Foundations Laid
If James Robinson is NOT your favorite writer, then he certainly is in the same circle and crowd WITH your favorite writer. Off the top of my head, I would instantly put him right next to Marv Wolfman, and compare these early issues of Starman to early issues of The New Teen Titans. Maybe you'd put him with Kurt Busiek, and compare his Opal to Astro City. Maybe Frank Miller's Daredevil comes to mind; or, Denny O'Neil and Neal Adams' Green Lantern-Green Arrow; or, Neil Gaiman's Sandman; or, for a stretch, Todd McFarlane's Spawn.
This is a phenomenal day-in-the-life issue, as well as prologue to a What Is Coming Next.
In the hands of James Robinson, Archie Goodwin, Tony Harris, Wade Von Grawbadger, Gregory Wright and John Workman, villains aren't silly and foppish nitwits any longer. Like the man said, peel an onion to find the layers. The Rag Doll, like The Mist Family and The Shade before him is the next to get the Robinson treatment.
Interestingly enough, this issue features a house ad for Wonder Woman 100, an ad for Sylvester Stallone as Judge Dredd and a back cover poster for Batman Forever. The gimmick HERE, in Starman is a well-told story. And, as icing on the cake, a couple of text pages on Ted Knight's origin as Starman from The Shades journal. As important to Starman as his gravity rod. It's a good, smart read. And the art's not to shabby either.