Starman #0

Oct 1994 · DC · 1.95 USD; 2.75 CAD; 1.25 GBP

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“Sins of the Father, Part One: Falling Star, Rising Son”

★ 1st appearance — Nash★ 1st appearance — Kyle

🏆 Favorite Single Issue Story of a Series (1994)

About this Issue

Starman #0 is the founding chapter of one of DC's most critically admired series of the 1990s, immediately establishing the generational tragedy at the heart of James Robinson's seven-year run: David Knight, the newly minted Starman, is shot dead on his very first night of patrol, forcing his reluctant younger brother Jack — an antiques dealer with no interest in capes — to take up the Cosmic Rod and begin a hero's journey defined by legacy, loss, and self-discovery. The issue introduced Jack Knight as a pointedly anti-'90s protagonist — no shoulder pads, no pouches, no costume at all — at a moment when the direct market was glutted with gun-toting anti-heroes, making the series an early signal of what critics would later call the medium's renaissance period. It also laid down the mirror-image villain structure that would drive the entire run: the Nimbus family as a dark twin to the Knight family, with the Mist's children Kyle and Nash making their debut alongside their father's renewed vendetta. The 'Sins of the Father' arc begun here went on to earn an Eisner Award nomination for Best Serialized Story, and the series it launched directly seeded the creation of Stargirl and helped rehabilitate DC's Golden Age mythology for modern readers.

writer James Robinson · artist Tony Harris · inker Wade von Grawbadger · colorist Gregory Wright · letterer John E. Workman · cover Tony Harris

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VF/NM $1.5 VF/NM $4.19 Newsstand $4.7 MINT $4.99 VF+ $5.99 Newsstand $7.19 Newsstand $7.64 Newsstand $12.65

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History

Robinson and Harris conceived Starman as DC's Zero Hour crossover event in 1994 created a publishing mandate for every mainstream DC title to release a special '#0' issue intended to illuminate a fresh or previously unknown aspect of its lead character's background. Starman vol. 2 was one of three entirely new series to emerge from Zero Hour's aftermath — alongside Primal Force and Manhunter — and the only one that achieved a long run, ultimately spanning 81 issues through 2001. Editor Archie Goodwin shepherded the early issues and, by multiple accounts, gave Robinson and Harris the creative latitude to develop Robinson's deeply personal vision: Jack Knight was openly conceived as a dual author avatar, with the character's love of collectibles drawn directly from Robinson's own passions, while Harris's art bore a physical resemblance to Jack as well. Tony Harris, who had been freelancing on miscellaneous assignments since 1989, later credited Starman as the project that forced him to commit fully to serious craft; he handled pencils, inks, colors, and the painted cover for this debut issue.

Trivia · 10 facts

Published August 23, 1994, with a cover date of October 1994; written by James Robinson, penciled and painted (cover and interior) by Tony Harris, inked by Wade von Grawbadger, colored by Gregory Wright, and lettered by John Workman.
Part of DC's line-wide Zero Hour '#0' initiative, in which every mainstream DC title released a special issue timed to the Zero Hour crossover event, each designed to reveal a previously unknown aspect of its lead character's background.
Contains the final living appearance of David Knight (Starman VI), who is shot dead by an unseen assassin during his very first night of patrol — setting the entire premise of the Jack Knight series in motion.
First appearance of Nash (later the second Mist), daughter of the original Mist and sister of Kyle, who is present in this issue as a co-conspirator with her father; she was created by James Robinson and Tony Harris.
First appearance of Kyle (son of the original Mist), the assassin who shoots David Knight and then attempts to kill Jack; he and Nash are revealed at the issue's end to be acting on orders from their father, the Mist.
Jack Knight's first appearance as the series' lead protagonist in his own title, using the Gravity Rod his father Ted left in his care to escape an assassination attempt — his first reluctant step toward the Starman mantle.
The story is Chapter 1 of the four-part 'Sins of the Father' arc, which received a 1995 Eisner Award nomination for Best Serialized Story.
The issue has been reprinted in Starman: Sins of the Father (trade paperback), The Starman Omnibus Vol. 1 (2008 hardcover), and The Starman Omnibus Vol. 1 (2012 trade paperback); it also includes a two-page introduction by James Robinson in collected editions.
Characters introduced in or central to this issue — particularly Kyle Nimbus (The Mist) and Nash — were later adapted for television: a version of Kyle Nimbus/Mist appeared in Season 1 of The CW's The Flash, and the Starman legacy broadly influenced the Stargirl TV series.
The issue won the Squiddy Award (fan-voted) for Favorite Single Issue Story of a Series for 1994.