Starting a new school can be hard enough, but starting a new school while remaining true to yourself is even more challenging. Erika tries to start her new school with excitement, but losing touch with old friends who live far away, loving nerdy things, and crushing on a new classmate leaves Erika susceptible to her anxiety, which manifests as a dark alter-ego that makes her question everything about herself…
Please Be My Star is a graphic novel loosely inspired by The Phantom of the Opera about Erika, an awkward teen who recently started a new high school and immediately began crushing on Christian, a nice and cute guy in her theater class. She draws pictures of him and, due to an old friend’s comment about her drawing people she barely knows and her own anxiety, feels like she’s a creep for doing such things.
When her theater class offers the chance for her to write a one-act play for classmates to perform, she jumps at the chance to write one, envisioning Christian in the lead role. At the same time, she befriends Julie, another theater classmate who happens to be friends with Christian. Thanks to Julie, Erika is able to form tenuous connections with Christian and their other friends Miguel and Morgan. They all agree to help with Erika’s play, much to Erika’s excitement.
As she spends more time with Christian and the others, Erika feels like they are becoming real friends, but her doubts about herself and her frustration with getting the play ready keep her second-guessing not only herself but her friends as well. On top of it all, she has a shrine to Christian using items of his that she’s either borrowed or found from his visits to her house to work on the play. The shrine is a secret she has to keep at all costs or she fears everyone will think of her as a weirdo and creep.
Elliott’s art is beautiful and suits the story perfectly. The manga-inspired style gives the characters a range of expressions and helps convey how fully realized Elliott’s characters are from the cute and caring Christian to the mean and emotional Paola. Even characters with less panel time are given special care. The art helps convey the mood shifts from sweet and hopeful to dark and fearful as Erika’s doubts and anxieties manifest. The range in Elliott’s art is incredible.
The publisher’s age rating for Please Be My Star is ages 14-18 and that range seems pretty accurate. Erika and the others are high schoolers navigating relationships and anxieties and fears. While there are many cute and funny moments in the story and the ending is hopeful, there is also a darker tone throughout as Erika worries about being a creep and always being lonely.
Please Be My Star ends up being a very raw but sweet story about being the weird kid in high school and learning to open up and take a chance on new friends despite past heartaches. This book is for anyone who has ever been a weird kid, who has been afraid to embrace their own weirdness, or who has ever taken the time to appreciate a fellow weird kid. Various pop culture references sprinkled throughout are fun to catch. Teens and adults alike can enjoy this one.
Please Be My Star By Victoria Grace Elliott Scholastic Graphix, 2024 ISBN: 9781338840407
Publisher Age Rating: 14-18 NFNT Age Recommendation: Teen, Older Teen (16-18), Adult Series ISBNs and Order Related media:
NFNT Age Recommendation: Adult (18+), Older Teen (16-18), Teen (13-16)
One of the frequently asked questions librarians ask themselves in collecting comics boils down to: how do I classify my collection? How do I make the organization and labeling clear, easy for both patrons and staff to find? What can I do to work within the limits...
Kana is a student at St. Agatha Academy who does her best to help wherever she’s wanted, especially as she can no longer fulfill her scholarship for the track and field team. There are rumors of strange and dangerous people in the city, but Kana pays little attention. She’s more worried about finding a part-time job, at least until she’s attacked by a frightening stranger in an alley and another stranger comes to her rescue. But are they strangers?
Kana is shocked to reconnect with her childhood friend Aki, who she’d believed to have died in a tragic accident. When he saves her from a deadly accident, Kana discovers he has many dark secrets and she is now a thrall… to a vampire! Will she become a monster too, or keep her sweet and loving nature?
The cast of characters is fairly typical for a manga romance. Kana is unsure of her feminine appeal and is eager to please. Her best friend Rie is a perky dynamo who teases Kana about her lack of feminine attributes, yet always sticks up for her. Kana has two brooding heroes, Aki, who tries to act tough but has secrets he’s not revealing just yet, and bad-boy Jin, who feels guilty over Kana’s accident and wants to protect her. The art follows the characters: Kana is tall and cute, but awkward and Aki personifies “dark and brooding.”
