The retcon, or retroactive continuity, is a cornerstone of comic book storytelling, but Stargirl and Red Arrow have fallen into one of the biggest retcons in a decade. Your Major Spoilers review of Stargirl: The Lost Children #4 from DC Comics awaits!

STARGIRL: THE LOST CHILDREN #4

Writer: Geoff Johns
Artist: Todd Nauck
Colorist: Matt Herms
Letterer: Rob Leigh
Editor: Andrew Marino
Publisher: DC Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: February 28, 2023

Previously in Stargirl: The Lost Children: Courtney and the missing sidekicks are on a mission to bust out their friends from the Childminder’s stronghold, but a plan is hard to come by. Have no fear, Hypertime’s greatest protector is here to lend a hand: Corky Baxter, Time Master! Meanwhile, Emiko learns the secret history of Judy Garrick, the lost daughter of Jay and Joan Garrick!

THE ISLAND OF UNWANTED TOYS SIDEKICKS

Our story begins with Corky Baster, the youngest Time Master, explaining how he and the others witnessed the moment when Barry Allen broke the universe with the Flashpoint retcon. The resulting chaos threw them outside the omniverse, beyond Hypertime, into something dubbed The Divine Continuum. (Note those initials, as it’s a little bit too precious for my tastes.) Corky explains that The Childminder has been holding the various sidekicks on her timeless island so that she can literally SELL them all to someone who specifically wants superhero sidekicks. While Stargirl gets that intel, her partner Red Arrow finds out all about Judy Garrick, the daughter of the Golden Age Flash, whose powers as The Boom are the key to Childminder’s evil plan. With Corky as their new leader, the sidekick army prepares to fight, but the presence of Wing makes Stargirl question the idea of returning everyone to their proper place…

Put a pin in that, I’m sure it’ll be important later.

IT’S ALL THE FLASH’S FAULT!

Once again, this issue features Johns putting his distinctive stamp on DC continuity, making sure to namecheck the senseless and already irrelevant Doomsday Clock crossover to remind us that there’s a Doctor Super-Manhattan out there someplace. The general tone of this issue is pleasant enough, and the opening exposition has enough interesting stuff going on that it drew me in despite the fact that we’re four issues into this miniseries, and literally nothing has happened. The script makes a point of giving the army of new characters little defining moments, like Quiz Boy’s getting some of the quantum mechanics, or Cherry Bomb being angry about constantly having to hold back with her explosive powers. Nauck’s art helps a lot on that front, with just enough Golden Age cartoonishness to make Sparky the robot dog look perfectly appropriate and enough modern-age realism that the final page reveal of the being behind the whole scheme hits like a sledgehammer.

BOTTOM LINE: WHAT THE WHAT?

Much as the currently running Justice Society series, Stargirl: The Lost Children #4 is an obvious attempt to shape the future of the shared DCU in Johnsian ways, but the genial premise of “finding the lost sidekicks” is strong enough to get past the fact that it’s our fourth issue of talky-talky, with Nauck’s art making it all look good to the tune of 3 out of 5 stars overall. The Wing ruminations also make me think there’s gonna be a twist ending to all of this, which might make for a good launching point for a new iteration of Young Justice, so… there’s that?

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