REVIEW: ‘Stargirl The Lost Children,’ Issue #4

Stargirl The Lost Children #4 from DC Comics finds a huge cast trying to escape the lost island to return home if they can. Geoff Johns writes this issue with its broad cast, and Todd Nauck illustrates them and the lost island with superb flair. Matt Herms keeps the colors exuberant, and Rob Leigh balances a load of lettering with finesse. Stargirl and Red Arrow have not met, but all is ‘well.’ The former has found the Lost Children (okay, most of them), and the latter is speaking to her nearest cellmate, the BOOM, the secret daughter of the Golden Age Flash.

With all the introductions out of the way, it’s time to get down to the details, as in how these costumed kids got on the island. The first part of this issue rests on a ton of exposition laid out by Corky the Timemaster. It seems he lays the blame for temporal issues on the Flash, but in a somewhat humorous manner, he manages to lay out not only how the kids were time lost but also how the Divine Continuity, multiverse, etc., work. This might be cool for super lore geeks, but half felt unnecessary and annoying. The good half of Corky’s monologue is that I think this explains DC’s multiversal setup better than other attempts before.

With the details out of the way, the kids agree to storm the castle of the old lady Childminder to free the others and discover why she’s trying to sell them off to some mysterious buyer. Later, this gives us some healthy action sequences where we see the kids flex their muscles. There’s also an interesting subplot brewing in that Courtney (Stargirl) knows the fates of all these kids. So now she’s conflicted. Should she help get them back to their original time? Because…some of them will end up dead.

Stargirl The Lost Children #4 carries weight. Johns drops a lot of dialogue early on, but Leigh makes it accessible and easy to follow. In the Childminder’s lair, the Boom is out to the test, with Red giving her verbal help, and as a longtime OG Flash fan, I love the Boom. I appreciate the mixture of Golden Age styling with modern comic sensibilities in writing, the character designs, and Nauck’s fun, energetic artwork. Nauck gets to flex hard this time, drawing Flash, Batman, a bevy of DC locales, and time distortions, not to mention the action scenes later on. Every character gets detailed well; no one is left behind. Herms follows suit with those amazing colors; this series has been visual snack food.

This is a winner that is soon to end, sadly. I hope these characters can be congealed into a future series and not be forgotten. A lot of new ground is broken here, leading to broader storytelling for new stories and rethinking the JSA.

This is an issue you have to get and read the series if you haven’t started it yet. Fresh heroes, a mysterious plot, the maturation of Stargirl, and great art. Oh, and the ending to this issue. Well, you’ll never guess how it goes. But oh my. Holding my breath until next month.

Stargirl The Lost Children #4 is available now wherever comic books are sold.