This manga made me giggle, to be honest. It’s clearly meant to be dramatic and romantic, but I’m not the right audience for that genre. There are lots of dramatic pauses, deeply brooding stares, and I kept waiting for people to faint or make dramatic declarations (I was not disappointed). Kana is too sweet to be believed, thinking the best of everyone, even when they’re literally attacking her, and Aki has “bad guy who’s really a good guy” tattooed all over him (literally). The characters are stereotypical and the plot predictable, but it was still a fun read, even if I couldn’t suspend enough disbelief to completely get into the story. Fans of paranormal romance will enjoy zipping through this title and eagerly awaiting future volumes to find out the fates of the characters. Will Kana protect her friends and family? What is Aki’s secret? Will Jin become a good guy or a bad guy?
He’s My Only Vampire is rated Older Teen and includes mature language and sexual innuendo, so I’d recommend it for the upper range of teen readers and adults who like paranormal romance. However, it doesn’t have any really graphic content, and readers of other popular vampire manga like Rosario + Vampire will find nothing shocking in this dramatic romance.
He’s My Only Vampire, vol. 1 by Aya Shouoto ISBN: 9780316336666 Yen Press, 2014 Publisher Age Rating: OT
You’ve heard of Star Wars, right? The world famous samurai-influenced space opera that’s part “hero’s journey” and part “tale of redemption”, featuring aliens, aerial dogfights, and mystical powers? The multi-trillion dollar franchise that sells movies, toys, bed sheets and cheese graters? Yes, that Star Wars.
For over twenty years, the publisher Dark Horse had rights to the comic version of the Star Wars universe, and released dozens of series: new stories featuring the movie heroes; alternate universe versions of the original movies; and tales from even longer ago in galaxies sometimes even farther away. Now that the Disney company has purchased both the Star Wars franchise and Marvel Comics, Dark Horse is out and its creations, for good and bad, are being wiped from the slate. Marvel is starting more or less fresh, using the live action movies (and possibly some of the recent cartoon series) as their touchstones.
The new eponymous Star Wars comic series from Marvel takes place between Episodes 4 and 5 (aka Star Wars (aka A New Hope) and The Empire Strikes Back), and actually serves as a very nice bridge between the two. It provides compelling answers to questions I wasn’t interested in asking, but am pleased to read about. In the movies, we only see the Rebel Alliance blow up a few Death Stars and fight off one Imperial attack on a snow planet. This comic series shows them engage in other missions, squabble internally, and make plans for success with their limited resources against a gargantuan foe. Princess Leia grapples with a leadership that disagrees with her aggressive tactics. Han Solo is torn between his cynic’s lifestyle and the hope for change that he sees in the Rebellion. Young Luke Skywalker is torn by guilt about the death of his brief mentor Obi-Wan Kenobi, his desire for revenge and heroism, and his clearly limited skills as a fighter and Jedi. And Chewbacca, well, he shoots things.
This first volume is largely telling the tale of our familiar team of rebels attempting to sabotage an immense weapons factory that serves the evil Empire (followed by set-ups for future story arcs). As always seems to happen, our scrappy heroes’ clever plan hits unexpected snags, but they manage to beat the odds with quick thinking, luck, bravery, explosions, and dry quips. The plot itself is a little thin, but the tone is the genuine article, classic Star Wars. We see Han Solo and Princess Leia harangue each other. We get short scenes featuring the menacing Darth Vader, the mendacious crime lord Jabba the Hutt, and the calculating bounty hunter Boba Fett. Space battles, laser blasts, C-3PO saying, “Oh dear!” It’s all in there. In short, the comics feel like a surprisingly natural follow-up to the first movie, both in plot and tone.
The artwork is also satisfying, with faithful representations of the characters, settings, and iconic weapons and spaceships we have come to know and love and buy the related Burger King collector’s cups. The action scenes are exciting, the dialogue fits the characters, and the evolving schemes of hero and villain alike draw the reader along to the next chapter. All in all, a great way to enjoy the Star Wars universe without watching re-runs or reading internet spoilers for the upcoming films.
Star Wars, Vol. 1: Skywalker Strikes by Jason Aaron Art by John Cassady ISBN: 9780785192138 Marvel Comics, 2015 Publisher Age Rating: Teen
Olive’s school year is not starting out well. She can’t remember what happened over the summer, but it’s left her with a new fear of bats. It’s also driving a wedge between her and her boyfriend, Kyle, which is especially inconvenient because Olive has been chosen to mentor Kyle’s hyper little sister at school. Oh, and the campus might be haunted. Just another term at Gotham Academy!
