Written by Geoff Johns.
Art by Todd Nauck; Matt Herms; Hi-Fi; & Rob Leigh.
Collection Cover Art by Todd Nauck.
SUMMARY:
Released in 2023 by DC Comics, this 175-page trade paperback compiles the Stargirl Spring Break Special one-shot and Stargirl: The Lost Children released between 2021 and 2023. Specifically, the one-shot and the subsequent six-issue mini-series join several interrelated projects meant to revitalize DC’s Justice Society of America (JSA) franchise. Other titles include solo ventures for Wesley Dodds’ Sandman; Jay Garrick’s Flash; Alan Scott’s Green Lantern, and a new JSA title featuring Helena Wayne’s Huntress.
On a routine night patrol, Oliver Queen reveals to his far younger half-sister, Emiko (aka Red Arrow), that he and Roy Harper are in fact the Golden Age Green Arrow and Speedy. Hence, during their time travel adventure to the 1940’s, Oliver and Roy were members of the original Seven Soldiers of Victory. The ominous arrival of Jill Carlyle’s Crimson Avenger recruits Oliver on a mission to help his long-dead Seven Soldier teammate: Lee Travis – the original Crimson Avenger.
In Blue Valley, Nebraska, Pat Dugan brings along his teenage stepdaughter, Courtney Whitmore (aka Stargirl), on a trip to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, at the behest of Greg Saunders – the Golden Age Vigilante. Once there, Pat is recruited to rejoin his fellow surviving Soldiers on seemingly a final mission. Left out, Courtney and Emiko catch up to them on Myrtle Beach’s shore amidst a shipboard battle against Clock King. Caught in a time-warp, Courtney briefly comes into contact with Lee Travis. She also sees a fleeting present-day glimpse of his teenage sidekick, Wing, running with two unknown companions.
Note: Wing’s fate as the Soldiers’ eighth member is previously established – per Justice League of America # 100-102. Apart from locating the original issues, the best reference is Crisis on Multiple Earths, Volume 3, which reprints this storyline.
Having finally recovered Lee Travis’ corpse, the Seven Soldiers believe their old teammate’s spirit is now finally at rest by thwarting Clock King. Yet, Courtney and Emiko can’t help but think there is far more to this odd story, i.e. that the long-dead Wing might still be alive somewhere. Stumbling upon an aging Daniel Dunbar’s (once TNT’s Golden Age sidekick, Dyna-Mite) ongoing investigation, the girls realize that Daniel is seeking to find dozens of long-lost sidekicks dating back to World War II.
After visiting Green Arrow’s ‘Arrow Cave,’ the duo follows Dunbar’s seabound course to a remote section of the Atlantic Ocean. Upon being forcibly marooned, the girls wash up on a seemingly inescapable island prison dubbed ‘Orphan Island.’
With Emiko captured, Stargirl is rescued by Wing, Airwave II, and Cherry Bomb from their captor’s overpowering egg-shaped robots. Welcomed into their hidden ‘clubhouse,’ Stargirl meets approximately two dozen time-lost Golden Age sidekicks, who have no idea how many decades have lapsed without them. More so, the children gradually realize that someone or something has deliberately tried to erase their existence upon their disappearances.
Co-led by Stargirl and young Time Master Corky Baxter, the young heroes desperately seek to rescue others, including Emiko, Dyna-Mite, Secret (Bart Allen’s friend), and Jay Garrick’s daughter, Boom. Against the wicked witch-like Childminder’s forces, Stargirl is stunned that a former JSA teammate has become a pawn of someone intent on preventing the children from ever returning home. In a final showdown, two of the young heroes realizes that tragic destiny cannot be changed. An ultimate sacrifice must be poignantly made to save not only them, but the world itself.
The epilogue teases a major shift in a resurgent Justice Society’s status quo.
Notes: This title is also available digitally. Replacing the team’s decedents (the Star-Spangled Kid and Lee Travis’ Crimson Avenger) and the absent Roy Harper, successors Stargirl, Jill Carlyle, and Emiko Queen’s Red Arrow complete DC’s Seven Soldiers. The other Soldiers include Oliver Queen’s Green Arrow, Pat Dugan’s Stripesy, Sir Justin the Shining Knight, and Greg Saunders’ Vigilante.
REVIEW:
Frankly, no one writes Stargirl (and, by extension, DC’s younger characters) better than her creator: Geoff Johns. Considering how far off-course Johns’ DC scripting had gone for nearly twenty years (case in point: starting with tone-deaf dreck like 2005’s Infinite Crisis), Stargirl: The Lost Children delivers a most welcome treat. Glowing with inspired plot twists, homages to both DC’s original continuity and recent efforts to fix DC’s muddled continuity reboots, and a sincere reverence for Golden Age characters, this nostalgic legacy storyline finds Johns back at his best.
More so, this project’s art squad conjures up consistently high-caliber visuals befitting DC’s equivalent of Peter Pan. Geared for all-age DC fans, Stargirl: The Lost Children is a highly recommended read.
ADDITIONAL CONTENT:
Each full-page cover precedes its story. In order, the cover artists are:
- Stargirl Spring Break Special # 1 (artists: Todd Nauck & Hi-Fi);
- Stargirl Spring Break Special # 1 variant (artists: Mike McKone & Luis Guerrero);
- Issue # 1 (artist: Nauck) – collection cover art
- Issue # 1 variant (artist: Crystal Kung)
- Issue # 2 (artist: Nauck)
- Issue # 2 variant (artist: Mike Maihack)
- Issue # 3 (artist: Nauck)
- Issue # 3 variant (artist: Ant Reeder)
- Issue # 4 variant (artist: Crystal Kung)
- Issue # 4 variant (artists: Maria Laura Sanapo & Mike Atiyeh)
- Issue # 5 (artist: Nauck)
- Issue # 5 variant (artist: Sweeney Boo)
- Issue # 6 (artist: Nauck)
- Issue # 6 variant (artist: Meghan Hetrick).
An additional variant cover gallery, with three covers in 1/3-size to a page, consists of:
- Issue # 1 (artist: Mayo “Sen” Naito); Issue # 2 (artist: Sean “Cheeks” Galloway); and Issue # 3 (artists: Brandt & Stein)
- Issue # 4 (artist: Nauck); Issue # 5 (artist: Marguerite Sauvage); and Issue # 6 (artist: Kevin Maguire).
Nauck’s character design sketches include: Stargirl (black-and-white); Pat Dugan (black-and-white); Stripesy (black-and-white); ten child sidekicks (in black-and-white and/or color); and the villains.
BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING: 9 Stars
