10:00 AM-10:19 AM: Jack and Ted talk on the steps of the Opal City Court of Law and then go for a walk in the park. Jack expresses his guilt over his killing Kyle and asks Ted if he ever killed someone. Ted says that perhaps he killed the Ragdoll, but there is no way to be sure. Jack confirms that he still wants to be Starman, despite his being uncomfortable with the killing.
10:45 AM: Mikaal and Grundy relax in the field near Ted’s Observatory.
11:04 AM: Nash kills Cardiff Mayhugh (Murder #1)
11:34 AM: Jack and Ted finish their pool game, and notice the disappearance of Grundy and Mikaal.
12:10 PM: Jack leaves the observatory to look for Mikaal and Grundy after Ted calls the police. Jack promises to call Ted at 2 PM.
12:44 PM: Nash kills Bill Delaney, a retired pathologist (Murder #3)
1:58 PM: Having just come from Freak Town, Jack lands and looks for a pay phone to call his dad, Jack then sees something so beautiful that it stuns him (We later learn it is a building that would be perfect to rebuild his shop into). Jack is so awe struck, in fact, that he doesn’t sense Nash’s henchmen sneaking up on him.
9:42 PM: Slightly before this, Jack wakes up naked. He is told by Nash that she his holding Mikaal and Grundy hostage elsewhere and that they are in the Abandoned Funboy Toy Factory. She has turned the factory into a gauntlet and stocked it with hired muscle. Jack must run her maze, recover his clothes and get his rod at the end. If he refuses, she’ll just kill him there.
9:42 PM-10:02 PM: During this 20 minute period, Jack recovers his shorts and goggles. Using a set of lockpicks he kept concealed in the goggles, Jack picks the lock on one of the sealed off doors and hides inside the room to try and get a breather. In this room, Jack finds a TV which he turns on. He finds out about the crime spree going on all around town and that Nash has committed six murders, all older men but one. He also learns of the Chandler Building exploding at 9:50 PM. Jack then finds a phone and tries to call his father, only to have a strange voice tell him that his father is dead. As the strange voice hangs up the phone, Jack spins around to see that the henchmen have found him.
#13, November 1995
Ted’s Day ; Sins of the Child: Part Two (Underworld Unleashed Issue)
9:59 AM: Ted and Jack leave the Opal Court of Law, Jack having just been cleared of the murder of Kyle.
10:19 AM: Ted suggests they get to the car and go back to the Observatory for brunch.
10:27 AM: In the car, the two talk about art. Ted surprises Jack by saying his favorite artist is Jackson Pollock.
11:26 AM: Nash kills Sam Doonie, a retired museum curator (Murder #2)
11:25 AM: Grundy’s butterfly flies off and he asks Mikaal why the beauty always goes away. Mikall responds by bathing Grundy in the yellow glow of light from his gem.
11:34 AM: After noticing Mikaal and Grundy are gone, Jack goes out into the field to look for them.
11:41 AM: Jack returns to the Observatory, having found no sign of them.
12:10 PM: Jack flies off to look for Grundy and Mikaal.
4:57 PM: Ted, worried about Jack, gets tired of waiting for a phone call at the house and decides to drive around the city looking for any sign of them.
8:49 PM: Ted goes to the Police Station and talks with Barry. Ted asks about all the sudden crime wave that started after Noon. Barry tells him that they know that Nash has become the new Mist and that all the crimes are probably her doing. He also warns Ted that word on the street says that there’s another supervillian who was brought in from out of town for purposes unknown. Barry then receives words that Mason was just shot ten minutes earlier trying to stop two of the Mist’s hired goons. Ted heads back to the Observatory as Barry goes to the hospital.
9:41 PM: Ted arrives at the Observatory and discovers Dr. Phosphorus waiting for him. Dr. Phosphorus has new powers, having just sold his soul to Neron (this story taking place during Underworld Unleashed). A fight breaks out, with Ted running further into the house to try and get away.
10:02 PM: Dr. Phosphorus answers the phone and tells Jack that his father is dead. Shortly after, Ted defeats Phosphorus by covering him with a strong liquid coolant that kills his fire. Ted then turns on the news and learns of the Chandler Building explosion at 9:50 PM. He also learns of the men Nash killed and recognizes them as old friends of his. Ted wonders, as does the new reporter, where is Starman?
#14, December 1995
The Opal’s Day/The O’Dare’s Day; Sins of the Child: Part Three
10:23 AM: Barry O’Dare leaves for work, thinking about the date he has with a nurse named Claire that night.
