Starman, Vol. 9: Grand Guignol

Starman (1994)

by James Robinson

Jack Knight returns to Opal City from his adventure in space, only to find the Shade has reverted to his villainous ways. Knight suspects that he is even committing murders, all this while many of Jack's friends seem to be missing. Before he can fully investigate, he witnesses his most horrible nightmare become reality--his beloved Opal City burning to the ground. Chaos ensues as hundreds of villains take the opportunity to strike.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Dc Comics, Superheroes, Comic Book, Graphic Novels Comics, Science Fiction

296 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

James Dale Robinson is a British writer of American comic books and screenplays.

Reviews

[Phillip Fuller · Rating 5 out of 5]

James Robinson takes the reader to an exciting finale of Jack Knight's tenure as Starman that ties up all loose ends with a bang. Every character from the series appears at the conclusion of this story to participate in an awesome storyline. I bought this book to finally see how it ended after years of not reading comic books and this was worth the wait.

[Ray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Grand climax to the Starman saga, James Robinson built a wonderful superhero mythology and it's culmination was a most satisfying read

[Frédéric · Rating 4 out of 5]

The plot is good but honestly overextended and I was initially going for 3*. But the way it ends and the emotion... Nah. Starman remains Robinson’s magnum opus bar none. Period.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is, for all intents and purposes, the conclusion of the Starman epic. Sure, there's one more book to go, but everything that the series was building to reaches its climax in Grand Guignol. (the final book, Sons of the Father, is more of a denouement than a finale.)

And believe me, EVERYTHING climaxes. Every throw-away line, every bit character, anybody and everybody - it all comes together in one huge, complex and very involving saga. Jack faces over-whelming odds and finds that he's made many friends who take the protection of Opal as seriously as he does. The Shade is cast in the role of a hero. Ted faces his ultimate fate like a warrior born.
Despite meandering more than necessary, Grand Guignol is a hugely satisfying ending to a wonderful series: Jack's heroism shining through. Ralph and Sue's love echoing true. The O'Dare family pride was bright and moving. The Mist was manipulative and awful (although would even Nash, desperate for her father's affection, fall for his "just kidding" line?).

Starman is, no question about it, one of the five greatest super-hero series of all time, and this might be the best finale of them all.

[James Bowman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the volume the rest of the series has been leading up to. There are a many moving parts here, lots of characters and plotlines coming together, but they handle it pretty well. It's hard to go into details without spoilers, but if you've enjoyed the series thus far, this is a must-read. (A-)

[Mike Reiff · Rating 5 out of 5]

An incredible achievement in character storytelling and epic scope. It’s amazing this was first published as a monthly comic in normal DC comics line, though Robinson probably loved that, with his allusions to the serialist Charles Dickens.

[Korynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is it readers! The massive blowout battle sequence that spans continuities and changes characters forever. Every great superhero epic has one and this one does disappoint with its minutae of plot and nasty villains galore. So here it is: destruction! death! battle against great odds! treachery! rescue! hope! rebirth! and a century spanning evil dwarf!! You will cry and you will enjoy the Shade's witty repartee. Warning: There is French with no translation. Those of you who hate that...I feel your pain.

[Sean · Rating 4 out of 5]

While this collection is definitely up and down, the scale is so epic that you can ignore the tedious, over written James Robinson stuff. The last issues in particular are breath taking. Peter Snejbjerg gets better and better. There are a ton of moving pieces here but they payoffs are worth it. Overall, a grand adventure that is worth your time.

[Stephen Theaker · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this. The epic conclusion to an epic story that wove together threads from decades of comics, beautifully illustrated, thoughtful, exciting, and that rarest of things, a bona fide in-continuity ending to a superhero's story. I cried more than once.

[Alex E · Rating 5 out of 5]

After many volumes of seeing Jack Knight stepping up and becoming a hero, we see his whole story come full circle.

I think James Robinson pulls off a masterful writing performance by incorporating... pretty much everything from his run so far, back into this volume. Every adventure so far has had some villain, some detail, some loose end, that gets wrapped up in the Grand Guignol. Not only is it interesting from storytelling perspective, but the story itself is interesting as well.

So if you have read up until now, you know that the Shade, is now wanted for murder. Or at least the main suspect of multiple murders. But we have seen up until now that he has reformed from his villainous ways. Robinson does a great job of leaving us guessing until revealing the truth - that there's a second person who has shadow powers! And further than that, once he is dealt with the final villain is none other than the original mist! The story is full of twists and turns and is so good at leading you down one path and then taking you down another. And I've got to say, the sacrifice of Ted Knight was executed really wonderfully by Robinson. You can really feel the respect and love for the character that he's been writing throughout this whole run.

This chapter of Jack Knight's adventure is definitely built on what has come before. In more ways than one. It's a testament to golden age stories, as well as modern sensibilities, and it is a culmination of Jack's and his fathers, adventures. This may be my favorite thing I have read of Robinson, as you can see how carefully crafted and lovingly molded it all is.

Looks like there's one last volume to go. Looking forward to seeing how Robinson wraps it all up.

