Superheroes die and get resurrected quite a lot. (Villains too.) It’s been said that the only thing that truly kills a character from the Marvel or DC Universes is lack of interest. What happens when a group of sidekicks from the Golden Age get completely forgotten? Writer Geoff Johns explores this question in Stargirl: The Lost Children. The six-issue series draws to a close this week in another issue rendered for the page by artist Todd Nauck and colorist Matt Herms. Though it’s a solidly entertaining ending to the series, Johns and company fail to deliver on what could have been a major event in the DC Universe. 

Stargirl has joined forces with a group of old sidekicks who never really got old. They’re launching an attack on the woman who has come to be their captor: Childminder. Given the right momentum and the right aid from those ageless sidekicks, she definitely has a chance of freeing them, but how will they adjust to a world that has completely forgotten that they ever existed in the first place? Stargirl takes matters one moment at a time as a group of the oldest young heroes imaginable fight for their very lives. 

Johns’s premise is now fully revealed as the series draws to a close. It’s been a fun journey, but Stargirl and company don’t manage to do enough to make the series feel as intense as it could have been. The action sequence that opens the issue is entertaining, but once it fades out, Johns doesn’t do enough with it to make all of the action that has gone on in the series really have any substantial impact on anyone. Stargirl herself hasn’t grown a whole lot in the course of the series, and though quite a few intriguing characters have been introduced, Johns hasn’t given them enough of a chance to assert themselves as truly compelling personalities.

Nauck’s art is as beautiful as ever. Stargirl looks passionate and graceful in action throughout the issue. All of the supporting cast have very distinctive appearances that all move compellingly across the page. This is particularly impressive when one considers the fact that there isn’t much definition between characters in the story. They’re all just a bunch of heroes fighting villains. Not a whole lot to make them seem unique and individual. Herms’s colors lend weight to all of the individuality and action, and it all looks gorgeous at times, but there isn’t enough to make it work as a whole.

A group of superhero sidekicks are lost in time. It’s an interesting idea with a lot of potential. Theoretically, Johns could really take it in a fun direction now that the basic action is over. The dramatic implications of the situation would be great fun to explore. It’s too bad Johns had the series so focused in on the rescue of the characters to deal with the more fascinating dramatic angles of the premise.

Grade: C+