Welcome to Gotham Academy brings together a motley crew of high school students: scholarship kid, Olive; straight-laced athlete, Kyle and his nerdy, rambunctious sister, Maps; sullen goth, Pomeline; and troublemaker, Colton. There’s arguing and teasing, but there’s also camaraderie and fun. The team investigates rumors of a ghost haunting Gotham Academy, but turns up something very different, something connected to Olive’s mysterious mother and Gotham’s most famous hero. But how do you follow a lead when Batman wants the case closed?
The artwork is detailed and dynamic. Color is used to great effect herein: daylight scenes are varied and vivid without becoming chaotic, while numerous nighttime scenes are dramatic with limited palettes. They remain visually clear despite the impression of darkness created by casting everything in shades of a single hue. Backgrounds often have a slightly blurry shading, resulting in a foggy, murky look that supports the drama and mystery of the story. With few black outlines and a lot of color gradation that appears painted, the artwork feels softer than that of many superhero comics. A limited number of brief flashback scenes are illustrated in a different style—even less crisp and more painted-looking—that effectively evokes the shadowy world of memory.
I read a digital review copy, so I can’t make observations about the physical book, though I was a bit surprised at the size of the pages in the galley format. Viewed at full size, they’re smaller—and thus a little harder to read—than most DC comics.
Batman fans will be pleased to note plenty of tie-ins to related titles and lore. From Wayne Foundation funding to Cobblepots in the local history curriculum and even the Bat-Signal shining over the school, Welcome to Gotham Academy locates itself solidly within the Gotham that fans know and love. Batman himself makes a few appearances, as do other well-known characters from his canon.
This title is less focused on combat than many other comics in the Batman-verse. There’s mystery-solving action and hijinks without any real violence, and while there are hints of romance, a little kissing is as far as physical expressions go. Very young readers—the lower elementary school set, for example—might find the book creepy thanks to its gloomy, eerie mood, and some of the plot and dialogue may go over their heads.
Even though its characters are teens, this series could be enjoyable for preteens up to adults. Several character and plotline introductions will likely be explored later and the end of this volume solidifies the connection between Gotham Academy and the Bat clan with a twist that will pique readers’ curiosity about the next installment.
Gotham Academy: Welcome to Gotham Academy, vol. 1 by Becky Cloonan and Brendan Fletcher Art by Karl Kerschl ISBN: 9781401254728 DC Comics, 2015
The beauty of the “slice of life” genre is that a multitude of content can be contained within a simple premise. If I tell you that Azumanga Daioh and Lucky Star are each about a small group of high school girls and their everyday routines, that summary is accurate for both, but it leaves out a great deal of nuance. Likewise, when I tell you that My Neighbor Seki is about dutiful student Rumi and masterful time-waster Seki, please know that these two kids have much more personality than their cover gag suggests—though the gags are great as well.
Each chapter of the book features a class period in which the teacher isn’t paying attention to the students and Rumi notices Seki messing with a pet project. For example, he might arrange an impressively complex set of dominoes or shine his desk with a professional kit of tools. They both sit in the back of the classroom, generally beyond the notice of any other classmates, and they hardly speak to each other. Nonetheless, they often trade glances, glares, and cocked eyebrows as Rumi gets caught up in Seki’s projects and ends up becoming just as distracted.
The artwork throughout the book is clean and relatively simple, especially the faces, although the objects and props unique to each chapter are drawn in detail. This level of detail is most effective when it builds up to a gag, as when Seki pulls out a few chess pieces on his desk, keeps pulling out more and more pieces, and finally assembles a single huge piece from them all to play his own version of Chess Godzilla. The panels are arranged for maximum laughs including each gag’s buildup and climax, a routine that doesn’t get old over the course of this opening volume.
