Starman, Volume 1: Sins of the Father Review (James Robinson, Tony Harris)

Some guy was a superhero called Starman once upon a time. Then he got old and one of his sons became Starman. Then that son died and his other son became Starman. But he doesn’t want to be Starman. Uh huh. And this shit gets interesting… when??

For the longest time I’ve heard how Starman is James Robinson’s magnum opus. Don’t believe it - this comic buh-lows!

I hated the main character. I have no idea who Starman is and we’re not really told, probably because there isn’t much to tell. Unlike Neil Gaiman, who a few years before also took an obscure Golden Age character and reimagined him for a modern audience in his iconic, bestselling series The Sandman, James Robinson, while attempting the same thing, instead came up with a bland, generic superhero character. He can fly, he wears a bright silly costume and he’s called “Starman”. Because he’s an alien from the stars? Nope – he’s just a dude. With a magic sceptre which, I think, makes him fly. And that’s it. He’s a bargain basement Green Lantern knockoff. Uninspired, uninteresting rubbish.

I can’t even recall the name of the dude who inherits the mantle, that’s how little I cared, but I remember that he’s a douchebag. He collects and sells kitschy memorabilia and he’s a dickhead about it. He’s selfish, annoying and desperately trying to seem cool by being overly aloof. I lost count of the number of times he whined “I didn’t ask to be Starman!” and “I don’t even want to be Starman!”. Yeah, I wish you weren’t Starman either, you wanky little crybaby. The rest of his dialogue is full of loathsome hipster statements like “I’m the only guy in the city who prefers The Two Jakes over Chinatown” – oh fuck off you pretentious twat! WHO CARES? He’s such an inane character.

The story’s as unmemorable and unoriginal as can be. Generic villain wants Starman dead – repeat multiple times. It’s such an awful, boring comic to read. Tony Harris’ art is quite nice, which was the only saving grace of this one, though it’s not as polished as it is in Ex Machina.

I was quite disappointed with Starman, Volume 1: Sins of the Father after knowing its reputation for so long. It’s definitely not James Robinson’s best comic – for that, check out Airboy instead.