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Stargirl Spring Break Special #1 is writer Geoff Johns’s return of Stargirl and the Seven Soldiers of Victory, illustrated by Todd Nauck with colors by HI-FI and letters by Rob Leigh. The Crimson Avenger has gathered together the Seven Soldiers of Victory for the first time in too long with a life or death mission in mind. It’s going to get in the way of Courtney’s spring break plans, but not as much as Crimson Avenger sidelining her and Red Arrow will.
Stargirl, and even more so the Seven Soldiers of Victory, have a long and confusing history. Fortunately, readers do not need to be well-versed to get into this oversized special issue. The comic does a great job of catching you up on everything you need to know, from Ollie and Roy’s trip to the past to the stories of each of the Seven Soldiers to enough of Stargirl and S.T.R.I.P.E.’s backstory to get you going. After the welcome introduction, the story gets really intense really fast. There is a clearly dark and troubled history between the Seven Soldiers, and Stargirl is right in the middle of it. It’s not the tone I expected from a comic called “Spring Break Special,” but I quite enjoyed what it was instead. There’s time displacement, there are odd reunions, and there’s epic action.
The art style in this comic feels very Archie-like. Not because it looks anything like any era or Archie exactly, but because it has this pop-y style to it that just screams teenage drama. The only thing is, despite the name of the comic, this is not a teenage drama. It’s not that the style is bad by any means; it just feels antithetical to the high-octane action that ensues. Something about the women’s very pronounced lips just puts me off about it all.
The action is all drawn and colored great, though. In particular, any time Crimson Avenger is on the page and her red mist envelops the panel, and everything is stunning. The whole end of the comic is one large action scene filled with all sorts of detailed full-page epicness. The illustration and colors are constantly brilliant throughout the sequence, with no two panels containing the same combination of elements. Additionally, the SFX, especially when they are accompanying Crimson Avenger, is excellent.
There is an additional post-credits scene at the end of the comic, as well as several posters of the Seven Soldiers of Victory and a full-page “Where’s Stripesy” illustration filled with virtually every Golden Age hero team illustrated by Fred Hembeck and colored by HI-FI. They add a little touch to the special comic.
Stargirl Spring Break #1 is nothing like what the title would suggest. While the art style matches a teen drama, the plot is a high-intensity action thriller filled with time shenanigans and severe emotional stakes. It’s a good story, though with amazing coloring, especially throughout the lengthy final action sequence.
Stargirl Spring Break #1 is available wherever comics are sold.
Stargirl Spring Break #1
TL;DR
Stargirl: Spring Break #1 is nothing like what the title would suggest. While the art style matches a teen drama, the plot is a high-intensity action thriller filled with time shenanigans and severe emotional stakes. It’s a good story though with amazing coloring, especially throughout the lengthy final action sequence.
Jason is the Sr. Editor at But Why Tho? and producer of the But Why Tho? Podcast. He’s usually writing about foreign films, Jewish media, and summer camp, when he isn’t working as a music educator in his day job.