Jack: I may not have liked my brother...but I loved him!
Each of the Talking with David issues.
Issue 1, Starman #5: The Knight brothers argued with one another in life and they naturally continue doing so when Jack meets his dead brother again. They fight, resulting in the destruction of a cemetery. After seeing the result of their actions the two men clean up the cemetery together, during which they have a conversation that causes them to get rid of the bad blood between them and tell one another how they really feel about the other.
David: I never hated you, Jackie. You thought I did, but no...It wasn't like that at all. I envied you. Jack: Me? But you were like dad. You were the scientific, intelligent one. You had purpose and... David: I had nothing, Jack. I was lost. trying to be like dad. Desperate to have his identity. You, the only American in Opal City who liked Jerry Lewis movies, and you didn't give a damn who knew it. You, who went out and learned Jujitsu all on your own. Just cause. You, who learned to read just enough Japanese so that you could understand that import photo book you dug up that catalogued every variation of Levi jeans. You, who painted and sculpted and scribbled and did the artistic thing and didn't let me negative, mean-spirited remarks deter you. You, who got a rooster tattooed on your thigh. David: Your mind is all about aesthetics. I wish I'd seen how cool that was...when I was still alive.
Issue 2, Starman #19: David and Jack meet in the afterlife again, taking a journey as pirates sailing the seas. Waiting at the end of their journey is their mother, with David having arranged it for Jack to get to spend and hour with her. Keep in mind, she died when Jack was still a child.
Issue 3, Starman #37: David arranges for a dinner in the afterlife between him, Jack, and a bunch of their father's old allies, including the original Black Canary, Zatara, The Atom, Mr. Terrific, the Red Bee, Dr. Mid-Nite, and Hourman. Each hero subsequently gives Jack a piece of advice regarding his superhero career and how he should handle things. Keep in mind that Jack Knight is a man who loves older things/periods in time and who, over the course of the series, rediscovers his love and respect for older heroes from the Golden Age, like the various heroes who he's now sharing a dinner table with. Not only is it therefore a treat for him to get to meet all of these heroes and to receive advice from them, it means that much more when, on the last page of the issue, these classic heroes raise their glasses in a toast to him.
Red Bee: A toast. To Jack Knight. May he be the son of his father. And by fighting the fight...By living the life...May he honor us all.
Jacks words to Terry Sloane, Mr. Terrific, in the same issue, who laments his time as a hero due to a belief that he only became one out of vanity and the feeling that he never really managed to become one of the greats.
Jack: I have a thought Terry. The words Fair Play. They're only corny and naive...Hell, they're just plain dumb...But only if you didn't believe them yourself. If you believed them...Enough to wear them proudly like you did...Maybe that makes you the greatest hero of them all.
The Red Bee, bitter about never having the respect he felt he deserved as a hero, recalls working with Ted.
Red Bee: The one time me and Jack's dad teamed up...he had a rod drawing power from the stars...and I had two trained bees. And he still treated me like an equal. I'll never forget that.
Issue 4, Starman #49: This issue breaks the mold by not having David Knight meet with his younger brother Jack. Instead, he meets with Mikaal Tomas, a fellow Starman. At this point in time, Mikaal has lost not only his powers, but his confidence in himself, which is one reason he decided not to go on a Journey to the Center of the Mind with Jack and other heroes to try to save Solomon Grundy's good incarnation "Solly", who was his friend. David tells Mikaal that he thought it was more important to meet with him this time around in order to give him some advice on his potential future and to help him regain his heroic nature.
Issue 5, Starman #64: Another issue featuring an interaction between David and Mikaal, instead of David and Jack. Through a simple conversation its revealed that Mikaal finally has all of his memories back and that his fondest memory on Earth is his first meeting with Alan Scott, Green Lantern. Despite the fact that the two of them came to blows over a misunderstanding, Mikaal says that Scott showed him what he lacked, due to his (Scott's) true ''heroism. There's also Mikaal's opinion of Ted Knight:
Mikaal: To the casual onlooke it isn't apparent. he's all kindly ways...The glasses and old suits. But all you have to do is look beneath...Not even scratch the surface much at all...And you see the man he was...You see the hero.
