I wonder if she’s allowed to use that to cut her pizza?
Star Power #29
(May, 2020)
FINAL ISSUE
“The Life Smugglers” part 4
WRITER: Michael Terracciano
ARTIST: Garth Graham
Danica’s had enough of the stealth stuff, since it keeps getting people killed (even if they are the crime families). Star Power shines a light on shadows, not hides in them, so she goes full force on the remaining families, bringing them in one by one while Grex and Semme take down the corrupt Galactic Defense chief of Axiosis and Burke rescues Semme’s contact among the traffickers…with pizza. The villains are taken down, the Sanctuary Six chief pays Danica his people’s highest honor, and Star Power’s mission continues. Though not only are Grex and Semme a couple, but so are Danica and Burke.
What they got right: Danica’s speech to Semme about what a Star Power Sentinel is just perfectly encapsulates the type of superhero I love and want to write, the hero who shines a light in the darkness. She makes him see that his way was turning into them, wanting revenge on the crime families. Granted, we see every vice of every Extavo they can get away with depicting in an all-ages comic, but Star Power takes them down her way and it works. Burke gets to be a hero and solve the one mystery that haunted him all this time, but he still committed crimes as a Void Angel so he still won’t be allowed to fly or probably visit Sanctuary Six. It gives all our heroes a happy ending, but does so without breaking its own rules.
What they got wrong: I mean…they did stretch the limits of “all-ages” in this arc but that’s about it. I’d say ending it but they both had separate projects they wanted to work on, so go out on a high note.
What else is there: As much as I hate to bring the current day culture war into this, here’s your “representation”. Semme is non-binary or gender fluid or whatever, but the story doesn’t revolve around it when it should be focusing on Star Power versus the mob, the story we’re here for. It’s brought up twice: once when the one Extavo’s son trashes him, and here when Shi Lalis and Kaylo bet on what kind of outfit, male or female, Semme’s wearing on this next date with Grex. (Turns out androgynous. Not sure how you score that.) We also see it kind of help in his (they went with male pronouns most of the story, with “they” used once here so don’t make a case out of it!) exposing the local dirty chief. It’s part of his character, but only part, and not the part that matters to this story so it isn’t the focus of the story or his persona.
In other words, he/they is just another character like everyone else. Unless you have some moral, scientific, or religious opposition to the character in an all-ages book (meaning not made FOR kids but is usually kid-friendly, this last arc a bit questioningly so), nobody has reason to complain or scream how “woke” it is because it isn’t. I totally accept Danica as a superhero because she’s a full fledged character on her own, not a quirky snark-ridden girlboss that’s supposed to represent every woman and member of her race (which is treated as human). Danica represents everything I love about superheroes regardless of gender and it’s why she is one of my favorite superheroes. Terracciano and Graham might be an “ally” for this or that group (I’ve only met Terraciano a few times at ConnectiCon and did a BW Panelling episode with his storytelling advice panel and a BW At The Press Junket with both creators) but as far as this story goes it’s just the character they needed for this story, not to score points and get praise from people who don’t read superhero comics. This is how “representation” should be done. Also, Semme isn’t some surface level stereotype like so many of the current “representation” stories are, and neither are any of the other aliens, either to the cultures depicted or stand-ins for this or that social/racial/geographic group in our world. They aren’t showing off whose side they’re on, they’re telling a good story with good characters they can build stories around.
What I think overall: I’m going to miss this comic but it ended perfectly. I hope you’ve read along with the review, and if not you should go read it now. If more modern superhero comics were like Star Power maybe US comics wouldn’t be losing (or losing as badly) to manga.
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