A StarGirl review: The new superhero show on The CW and is a lot of fun. TIt’s is just in its’ first season and has just aired two episodes but so far I like the storytelling. You can see DC Comics legend Geoff Johns hand in it.
Geoff Johns is one of my favorite DC writers. He has succesfully launched and reimagined some of the best DC characters all by himself. And let’s not forget, Johns wrote The Blackest Night crossover back when.
So when I read that Geoff Johns’ StarGirl was coming to the small screen, I was sold. I just knew I had to see the show.
StarGirl Review of the Origins
The TV show is basically the origin story of StarGirl. In the show a 15 year old Courtney Whitmore is chosen by the Cosmic Staff to be its’ new wielder. But let’s not get ahead here and continue this StarGirl review.
The Justice Society of America is killed by the Injustice Society, 10 years prior to the start of the show. Starman wielded the cosmic staff back then but he was ultimately killed by Icicle and with his last dying words he asked his best bud , and also stepfather of StarGirl, Pat Dugan also known as S.T.R.I.P.E., to find a worthy successor for the staff.
10 years later, the family moves to a small town called Blue Valley. While the moving boxes are unloaded, the box that contains the Cosmic Staff lights up when Courtney is near and when she is alone the staff breaks out and flies to her. Apparently the staff found his own successor instead of Pat having to find one.
It is the start of a marvelous first adventure. Where Courtney struggles to keep control of the staff and the staff is actually controlling her while it makes her fly all over Blue Valley. And when she encounters the bullies she met earlier today at school, Courtney takes over and teaches them a lesson they will never forget. While she beats them up a little bit the staff however has other plans and shoots a beam at the car that one of the kids has taken with permission of his dad. So technically, the staff blows up the dad’s car.
Courtney panics and flies home immediately after that. Pretending nothing happened. But her actions set the Injustice Society in motion. Starting with the villain Brainwave, who just happens to be the dad of the bully who’s car just got blown up. He sees the cosmic staff and manages to get a high school pass but it’s burnt so he can’t make out who’s pass it is. Brainwave does see the cosmic staff fly off and is worried.
Brainwave informs the Injustice Society of his discovery and starts an investigation about who the mysterious new wielder of the Cosmic Staff is.
He finds out it is Courtney Whitmore and the two get into a fight with Courtney now in full StarGirl costume. But not before Pat Dugan joins in. Dugan is with his self built droid S.T.R.I.P.E, which stands for Special Tactics Robotic Integrated Power Enhancer.
Pat Dugan proves to be no match for Brainwave and he is quickly taken down when StarGirl joins the fight. Still unexperienced with the cosmic staff she shoots a school billboard and it’s completely oblitareted.
During the fight her inexperience gives away the initiative and she loses her edge. While Brainwave has the upperhand, Dugan recovers and StarGirl manages to get a hand on the staff.
She manages to put the staff on his chin when the Cosmic Staff short circuits Brainwave’s powers and he appears to be comatosed. He won’t pose a threat for a while and so her secret identity is once again safe.
At the end of the episode we see the Injustice Society make plans to take down the new wielder of the Cosmic Staff.
A fresh look on comicbook shows
So this is a StarGirl review and what I found appealing on the show is that it doesn’t add any political tones to it. I watched Supergirl and they have a lot of political comments subtly written into dialogue.
Comes with it that StarGirl isn’t just the origin story of Courtney Whitmore turning into the heroine but she is also touted to become the founder of the new Justice Society of America. Which sounds awesome. I hope there will be episodes just dedicated the backstory of any members that join, just to flesh out the characters. Same goes for the Injustice Society of America.
What also sets the show apart is the fact that it is not part of the Arrowverse or the Titans / Doom Patrol universe. But that doesn’t mean that the show can’t crossover between worlds ofcourse.
Geoff Johns said the following about that: “We’re completely open to it,” said Johns. “There’s so many possibilities…We’re set on Earth-2, and it gives us the room to tell our history and story, but also the opportunity in the future to do anything in the comic books or to always cross over with other places. Conversations have been had, but it’s all a matter of when it makes sense and if we have the best story.”
I hope they will continue down this road and that we will have a great show on our hands.
Geoff Johns, creator of StarGirl
Like I mentioned before: I am and have always been a huge fan of Geoff Johns writing. He is part of the new generation of comicbook writers who continued developing professional comicbook writing, picking it up from Chris Claremont’s generation. While this is a StarGirl review of the TV show, I thought it was worth mentioning where Johns got the inspiration from.
What I like best about StarGirl is that it is actually one big hommage to his sister Courtney who passed away in 1996 in a horrible planecrash. StarGirl is modeled after her in terms of personality, physique and name.
STRIPE aka Pat Dugan is her sidekick in the comics as well as well as her stepdad. However while they have a love-hate relationship in the comics , they don’t appear to have one on TV. Pat Dugan seems to a bit of a disapproving dad though when Courtney wants to fight members of the Injustice Society all by herself. But then again who wouldn’t be if it is your kid?
If you have watched the show then let me know by dropping a comment, if not then I hope this actually made you watch it. It is worth your time.