Issue 6, Starman #76: Jack's been feeling down since the death of his father, partially due to not having had time to tell him he loved him before he died. Just as he did with their mother a few years prior, David allows for Jack to meet with their father one last time as part of his meeting with his brother, making this a reunion of the entire male Knight Family. It's doubly heartwarming since this makes up for the last time that all three of them were together, which saw them arguing right before David died and parting on poor terms. The issue is filled with one moment after another, as the Knight Family zips through the history of Starman and important moments from the life of each, making their own comments on the Starmen that weren't a part of their family and regarding their own individual adventures. And, of course, Jack finally gets to say goodbye to his father properly:
Jack: I love you, dad. Ted: I know. I've always known. I love you too, son. I love you, too...Remember Jack, super-or simply human, I'm proud of you. And I know you'll make a magnificent father.
The Shade #4. Despite his long history of violence and hatred with the Ludlow Family, Shade is willing to allow Craig Ludlow, presumably the last adult member of the clan, the chance to choose whether or not to attack the Shade, which both men know will result in Ludlow's death and possibly the death of his young son down the line, assuming that said son chooses to try taking revenge on Shade for killing his father. Note, this is a family that has spent over a century hunting the Shade, raising each new generation to hate him and focus on killing him above all else. Shade could very easily have just killed Craig and his family and been done with it. Instead, he takes the time to talk with him in order to see if an accord can be reached to end all of the bloodshed. It's just as heartwarming when Craig decides to take this chance and doesn't try killing the Shade, but simply chooses to live with his family on their farm.
In Sand and Stars, when Jack visits Wesley Dodds, the latter is a bit sad that Ted didn't come along as well. When Jack explains that Ted felt sad and guilty about being physically younger than Wesley after Zero Hour, Wes says that's ridiculous, and that he's lived a long happy life. Happier than most, because he's been with his lover Dian Belmont for fifty years without experiencing the losses that so many heroes have.
In Starman #30, several issues after Sand and Stars, Jack receives a letter from Dian wherein she thanks him for helping Wesley find his joi de vivre , and tells him that while she is ill, the two of them plan to make the most out of the rest of their lives. Out of gratitude, she gifts him the money to buy the shop he wants, and a bit extra for remodeling. Ted and Wesley also got to speak one last time, even if it was only over the phone. (As a side note, while Dian does pre-decease Wes, it's indicated in JSA that it's not for very long.)
Starman #33 has both a moment of heartwarming and awesome, as Jack Knight, when he feels that Batman is treating Sentinel (Alan Scott, the Golden Age Green Lantern ) with disrespect steps right into Batman's face and tells him not to even dare treating a hero of Alan's standing in such a way.
Jack: Whoa, Hey, you wanna be down on me for making fun of you. Fine. But don't you dare talk to this man that way. You may be Mr. Hotshot, big name hero now, but nothing you've done makes you worthy of kissing the hem of this man's cape, friend. You may think you're the dark, cool, grim hero. Me, I see another idiot running around with his underwear over his longjohns. You're everything I don't want to be.
Starman #36, in which The Shade writes a journal entry concerning Will Payton, who stands out from numerous other Starmen due to the fact that he A)didn't come from Opal or share the Knight Family name and B)didn't die in a blaze of glory. These two factors have often led to him being looked down upon by many as an intruder into the Starman legacy. The Shade, however, takes the time to look on Payton much kinder than many have, as being what he was:
Shade: The five years he was a hero were the years that Ted Knight was gone. And Jack was too young. And David was too David. It was his time. Payton's. Full of color. Full of sparkle. Except for the Bodines and that crazy hunt for them...and the wind of the plains and the dust of Turk County. We should accept his memory. Not for what it wasn't...a heritage of green and red and Opal's love. But rather for what it was. Payton's time. When good deeds were done, no more no less.
The ending to Starman Secret Files #1 doubles as one. Over the course of the issue, Ted Knight and Jack Knight had talked about the other, during which time they touched upon their relationships with and opinions of the other. At one point, Ted mentions that Jack had kept a scrapbook of Ted's adventures as Starman when he was a child, but that Jack had told him (Ted) that he'd burnt them during an argument they had while Jack was a teenager. At the same time, Ted notes that he hadn't bothered to collect any newspaper clips in such a book regarding Jack's adventures as Starman, because he was too busy with his scientific works. The last page of the issue reveals that not only was Ted lying and that he did have such a book, but that Jack had lied to his father all those years ago and still had the original book from his childhood as well.
