The Starman 80-Page Giant is obviously directed at fans of the cult comic-book Starman. It serves as a great companion to the series, featuring the adventures of many Starman supporting characters through the years, however it is not a great jumping on point if you've had no prior exposure to the character's world (especially at 8 bucks Canadian).
The 80-Page Giant is a sort-of replacement for the DC Annuals, and past Giants have all been anthologies, some with framing sequences. All the stories in previous 80-Pagers have had different creative teams, which is where the difference in the Starman Giant lies. This 80-pager is written solely by James Robinson (the man with the plan for Starman), and all the stories in the issue have a connecting theme.
There is an opening act and a closing act starring the current Starman, Jack Knight, (art by John Lucas). In this tale Jack is hunting down a muderous Ragdoll copycat in Opal City, only to find that the next victim is himself. The Ragdoll's murder weapon is the focal point of all the following tales.
The Shade tale (art by Mike Mayhew) co-stars the Scalphunter in a tale set in 1894. This tale finds a freed slave returning to the upstart city of Opal looking for an Ornament stolen by his father's "master". A curse put upon the ornament forbodes that its owner and his family will meet an untimely fate as long as it is in their posession.
In the golden age of Opal City, Ted Night encounters the Mist and a gentleman owning the aforementioned statue who makes the wrong decision and must suffer the consequences. Art by Steve Sadowski and Tom Nguyen.
The first real story of the Starman of 1951 has him encountering Bobo Benetti - the super-strong, super-tough, not-so-super criminal - as he makes his escape after robbing a bank. Great art by Wade VonGrawbadger.
Those O'Dare kids are in trouble again as this tale of their younger selves sees them investigating the junk yard owner for murder. But what turns out to be a simple mistake could actually be a fatal one. Art by Dusty Abell.
The final unfortunate tale sees 70's Starman, Mikaal Thomas, attempting to battle his enemy, No Mercy, while strung out. Can he save the girl or will he wind up getting them both killed? (And that statue thing pops up again). Art by Tim Burgand.
The resolution of the opening chapter, and the maquette's involvement in Ragdoll's murders, concludes what is Robinson's best Starman work in over a year. The regular series' writing has been lacking recently and it's good to see that Robinson still has something good in store for us. The art throughout the issue is tremendous, with the exception of Lucas' work, which, really isn't very good at all. It's a shame that the longest story has the weakest art (considering the talent Robinson usually surrounds himself with).