Earth-Prime: Stargirl #4 – James Robinson, Paula Sevenbergen, Writers; Jerry Ordway, Artist; John Kalisz, Colorist
Ray – 9/10
Ray: Stargirl, of all the CW-verse DC shows, has always been the most disconnected from the main narrative. It takes place on its own world, rarely crosses over with others, and has a more mature take on the themes of legacy than the average. That continues with this issue, which only briefly features the crossover elements. That’s a big surprising, given how close we are to the end of this storyline, but it works. Really well, in fact. This is the only one of these to be one forty-page story over the entire issue, with one creative team. It also has more heavyweight comic names than the average—James Robinson and Paula Sevenbergen on writing, and the legendary Jerry Ordway on art. Put together, it’s easily the best installment of this crossover yet.
This issue starts with the Dugan family on a camping trip, coming off the epic battle with Eclipso in season two. It’s interesting that all of these one-shots take place in current continuity, so expect lots of references to major events if you’re not caught up. It also makes the Batwoman and Legends ones unexpected series finales, but that’s not a concern for Stargirl. This one almost feels laid back, as Courtney and Pat go on a hike and try to de-stress. Aside from a chance encounter with a troop of scouts, not much happens—until an old villain of Pat’s, the Needle, finds them. This C-list rogue spent decades in prison, and he has a score to settle with the man who put him there—but it’s not what you’d think.
Kurt Busiek doesn’t have anything to do with this comic, but if I had to place the tone of this issue, I would say the classic original superhero drama Astro City. It’s a great look at what makes a relatively minor gimmick cook put on the costume, what happens to them when they’re convicted, and how they can find redemption even decades later. It’s a great character spotlight, and also does an excellent job of setting up what makes this series different from all the others in this line. It’s such a charming read that by the time Magog actually shows up, it’s almost distracting. He’s not particularly interesting as a villain, and I just want more of this show’s main characters in comic form.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