12:02 PM: Clarence is eating lunch with his partner, showing off the hockey tickets his wife bought him as a surprise gift. Leaving the restaurant, the two cops see armed, masked men running out of the 3rd Opal Bank and a jewelry store at the same time. Clarence comments that there is no way that can be a coincidence.
1:27 PM: Clarence gets involved in a shoot out at what appears to be an art museum.
2:15 PM: Clarence chases after three thugs in his car, in a good old-fashioned, ‘Starsky and Hutch’ style police car chase.
3:11 PM: Clarence stops a hold up at a local restaurant.
3:15 PM: Tony Florence, a citizen of Opal, looks at the piano that belonged to his dead wife Jenny. A fire is spreading down his block, but he’s delayed leaving the building so he can look at the piano: one of the last few things he has to remember his dead wife by. Finally, the firemen come and tell him he has to leave. The firemen then carry out Tony’s next door neighbor; a cranky old woman named Mrs. Lowe. She has to be carried, because she’s throwing a fit about her pet parrot Henry, her one companion, who the firemen refuse to stop and get. Tony takes a momentary bit of joy from the thought that the wicked old woman will now feel what it’s like to be as lonely as he is without Jenny. Tony then realizes that nobody should suffer what he does, even an old bitch like Mrs. Lowe. Tony saves Henry, and this deed of heroism makes him feel good for the first time in a long while.
3:39 PM: Nash kills Red Bailey, the retired Police Commissioner (Murder #4) She also kills Red’s nurse, a single mother named Lucy Collins.
6:45 PM: Clarence is involved in another shootout, idly noting to his partner that his hockey game started half an hour before.
8:17 PM: Clarence stops another robbery at the Opal City Trust.
8:36 PM: Mason is shot in the shoulder, trying to stop two thugs who are holding hostages at Opal Jewelers.
9:11 PM: Barry leaves the hospital, after making sure Mason will be okay.
9:24 PM: Matt has another vision of Scalphunter telling him to change his ways. Matt acts, attempting to arrest the drug dealers he is working with. A fire fight breaks out, with Matt killing two of the dealers before the other two can even return fire.
9:50 PM: Barry, spurred by a feeling, came to the Chandler Building just before it blew up. He tries to control the panicked crowds.
10:48 PM: Hope chases three thugs across the rooftops of Opal city. As she chases them, she shoots one and another falls down the gap between buildings. The third one charges her, and nearly knocks her off a ledge. Hope catches herself, but loses her gun. Things look bad until The Shade appears, kills the third thug, and helps Hope up.
#15, January 1996
Mikaal’s Day; Sins of the Child: Part Four
8:44 AM: Mikaal is up, looking at how beautiful it is outside. Ted leaves to meet Jack for his trial, after making sure Mikaal will be okay alone.
9:23 AM: Grundy finds Mikall and asks if Mikaal would like to come outside with him.
10:44 AM: Grundy starts chasing the butterfly.
11:08 AM: Jack and Ted arrive at the observatory. After checking to make sure Grundy and Mikaal are okay, the two go inside.
11:32 AM: Mikall is still shinning light from his gem on Grundy.
11:33 AM: Mikall and Grundy are jumped by five thugs and kidnapped.
4:17 PM: Nash kills Wilson May, a world-renowned artist. (Murder #5)
4:00 PM: (time isn’t stated, but a clock is drawn in the background) Mikaal is woken up by Frankie Soul, leader of the gang that kidnapped him and Grundy. Frankie starts beating up the bound Mikaal, explaining that he is doing it to avenge his father; a costumed Villain called “No Mercy”. (See Starman: 80 Page Giant for that story) He says he’d like to kill Mikaal, but that he’s being kept alive as a bargaining chip by Mist. Frankie leaves with his right hand, Sammy, to take care of some business. This leaves the other three members of the gang (Mars, Brody and Geiger) to guard over Mikaal and Grundy.
9:50 PM: Mikaal awakes to find two henchmen still beating Grundy. They decide to kill Grundy and then argue over how to do it: cut him apart with an axe or set him on fire. Desperate to do something, Mikaal screams as his gem starts glowing. The resulting energy release causes the explosion at the top of the Chandler Building.