Starman #40, doubles as a Moment of Awesome not only for Jack, but for the Opal City Police Department. Bulletman, a Golden Age hero who had once saved Ted Knight during World War II, is accused of treason and calls on Jack's father for aid, who in turn calls on Jack to buy him and Bulletman the time they need to discover proof of Bulletman's innocence. In doing so, Jack is forced to take on Shazam (Captain Marvel). There's heartwarming on both sides. Marvel wants to find Bulletman, but he also doesn't want to seriously injure Jack and he's nothing but polite to him throughout their fight. In turn, Jack gives his all in fighting Marvel, using powers of the Cosmic Rod that he'd never used before, but that he remembered his father explaining to him once, which even his father was sure he hadn't bothered to remember. The final two moments of heartwarming then feature the Opal City Police, who Jack had earlier stated wouldn't ever stick their necks out for him, showing up to protect Jack after he's down for the count and shaming Captain Marvel into flying off. Afterwards, Jack proceeds to get back up and, instead of going to see a doctor as one member of the police force suggests, immediately flies off to Fawcett City (Marvel's hometown) on the chance that his father is in danger. Heroic Resolve indeed.
Starman #43
Ted Knight to Jack: I've never looked down on it. I was disappointed that you used to be so dismissive of Starman, but never about the life direction you chose.
Starman #56, Jack talking to Mikaal and reminiscing on their adventures in space together.
Mikaal: Why are you smiling, Jack? Jack: I was just thinking is all. Recalling Earth. Thinking of things that—thinking of Sadie...her smile and touch...And I began to smile. The smile stays when I think about all we've done too...All we've seen. The past and the future. Grundy. The blue planet. The friends we made on Rann.
Starman #58, the conversation between Will Payton and Jack regarding why Jack came to find him
Will: Why didn't other heroes come with you? Jack: They saw you die. It's hard to make someone disbelieve what they saw, especially when that's based solely on your sister having a feeling you were still alive. Will: But you believed her. Jack: I didn't say that. Will: You went into space for her. Jack: She's my honey. Will: You must really love her.
Starman #60 featuring Will Payton's/Prince Gavyn's message to Jack for Sadie, along with his words of friendship to Jack.
Jack: What'll I tell your sister? Will/Gavyn: Tell her I love her, tell her I'm sorry. But remind her that if you never see me again...It means I've found happiness. Remember the Cosmic Power...It's like whoever wields it is part of a...A stellar dynasty. Our power is so close, yours and mind, it almost makes us brothers.
Jack: I'd sure like to think of it that way. I've learned having a brother is a good thing.
Also from Starman #60, Jack's final thoughts on his adventures in space as he's being teleported back to Earth.
Jack: Now it's over. Over. All the things...People we met, Me and Mik. The villains. The heroes. Everything. Space. Time. I never thought I'd say this. Never dreamed...I am sooo glad I went into space. What an honor. To have seen so much. To take the name of Starman so far. I guess I see it now...Now this odyssey ends...How much the role of Starman means to me. I hope I can bear that name forever. Be Starman forever. And hold Sadie in my arms.
Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. 0 reveals that it was apparently Jack Knight, during a random conversation with Sylvester Pemberton years in the past, who inspired Sylvester to take on the name Skyman.
Jack: Have fun in the sky, man. Sylvester: Hmmm...Skyman?
Starman #61: Both heartwarming and awesome is the reunion between Ted and Jack in the Starman Museum. This is the first time that Ted has seen his son in months, since Jack has been off in space, and it is also one of the first time readers see inside the museum, which really shows just how much Opal City loves its resident hero. Not only that, but readers are treated to a panel depicting an entire wall of all of the Starmen, from Ted to Jack, and all the way to the 853rd century.
Starman #63: Shade explaining to Black Condor why he cares about Culp "framing" him for murders now when he's never cared when his enemy has done it to him in the past.
Shade: That was then and everywhere else. This is now...And Opal City.
Starman #70: Shade's thoughts on Jack Knight and his battle with Culp. Despite the fact that, during the fight, Jack's own thoughts show that he really is scared stiff, Shade, who isn't there, has nothing but confidence in the fact that Jack equipped himself well and that he portrayed himself as a hero.
