Starman - The Solar Sentinel!

Now I must confess that despite Steve Ditko's involvement with the feature of Starman, I mostly went to the quixotic Adventure Comics of this era for the Plastic Man feature by Mike Barr and Joe Staton. Staton I thought the ideal artist for Plas as my beloved E-Man by Staton and the late Nick Cuti had been partially inspired by Jack Cole's classic creation. But if I went to the dance for Plas, I wasn't to sad to spend a bit of time with Prince Gavyn, better known as Starman, one of a myriad of chaps who have held that title. 

The first was the Golden Age Ted Kight created by Gardner Fox and Jack Burnely for early issues of Adventure Comics, who discovered the power of the "Gravity Rod" and used it to become one of the more powerful superheroes of his time. Later dubbed the "Cosmic Rod" it was loaned to Star-Spangled Kid when a younger generation of heroes took charged of the Justice Society on what was once called Earth-2. What it's called today is anyone's guess. 

Gerry Conway and Mike Vosburg created a second Starman who alternately owes his name to the DC original or Ziggy Stardust or some variation of that. He lasted all of one issue of 1st Issue Special though later he was dusted off and made part of the larger DCU canon as a character who pushed the boundaries of not outer space but sexual orientation. 

The fourth Starman was eventually revealed to have become a superhero as a result of getting a charge of energy from Prince Gavin who was the Starman we are most focused on today. This Starman's career blossomed and wilted in the 1980's as recorded by Roger Stern and Tom Lyle among others. 

And finally (I think) the heritage of Ted Knight is returned to when both of his sons become Starman in turn. One is killed while the other has a reasonably long career in the 90's as reluctant hero. James Robinson was the writer and worked diligently to tie together the threads of a saga of "Starmen" from across a number of decades. 

The Starman that Ditko drew for DC was heavily inked by Romeo Tanghal and created by Paul Levitz. He gets a bit of inspiration visually from Ditko's own Captain Atom, created for Charlton with Joe Gill decades before I believe. Those sparkles on his costume give more than hint of his pedigree. 

The sparkly look was something used by Jim Starlin when he revamped another stellar superhero for Marvel Comics called logically enough Captain Marvel. The common blonde hair might also be a reminder of where these similar heroes hail from. 

Ironically enough (or by careful planning) after a somewhat decent run in Adventure Comics alongside Plas and later Aquaman, Starman's adventures come to an abrupt halt. He was a royal who had the ability to live in space and was tapped by an enigmatic alien to use two wristbands ("Nega Bands" anyone?) to channel stellar energy. He used these powers to protect a queen who was also his sister and to rescue many among them his true love another chick of royal blood. 

All this is undone when after the cancellation of the series the story is wrapped in DC Comics Presents and features Jim Starlin using Mongol as the villain who usurps the throne and kills the queen. Prince Gavyn becomes emperor, changes into blue duds and ends up teaming with Superman to not only defeated Mongol but destroying the empire itself which we learn was literally held together by the stellar force of the crown itself. Once free the assembled planets vamoose and the empire is no more but Gavyn is free to find love at long last. 

After the debut Ditko did not draw anymore Starman covers, but talents such as Jim Aparo, Joe Staton, Rich Buckler, Brian Bolland and Ross Andru did many, with the focus shifting among the heroes who shared the title at the time. Here are the covers from the Starman era. 

Rip Off

Tyme For Man-Bat And The Demon!

When Gerry Conway left Marvel and joined up over at DC he was given his own little playground to toil in. In what was dubbed "Conway's Corner" we saw revivals of All-Star Comics featuring the Justice Society of America, Blackhawk, as well as new items like Firestorm (the hit of the program) and Code Name: Assassin. 

Then there was Man-Bat, a character dreamt up for the pages of Batman. Someone thought it would be a good thing to give him his own book. It lasted two issues. 

In the first issue (featuring a Jim Aparo cover) with a script by Conway, we are treated to pencils by Steve Ditko with heavy inks by Al Milgrom. In this strange debut issue, which throws the reader right into the ongoing storyline of the Man-Bat and his wife the She-Bat, we are introduced to Baron Tyme, a sorcerer who wants to make a slave assassin of She-Bat. Needless to say, Kirk Langstrom is not happy to see his wife so abused and takes efforts to forestall the threat. 