#16, February 1996
Jack’s Day (The Second Part) ; Sins of the Child: Part Five
10:03 PM: Jack fights off three thugs in the room where he found the TV and phone. He fights his way through the maze, only to confront Nash at the end of the maze. She tells him that despite having the opportunity to kill him right there, she’s decided to let him live so that the two of them can both work on becoming better heroes and villains and have a truly worthy fight someday later. Nash explains that the reason she killed the five men was because they helped Ted Knight fight her father. As a reward, Ted showed these men her father’s secret lab. After that, one of the few things her father valued disappeared: a medal he had won in The Great War (WWI). The Mist told Nash that one of the first men he had ever fought as a criminal had taken the medal, so she assumed it had to be one of those five men, having searched Ted Knight’s house before she had blown it up (Starman #0). Nash also explains how she hired Dr. Phosphorus to kill Ted because she didn’t like the idea of doing that killing herself. She also agrees to leave Ted alone when she returns, saying that both he and her father should be granted some peace. She then tells Jack that they are both very much alike deep down; and that his heroism like her villainy is just an act. She finishes by saying she will come for a final battle in one year and then fades away into mist and disappears.
11:55 PM: By this time, most of the fires have been put out, the wounded treated and the dead counted.
12:00 AM: We receive a breakdown of where every character is.
Ted is at the observatory, having just received the news that Jack is alive.
Clarence has spent the last hour hugging and kissing his wife.
Matt is at home, dressing his wounds.
Grundy and Mikaal, both having survived the explosion, are in the hospital.
Nash, now the Mist, is leaving town by train.
Dr. Phosphorus is being held in a special cell.
Frankie Soul and Sammy are leaving town by car.
Barry, Hope and Mason meet with The Shade, who tells them of some great coming danger. (Probably the Poster Demon)
Jack sits on a rooftop, looking over the city.
#17, March 1996
Encounters
We start with a flashback to Nash’s crime spree, and see two thugs kill a shopkeeper and kidnap his granddaughter. A ghostly pirate appears and kills the two thugs, introducing himself to the girl as the ghost of a British Nobleman named Jon Valor: once called the Black Pirate. This is the same pirate from Jack’s vision in Starman #7.
We cut to Jack’s apartment, where he has just spent a night with an old flame he thought was rekindled until she tells him that she has a job offer in another city and doubts they could ever have anything truly serious. At the hospital, Ted watches over a sleeping Grundy: his feelings conflicted, for while Grundy is now a simple, gentle man-child it was Solomon Grundy was once responsible for killing Sylvester Pemberton after he became Skyman. Ted mourns the loss of his young protégé, but cannot feel anything but pity for this new Grundy. He then receives a shock as he learns that Mikkal has regained the ability to speak in English.
Back at Charity’s shop, Jack gets his fortune told again, having a bad feeling about that day. Jack notices a painting in Charity’s back room of Zatara; a magician hero of the Golden Age. Charity says he was an old friend. She then gives Jack another series of prophecies. (For more on these, see Charity’s Prophecies). Jack then asks Charity out on a date, but she turns him down, saying that she is saving herself for the true love she has forseen she will find in Opal and that she knows it is not Jack. Jack then asks her to go out as just friends. This time she agrees.
We cut to a house, where Barry, Matt, Mason and Hope are preparing to help The Shade capture Merrit and the poster. In exchange for their aid, The Shade promises to help their family anytime in the future they need him; an oath that echos that the O’Dares made to the Knights.
We cut to Zeke’s Barber Shop, where Jack gets a haircut and tells his ex-neighbor about the new store he wants to buy, but can’t afford because nobody will insure him or his store now that he is a superhero. Exiting the store, Jack bumps into Sadie Falk again. This time, she seems much more friendly.
At Opal City Hall, Clarence is called forward to meet with a Mr. Woo, who has just been appointed the new Police commissioner. He asks Clarence his opinion on the police commissioner working openly with the local Superhero. Clarence says that he thinks they’ll need his help, if the events of the past year are any indication. Woo agrees and offers Clarence a new job as the official liaison between the police and Starman.
We are then treated with a preview of the battle to come between Shade and the O’Dares and the forces of Merrit and the Poster Demon. In the battle, Matt is sucked into the poster, but before he is totally pulled in, he tells Shade that he was a dirty cop and asks Shade to make sure his family name stays clean because of it. The Shade asks why he had the change of heart and Matt tells him of the visions he had of Scalphunter. Finding the reincarnation of the lost hero he had been seeking, Shade uses his powers to push himself into the poster so that he can follow Matt. The portal closes, becoming a poster again.