching The Lone Ranger, Rawhide, and Zorro from the 1950s—The Andy Griffith Show, The Monkees, and The Mod Squad in the 1960s—Adam-12, Battlestar Galactica, and The Bionic Woman in the 1970s—or Alf, Fraggle Rock, and “V” in the 1980s—there’s something here for fans of TV and comics alike! (192-page FULL-COLOR TRADE PAPERBACK) $29.95 • (Digital Edition) $15.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-107-3 • SHIPS SPRING 2022!

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Spotlighting the artists of ROY THOMAS’ 1980s DC series ALL-STAR SQUADRON! Interviews with artists ARVELL JONES, RICHARD HOWELL, and JERRY ORDWAY, conducted by RICHARD ARNDT! Plus, the Squadron’s FINAL SECRETS, including previously unpublished art, & covers for issues that never existed! With FCA, MICHAEL T. GILBERT, and a wraparound cover by ARVELL JONES!

LEGO® COLOR! A mosaic by Bricknerd’s DAVE SCHEFCIK, CAZ MOCKETT and her monocolor habitats, flowers and other creations by INEZ VAQUEZ, STEVEN SMYTH’s intricate Star Wars builds, “AFOLs” by GREG HYLAND, step-bystep “You Can Build It” instructions by CHRISTOPHER DECK, Minifigure Customization with JARED K. BURKS, and more!

Extensive PAUL GULACY retrospective by GREG BIGA that includes Paul himself, VAL MAYERIK, P. CRAIG RUSSELL, TIM TRUMAN, ROY THOMAS, and others. Plus a JOE SINNOTT MEMORIAL; BUD PLANT discusses his career as underground comix retailer, distributor, fledgling publisher of JACK KATZ’s FIRST KINGDOM, and mail-order bookseller; our regular columnists, and the latest from HEMBECK!

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KIRBY COLLECTOR #82

KIRBY COLLECTOR #83

BACK ISSUE #135

MAD’s maddest artist, SERGIO ARAGONÉS, is profiled! Plus: TV’s Route 66 and an interview with star GEORGE MAHARIS, MOE HOWARD’s final years, singer B.J. THOMAS in one of his final interviews, LONE RANGER cartoons, G.I. JOE, and more fun, fab features! Featuring ANDY MANGELS, WILL MURRAY, SCOTT SAAVEDRA, SCOTT SHAW, MARK VOGER, and editor MICHAEL EURY.

“THE MANY WORLDS OF JACK KIRBY!” From Sub-Atomica to outer space, visit Kirby’s work from World War II, the Fourth World, and hidden worlds of Subterranea, Wakanda, Olympia, Lemuria, Atlantis, the Microverse, and others! Plus, a 2021 Kirby panel, featuring JONATHAN ROSS, NEIL GAIMAN, & MARK EVANIER, a Kirby pencil art gallery from 1960s CAPTAIN AMERICA, and more!

“Famous Firsts!” How JACK KIRBY was a pioneer in comics: Romance Comics genre, Kid Gangs, double-page spreads, Black heroes, new formats, super-hero satire, and others! With MARK EVANIER and our regular columnists, plus a gallery of Jack’s pencil art from CAPTAIN AMERICA, JIMMY OLSEN, CAPTAIN VICTORY, DESTROYER DUCK, BLACK PANTHER, unseen ANIMATION CONCEPTS, & more!

SILVER ISSUE, starring the Silver Surfer in the Bronze Age! Plus: JACK KIRBY’s Silver Star, SCOTT HAMPTON’s Silverheels, Silver Sable, Silver Banshee, and more! Featuring KURT BUSIEK, STEVEN BUTLER, TOM DeFALCO, STEVE ENGLEHART, RON FRENZ, STERLING GATES, RON MARZ, FABIAN NICIEZA, ALEX ROSS, MARSHALL ROGERS, JOE RUBINSTEIN, ROGER STERN, and cover by FRENZ and SINNOTT.

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ALTER EGO #174

FCA [FAWCETT COLLECTORS OF AMERICA] issue—spearheaded by feisty and informative articles by Captain Marvel co-creator C.C. BECK—plus a fabulous feature on vintage cards created in Spain and starring The Marvel Family! In addition: DR. WILLIAM FOSTER III interview (conclusion)—MICHAEL T. GILBERT on the lost art of comicbook greats—the haunting of JOHN BROOME—and more! BECK cover!

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BLACK HEROES IN U.S. COMICS! Awesome overview by BARRY PEARL, from Voodah to Black Panther and beyond! Interview with DR. WILLIAM FOSTER III (author of Looking for a Face Like Mine!), art/artifacts by BAKER, GRAHAM, McDUFFIE, COWAN, GREENE, HERRIMAN, JONES, ORMES, STELFREEZE, BARREAUX, STONER—plus FCA, MICHAEL T. GILBERT, and more! Edited by ROY THOMAS.