Shade: I wasn't there...not for that part of the ballet. Jack, my understudy in the role I was destined to play. The combatant of Culp. My role of a lifetime spent. And Jack rose to it. He was magnificent. He was fearless. He was perfection. Jack Knight. As fearless then as his armored namesake of old.
Starman #72: Ted Knight and Jack Knight's final conversation with one another. Not counting their in the final Talking with David issue, that is. This naturally doubles as a Tear Jerker as well.
Ted: You asked me a long time ago to study my cosmic energy. That was our deal. So you'd be Starman in my stead. I've done as you asked, son. But now I'm done. My studies will benefit the world. I've outlined examples...ways the energy will improve Earth And the accompanying patents will add to the Knight fortune, so you'll never need worry for the future. Jack: No, dad. I don't like this. What are you saying? Ted: I'm dying, Jack. Dr. Phosphorus gave me cancer and I only have a few painful months left. This way I die a hero's death. And more important a quick one. Jack: But— Ted: But what? It's me or the city. I've been Opal's guardian for so many years it seems only right that it will be my final act...my final act as Starman one last time. Jack: ...Here, dad. This is your grandson. Hold him. Ted: I hold the future. Jack, know that in death, your old man died happy. Content. Jack...when you tell your boy about me, please lie a bit to make me sound "cool". Jack: I won't have to lie.
Starman #73 is the issue after Ted Knight's death saving Opal City one last time from The Mist. It features his funeral and various characters giving eulogies. Naturally there is heartwarming all around.
Batman and Black Condor both show up. Though they don't say anything, their silhouettes are seen in the shadows of a tree watching the proceedings. It's a testament to how much they respected Ted Knight and felt that his passing should be honored that they took the time to come, even if they didn't personally say anything or mingle with the other characters.
This is also the issue in which Matt O'Dare dies. He informs all of his siblings of his past as a Dirty Cop and his recent attempts to redeem himself, along with his reincarnation cycle in which he was Scalphunter/Brian Savage in a previous life. He bids goodbye to his family, The Shade, and Jack, after also informing them of his vision of another future life where he's Starman. Jack figures out that he's referring to Thom Kallor and sends Matt off with some inspiring words:
Jack: I met you, Matt. You'll be a hero. A hero of many worlds.
Jay Garrick's (The Flash) eulogy:
Jay: I'll miss Ted, of course. I've known him for so long. So...so of course i'll miss him. He was...what was Ted Knight to me?...A gentleman...cultured...fair in all matters pertaining to the fighting of crime. He was something of a sleuth. Always looking for answers...the solution to problems...criminal problems...to get around the use of force. Ted was not the greatest team player. He was a member of the JSA for...let me think...well, he certainly wasn't a part of the group as long as Hawkman or The Atom. But he was a teammate...in conflicts I was always aware he watched my back. He watched out for everyone. As the years pass and the old guard...we few...as we get older...there are things you miss about each lost friend. Different things. With Ted. The brain over brawn. And the sense he looked over all of us. Indeed, I like to think he still does.
Alan Scott's (Green Lantern) eulogy:
Alan: I recall a time I spent with Jack Knight. We flew. We talked. And in the course of our conversation we made the comparison between early superheroes and the mercury seven astronauts. I know that's a little...tenuous? A bit of a non sequitur, but you'll have to go with my train of thought to get to the point. I think now how apt that comparison was...to compare Ted Knight to such men. They were pioneers. Men who wanted answers to untold mysteries. It occurs to me...upon reflection...how few heroes of my era got their powers by choice. Most of us...myself and Jay, for that matter...we fell into our abilities by some chance of fate. Ted sought his out as a byproduct of his own science. And then with that gift of star power he went forth. My point, I guess in the end...is that this is what i'll miss about Ted. He was a seeker. A visionary. The older I get, the fewer such men I find.
