Starman: Sins of the Father: v. 1 Book

The first volume of writer James Robinson's award-winning take on the classic superhero Starman is, as is so often the case with comics, an origin tale. What sets Sins of the Father apart from the vast majority of its contemporaries is its unique balance between respectful homage and all-out reinvention. Guided by a love of the source material from the classic heyday of comic book superheroes (Robinson is, after all, the man who wrote the excellent post-WWII superhero series The Golden Age), Starman: Sins of the Father exhibits a warm nostalgia that never alienates newcomers to the character. That's because Jack Knight--the son of the original Starman and reluctant heir to his father's legacy--is about as normal as a comic book superhero can be. A collectables dealer in the fictional Opal City, Jack Knight is young, hip and sensible, motivated at first only by a sense of obligation to his father, Ted. When one of his father's old enemies, the Mist, returns to Opal City with his son and daughter, Jack is forced to take up his father's signature cosmic rod (a device that is powered by the stars and which grants its bearer superhuman abilities), yet he stops short of wearing his father's costume, opting instead for practical street clothes. As the story unfolds, Robinson seamlessly weaves in a host of interesting supporting characters, from the ambiguously moral immortal aesthete the Shade, to the O'Dares--a family of cops whose father assisted the original Starman. The art team of Tony Harris (pencils), Wade Von Grawbadger (inks) and Gregory Wright (colours) remain consistent with Robinson's vision, providing lurid yet tidy artwork that suggests the comic books that flowered in the 1950s and 60s. They add a distinctly "retro" feel to this entertaining story of a relatively normal guy forced into a capes-and-tights double life. As an example of how modern superhero comics can be approached, Starman is stellar--it respects its source material while never allowing itself to get overwhelmed by it. --Robert BurrowRead More