By Geoff Johns, Lee Moder & Dan Davis (DC Comics)
ISBN: 1-84576-595-8
Before hitting it big Geoff Johns started his DC career by revamping the Star Spangled Kid for the 21st century. The original Kid and sidekick Stripesy (an adult) fought crime in the 1940’s, both as a duo and as part of the original Seven Soldiers of Victory. The gimmick was that the sidekick was an adult whilst the literal Kid was the boss and gave the orders. It seemed like a natural development to thrill the children who bought comics and that idea hasn’t been lost here.
Stripesy is Pat Dugan, that same stalwart who battled in the 1940s. He’s still the same guy, more or less (time travel paradox plot – don’t ask – just go with it) and has just remarried. His new wife has a teen-aged daughter, Courtney, who is something of a handful, and is resentful that the new family has upped sticks and moved out of Beverly Hills to relocate to Blue Valley, Nebraska.
We all know what a spoiled brat can be like, but Courtney surprises everybody when her snooping uncovers Pat’s secret and, more importantly, his mementoes. When blackmailing him elicits no results, she steals the Star Spangled uniform to bait him at a party. The costume’s belt is a cosmic power source, which is fortunate, as Blue Valley is the secret base for an evil organisation bent on world conquest.
When the dance is attacked by masked terrorists Courtney manifests super powers and deals with them, but not before step-dad reveals a secret of his own – he’s built a robot battle suit to carry on crime-fighting. Forced to team-up, she learns to be less selfish and he finds that he’s destined to be the “and†part of any partnership.
A light-hearted romp, Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E (the first eight comicbook issues of which are collected here) has a lovely light touch and a terrific spin on the derring-duo theme. The character dynamic as over-protective adult and wilful child discover each other is very often as touching as it is funny and the angst-light action featuring such DC icons as Starman, Teen Titans/Young Justice, Captain Marvel and eventually the JLA and JSA plus a host of villains, aliens and the truly evil denizens of your average American High School make this a very youth friendly series.
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