Ted Grant's (Wildcat) eulogy:
Ted: I heard what Sentinel and Jay said about Teddy. I agree. For sure. But...it's funny how we all see something in a different person. Funny. Me, I didn't see what Jay saw. Ted Knight, the man who used brain over brawn. Maybe Jay being a scientist, that's how he thinks. Me, I'm a fighter. I see things with a fighter's eyes. What I recall is when the need for brawn won over. Then Ted...you should have seen him. Me and The Atom, we were the scrappers. But Ted...when Ted fought, he moved with such grace,'n' yet when his fist met a bad guy's face, that bad guy knew it but good. I used to think sometimes...what...which of my hero buddies would be the toughest for me to fight in the squared circle. Two names come to mind. Mister Terrific...and Ted Knight. Yeah, Ted coulda been a contender if the science he'd chosen to study had been the "sweet science". But then we wouldn't have been blessed with Ted's wonderful discoveries, so I guess boxing's loss is the world's gain.
Sandra Knight's (Phantom Lady) eulogy:
Sandra: My name is Sandra Knight. I'm Ted's cousin. Not many people know this...and some who do find it hard to imagine...But once I was the Phantom Lady. Back then I was young and perhaps a little foolish. But I was happy, too. I loved life and youth. Back then. Back then I thought Ted charming...I loved him. But he was unbearably stuffy. He was so serious about everything. His science. His superheroing. Even his relationship with his girlfriend of that time...it was all such a drama. But now I look back on the Ted Knight of then...And the man he became. Those "two" men stayed the same...and young. Relatively. Ted was the one who stayed young. I think it was Ted's questioning nature that Sentinel mentioned. There was a child's wonder at the ways of the world. That wonder never left him. I'm old now. Old in my heart. Ted, my dear cousin...he was never old.
The Shade's eulogy:
Shade: I'm an immortal. I have seen the passing of many. I have seen my best friend pass from my life twice, one hundred years apart. I have seen the passing of old Opal, it's ornate grandeur ebbing back into the shadows of our city in the favor of the expansion...the new Opal's clean lines you all know. I have seen...with the passing of Ted Knight...in many ways he became the embodiment of that new Opal City. Not just for me, but everyone. His death will mark a change in this city. A change in the way we look at Opal and I think at ourselves, also. Ted taught me something...little by little..the times we met...I had for a long time thought myself beyond the boundaries of humanity. Ted Knight taught me how to be a man again.
Mikaal Tomas' (Starman) eulogy:
Mikaal: I am not from this planet. I guess that's obvious just by looking at me. As such, I have a different view of death. It isn't that the person is dead. It's how that person died. Did they perish with honor? The nearest thing I can find to my race's way of thinking is the Vikings and their notion of a warriors Valhalla. But, anyway...if Ted Knight hadn't died the way he did...saving his city, he would still have had honor. All his heroic deeds...adding to a glorious whole. But on top of that, he took control of his own life and death, choosing to sacrifice himself rather than suffer the slow, lingering passing that Dr. Phosphorus prescribed. To this I must add, that like a true warrior, Ted took the life of Phosphorus in battle, avenging his own death even before he died himself. And then his final moments, saving the city and forever ending his war of smoke and starlight he'd fought with the elder Mist. Such valor. To that end, the alient part of me doesn't mourn the passing of my friend Ted Knight. I rejoice.
Jack Knight's (Starman) eulogy:
Jack: Um...back before...when my father and the Justice Society were trapped fighting Asgardian Gods...everyone thought they were dead. Everyone but me. I knew my father was still alive. I sensed it somehow. This time, in that say way, I know my father is gone for good. And...I miss him. That's all...Oh, and he'd want me to thank you all for coming. He was polite that way.
Starman #75, pretty much everything about Jack and Superman's meeting, from the image of them stopping a robbery to their conversation regarding Jack's meeting with Superman's father, Jor-El. Two notable moments in their conversation include:
Jack to Superman regarding Jor-El: ...the younger man I met had it in spades. Light, wisdom beyond his years, and the breadth of vision to look far.
Starman #77, readers finally learn about the two Starmen of 1951. The first is Charles McNider, formerly known as Dr. Mid-Nite. The second is revealed to be David Knight given "a moment in time" just before his death to travel to the past and be a true hero.
Superman to Jack regarding the latter's musings on giving up the hero life: You met evil with valor. Now let others...You won't miss it? The life? Jack: I'll miss flying. Superman: Ah, yes, well who wouldn't? Jack: I'll miss that feeling. Like driving a car in the opposing direction to rush-hour gridlock. Freedom, when all around are shackled. Do you feel the same way? Superman: Jack, everything I do is like that. Jack: Yes. I bet. And i'll miss the spectacle. I don't mean the death and destruction. I mean those wonderful discoveries. Seeing a man part the waters of Venice by running on it. Seeing the soldiers of twenty worlds charging as one to my aid. Meeting you.
