At first glance, Stargirl appeared to be a breezy, Dawson's Creek sort of superhero show, with teens coming to grips with their lives and relationships but with, you know, super powers.

And there's definitely some of that. But there's so much more. For one thing, Stargirl can be dark.

It makes that plain from the very first scene of the very first episode, which takes place about a decade previous to the series. Pat Dugan (Luke Wilson) is a sidekick known as Stripesy, friend and handyman to Starman, a leading member of the Justice Society of America. As the show opens, he's driving at a madcap speed toward the scene of a climactic battle, where members of the JSA are being straight-up murdered at the hands of their evil counterparts, the Injustice Society of America.

The JSA doesn't stand a chance. Dead heroes litter the ground, and Dugan flees the scene with a mortally wounded Starman, whose dying words are to find a new bearer for his "cosmic staff" and keep the flame of the JSA alive.

Fast forward to today. Dugan is newly married, and he and his wife Barbara Whitmore (Amy Smart) have relocated to small-town Nebraska with his son Mike (Trae Romano) and her daughter Courtney (Brec Bassinger). The teens aren't thrilled to be living in Blue Valley -- Courtney in particular chafes at her new life in such quaint surroundings after growing up in Los Angeles -- but one day she pokes around in the basement and discovers her stepfather's hidden JSA files and, more importantly, the long quiescent cosmic staff. The dormant weapon comes to life in her hands, and Stargirl is born. (Never having known her father, she even believes she might be Starman's daughter.)

Soon, armed with artifacts from the old JSA, Courtney recruits a new teenage team, including disgraced school chum Yolanda Montez (Yvette Monreal) as Wildcat, legacy hero Rick Tyler (Cameron Gellman) as Hourman and awkward bookworm Beth Chapel (Anjelika Washington) as Dr. Mid-Nite. Pat Dugan, at first very resistant to the idea of his stepdaughter putting herself and her new friends in danger, comes around as he realizes that many of the old ISA members are also in Blue Valley and are plotting something nefarious. Dugan even joins the effort, pulling the tarp off a giant robot he's been tinkering with called S.T.R.I.P.E.

The first season of Stargirl focuses on the plans of ISA leader Icicle, aka Jordan Mahkent (Neil Jackson), to make a "better America" by taking over the minds of a good many of its citizens. Icicle and other villains, including Brainwave (Christopher James Baker), Sportsmaster and Tigress (Neil Hopkins and Joy Osmanski), the Gambler (Eric Goins) and the Wizard (Joe Knezevich), don't seem to mind that the mind-control process will kill about 25 percent of the people affected.

To further complicate matters, many of the villains have families of their own, with spouses and children who usually have no idea what's going on. Some, including Cindy (Meg DeLacy) and Artemis (Stella Smith) have villainous ambitions of their own, while Cameron (Hunter Sansone) and Henry (Jake Austin Walker), at least initially, don't know their parents' true identities.

The second season, aka "Summer School," introduces new young heroes including Green Lantern's daughter Jade (Ysa Penarejo) and Jakeem (Alkoya Brunson), a lonely kid who attracts the powers of the impish Thunderbolt, as well as new villains such as the mysterious Shade (Jonathan Cake) and the demonic Eclipso (Nick E. Tarabay).

Being a teen drama, you will see a lot of airtime spent on building friendships and coming to grips with one's own self worth. (There's no romance -- yet -- among the teen heroes, although there are hints where it might come up in future seasons.) However, viewers might be surprised at the darkness; the heroes in the first episode aren't the only people who die as the stories unfold.

That said, Bassinger brings a delightful optimism to her role, and the chemistry between her and her stepdad is extremely well handled. She and Wilson alone are enough to make the series worth watching. Series writer and producer Geoff Johns, who created the character of Stargirl in the comics and based her on his late sister, has certainly done a great job translating this character from print to television, and Bassinger has breathed life into her. Good stories, a solid supporting cast and an overarching sense of wonder despite their various setbacks make Stargirl a win.

Note: Although it airs on the CW along with other shows in the "Arrowverse" package, Stargirl is officially set on Earth-2 and not the same world as Green Arrow, Supergirl, the Flash and other DC heroes (like HBO Max's Doom Patrol and Titans) on TV. To date, there haven't been any crossovers, and it's not certain if any are planned.