I had not expected to much like the DC Universe’s Stargirl series, but it turned out the first season was a lot of light fun. Brec Bassinger made a sweet lead character, and the sort of high school student drama was appropriate for the character and series. That the series survived the end of that streaming service by switching over to the CW was likewise appropriate since, unlike Titans or Doom Patrol, Stargirl would work out just fine on network television whereas those other series were better fits for HBO Max. The second season, subtitled Summer School, just ended with Courtney and her friends in the new Justice Society of America taking on the evil demon thing Eclipso.
Season 1 was a lot of fun, so hopefully that trend continued with the second season.
If season one dealt with Courtney “Stargirl” Whitmore learning how to use Starman’s cosmic staff while assembling a new generation team of heroes to take on the bad guys that defeated and killed the previous Justice Society roster, then season two follows a similar pattern only much nastier. This time around, angry supervillain’s daughter Cindy Burman (Meg DeLacy) is out for revenge after her father’s old team the Injustice Society all met defeat at the hands of the teenage JSA. To do that, she found something in the ISA’s vaults that is probably more than she or anyone else can handle: the black diamond of Eclipso, a being of darkness and evil that scared the hell out of everyone in either the ISA or JSA. Once summoned, Eclipso can create illusions that work off his target’s worst fears and then feeds off that darkness to enrich himself. There’s also the question of the Shade (Jonathan Cake), a Victorian-era gentleman thief who once ran with the ISA but has just moved to Blue Valley for reasons unknown. Courtney’s generally positive attitude will need to deal with all of these challenges along with new surprises like Jennie-Lynn Scott (Ysa Penarejo), the perfectionist daughter of the Green Lantern, out looking for her lost brother Todd, and the magical being the Thunderbolt (voice of Jim Gaffigan). But, with her team behind her, that should be a snap.
Then again, the rest of the JSA has their own demons to deal with. Wildcat Yolanda (Yvette Monreal) is haunted by the fact she took a life in the climactic battle with the ISA, even if it was a villain that probably had it coming. Hourman Rick Tyler (Cameron Gellman) lives with an abusive uncle while caring for the undead monster Solomon Grundy in the forest. Talkative Dr. Mid-Nite (Anjelika Washington) isn’t dealing well with the idea her parents are divorcing. Normally, these might be things the team could work their way through, but with Eclipso pulling strings, that might make things a whole lot harder.
This was, like the first season, a lot of fun. Courtney (along with Rick and surprisingly Yolanda) were sent to summer school because apparently fighting evil doesn’t excuse you from homework. And while smaller threats, like a new ISA formed by Cindy, may not have the same level of a threat as Eclipso, the way the season worked Eclipso into the narrative as something that was a threat for quite some time and was the one big black mark on the original JSA’s record worked well. This is also a series that kept its tone largely light outside of the Eclipso stuff. Original ISA members Sportsmaster and Tigress (Neil Hopkins and Joy Osmanski) provide some interesting comic relief as, once they are no longer trying to kill Courtney or her stepdad Pat (Luke Wilson), they actually start to see themselves as friends to Courtney’s parents in a weird sort of way, coming across as mostly interested in their daughter Artemis’s (Stella Smith) high school sports career. And somehow, Starman Sylvester Pemberton (Joel McHale) is still alive and slowly making his way to town.
There’s a lot to like about Stargirl, and its shortened seasons generally mean it doesn’t seem to drag or wear out its welcome. Coming as it is as some sort of combination of small town drama and superhero story with a good deal of humor. Bassinger continues to make a great lead, and Luke Wilson sounds about right as the older mentor who has less control over any situation than he’d like to. The season ended with a promise of more both in the form of who Courtney and her family’s new next door neighbors are as well as another longtime DC character coming to threaten the lot of them, and this one with a very familiar voice. I know I am already looking forward to more from this rather delightful series, one that hits the mark when it arrives and knows to leave before it overstays its annual welcome.
Grade: B+
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