As the chapters progress, Rumi tries to second-guess Seki’s antics, only to be surprised at every turn. Though she recognizes how inattentive he is, Rumi can’t peel her eyes from his latest game. In one chapter, Rumi’s curiosity gives way to a superiority complex as Seki begins knitting during class and she harshly judges his technique. “And here I am, a 2nd-rank licensee of the Knitting Society!” she gloats in her head, temporarily betraying her prior image as a charmed and playful girl. Outdoors during physical education, Seki arranges gym equipment into an obstacle course for Rumi, never saying a word but clearly engaged with her experience—until she ends up playing in front of the teacher’s lounge, that is.
These minor turns of character add a lot to episodic jokes that would be funny enough on their own, but that become something special as the reader sees more sides to each student. I hope the series continues to develop their likes and dislikes, and that they slowly become playmates in addition to their performer/audience dynamic. Invite readers of all ages to pull up a desk and eavesdrop on Seki, too.
Bonus plug: the anime version of this series is available on Crunchyroll as a series of seven-minute videos in which each episode corresponds to a chapter of the manga. Highly recommended!
My Neighbor Seki, vol. 1 by Takuma Morishige ISBN: 9781939130969 Vertical, 2015
Lerner Graphic Universe continues their Summer Camp Science Mysteries in volumes 5 through 8. The basic format of these stories is a quick introduction to a selection of campers and counselors, a mix of hijinks and science experiments, a slightly spooky mystery, and a scientific solution followed by experiments you can do at home, a glossary, and additional facts.
The Missing Cuckoo Clock teaches about the science of gravity as well as a gentle lesson on admitting mistakes. The campers learn a number of facts about gravity and how to perform several science tricks with this force as well as learning a little humility and kindness. The Whispering Lake Ghosts features spooky voices and is, appropriately, about the science of sound. There are lots of scary thunderstorms, a lost-in-the-woods episode, and some interesting facts about how sound, especially thunder and echoes, works. The Great Space Case solves the mysteries of the stars and the mystery of who’s cheating on the astronomy competition/scavenger hunt. The kids get to see an eclipse and learn a lot of different facts about astronomy. The Yucky Duck Rescue tackles the issue of pollution and the kids go on a scavenger hunt to find out what’s wrong with the water on their lake and how they can help fix it.
Each of these mysteries has enough plot and dialogue to carry the plethora of scientific facts and experiments without getting too bogged down or reading like an infodump. The didactic lessons on the side about cheating, friendship, and kindness are lightly done and feel realistic within the setting of the stories. The science is explained in simple terms and the science experiments are easy to duplicate. The titles have two different artists, Der-Shing Helmer and German Torres, but their styles work together smoothly, so there’s no confusing transition. The artwork is a little reminiscent of Raina Telgemier’s work, with strong colors and lines, crisp images and settings, and lots of expression in the kids’ eyes. The various characters are easily distinguishable and there’s plenty of mild humor in their facial expressions and behavior. The settings are neatly done, showing a beautiful wilderness area for the camp without getting in the way of the stories. Some of the illustrations of the experiments within the stories make it a little hard to pick out the details, but the text clears up any confusion. The weakest of the four volumes is The Yucky Duck Rescue. The “solution” to the pollution problems is rather simplistic and the farmer is an overly stereotypical character. The story as a whole isn’t very realistic, but kids will want to read the adventures in order, so I wouldn’t skip it if you’re buying the whole set.
These aren’t great literature, but they do an excellent job of explaining scientific concepts in a fun and relatable way. The first four volumes are very popular at my library; kids who enjoy science, mysteries, and comics can’t get enough of this fun mixture of the genres. If the library bound titles are out of your budget, Lerner’s paperback editions are quite sturdy and have held together well for us. These are titles even parents who dislike graphic novels will be pleased to hand to their kids and they would make great additions to the science curriculum for a school.
Summer Camp Science Mysteries, vol. 5-8 by Lynda Beauregard #5 Missing Cuckoo Clock illustrated by Der-Shing Helmer ISBN: 9781467707336 #6 Whispering Lake Ghost illustrated by German Torres ISBN: 9781467707343 #7 Great Space Case illustrated by Der-Shing Helmer ISBN: 9781467707350 #8 Yucky Duck Rescue illustrated by German Torres ISBN: 9781467707367 Lerner Graphic Universe, 2013 Publisher Age Rating: 8-12
The cross-over has been a speculative fiction tradition since at least the time of the first pulp novels and magazines. The Green Hornet radio show established that The Lone Ranger was the great uncle of The Green Hornet and had a hand in inspiring the younger hero to take up the role of an outlaw hero. Robert E. Howard and H.P. Lovecraft worked elements of one another’s stories into their own work, with Lovecraft outright saying that Howard’s Hyboria was the long distant past of the Earth where his stories took place. And of course the idea of shared universes and inter-company crossovers – rare as they are now – is part and parcel of the superhero genre and comic books as a medium.
