Another notable fact about Starman Omnibus vol. 5 is that it contains the “Stars My Destination” storyline, co-written by Dark Knight movie scribe David Goyer and artist Peter Snejbjerg’s first major arc on the book. Filling in artist Tony Harris’ shoes was not an easy thing to do, as Snejbjerg himself discusses in this volume’s intro, but history bears out that he proved a worthy successor. The storyline itself is the highlight of this volume and is like an Easter egg hunt through the DC Universe. Jack Knight, Starman, has taken his cosmic rod and his blue alien buddy Mikaal (who—stay with me now—was also once Starman) on a journey through time and space to find yet another character that was once called Starman, Will Payton, on behalf of Payton’s sister—who is also Knight’s girlfriend.

Confusing? Yes, but it reads better in context. Silver Age DC fans should love this, with guest appearances that include the Legion of Superheroes (notably Star Boy), Space Cabbie, The Teen Titans’ Starfire, Tigorr of the Omega Men, Fast-Bak of The New Gods, Adam Strange, and a young Jor-El (Superman’s dad). If the eye-winking Silver Age-age sensibilities don’t appeal, perhaps the adventure, space opera, and ever-present retro-coolness of Jack Knight will. Plus Robinson is great at raising the stakes. Also, the book is, as ever, as much about its fleshed-out and wonderful supporting cast: Shade, Ted Knight, and the O’Dare family of police officers feature surprisingly heavily considering that the main story is light-years from Opal City.

If there’s any hesitation, it’s that the sheer amount of stuff they throw in here, plus Robinson’s affection for DC minutiae, somewhat reduce the accessibility. But this is Volume 5, after all—you shouldn’t embark on this journey at this late stage anyway.

This was damned near the best, if not the very best, super hero comic being published throughout its entire run. It definitely holds up, and is presented beautifully in this hardcover edition holding 464 pages of mostly great comics, plus that fine intro from Snejbjerg and a very compelling afterward from Robinson. (www.dccomics.com)

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