The Black Dragon versus Starman

I know I said earlier than Gardner Fox is listed as "writer" for each part of this epic tale, but I contest that.  Perhaps he was responsible for the plotting overall and outline of each segment.  But as you reader each tale the hand of the individual characters' usual writers are evident, despite not being credited.  It's why each of them has their own stamp.

Such as Sandman being a ****.

Nowhere is that more evident than in the Starman tale.  The other heroes need someone else inform where The Bad Guys are and then get there, and that takes several panels.  Starman has no patience for such huevonada; to get the DRAMA going immediately, Starman simply STARTS with encountering the villains thus:

What do you mean, "What's this?" Can't you read the caption?
Aren't these the people you were assigned to find, Ted?

Q.E.D., Ted.

When you are as mega as Starman, Japanese aerial attacks with stolen planes rank only as "mischief".

Just for the fun of the surprise, he decides to PUNCH a pilot in the face.

Anybody else doing this would probably seem like a goober, but when Ted he just seems like a WAG.

But don't worry; Ted hasn't forgotten he wields the awesomely ill-defined power of the cosmic rod.

Or the gravity rod. Or whatever he's calling in this week.
We all know that, like a magic ward, it's merely a conduit for Ted's raw awesomeness.

Well. That's handy.

In case you are wondering about the training field being oddly-named "Ralph", it is almost certainly meant to the DCU's version of famous Randolph Field.

Naturally, these Black Dragon pilots are cowed in the face of the maddening awesomeness of STARMAN.

You can certainly see by the DRAMATIC art typical of Starman stories that each JSAer has their own artistic team.

As odd it may seem for just, you know, a scientist with a stick, Starman really was the "Superman" of the JSA (when he was around).  

Starman doesn't hesitate to chase after a whole Vulture squadron of enemy planes, which strongly hesitate to engage HIM.

But by flying away in panic, the enemy has unwittingly exposed Starman's kryptonite!

THE COLD

I find it ironic that "Starman" can't seem to get anyway near SPACE.

Gee, Ted, you know who figured that his second day on the job?

Your simpleton slacker son.

Anyway, Ted's a SCIENTIST, so he's not going to stoop to some simple expedient like wearing warmer clothing.  But first a spoonful of backstory from Ted's government contact.

Despite their many downside, dirigibles have always been popular in comics. They make quite a visual impression.

Hey, wait a minute.  A dirigible invented by Weldon? A Weldon dirigible? Why does that sound so--

Ah. Right. Now I remember; the one with the Phantom Zone cats.

Anyway, Ted INVENTS himself a costume-warmer on the spot, because that's how awesome he is.

Yeah, I mean; who could see a blimp coming?

Yes! Tungsten powered by ASTRAL EMANATIONS. That should be toasty.

I have a new theory about why Ted's sons turned out the way they did.

The Black Dragoneers confidently assert that they definitely will be able to spot Starman as he approaches the dirigible, but then somehow, just by being Starman, he pops in unexpectedly anyway.

Defying expectations is one of his many powers.

"Your bullets cannot harm me;
my star power is like a shield of steel!"

Heel joke;

Knuckle joke;

NO RIB JOKE.
See? Defying expectations.

Starman is halted only by a threat to innocent life!

Useful, war-weapon-inventing, innocent life.

Then in the same vein as the Black Dragooners who tried to throw Hawkman to his death from a great height when his only power is flying, these guys try to kill Starman by de-blimping a man whom they have already seen flying with a device literally called "a gravity rod."

Again, a fiendish plan, not an intelligent one.

This turns out pretty much just as you would expect.

I guess evaporating bullets only takes perhaps the Jth or Kth degree of power.
Somewhat like the settings on a phaser.

Inventor Weldon is deposited at the airfield, perhaps to refresh himself with a delicious hot dog.

Up, up, and away!

The Black Dragons attempt to take the high ground, which is not easy to do on a dirigible.

Ted Knight knows that the only person worthy of narrating Starman's adventures is Ted Knight.

That, too, works out pretty much as you'd expect.

Starman hurls rats for BREAKFAST!

Then Starman steers the blimp to safety.

They ain't called dirigibles for nothing.

Tomorrow, we climb even higher on the scale of Undefined Nearly-Omnipotent abilities, past the "sonic screwdriver' that is Ted's gravitry rod to the (literally and figuratively) hand-waving magic of Dr. Fate along with his unexpected allies, the Pueblos!