That brings us to this series: Star Trek: The Next Generation / Doctor Who – Assimilation Squared. The longest running American science-fiction franchise and Britain’s longest-running science-fiction franchise, together for the first time. An unlikely pairing? To put it mildly. Trekkers and Whovians tend to be very different breeds of fan, though both are equal in their fanaticism. Trekkers tend to be obsessive about details and realism and knowing how everything in the universe works. Whovians, by contrast, are generally more concerned with a ripping yarn and will gladly accept a hand-wave that something is caused by time going wibbly-wobbly so long as there’s a good story at the heart of it.
However you may feel about one franchise or the other, it cannot be denied that Assimilation Squared is a good story and that Trekkers and Whovians alike will find it enjoyable. Astonishingly, so will casual readers who might not be familiar with one series or the other. The script by Scott and David Tipton takes great pains to establish the settings of both worlds before colliding them and thrusting both sets of heroes together against a common (and uncommon) enemy. Indeed, the entire first chapter of the first volume of this mini-series depicts a typical adventure of both Captain Picard and his crew and The Doctor and his current companions. The cast is fleshed out and we get a number of good character moments for all involved, allowing new readers the chance to get to know The Enterprise Crew as well as The Doctor, Amy Pond, and Rory Williams before we are thrust into the action.
And what action! The plot concerns an alliance between The Borg and The Cybermen – both technology-based species (the former from Star Trek, the later from Doctor Who) who depend upon the assimilation of organic life in order to propagate their species as they work toward their goal of universal domination. Thankfully, the Doctor’s transport – The TARDIS – manifests on-board The Enterprise as Captain Picard becomes aware of the new threat. It will fall to both teams of heroes to work together to save not only their own dimensions but perhaps all dimensions!
Fans of both series will no doubt love the interplay between the characters. The meeting between The Doctor and Guinan – The Enterprise’s mysterious, seemingly all-knowing but rarely all-explaining bartender – is quite a treat. So is trained nurse Rory discussing advancements in medical technology with Dr. Crusher. For my money though, nothing quite tops Rory’s response to Worf’s recitation of the classic Klingon saying “Today is a good day to die!”
The artwork is equally impressive, with J.K. Woodward having painted nearly every panel of the entire eight-part mini-series in a photo-realistic fashion that perfectly captures the likenesses of all the actors involved. The one exception to this is a brief flashback sequence in Chapter Five, rendered in a more traditional sixties comic-book style by The Sharp Brothers. This scene depicts an earlier story, just discovered among the Enterprise’s records, where the crew of Star Trek: The Original Series once encountered the Cybermen and a smiling, long-scarf wearing man who called himself The Doctor.
In the end, Star Trek: The Next Generation / Doctor Who – Assimilation Squared is that rarest of all crossovers – one that will please everybody. Trekkers and Whovians alike will appreciate how their respective franchises have been handled and the story, while steeped in the mythology of both series, will prove accessible to those unfamiliar with Star Trek or Doctor Who. I dare say this mini-series could create a number of new Whovains and Trekkers.
Star Trek: The Next Generation / Doctor Who: Assimilation Squared, vol. 1 & 2 by Scott Tipton, David Tipton Art by J.K. Woodward, The Sharp Brothers Volume 1 ISBN: 9781613774038 Volume 2 ISBN: 9781613775516 IDW Publishing, 2013 Publisher Age Rating: (13+)
Classic Fantastic is our series of features on the classics of the format — please check out our other picks for the most important titles, in terms of appeal, innovation, and storytelling, that every library should own.
My first exposure to Starman came about when I was first getting into comics. As I recall I was in my local comic book store fishing through The Quarter Bins. Primarily the final resting place of whatever Bad-Girl books with a dozen variant covers the owner had over-ordered the previous year, The Quarter Bins still yielded the occasional treasure.
