Genre Character of the Week: Stargirl

Last month for one of my book clubs I read the first 11 volumes of the Justice Society of America, which ran from 1999 to 2006 (considering the majority of these characters started out in the 1940’s, I use the term first very loosely), and although the team had a lot of members joining and leaving throughout the run, it did re-introduce me to this week’s genre character, Stargirl, aka Courtney Whitmore.

I was first introduced to the character in James Robinson’s Starman, where she comes across as kind of an arrogant jerk, totally taking the work of her partner (and Stepfather) for granted and basically coming across as a very selfish teen. In the end of Starman (mild spoiler), Jack Knight passes on his Cosmic Staff to Courntey and she changes her name from the Star-Spangled Kid to Stargirl. At the time I readStarman, I couldn’t help wondering, why her? I mean, she doesn’t really come across as even mildly heroic in the series and I couldn’t follow Jack’s logic as to why she should take up where he left off.

Luckily, after reading the Justice Society of America series, I now have a much better idea. Here’s what I really liked about Courtney; she is learning as she goes along, she’s not afraid to admit when she’s wrong, and honestly, she is the only superhero I can think of who wears braces for her teeth. Her relationships throughout the run on JSA run from friendships to romances (and specifically one of the best uses of the “but you don’t know him like I do” excuses I’ve ever come across in genre fiction) and unlike a lot of the other heroes, you actually get to see her mature through the series.

Honestly, a pretty cool superhero.

Things I've Noticed: Sometimes backstory is overrated

Right now I’m reading the Justice Society of America comic book series, which started in 2006 under James Robinson (Starman) and David Goyer (Batman Begins, and also The Crow: City of Angels, which was the movie my wife and I saw on our first date) and after Robinson left would be written by Geoff Johns.

The thing is, the Justice Society was pretty much one of the first major super-hero teams, with stories published as far back as the 1940s, so there is a lot of continuity going on here. I’m reading the series for one of my book clubs, and before I started reading it, I read the 80 issues of James Robinson’s Starman (which I wrote about here) and was then told it might be worth my while to read the 50 issue run of Infinity Inc., as there were many crossovers and story arcs which start in the earlier series and play out in the JSA I’m currently reading.

I did end up reading Starman, as I owned the entire series and was looking for an opportunity to read them, but I decided against Infinity Inc. before starting the JSA. Mostly it came down to a lack of time – I was both finishing my first course for my Masters of Library Studies degree and was enthralled with the PS3 game Dead Space (the ending by the way – very cool!). So I figured I’d just try to read JSA on its own and see how much of it made sense.

Twenty issues in and so far I’m doing pretty good. I’m glad I read Starman before I started this, as the earliest issues were written by the same author so I recognized many characters and settings that might have slipped past me, but otherwise I’m doing pretty good. I may not necessarily know who all these heroes are, but there is enough description in the series to allow me to understand the story and invest in the characters.

A few years back I wrote about how I was nervous any time I tried a new series that I would require a lot of back story to appreciate the stuff I had access to, but you know what.

Sometimes you don’t really need that much back story, just trust that the story you’re reading will get you through.