The Good Stuff

As I mentioned, last month's issue of JSA was very, very good (I forget the number offhand, it's the one with the Ross cover of Stargirl).

Now, it's not perfect by any means. The entire Jesse Quick/Liberty Belle subplot was a bit of a mess, and was really used as a Deus ex machina to set up the real focus of the plot. However, that focus was excellent.

As I've mentioned before, I thought Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E was a very good comic that got killed before its time. The very last issue ended with some very strong family dynamics, and this issue really picked up from them.

It's nice to see that things between Courtney and Michael are still somewhat messy. In fact, if anything, they are becoming very brother and sister like. They'll fight, and even drag their parents into it. That said, you just know that if anyone outside the family crosses either of them, the other will be all over that person.

What does Courtney's real father represent to her? At first, a hope. A hope of belonging, of something better than the life she had before when she and her mother were alone. It was a bit surprising to see her as an "outsider" at her old school, but it fits in a way. For all of her trouble with Pat Dugan early on, her home and her life is developing into a place where she fits. She's found her place in life, and is comfortable in it, and is confident in it.

It's a sign of her fundamental decency that she's so badly shaken when she found out about her real father. What did she really want? She had her place with her mother and Pat, so it wasn't that any more. Did she want redemption for him? Did she want to understand him? We don't know, but as angry as she'd been when she'd seen him in jail, she obviously hadn't cut him out of her heart, even though she "knew" she was "supposed" to.

Stargirl is one of the best characters going, there's just no other way to say it.