The Stuff Dreams Are Made Of
I'll be the first to admit I'm not the sharpest brick in the knife rack. Fer instance: when I read the Previews description for Starman 20, It said something about Jack teaming up with the Golden-Age Sandman. I believe that I read it as Jack crossing over with the Golden-Age Sandman. I had just dropped Sandman Mystery Theatre. It was a decent Vertigo book, but just a little beyond my price range. I wasn't looking forward to picking up Starman and Sandman Mystery Theatre. It has taken me fifteen years to track down the individual back issues and the now out of print tade paperback collection - Wicked Inclination - to read the Eisner-award winning story by Robinson, Harris and Von Grawbadger, et al, and find that it is not a crossover at all. D'Oh! A misunderstanding.
After an odd, startling dream about Nash, that ends in an image of The Sandman, Jack talks to his father, Ted, before venturing off to New York City and a visit with his idol, Dian Belmont and her paramour, Wesley Dodds, formely known as The Sandman of The Golden Age.
Meantime there is a plot afoot in the Big Apple, that quickly involves Jack, Dian and Wes.
This issue is full of nice touches, right from the very sharp Harris cover. The silent, moody first page that makes up Jack's dream is very noir, in green. There is a very cool use of red and blue in this issue, maybe highlighting the twilight of Wesley Dodds; and Ted's own anxiety about age.
Opal, like Central City, appears hero-centric. Central City has it's Flash museum; Metropolis had it's Superman museum and statue. Opal has it's Starman tributary. Nice touch! New York is somewhere else. Darker, grimmer, more ominous. And so, Jack arrives at Dodds Tower, looking nearly like Frank Gorshin from the premiere episode of the Batman TV series; power rod slung over his shoulder in a blueprint tube - nice touch! - greeted by an old school bellman - nice touch! - and becomes inarticulate in the face of meeting - not Wesley Dodds - but author Dian Belmont. Nice touch, there. Surfing for some background, apparently there is a discrepancy in the roles Dian and Sandy played in the world of The Sandman. Classically, if I remember right, Dian died and her nephew Sandy Hawkins became Wes' ward and sidekick. Currently, Dian survived and enjoyed the thrill of the chase with Wes. Sandy's role may be a bit murky. Here it is not even addressed.
Jack has come to find The Mist's war medal, but before he can ask about it, a nurse discovers the murder of another resident in the building and Jack springs into action. Here's another nice touch. Much like The Sandman, Jack - classic in shirt and tie confronts what appears to be a green goblin. And Wes waddles into action to save Jack's bacon.
Obviously, this is a very cool story. It shows James Robinson's devotion and love to Golden Age heroes of Earth-Two. It also shows a healthy respect for elders. Nice touch.