:jsa_book_club: Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E.: Last Hour for the Seven Soldiers of Victory:jsa_book_club:

JasonTodd428 · July 16, 2021, 11:18pm

Hi everyone at the good ole JSABC. Here is our second July session and the second session covering the Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. Last time we left Courtney and company…Star Spangled Kid had seemingly defeated Nebula Man and Courtney’s new step brother has arrived on the scene. But all is not what it seems so without further ado lets get going.

THE JSA BOOK CLUB ROLL CALL

Club Leaders

@JasonTodd428 & @Aurora

Standing Members

Abrax, AggressiveIntellectual219, Alec.Holland, anthony.javier3, Applejack, Azrael_Jean-PaulValley14, BBlake, bbzo24, bigblock66, Blueandred BlueBeetlesAssistant, BobbinIrving, Boswell99, Brenticus_Rex, CaptainYesterday, CassTheStreet, CrazyQuilt, Daffern, Darkstarz, dave7atgosky, dave_worrell, DC_Community, Deathstroke’sPunisher, december360, djganon, Doctor075, DocterFate1, Don-El, fawsid, frankie.lacy79, Flynn.P.Campbell, Frostbite30, ganaoque, harrist, HombreDeMaiz, hotstufflouie, Jay_Kay, Jflow, jlevin, Jurisdiction, kaliym73, lunalane, MatthewHecht, mbpbinder, _meegs, Meisaj, mgeiler, Midnitehour, MisfitCMJ, mitchellbpearson, MPMCN86, msgtv, Odbo255, PaintEater, parzival27, ProActress, QuadPen, ralphsix, Ravenrifft, ReaganFan78, Remember5NovEveyHammond, RexRebel, RickTylerHourman, rlynchfamily, ROMANLEGION rspezzano, rwm, Ryan22, scoop001, Sinestro1,slowp0Ketail, Smallengineerings, SuperBlue Grodd, TheCosmicMoth, TK52, Tommyskindlefire, TurokSonOfStone, YolandaMontezz, ZacharyLee1995

THE JSABC WELCOMES NEW MEMBERS

@BatgirlsAndSignalBookWhenDC

Give them a warm JSABC welcome!

To join the JSABC hit the link.

What to Read

* Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. #9-14

* Impulse #61

Discussion Questions

What did you think of Courtney’s fight with Nebular Man?
Pat tells the story of the last battle of the Seven Soldiers of Victory. What did you think of his tale?
Holy sibling rivalry , Batman! Mike Dugan has his eye on the mantle of the Star-Spangled Kid. Who do you think would be a better one between him and Courtney?
Did you enjoy the return of the Shining Knight?
What did you think about Pat’s idea to have Mike take on the mantle of S.T.R.I.P.E.?

And that’s all for this session members of @JSABookClub. Next month its back to Kingdom Come and later we will be cover Strange Adventures. See y’all then.

MatthewHecht · July 16, 2021, 11:29pm

Is this rhetorical. It is very obvious Mike is going to use it to become a supervillain.

MatthewHecht · July 16, 2021, 11:36pm

From the Impulse crossover we said we would add as a bonus.

Pat: Patience? I don’t think Courtney knows the meaning of the word.

Safe to say none of these 4 know the meaning.

Pat and Max need to realize that when they tell lies for the sake of a lecture that Wildcat will actually tell things like they are instead of tar coating it. They should have just sent their bosses to him for training that day.

MatthewHecht · July 17, 2021, 1:41am

Answering the questions for now with a more in depth analysis coming up.

Well she fought him last session. It was a decent comedic fight with a better pay off than actual execution. The main flaw was the space whale aesop against cheating.

The art is much improved here, and there is plenty of comedy. This is one of my favorite issues, and I really love seeing these guys, and it works as a great prelude to The Spring Break Special from May.

Based on the house fight and Mike’s attitude he would become the world’s worst supervillain and be shot in the back of the head by an overweight security guard. Then without Stargirl the JSA falls apart and Mordru wins in “Princes of Darkness” dooming the world. Well that was an easy decision.

I really prefer his more flawed portrayal in the show, and I think it got old here well before it was over, but it started great when he rescued Star from the scientist.