[Devero · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Italia la Play aveva tradotto solo la prima metà di questa saga.
Un vero piacere recuperare il TP americano e leggerla tutta d'un fiato.
Tra le storie di Jack Knight, Starman, questa è certamente la più complessa e contorta e non è sempre facile mantenere le fila di ciò che stanno facendo tutti i personaggi. Ad ogni modo James Robinson resta uno dei migliori scrittori di fumetti in attività, e Snejbjerg è stato per me una piacevole sorpresa come disegnatore.

[Joshua · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little confused why my local libraries all have this but not the rest of the series - until I read it. I'm sure it's even better with the whole run, but this is a great bunch of comics storytelling. The expressiveness and attention to detail in the eulogies in the last issue is amazing, and it's a really cool way to say goodbye to the series.

[Roberto Diaz · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great climax to a book that invested in each of its character, and payoff with a story that is as rewarding as heartbreaking. James Robinson does magnificent job when a sandbox is given to him with free reign.

[Tetsuo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quase chorei lendo isso

[Corey Pung · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just finished reading Starman: Grand Guignol for the first time a few days ago, and I have to say, this is one of the most enjoyable and rewarding graphic novels I’ve ever read. I enjoyed it just as much, if not more than, Watchmen and Batman: The Long Halloween.

Starman: Grand Guignol is the twelve issue climax to the entire Starman series (it’s followed by a falling action graphic novel called Sons of the Father). It gives Jack Knight the biggest challenge of his superhero career (of course, fans of Starman all know the greatest challenge of Jack’s life was still to come, when he devotes himself to being a father). Returning to Opal City after an outer space jaunt around Rann and Thanagar, Jack soon finds Opal City in a terrible predicament. All of the city’s villains have teemed up to destroy everything, and to make things worse, The Shade has encased the city in a large bubble that no one can get in or out of (kind of like The Simpsons movie), which means Jack can’t get assistance from the JLA or any of the well-known heroes. Instead, saving Opal is left up to a group of not-so-well known characters who happen to be there at the time, including Mikaal Tomas, Captain Atom, and The Elongated Man (one of the goofiest superhero names in history).

If you'd like to read my entire review for free, please go to http://paneldiscussions.wordpress.com...

[Michael Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

This volume collects twelve issues of the magazine and the story is about . . . -- well, I’m really not sure what it’s about. There’s Jack Knight, an apparently non-superbeing (since he has to rely on some kind of unnamed tool-weapon to fly and is otherwise vulnerable to the usual threats of violence), whose father was an earlier version of Starman -- but there are several alluded-to earlier, future, and alternate-world Starmen. He apparently has a girlfriend, and he apparently got some other chick pregnant, but those themes are just dropped into the script without explanation. And someone Bad is attacking Opal City, but I have no idea why. The prose is excessively purple, the artwork is mediocre even by the 1960s style it resembles, and I lost patience halfway through, just giving the remainder a skim to see if I could pick up the plot somewhere. Yes, this is not the first volume published (there were sixty issues of the comic before this), but nearly every other middle-of-the-story book I’ve seen makes at least an effort to provide some backstory, if only by adding an introductory “catch up” chapter. Unless you are intimately familiar with all that went before in this series -- which I am not -- save your money.

[Alan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the next to last volume in the series and in many ways it does feel like the series end. Jack has returned to Opal City after his sojurn in space and writer James Robinson feels as if he has returned to form in tone and dialogue in this installment. To bring things full circle Robinson brings back just about the entire cast. Jack, Ted, David (his annual appearance), Mikaal Solomon Grunudy, Benetti, and just about all the villains who appeared. Even with the strum and dang an enjoyable read, and a good job is done of showing the character's emotions. Spoiler-Ted funeral issue was well done.

[***Dave Hill · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the aptly-titled climax of the series, as the elaborate plans of the Shade (or are they?) come to fruition, and everyone gets into the act fighting for or against him. Folks die on both sides, and the action hurtles forward even with repeated and frequent digression issues on one or another cast member's past, or the past of the Opal itself.

This is epic comic writing in a class of its own, with more backstory and foreshadowing than you can shake a cosmic rod at. Though it's way late in coming, I applaud DC for (3-4 years later) reprinting it. One more volume, and we should be set (and ready to reread the whole thing again).

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The incredible dovetailing of everything James Robinson has set-up since issue one really all comes together in this trade. Every character, supporting and otherwise, has a nice moment in here. For my money, it's all about the last two chapters, issues #72 and #73. I still get as choked up reading them now as I did the first time around.

[Josh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tried to cram too much into a lngthy 13-issue story arc. It's not a super-bad thing, but the writing suffers, and this is a comic I've been enjoying greatly. Has some rad moments, but it just proves 80 issues wasn't enough.

[Ben Krutko · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent artwork and writing. A wonderful conclusion to a series of stories that feels a bit cramped in such a small volume. It is nice to see the characters in this paperback get the attention that they do, given that DC currently ignores most of them.

[Craig · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow!

[BMK · Rating 5 out of 5]

So good. Am reminded of why I began collecting Starman when I was younger.

[Jamie Manley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this is my favorite volume in the series. A lot happens.