JSA Presents Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E.: Volume 2

Jack Knight (Starman), as he, Pat and Courtney battle the Icicle: "Pat, I'm cool with you and me doing this...I guess...But why didn't you leave your sidekick at home?" Courtney: "I'm the leader. S.T.R.I.P.E.'s the sidekick." First, some background: For high school teenager Courtney Whitmore the resentments just keep piling. Not only did her mom just get re-married, but they'd also had to relocate from awesome Los Angeles to Nebraska's woefully dull Blue Valley. Then Courtney, rummaging thru her step-pop's things, stumbles onto a big secret. Seems that Pat Dugan, her new dad, used to be Stripesy, adult sidekick to the 1940s' cape The Star-Spangled Kid. Having unearthed the Kid's cosmic converter belt, Courtney, in part to annoy Pat, then decides to take up the superhero mantle and becomes the new Star-Spangled Kid. The belt lends her added strength, speed, agility, and electrical disruption abilities, so off she goes. Pat Dugan is not amused but is unable to dissuade Courtney. So, aiming to safeguard and mentor his willful stepdaughter, Pat, a brilliant mechanic, is forced to debut his experimental robotic armor, dubbed S.T.R.I.P.E., and joins her in her adventures. And that's how dull Blue Valley, former home to the Kid Flash and now maybe not so dull, got a duo of superheroes. STARS AND S.T.R.I.P.E. is Hollywood-guy-turned-comic-book-scribe Geoff Johns's first comic book series, and he rocks it, impressing the DC bigwigs enough that, shortly after, they gave him the reins to the JSA and the FLASH titles. In STARS AND S.T.R.I.P.E. Johns, who seems to have inherited fellow comic book writer Roy Thomas's fondness and fascination for the Golden Age of comics, is in the full grip of nostalgia. His storytelling is anchored by a definite link to the past as Courtney and Pat's contemporary exploits are often tied in with references and flashback stories centering on the old school JSA, the Seven Soldiers of Victory, and, in particular, the old Starman, Stripesy, and the original Star-Spangled Kid. JSA PRESENTS: STARS AND S.T.R.I.P.E. Volume 2 collects #0 and the final six issues (#9-14) of the sadly short-lived 1999 monthly comic book. Here, Courtney and Pat's strained relationship continues to develop even as they face off against the Icicle, Shiv, and the world-class villain Dragon King. Pat also narrates the story of the Seven Soldiers of Victory's final battle, the one against the Nebula Man, which led to the Soldiers' far-flung banishment to various temporal eras. The Starmen (Ted and Jack Knight) and the Shining Knight prominently guest star, while Ted Knight recalls the time he asked the first Star-Spangled Kid to become his successor. On a personal level, Courtney still has to contend with high school life and teenage woes. Pat's biological son Mike shows up to forever alter the family dynamics. Mike is also intent on becoming the next Star-Spangled Kid. And, in the well-done last issue, Courtney's real dad drops in. As might be guessed, S