It was here, digging through several dozen copies of Danger Girl, where I stumbled across a copy of Starman #29. With a cover painted – yes, painted! – by Tony Harris, it was unlike anything I’d ever seen before in a comic and the interior work was just as impressive. I must have starred at it for quite some time, broken from my reverie by the scornful snort of one of the shop employees – the one whose tastes were diametrically opposed to my own.
“You WOULD like that one. The main guy? He sounds like you.”
His disdain was all the invitation I needed to spend 25 cents. Thankfully, Starman #29 turned out to be a prefect jumping-on issue, aimed at bringing new readers up to speed on The Story So Far. And as promised the main character, Jack Knight, did indeed sound like me.
Jack was a self-proclaimed geek, “more in love with yesterday than tomorrow.” Jack’s humor tilted in favor of heavy sarcasm and obscure pop-culture references that went over most people’s heads. He was verbose, inclined to using a dozen words when one would do. He was also, I realized sometime later, a bit of a jerk. That revelation helped me to recognize my own character flaws and inspired me to correct them.
Even without that, I can honestly say without any hyperbole that Starman changed my life. While other series brought me into comics, Starman kept me in them. It gave me a penname and a nickname. Jack Knight was my first cosplay. And after a decade of reading comics and writing about comics, it’s still my favorite series of all time.
What’s it about?
Our story begins in the gloriously Art Deco town of Opal City. We’re introduced to Jack Knight – a Bohemian artist and collectibles shop-owner who never got along with his scientist father, Ted Knight, or his athletic older brother, David Knight. Jack was just as happy to stay out of the family business of protecting Opal City using his father’s starlight-fueled inventions as David was happy to take up their father’s mantle as the superhero Starman. But when David is killed and Ted left hospitalized as a result of a crime spree orchestrated by The Mist – Starman’s arch-enemy – Jack reluctantly assumes his father’s role as Opal City’s protector.
Aiding Jack in his new job are The O’Dares – a quintet of cops, all the children of legendary local beat-cop Billy O’Dare, who was the closest thing Ted Knight had to a partner. Guiding Jack in his assumption of the hero’s mantle is The Shade – a mysterious immortal and sometimes super-villain, who makes his home in Opal City and wishes to see it well protected… so long as nobody expects him to do the protecting. As the series progresses, Jack will grow into his father’s shoes, become a true hero, find the love of his life, meet the other heroes who bore the name Starman, journey into space, travel back in time and even become a better person.
Notable Notes
There are many reasons why Starman is notable but I’m going to focus upon three of them – the colorful cast of characters, the wonderful creative teams and the theme of transformation.
I’ve already spoken a bit about how unique Jack Knight was as a protagonist but that difference extends to the rest of the supporting cast. Jack’s mentor The Shade is an unapologetic villain yet he aids Jack in protecting Opal City because of his personal vow to commit no crime there and see to the peace of his own home – presumably even super-criminals want a nice neighborhood to live in! Each of the five O’Dare cops have a unique personality. And that’s just the main cast. I could write for pages about all the interesting incidental characters like the ghost pirate John Valor or Rat-Pack loving bank robber Jake “Bobo” Benetti. Even the random thugs break the mold, arguing over which Sondheim musical was the best instead of the more usual sports-related minion chatter.
Artistically, Starman has a unique aesthetic, thanks to the efforts of some truly legendary creators. Like Metropolis and Gotham City, Opal City has a unique feel to it that makes it as much a character as the people who inhabit it. This is due to the Art Deco designs of artist Tony Harris. Harris also painted the covers for most of the issues of the original comics as well as crafting original paintings for most of the soft-cover and all of the hard-cover collections of the series. Though he only penciled the interiors of a little over half the series, Starman is as much Harris’ child as it is James Robinson’s. Tribute must also be paid to David S. Goyer, who assisted Robinson with writing several issues. Goyer is most famous today for his work as a screenwriter on various superhero movies, including Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy and Man of Steel.
Thematically, the book is all about the ability we all have to change ourselves for the better. This is virtually unheard of in superhero comics, where most of the characters are static and their personalities unchanging. The series is primarily about Jack’s transformation from a self-absorbed fanboy into a hero and a decent human being. And yes, there is a difference between the two. As one of Jack’s ex-girlfriends notes, “You may be a hero, Jack Knight, but that still doesn’t make you a nice person.” This theme also extends to most of the series’ main characters, who change for the better as the story progresses.