Batman makes a brief appearance in a vain attempt to stop Man-Bat, but the Dark Knight ultimately allows Langstrom to handle the threat his own way, which he does more or less. At least we get to see Ditko's version of the Batman, which is needless to say distinctive. Baron Tyme is defeated and seemingly sent into another dark dimension. Ditko would be replaced by Pablo Marcos for the second and final issue of the run. 

Four years later in 1979 both Baron Tyme and Steve Ditko return. This time the writer is Len Wein and he brings back Baron Tyme in the pages of The Demon, then currently running as a back feature in Detective Comics. Baron Tyme has been suffering since his last appearance, literally torn between two dimensions and he seeks the Eternity Book of Merlin to help solve his problem. The Demon takes exception, but it requires three chapters to finally subdue the Baron and remove his threat for all time. Steve Ditko's artwork is more vigorous this time out and his version of Jack Kirby's Demon is actually quite fetching and effective. 

Rip Off

Who Is...The Odd Man!

There was a moment in time when DC Comics was my "favorite" comic book publisher, whatever that means. I bought my Marvels with deliberation and I chased Charlton with ardor, but in an era when cover price changes were coming almost on a monthly basis, it seemed to me only DC was attempting to offer up variations in its product which attempted to add value to their offerings. Then just as quickly as the thought occurred to me what we now call the "DC Implosion" struck and it took much of that added value with it. DC had offered up a lot of its lesser-known heroes in nifty back-up series and in the aborted effort to bring Steve Ditko's The Creeper back to the newsstands the extra was a little something called "The Odd Man".  (You can see him tucked neatly in the center of the ironic ad by artist Joe Staton for "The DC Explosion".)

The one and only Odd Man story appeared first in the second issue of Cancelled Comics Cavalcade, the infamous in-house publication of just thirty-five issues produced to secure copyrights on a large batch of his unpublished material. Much of this "unpublished" stuff has now over the decades been published in various collections and so it is with Odd Man which finally saw the light of day in its original albeit black and white form in the second volume of The Steve Ditko Omnibus reprint tome. 

An altered version had been published back in the day in the pages of Detective Comics #487, so that was where I'd first encountered him. 

He's just as the name implies, an "odd" man, a detective who breaks out one of the most wildly colored costumes to fight crime yet seen. He uses weird props like extending coat tails with lead weights to knock out surprised foes and gloves that pop off with mist or some such. 

In civilian life he's Clay Stoner (I cannot imagine Ditko meant to imply what that does indeed imply-- but maybe) who is a gumshoe in River City when he's not otherwise in his brightly colored togs for fighting crime. He's like a clown of crimefighting, a reverse Joker so to speak. 

I really enjoyed the Odd Man and sorry there wasn't more of him. 

Rip Off

Stalker - The Man With The Stolen Soul!

Any comic book featuring the artistry of both Steve Ditko and Wally Wood instantly gets my attention. Barbarians were all the rage, and DC wanted a share, so they tapped writer Paul Levitz to come up with a concept and they hired two great veteran artists to bring it to life. Levitz has said that he was attempting to bring some Moorcock to the party and was inspired by The Eternal Champion when he crafted Stalker. The book they created was the short-lived Stalker. 

In the memorable ad, Stalker gets pride of place in the center of the composition. It suggested he might be something special, and he was, despite lasting only four issues.  

As the story opens n the first issue, we encounter an unnamed youth born into grinding poverty who is kicked out of the only home he has and as far as we can figure never knew either of his parents. Cast into a larger society he subsists by his wits and eventually seeks to become a knight under the service of a cruel queen. She however only wants a slave and eventually fed up with his lot, he seeks out a demon and agrees to serve him, but it's at the cost of his soul, which is snatched immediately. The book then becomes a record of his efforts to recover what he has lost. In the second issue he battles many demons and men to find a pathway into hell. 

There he finds an island surrounded by flaming waters and saves a damsel. But she turns out to be something more dangerous than the demons he's fought off, to protect her. His quest is one filled with mysteries inside mysteries. 

The last issue of the four finds our nameless hero, called only Stalker finding his way at last into hell to confront his maker. It's a furious battle and Dgrth sets him three desperate challenges which he passes. Then Stalker sets about to lead a dead army against the demon lord when they make a deal. Stalker will be returned to Earth to attempt to stop all of Dgrth's agents there, whereupon the demon god will cease to exist. Dgrth is confident the Stalker cannot win and the story ends. 

But that was not all for Stalker. 