I am convinced Pat was just lying to shut him up. He is perfectly fine with lying if he thinks it brings a greater good, and remember where Mike was at the end of Post-Crisis. Pat was constantly asking him “Why can’t you be more like Courtney,” and Mike knew it was coming indicating Pat does not view him as superhero material. After what Mike told him in JSA #81 I cannot blame him. He had a clear idea that being a glorified mechanic even for superheroes was beneath him.

What most likely happened is Star eventually got him to turn himself around similar to what Green Lantern, Flash, and Wildcat did with her. In “The Hunt for Extant” there is a picture of him being chummy with her at her graduation (this presumably makes him around 18 at the time), so she probably got through to him eventually).

The only evidence he did anything useful is Per Degaton targeted him in “JSA/JSA” for being a future help to the team, thus my head canon is he learned being a mechanic is an important job and accepted a role as one to the JSA realizing he does not need a spotlight.

JasonTodd428 · July 17, 2021, 3:09am

Thanks for the reminder @MatthewHecht. I’ll add the link to the first post in a bit.

Edit: There I added the link to the issue.

What do y’all think of the Impulse issue?

MatthewHecht · July 17, 2021, 4:27pm

9- I see Stargirl has been hitting the gym, as she now has muscles. I am just going to accept the obvious, one of her powers is gaining and losing muscle mass at will. Notice it is never explained if Mike stole the dog from a pound, store, or from his beloved owner.

I am really glad the show changed Star and Mike’s dialogue. The finishing each others’ words makes them sound like toxic lovers. At least CW knows not to have a DC show where the main character’s love interest is the adopted sibling… Moving on.

Pat and Mike have major issues due to Pat being too distant, and Pat is overcompensating with Star.

This cover is hideous. Mike already wants Star out, and Pat is really bad at reading his son. Granted it has been around 70 years since he was a kid.
Star wipes out Shiv who wipes out Stunt who wipes out Star. Maybe Dragon King should have just given cybernetic enhancements to Stunt.
The one time she calls for Pat he does not show up.

Another cheating space whale aesop- Do not cheat or your house will get drilled through and you will become a mosquito. (Begins writing and illustrating an elseworld tale where Stargirl becomes Skeeter and battles evil as a mosquito). This is a huge downgrade from the show’s moral about taking responsibility for your own mistakes.

11- My favorite issue in the series. Did Power Girl learn to play matchmaker from Shining Knight?

Notice Star tries to hug Pat just for him to turn away (more on this later). Maybe he is worried she has pineapples for him.

I just know Stargirl learned how to interrogate from Wildcat.

Next page you can see Star has real shame at failing Pat as a daughter. It really helps that Kollins is so much better at facial expressions than Moder.

Notice Star accepts him as a partner before he accepts her as the heir to Sylvester. More confirmation that she does care.

When Mike discusses revenge “Him” is highlighted. I guess he wants revenge on the head master at the school.

My mom is a teacher and it was always frustrating to know they are talking about me. You can see how Principal Sherman is the early prototype of Icicle from the show.

Pat makes it clear from his dialogue he is trying to cut out Star and replace her with Shining Knight but only praises her when she is gone. Some real plot ball there with her taking off the belt.

12- Moder is back as artist, and this is a real downgrade. I wish Kollins did the whole series. I see Star wrapped the belt around her wrist hoping that would work. Worth a try.

Belt looks better red. Better color matchup and patriotism.

I think Star is who Dragon King wishes Shiv was, thinks for herself, good at adapting, always gets back up, and is constantly learning- all Stuff Shiv lacks. That is why he wants her to lead the army instead of his own daughter. He is really a similar father to Pat except he never sees his own faults.

13- Finally a good cover. Amidst all the trash talking Shiv is just so desperate for approval from her father. If she met her TV counterpart they would probably slaughter each other immediately.

Pat finally hugs her back completing his arc of accepting he is a father again. No more running off like he did with Mike or his earlier attempts to keep her arms distance away. He now fully accepts his role.

To what I can tell Mike’s plan was to bust his girlfriend out of military school. I guess he tried at some point and failed badly.

There is some foreshadowing for "The Hunt for Extant this storyline. Atom Smasher gets mentioned twice, and the end of it reveals he and Star get married. This starts official torch passing, which gets finished there. All the times Star nearly lost her mind (literally) are probably why she is worrying about death so much next JSA issue.

14- Why did Pat add the handles in the first place?