I’m hard pressed to think of one story arc out of dozens to hold up as the best or most memorable. But if I had to pick one, I’d say Sand And Stars – an arc collected in The Starman Omnibus: Volume 2. I picked this one for two reasons. The first is that this is the arc that won Robinson and Harris an Eisner Award for Best Serialized Story. The second is that this story contains a line, thought by retired superhero Wesley Dodds (a.k.a. The Sandman) as he watches Jack Knight fly into battle, that I think sums up the appeal of adventure fiction in three short sentences. “He’s in danger. He may die. And I envy him the thrill of it.”
Significance
Starman came about because writer James Robinson wanted to establish a common mythology for every character published by DC Comics who ever used the codename Starman. When the series started in 1994, there had been six separate heroes who had used the name and only two of them had any link to one another. Starman was meant to create those missing connections.
Starman was also significant for promoting the glorious past of DC Comics at a time when the American comics industry seemed to be abandoning their roots in favor of books centered upon violent anti-heroes. As part of the series, James Robinson penned a number of flashback stories known as Times Past, which told epic tales in a modern style using the characters and trappings of yesteryear. This proved the value of the early superheroes and the relevance of their morality to the modern world.
In many ways, Starman predated Kingdom Come in rejecting the values of The Dark Age and introducing the storytelling techniques common to The Modern Age. If it hadn’t been for Starman, it’s unlikely we would have had a revival of the Justice Society of America and the heroes affiliated with that group in the pages of JSA. There’s also a chance that Geoff Johns – DC Comics current Chief Creative Officer – would have had a markedly different career path as his first professional comics work – Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. – was created with input from James Robinson and spun out of Starman.
Appeal
It’s difficult to suggest an ready-made audience for Starman as the people I know who enjoy the series besides myself are as eclectic as the series itself and defy easy classification. It’s a superhero book but it’s unlike any other superhero series I can think of and I can’t see your average X-Men fan seeing the appeal. Fans of Golden Age comics will find a lot to enjoy, though. There are elements of the series that will likely appeal to fans of science-fiction (particularly the Stars My Destination arc) but it isn’t entirely a science-fiction series, being closer to classic Doctor Who in tone than Star Trek.
I would instead recommend this series to fans of quirky dialogue and unusual characters in general. If you enjoy Jerry Seinfeld’s talking about nothing, Christopher Moore novels, Mystery Science Theater 3000, Michael Stipe’s music or Chuck Klosterman’s essays, there’s a fair chance you’ll enjoy Jack’s dialogue and adventures. I’d also recommend the series to anyone who is a collector, whether it be of comics, tin signs, baseball cards, Barbie dolls or anything that anyone might consider cool and put on a shelf. You’re likely to find a kindred spirit in Jack Knight as I did.
I consider this series a must-read for all graphic novel enthusiasts 16 and up. That age restriction is due less to the content (though there are a few graphic deaths, a fair bit of innuendo and suggested nudity) and more to the fact that a certain level of maturity is needed to appreciate the growth of the characters as well as some of the dramatic situations and most teenagers lack the patience to muddle through the talky bits between the action scenes.
Why should you own this?
Historically, Starman is an important series for students of the genre to study. It’s an award-winner, frequently held up as a source of inspiration by many of today’s most popular graphic novel writers and artists. It’s also a damn fine read on its own terms. With the recent Omnibus collection of the series – currently available in its entirety in Hardcover with paperback editions on the way – there’s no excuse for a library NOT to have this series in their adult graphic novel collection, in my professional opinion.
Serena does not have high hopes for her new town or her new high school. She’s used to San Antonio, where there was always something going on. But, as she complains to her old friend Consuela, tiny Rojo, Texas is a town with nothing happening except high school football games, about which whole town seems obsessed. Then Serena meets hot quarterback Lance and decides football might not be so dumb after all.
But things aren’t that simple. Jennifer likes dating Lance, but she’s also enjoying study sessions with cutie Cam — except each of the boys wants her to stay away from the other. They seem to hate each other, although Serena’s never seen the two actually interact . . . or even seen them in the same room. And when Lance’s behavior starts to get erratic and dangerous — and two of the school’s cheerleaders are murdered — Serena turns to Consuela to help investigate. Meanwhile, the high school chemistry teacher is acting weird. And is it just a coincidence that the English teacher is assigning The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde?