Starman #78. David Knight, the Starman of 1951, upon learning of his future death, which is only 3 days away, doesn't dwell too much on it and instead keeps marching towards it while working to solve the current crime plaguing Opal City.
David: I don't know about you, Jackie boy. But I mark a hero as someone who faces death with his head high. Come on. What will be will be. 'N in the here and now, we have a job needs doing.
Starman #80- Jack takes the time to say goodbye to everyone who has been important to him, who is still left in Opal City, before he gives up the mantle of Starman and lives to be with Sadie in San Francisco. Naturally, each parting comes with a certain amount of heartwarming and they can all double as a Tear Jerker, but a few notable ones are:
Jack's final meeting with the O'Dare family
Clarence O'Dare: I'm an Opal cop. I've got a great life and a great wife. And no matter where you are, i'll always think of you as one of ours.
Mason jumps in the way of an arrow to save Jack's life, dying in the process, but he is saved by Zatarra from beyond the grave, as a final bit of magic and a wedding present to Mason and Charity, his student.
Jack and Mikaal's last conversation
Jack: I have one brother. Now I like to think that I have two. Mikaal: Brothers.
The Shade's parting gift to Jack
Shade: Do you see the shape? The flare of the petals? Smell its aroma? And the dark blue hue like an Opal night sky? These bushes are Opal's natives born and bred. Take this and Opal goes with you wherever you are. Remember Opal is a city. Beautiful, but in the end just a city. San Francisco is just a city, too. You made Opal what it is to you. You can do the same in any place if you have love and happiness.
Jack passing on the Cosmic Rod to Courtney
Courtney: I've never been sure you even liked me. Jack: I've never been sure myself...no, that isn't true. As corny as it sounds, you remind me of me. Brash like me. Difference being, I wasn't nice. I wasn't a hero. I was bad news. You...you're 24 karats, baby. As bright as the sun. Seeing that made me feel...of, whatever...whatever I may have thought of you, I've had time to reconsider the matter. Courtney, if you accept this...you honor me. Courtney: I'll be the best I can.
And Jack's goodbye to Opal itself
Jack: I'm numb. I thought this would be more emotional. There was a time I never would have given up my city. But now the die is cast, I find I do so without the creeping terror I'd always imagined. Sadie. I'm going to be with Sadie. I'm going to be a father all over again. And suddenly te city's spires, while beautiful...are only that. I look around the store. Old things. Beautiful old things. Each piece I pass kisses my cheek or strokes my are as we part. Handshakes and farewells of Bakelite and rayon and Franciscan pottery. But then...light falls upon a Fiestaware bowl, a Matt Mason figure and a hopalong lunchbox that I'd clumped together. It's a still life. I paint what I see. Using a set of oils I'd long thought lost. And then and there...I resolve to be a painter once again. Then and there. Art. My new life. I take my boy to see his grandfather one last time. And all those who bore the name between my father and me. I pack the things that matter and leave the things that don't. Then I make like a banana...and split. As I feel Opal...my wonderful Opal ebbing away...I start to cry. But I manage not to look back. For I've more to see on the road ahead.
The relationship between Ralph and Sue Dibny during their appearances late in the series. This is before the dark times, before Identity Crisis (2004) and 52. This is the couple at their best, husband and wife working together to solve a mystery. At no point in their adventure are they shown to be anything less than supporting of one another and deeply in love. During one particular moment, when there's a series of bombings in Opal City, Ralph rushes back to their hotel room looking for Sue, who he had left alone and is now berating himself for, and the look of relief on his face when he finds her is gold, as is her ability to joke with him in such a dark time.
Narrator: Sue Dibny watches her husband. One thought in her head. "God, I love that man."
James Robinson's entire Starman series really is just one big love letter to not only Starman, but The Golden Age of Comic Books in general, along with the heroes that sprang from it.
Starman #81, the special tie-in issue to the Blackest Night event, shows us the Starman Museum once again and in the time between Jack's retirement and Blackest Night images of both Courtney Whitmore (Stargirl and Jack's immediate successor) and Thom Kallor (Starman of the 31st century) have been added to the museum.
