STARGIRL: THE LOST CHILDREN #6 Review

Stargirl: The Lost Children #6 is written by Geoff Johns and published by DC Comics. Artwork is by Todd Nauck, colours by Matt Herms and letters by Rob Leigh. Main cover art (left) is also by Nauck.

Stargirl: The Lost Children #6 is available now, in print and on digital platforms where all good comic books are sold.

Synopsis

The battle for the fate of the lost children is here! Stargirl faces off against the Childminder on Orphan Island in the hopes of saving these forgotten sidekicks from her monstrous clutches. But if she succeeds, what does this mean the DC Universe timeline?

Review

It’s the end of the road for Stargirl: The Lost Children and if this battle doesn’t go well it could be the end for Courtney and her new sidekick friends. Returning with its sixth and final issue today, the Geoff Johns penned miniseries is going out with a major bang. But there’s just enough room to reflect and give Courtney some much-needed growth after the events of the past few months.

I have to give Johns credit. The Lost Children has been consistent across the board. Every month I’ve found it being my go-to on release day and the same can be said of Justice Society of America. Writing two monthly books featuring huge ensemble casts and similarly complex plotting can’t be easy. Particularly when both of those books are focussing on realigning much of the DC Universe ahead of the Dawn of DC initiative.

The premise of this final issue of Stargirl is pretty simple however. Childminder’s endgame is in play and it’s up to Courtney and an island full of long-forgotten sidekicks to save the day. The action is typically high stakes stuff and perfectly within John’s wheel house. This is really the moment for artist Todd Nauck to shine which, of course, he does.

Nauck has fun with the structure of this final issue, ensuring to capture the scale of the big fight in a mix of splash pages (portrait and landscape) and funky panelled pages. The structure is as unpredictable as the fight itself. I love seeing artists meddling with traditional comic book structure and Nauck really challenges the norm here. It’s more a case of making the book service the story than the other way around. Layer in Matt Herms’ energetic colours and you’ve got a veritable feast for the eyes.

If you think you know where The Lost Children is headed then think again. Even with mere pages to go Johns is still able to pull a couple more twists in the tale. There’s more going on than meets the eye and, in typical Johns fashion, it all adds up to an emotionally high stakes finale. If you look to Johns other recent storylines, Doomsday Clock, Three Jokers etc. it’s never the path of least resistance which leads to the most satisfying conclusion. Courtney needs to suffer losses in order to grow and that is very much the case here.

The brief wrap up provides some context for what may come next for Stargirl but also for Corky Baxter. Baxter was an unexpected pull from the DC archives for The Lost Children but this final issue proves that even the most obscure characters can have a huge impact on the reader.

Verdict

A five-star finish for the brilliant Stargirl: The Lost Children. Johns wraps up the story with a typically high stakes action scene before taking time to reflect on the impact of Courtney’s adventure.

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