The supernatural premise (you just might be able to guess it) is pretty well done, but the drama of this book doesn’t come from monsters. (There’s not a transformation sequence to be found.) What’s really gripping here is the surprisingly real portrayal of a relationship becoming abusive. Lance starts out being sweet to Serena, but shows early on that he has a temper, punching a dent in a locker when he gets frustrated during a conversation. He gets more and more volatile, calling Serena cruel names when he’s displeased with her, but always apologizing and even trying to buy her forgiveness with jewelry, only to blow up again later. Serena is sad, confused, and scared, wishing Lance would just be his better self all the time, but not wanting to break up with him because she still likes that better self so much.
The story is genuinely creepy. Two cheerleaders who we’ve briefly met are murdered offscreen, and a furious Lance poses a very real threat to Serena and her family. The ending, though, is hopeful and the romance that develops with Cam is sweet. The story balances and develops its subplots well. Consuela, for example, remains a very important part of Serena’s life even though Consuela still lives in San Antonio, and the two communicate mostly through Skype.
The artwork is clear, detailed grayscale. I find a few of the teens to look more adult than high school-aged, but on the other hand, I appreciate their realistic body types. None of the girls is model-skinny. There’s some creatively meta content, too: one scene sees Serena reading a manga version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and she holds the book out for Lance to see the (upside-down) images. The next few pages of the book are actual upside-down panels of Serena’s manga volume. There’s also a page at the book’s end from the high school’s yearbook, which the poor yearbook editor has marked up to reflect various recent, um, changes to the studentry.
It’s fun to see one of the less-obvious monsters get the My Boyfriend is a Monster treatment. He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not (other possibilities listed on the title page include Double Date and Two’s Company, Three’s a Crowd) is smart and eerie and could be a fun book to pair with Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde or a more serious read to accompany a discussion about relationship abuse.
My Boyfriend is a Monster #7: He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not by Robin Mayhall Art by Kristen Cella ISBN: 9780761360056 Graphic Universe, 2013
challenging. Erika tries to start her new school with excitement, but losing touch with old friends who live far away, loving nerdy things, and crushing on a new classmate leaves Erika susceptible to her anxiety, which manifests as a dark alter-ego that makes her question everything about herself…
You’ve heard of Star Wars, right? The world famous samurai-influenced space opera that’s part “hero’s journey” and part “tale of redemption”, featuring aliens, aerial dogfights, and mystical powers? The multi-trillion dollar franchise that sells movies, toys, bed sheets and cheese graters? Yes, that Star Wars.
Olive’s school year is not starting out well. She can’t remember what happened over the summer, but it’s left her with a new fear of bats. It’s also driving a wedge between her and her boyfriend, Kyle, which is especially inconvenient because Olive has been chosen to mentor Kyle’s hyper little sister at school. Oh, and the campus might be haunted. Just another term at Gotham Academy!
The cross-over has been a speculative fiction tradition since at least the time of the first pulp novels and magazines. The Green Hornet radio show established that The Lone Ranger was the great uncle of The Green Hornet and had a hand in inspiring the younger hero to take up the role of an outlaw hero. Robert E. Howard and H.P. Lovecraft worked elements of one another’s stories into their own work, with Lovecraft outright saying that Howard’s Hyboria was the long distant past of the Earth where his stories took place. And of course the idea of shared universes and inter-company crossovers – rare as they are now – is part and parcel of the superhero genre and 
My first exposure to Starman came about when I was first getting into comics. As I recall I was in my local comic book store fishing through The Quarter Bins. Primarily the final resting place of whatever Bad-Girl books with a dozen variant covers the owner had over-ordered the previous year, The Quarter Bins still yielded the occasional treasure.
There are many reasons why Starman is notable but I’m going to focus upon three of them – the colorful cast of characters, the wonderful creative teams and the theme of transformation.
Starman came about because writer James Robinson wanted to establish a common mythology for every character published by DC Comics who ever used the codename Starman. When the series started in 1994, there had been six separate heroes who had used the name and only two of them had any link to one another. Starman was meant to create those missing connections.
