Should DC create a new Starman and ongoing?

[MajorHoy]

“Win their spurs”. Wow, that is old timey as hell!

Dude, that issue came out over eighty years ago . . .

[Ascended]

In what reality was he a "JSA founder"?

Obviously the reality where I don't remember who was and wasn't a founder.

[Timber Wolf-By-Night]

I'm always down for a Starman...if that Starman is a Knight. Not big on the alien Starmans. Got nothing against them personally, but I don't like them using the mantle. I think Starman is at its best when it's primarily a metaphor for human ingenuity/power of science and secondly the story of one really big, influential and messed up family. The Knight family is DC's Kennedys, why is that not being explored more?

Courtney is great too. She's not a Knight but I feel like she's close enough (friend of the family, in a way?), and she honors the history so I'm perfectly happy with her. Wish she got more page time actually. Why doesn't this girl have a solo? I know DC and Robinson have/had a gentleman's agreement to leave Jack alone, do they have a similar agreement with Johns?

So I'll happily take a brand new Starman (provided he's family), or Courtney finally getting some attention, or even Jack coming out of retirement (more on that in a sec). I'm really hopeful that we'll get a Ted Knight mini like we're seeing for Jay, Alan, and Wesley Dodds. Hell, I'd read about the Starman of DC 1 Million, or even Jack's brother David who was Starman for approximately five seconds before getting killed. Love the franchise, love the Knights, I'm down for whatever.

Bonus points if the book also remembers that the Knight family also includes some Ladies Phantom, and those women have accomplished just as much as the men in the family.

Regarding Jack. I'm one of those fans who don't want him back. If DC offered it and Robinson signed off on it and they actually had something to say, then I'd give it a shot obviously...but Jack's story is told, and I'm good with that. And I suspect that any new story with Jack wouldn't live up to the love I have for the original. I think Jack falls into the trap Young Justice did, where nostalgia is the bait and nobody's walking away happy.

....if someone had a pitch for Jack's son however.....

The Knights ARE NOT DC's version of the Kennedy's. Never have been. That's just a personal head canon of yours that, frankly, you're a bit obnoxious about. Ted, Sandra, David, and Jack are the only Knights in DC that we know of, there is no network of Knights in positions of power and high society. Again, that's your personal head canon, one that DC doesn't acknowledge.

Ironically, before James Robinson, ALL the Starmen had nothing to do with one another. It would a welcome return to form for a new Starman who isn't a Knight to appear.

[Dataweaver]

The Knights ARE NOT DC's version of the Kennedy's. Never have been. That's just a personal head canon of yours that, frankly, you're a bit obnoxious about. Ted, Sandra, David, and Jack are the only Knights in DC that we know of, there is no network of Knights in positions of power and high society. Again, that's your personal head canon, one that DC doesn't acknowledge.

Ironically, before James Robinson, ALL the Starmen had nothing to do with one another. It would a welcome return to form for a new Starman who isn't a Knight to appear.

Courtney isn't a Knight. And Ascended's line about her being “close enough (a friend of the family?)” doesn't actually have anything to it. Courtney had even less of a connection to the Knights than Mikaal Tomas did; the only connection they ever had was that they were both there for the founding of the 2000 version of the JSA. And the only reason Jack chose her as his successor was because of her showing in Sins of Youth.

Really the only difference between Courtney becoming Stargirl (and eventually Starwoman) and your “return to form” — for a new Starman who isn't a Knight to appear — is that she's female: Stargirl/Starwoman instead of Starman. That, and she's already appeared; so she's not new. She simply hasn't taken the second step of becoming a grown-up, solo heroine.

[Riv86672]

Dude, that issue came out over eighty years ago . . .

^^^Which it’s why the phrase is old timey as hell.

Obviously the reality where I don't remember who was and wasn't a founder.

^^^LOL!!!

[Digifiend]

I think the explanation is simpler: DC doesn't like to age it's teen heroes. I'm thinking in particular of Courtney's contemporaries, Young Justice.

Yeah, they should be in their 20s too. Before Flashpoint, Damian was 10 and Tim was 17-18 (dropped out as a high school senior in order to take over Wayne Enterprises when Bruce was believed dead). Damian's now 14, so Tim should be 21-22. I've always thought it was daft that the new, 21 year old, Wonder Girl, Yara Flor, was older than the previous one, Cassie Sandsmark. Aging Cassie up to 22 would fix that problem as well.

[CaptCleghorn]

DC comes up with new Starmen in order to maintain copyright or so I'm guessing. Mikaal's appearance in Danger Street at least puts a current Starman out.

As for Jack, he's an amazing character with a distinctive style. However, he is so tied to the Robinson series and that story that I have major doubts about anyone being able to produce another Jack Knight series that could approach it.

We have numerous Supermen, Batmen, Green Lanterns, and Flashes. In those cases, the original is big enough to carry a book (usually). I don't know what another Starman could bring to the table that couldn't happen with one of the previously created characters.

My favorite ideas are the mentioned Ted Knight history with SMT style stories. I'd also be up for a series of minis featuring previously used Starmen.

[Ascended]

The Knights ARE NOT DC's version of the Kennedy's. Never have been. That's just a personal head canon of yours that, frankly, you're a bit obnoxious about. Ted, Sandra, David, and Jack are the only Knights in DC that we know of, there is no network of Knights in positions of power and high society. Again, that's your personal head canon, one that DC doesn't acknowledge.

It's not really headcanon, as all those characters and their accomplishments and relations are on the page (just pages you didn't read, I'm guessing). Nothing I said about the family is made up, though as I said I might have some details wrong, like Ted being a JSA founder.

DC are the ones who said this family includes presidents, senators, ect. Not me. DC doesn't give Starman or Phantom Lady the time of day, you're right as far as that's concerned, but that doesn't really mean much either. Starman is a C-lister at best, Phantom Lady probably isn't even D-list. Not surprising they're not used is it, even less so for the wider family.

This is less headcanon and more akin to assuming that Metropolis and Central City have mayors. We almost never hear about them, they certainly don't get page time. But we know they're there because cities typically have mayors and they do get mentioned once in a great while. Likewise, the Knights are a multi-generational family full of big deal people, and while the comic books themselves might not spend any time with that fact, it doesn't change what they are in-universe.

And really, a Starman thread is gonna talk about the family. It's been a primary pillar of the franchise since Robinson. Sorry you find my interest in the family tree obnoxious, if you feel triggered I encourage you to make use of the ignore function.

[Timber Wolf-By-Night]

Yeah, Jack has such a distinctive voice, style, personality, and quirkiness that it would be beyond disappointing to see someone who doesn't at least try to maintain that get their hands on him and write him as just another cookie cutter super-hero.

[Riv86672]

It's not really headcanon, as all those characters and their accomplishments and relations are on the page (just pages you didn't read, I'm guessing). Nothing I said about the family is made up, though as I said I might have some details wrong, like Ted being a JSA founder.

^^^RIF, am I right?
But seriously I can see the Kennedy parallels but it (the family tree) goes way beyond that, in its own unique directions, which a good homage should.

[Will Evans]

Yeah, they should be in their 20s too. Before Flashpoint, Damian was 10 and Tim was 17-18 (dropped out as a high school senior in order to take over Wayne Enterprises when Bruce was believed dead). Damian's now 14, so Tim should be 21-22. I've always thought it was daft that the new, 21 year old, Wonder Girl, Yara Flor, was older than the previous one, Cassie Sandsmark. Aging Cassie up to 22 would fix that problem as well.

Jaime Reyes Blue Beetle literally just graduated high school.
And he was younger than Courtney and Tim Drake.