“Who replaced my hair spray with spray starch?”
Star Power #21
(November, 2017)
“The Choir Of Doctor Hymn” part 1
WRITER: Michael Terracino
ARTIST: Garth Graham
COVER ART: Kristilyn
Star Power’s exploits are gaining attention, though Danica is upset that it’s only her fights and not her other discoveries that are showing up on the news. She has been to other planets and rescued people, and all this has attracted the attention of Doctor Hieronymus Hymn, creator of “The Choir”, and Doctor Brightman’s favorite musician. Danica doesn’t care for musicians due to bad experiences dating a few because her dad is a music instructor. Now he’s coming to Sanctuary Six, and guess who’s excited. Meanwhile, Burke is let out on parole for good behavior and makes contact with Grex. Danica decides it’s her turn to protect Grex as she doesn’t trust Burke (who has a not-so-secret crush on Star Power). Back on the station, Hymn’s concert causes a lot of commotion, but even Danica is amazed by the performance. His aid offers a visit to his home for Star Power, two guests (one of whom will definitely be Brightman) and her security detail. Wanting to help Burke and all of recommended times for Star Power’s visit coinciding with the times he can meet her, Grex suggests making him the second guest, since she wants him to get the second chance she did. However, he may not be what he seems, as he’s obsessed with perfection, and shoots a failed applicant.
What they got right: Burke’s getting a redemption arc and becoming part of the cast. It does help Danica in having a story arc of forgiveness. Having a character’s hero turn out to be a villain (it’s right on the last page of the main story, before the epilogue giving us further insight into Hymn through his comments on his favorite music pieces) is an interesting plotline and having the main story end with that revelation is a good cliffhanger.
What they got wrong: I kind of want to see these other adventures Star Power’s been on. They sound like potentially interesting stories, even as one-shot adventures versus the multi-parters that this comic has had thus far. At least they’re writing as much for the individual issues as they are the inevitable trade collections, which in this case is a necessity of self-publishing. As we’ve gone over, publishing comics isn’t cheap.
What I think overall: This is a good start to this storyline, and I remember Hymn being a different and interesting threat versus the warlords, criminals, and dangerous tests she’s had thus far. Plus I think this story also plays a role in Burke’s character arc, so that should be fun.
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