Starman 101 Finale: Conversations With Dead People (and Farewells)

And here we come to the end of the Starman 101, and i have decided to tell you my favorite part of the series for the end.

In the course of the series, there are several types of issues. There are standard issues, annuals, spin offs for Nash and The Shade, Times Past issues (chronicling the adventures of another Starman) and the absolute highlight of the series, and the reason it became my #1 obsession:

the Talking With David issues.

thanks to a strange curse over Opal City, Jack is visited once a year by the ghost of his dead brother David in one-shot issues where they discuss there lives, and their relationship. These issues are great for the coloring (David being the only thing in color) and for the characterization, which is some of the deepest i've ever read.
This happens every year for the duration of the series, in different ways. One time, David confronts Jack and they go on a strange pirate adventure when the ghost of the villian The Black Pirate appears in the afterlife.
By far, though, the most heartbreaking scene in the whole series to me is when Jack confronts his mother who passed away from cancer when he was a child. It makes me weep everytime i read it, absolutely beautiful writing.
Another great Talking With David, probably the best, is when Jack confronts the deceased members of his father's Justice Society. He has a great discussion with second-stringer Mr. Terrific:
and another with The Red Bee, a teen sidekick who always felt as though he was ignored and more famous guys like Hourman and Dr. Fate got more credit.
At the end of the series, in the final Talking With David, Jack meets with his father who dies fighting his enemy The Mist one last time.
and he isn't alone. Another person shows up: Kyle, The Mist's son, whom Jack killed in the beginning of the series.
And with that, Jack decides to retire when his girlfriend Sadie wants them to start a family down in San Francisco with their two kids. He says his goodbyes to The Shade, passes his uniform and Cosmic Rod to Courtney Whitmore, and drives off to start a family.
This is what makes Starman my #1 favorite thing ever. Most comics (in fact, almost all of them) never get an ending, but thankfully Jack's story has a beginning, middle, and end.

thanks for reading. Now go out and by the series. You won't regret it!!!


(credit to Scott Tipton from Comics 101 for the idea, and some of the scans)