I get they wanted a frame wedding picture, but could they have found one without very angry Courtney? Did they only get one photo?

Say what you will about TV Sam but he at least got her a meal.

I just know Pat is getting his revenge making her work with Mike. Granted we never see that actually happen.

MiscellaneousSoup · July 20, 2021, 3:32am

I enjoyed seeing Impulse interact with other heroes.

JasonTodd428 · July 21, 2021, 3:57am

So did I.

MatthewHecht · July 21, 2021, 2:05pm

Max and Pat disagree.

scoop001 · July 22, 2021, 4:00am

It wasnt much of a fight. She took him down easily.
The past battle of the Seven Soldiers was ok. It gave a comics credible reason for them being younger than they should be.
I think Courtney is the right one to carry on the legacy.
The return of the Shining Knight was well done. I always liked him.
I think Mike could be a great S.T.R.I.P.E.

MatthewHecht · July 23, 2021, 5:29am

Greg disagrees about 2.

MatthewHecht · July 27, 2021, 5:33pm

Latest Infinite Frontier Issue has a good amount of JSA with promises for lots more.

RexRebel · July 29, 2021, 12:56am

Now that wasn’t a fight, I’ll show you a fight, Courtney v Mike was better.
Enjoyed it, gave them a fitting end, and new beginning.
Courtney as of now, after they both mature a bit who now, but Courtney seems to have a bit more overall physical tools at the moment.
Of course Justin, saves the day and the horse to get his Victory.
Well, you have to pass your knowledge onto someone, and who better than your son, if he is willing and able, but time will tell, if it suits Mike.

I never realized how much this series laid the foundation for Stargirl Season 1 until reading these.

JasonTodd428 · July 29, 2021, 2:36am

Cool. I can’t wait to see more JSA.

Justin is one of my favorite characters so any time he’s in a story I enjoy it.

I hadn’t thought of that either.

TheCosmicMoth · July 31, 2021, 11:46pm

From Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. #8? I do think Court beats Ne-Bu-Loh a little too quickly considering that Wing had to sacrifice himself to beat him the first time around. That may speak really well of Courtney or very little of Wing and the Seven Soldiers… Take your pick.

What I focus on about this story is the Seven Soldiers Post-Crisis retcon. This is all because of Green Arrow and Speedy. They were Golden Age members of the Seven Soldiers. In the original version of this story (Justice League of America #100-102) this retcon was really easy, they were just the Earth-Two versions of Green Arrow and Speedy. Post-Crisis, without the multiverse, it’s a bit harder. Johns solves this by subbing Quality’s Spider for Green Arrow and Vigilante’s sidekick Stuff for Speedy. I really like Spider’s inclusion because it’s kinda in character. Check it out. Reading this also made I, Spyder’s inclusion in Grant Morrison’s Seven Soldiers of Victory make more sense. I was also intrigued by how the recent Stargirl Spring Break one-shot retconned this…

Oh, Courtney 10 times out of 10. She may have no blood connection to a heroic legacy, but she was born to be Stargirl.

Yes! As I mentioned before, I really love the Shining Knight. This is one instance where I feel the TV show did it better, but it’s always good to see the Knight.

I think it’s fitting, but I also think it was done to assuage the poor kid. You’re not cut out to be Star-Spangled, Mike, but you can be the sidekick… someday… when I’m done… I promise.

MatthewHecht · August 1, 2021, 12:24am

Pat: Wait? All we had to do was overfeed him this whole time. I wasted my life in this alternate timeline for nothing.

Star: Come on partner. We have to to stop whatever Snapdragon is doing. I am sure Shiv will not one shot you again this time.

JasonTodd428 · August 1, 2021, 4:15am

I agree that it makes Court look good and the Seven Soldiers not as good…

That is so true and I don’t think you need to be connected to a legacy by blood to do honor to that legacy. Courtney very clearly does so as do the various Robins.

I really liked the way the show did this myself and Sir Justin is a favorite of mine as well.

If Mike were to take over being S.T.R.I.P.E. someday then he would be carrying on his father’s heroic legacy. I doubt very much that he would think of himself as a sidekick not done think he would put up with being one.

MatthewHecht · August 1, 2021, 11:09am

I think he needs to be a sidekick first. It will help his humility.

JasonTodd428 · August 2, 2021, 11:29pm

Very true.