If I had to list the five most tired, hackneyed comic book devices of the last 25 years, then I would be forced to use this comic as an example for at least three. As everyone has pointed out, the idea of eXtreme superhero teams was played out over a decade ago. The idea of turning a middle-of-the-road silver ager like Ray Palmer into the The Punisher with a little caption box is equally played out.

But worst of all is the whole revolving door of death as motivator for REVENGE. Seriously, both Hal and Ollie were dead and returned to life in the very recent past. Their mutual friend Barry Allen is just back from the grave. Ray Palmer has been presumed dead and turned up a couple times. There is just no way that any of them would have this much of reaction to the apparent deaths of J’onn J’onzz, or Bruce Wayne. For members of the JLofA, dying is akin to breaking up with a girlfriend to real people. Sure, it isn’t great, but pretty much everyone goes through it at least once.

I have not read Starman, but after years of hearing its praises sung, I have been nothing but disappointed by everything I’ve read of Robinson’s.

Bill, STARMAN was very good and fresh for its time. It is important to note a couple things about it.

First, Robinson had the luxury of creating a brand new version of a character that had not been used much for years. Nearly everything about Jack Knight and his Opal City came from Robinson and Tony Harris, which is completely different than what DC is asking him to do with CRY FOR JUSTICE.

Second, Robinson had a great collaborator in Harris during the first half of the series. Some writers are just better working with certain artists and vice versa. Robinson working with Harris, or Paul Smith, is a must read. I think that he would work well with Gary Frank, since he has the same type of clean line. Mark Bagley might be a great fit on JLofA. However, his scripts can seem very static in the wrong hands.

Why? Because the nature of super heroes is to be reactive. Also drama pretty much demands that you show the bad guy to be bad before the heroes show up to punch him in the face. Also, because certain villains are proprietary to their hero’s solo books, the “pro-active” team inconceivably ignores the likes of Lex Luthor, The Joker, etc. and settles for lesser bad guys.

I remember back to the first issue of the Mark Shaw version of Manhunter. Since he was a bounty hunter, not a hero, they initially show him catching The Penguin while in the bathtub. A nice bit of planning that makes a great deal of sense. However, since it’s also boring, he never shows that level of planning again. The same holds true for the pro-active team. If a guy like Ray Palmer wants revenge, why not shrink down and take a dip in Chronos’ soda, let him swallow you, and then enlarge while inside the guy. Problem solved, right?

That doesn’t make the writing in this comic any better, though.

I have not read Starman, but after years of hearing its praises sung, I have been nothing but disappointed by everything I’ve read of Robinson’s.

Well, there’s a reason Starman’s the one everyone has been telling you to read, and not any of his other books.

I’m sure the books bad, but the ‘never having encountered the blue starman’ before part almost makes anything else irrelevant.

Save your pennies!

I agree with those that said that Starman could be a little self-important at times, but there’s no denying that it’s one of the best superhero runs ever. After Jack went into space, the book seemed to gain a huge momentum all the way to the end. I loved every issue of that period.

Agree, agree, agree. Starman was so fresh when it started that it was easy to overlook Robinson’s flaws, but I found the book to be more and more grating as time passed. I think I jumped off with the issue where Robinson has Batman talking about Woody Allen movies. Why? Because in James Robinson’s world, everyone has to have a favorite Woody Allen movie. Every character has the same voice; much like a certain other Secret- Invading Marvel writer, he’s very much a one-trick pony. It’s a pretty good trick, but it wears after a while.

* Oh, and Hal, making that argument to Clark, while Ollie, Wally (probably, but the argument applies to ALL the Flashes), Diana, the Hawks, Plas, and Red Tornado are in the room? It…tends not to have much impact.

By the way, have you all forgotten that Robinson wrote the screenplay to “League of Extraordinary Gentlemen”?

In defense of James Robinson: I haven’t seen “Leave It to Chance” or “The Golden Age” mentioned yet; those two comics worth reading. They are charming, fully-realized, entertaining, and drawn by Paul Smith. His “Cable” and “Wildcats” stories weren’t bad, but he didn’t get the chance to go anywhere with them. I like his work on “Superman.”

“Cry for Justice” is pretty indefensible, though.