Starman # 19

Um, parlay?

I've lost count how many times I've re-read this issue. Aside from my main Starman collection pristinely wrapped in plastice, I have another collection of the half a dozen or more Tales of Times Past, and the - fewer still - issues Talking With David. My math may be off, but I think that there were only five issues devoted to Talking With David, and this is the second of those.For a time, I never got as far as the third, fourth or fifth one. The first and this second were appetizer and meal enough by themselves to satisfy.
 
Instead of a cemetary, this time Jack appears stranded on a deserted island. A longtime Gilligan's Island fan, I am so already there. Those are episodes I could recite word for word beginning to end in order. I won't. A dinghy arrives and Jack climbs aboard. He knows that he is looking for his brother - he and everything around him is in black and white. Imagine if this one little detail had been downplayed. Of course there's no way to downplay a detail like one character - the deceased - in color and everything around in black and white. It's a cool effect, and not unappreciated. Greg Wright is a genius for having his finger on the pulse and guaging the mood of each issue. What is happening here in Starman should be the model for other creative teams to follow. Strong story-telling and art; a good action arc; a few interludes; and then another action arc. Repeat, rinse, repeat.

It's a shame that Robinson's take on Hawkman didn't have the same legs. Hawkman is the one true redheaded stepchild trainwreck in the DCU. Zero Hour destroyed Hawkman.(But, that's just me.)  I was okay with Carter being the liaison between the JSA and the JLA, and Katar Hol being something else entirely. Even by the time The Return of Hawkman came along it was still a convoluted mess. And now Kendra is her own niece? That's like that song, I Am My Own Grandpa! Yikes! It was very cool to see him tackle Carter and Shiera's Past Lives aspect.

Anyway, this is before Johnny Depp cranked the cool factor on playing pirate up to eleven. There's really not much conversation between David and Jack this issue. Just the pair of them, and the crew of David's ship overpowering another ship. All action. With a pirate song accompanyment. Still, compliments to Bill Oakley for style. Very cinematic. And this was before Pirates of the Carribean.

I wondered why they would be playing at pirate in Starman. But after last issue's final page it hit me, everything is part of the puzzle. There is no wasted dialogue, action or references. There is nothing but cake. Sure, it's a ginormous Hostess Ding-Dong or Twinky with cream filling, but it's still cake. There are a couple of things that have meaning later on. the pirate theme is one. The final page payoff gift from David to Jack on his bithday is the other. It is truly moving.