Starman, Ted Knight, is a legacy Golden Age character who invented a device called the Gravity Rod, later refined into a Cosmic Staff, which collects energy from the universe, granting the weilder the ability to fly and project force fields and force beams. Similar to a Green Lantern ring, but not as detailed.
Roll forward to the present day, Ted has retired, his son David has taken over for him as Starman, and his son Jack wants nothing to do with any of it, he’s happy running an antiques and collectibles store.
An old villain from Starmans past, the Mist, comes back for one last gasp as he’s terminally ill. Assisted by his two children, they kill David and attempt to kill Ted and Jack. Jack has an old Cosmic Rod stuffed in a closet and uses it to escape. He agrees to take up the Starman name if his dad promises to use his science to make the world a better place.
Very strong father/son dynamic, the power of inheritance, the power of what a legacy means. 81 issues plus assorted crossovers. Just a great run of comics.
Kind of cheating here because Tom TECHNICALLY isn’t a superhero, he’s a SCIENCE hero… but really, what’s the difference? ;)
Around 100 or so years ago, Tom’s parents treated him like a science experiment. They raised him in a high pressure chamber to simulate a higher gravity, and fed him an elixir which gives him good health and an extraordinarily long lifespan.
Tom and his family use science and advanced technology to advance human causes and fight other science threats.
It’s a Doc Savage pastiche in the same way that Fantastic Four is. So you have Monk and Ham in Doc Savage portrayed as Ben and Johnny in FF or King Solomon and Pneuman in Tom Strong.
There’s no singular character or storyline here, it’s a retro futuristic city FULL of super characters, but the differentiator is you witness the world from the perspective of the humans living in Astro City.
Adaptations of three superhero books that make you feel good about reading superhero books:
James Robinson’s Starman:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starman_(Jack_Knight)
Starman, Ted Knight, is a legacy Golden Age character who invented a device called the Gravity Rod, later refined into a Cosmic Staff, which collects energy from the universe, granting the weilder the ability to fly and project force fields and force beams. Similar to a Green Lantern ring, but not as detailed.
Roll forward to the present day, Ted has retired, his son David has taken over for him as Starman, and his son Jack wants nothing to do with any of it, he’s happy running an antiques and collectibles store.
An old villain from Starmans past, the Mist, comes back for one last gasp as he’s terminally ill. Assisted by his two children, they kill David and attempt to kill Ted and Jack. Jack has an old Cosmic Rod stuffed in a closet and uses it to escape. He agrees to take up the Starman name if his dad promises to use his science to make the world a better place.
Very strong father/son dynamic, the power of inheritance, the power of what a legacy means. 81 issues plus assorted crossovers. Just a great run of comics.
Alan Moore’s Tom Strong:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Strong
Kind of cheating here because Tom TECHNICALLY isn’t a superhero, he’s a SCIENCE hero… but really, what’s the difference? ;)
Around 100 or so years ago, Tom’s parents treated him like a science experiment. They raised him in a high pressure chamber to simulate a higher gravity, and fed him an elixir which gives him good health and an extraordinarily long lifespan.
Tom and his family use science and advanced technology to advance human causes and fight other science threats.
It’s a Doc Savage pastiche in the same way that Fantastic Four is. So you have Monk and Ham in Doc Savage portrayed as Ben and Johnny in FF or King Solomon and Pneuman in Tom Strong.
Kurt Busiek’s Astro City:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astro_City
There’s no singular character or storyline here, it’s a retro futuristic city FULL of super characters, but the differentiator is you witness the world from the perspective of the humans living in Astro City.