The Justice Society Returns from 1999 is one of my absolute favorite JSofA yarns ever. Written by a cadre of DC talent from the time led by David Goyer this story was one of those fifth week events which often popped up at the time. It served simultaneously as a tasty modern take on a vintage All-Star adventure and also a kickoff of sorts for the new JSA comic which burst onto the scene that same year hard on the heels of DC's JLA successes.

The story begins from the perspective of Hourman, a hero who has been lambasted by many writers over the decades, but who gets some adult treatment in this story. The Justice Society has been drawn into a conflict with The Stalker,who has become a mystical threat drawn down to Earth by a cult of Nazi sympathizers who are trying to give magical succor to Hitler's cause, but who instead bring a being they can neither control nor defeat. The JSofA battle Stalker who is revealed to be a version of the vintage Paul Levitz, Steve Ditko and Wally Wood creation for DC's lamented fantasy surge from the mid 70's. This much more powerful being has decided to end war he must end life itself and has moved across dimensions bringing the sweet peace of oblivion to world after world. Now it's Earth's turn.

  

The Society is not able to defeat him, but they do damage Stalker and to buy time he empowers the cult members who he'd previously killed and sends them across the globe to wreak havoc. The JSofA divides itself into teams and takes off to handle this new multi-prong threat.

Green Lantern and Johnny Thunder and his Thunderbolt confront a deadly frosty menace to save the talks at Yalta. Johnny proves his mettle and the heroism of regular soldiers in a large and frightening war is highlighted. The late Eduardo Barreto produces some outstanding and dynamic artwork for Ron Marz's script.

Next The Atom and Starman must go to Los Alamos where they find a deadly nuclear threat which takes the power of Starman to contain and the unyielding courage of the Atom to defeat. The Atom is the focus as we learn more about this hero who is sadly often regarded with mild disdain by his colleagues. The Atom impresses greatly in this story by Robinson and Goyer. Peter Snejbjerg produces some very handsome artwork.

In Dresden Mr. Terrific is showcased as he and The Flash work overtime to save the citizens of the doomed German city from the deadly firebombing which makes it famous to this day. Terrific is shown to be a man who is almost perfect in every way and remarkable even in the ways in which his perfection falls short. This is touching story by Mark Waid and the Aaron Lopresti artwork is muscular and dynamic.

As Wonder Woman and Hawkgirl travel to the South Pacific to defeat an acolyte who can harness the power of the ocean they are helped by Hop Harrigan who it turns out is related to Hawkgirl. The battle is desperate and deadly, but that doesn't stop Hop from appreciating the feminine nature of the amazing Amazon. Robinson and Goyer again write the story and the artwork by Benefiel and Propst is dynamic but lacks the finesse of some of the other chapters.

Hourman and Dr. Midnite head to Scotland and find a deadly germ warfare research facility as they attempt to stop a villain who wants to harness that deadly power and turn it on the world. They have to come to a deeper understanding of one another as they battle the enemy and even Midnite's ally Hootie manages to become crucial in the battle. This is a neat story by Tom Peyer and the Stephen Sadowski and Michael Bair artwork is very lush and effective.

Sandman and Sandy find allies in Star-Spangled Kid and Stripsey as they battle an acolyte who has grown to King Kong proportions and threatens the heart of a great American city. The relatively low-powered heroes are really pressed to find a way to battle a threat which turns the locals into raving lunatics, but by dint of courage they find a way. Geoff Johns writes a rich story which is drawn with magnificent gusto by Chris Weston, the art on this issue the tour de force of the whole event.

Hawkman and Wildcat go to North Africa and find allies Manhunter and the Tigress available to help as they battle an acolyte who has tricked the Nazis into drilling into the Earth which unknown to them will result in destroying the whole continent. The heroes have to settle their differences and learn to trust before they can stop the menace. Chuck Dixon writes an action-filled story which veteran Russ Heath brings to life in his classic sparse style.

Then the heroes reassemble to confront the Stalker one more time and identify the threat in Antarctica. The Justice Society is aided by the heroes who have joined the fray in the individual adventures and the whole team heads to the South to save the world. In the end it is one man's courage which proves pivotal though all the heroes of course end a hand.

In this story we get a nice glimpse of what is to come and this vintage story, steeped with its modern sensibilities points forward to a new team of heroes who will become a modern version of the Justice Society of America.

This is rousing story, well told and neatly developed across its disparate chapters. Stalker will return to the DC Universe in other ways and other shapes, but that's for another post. 

Rip Off