Legacy is one of the main themes in James Robinson and Tony Harris' 1994 Starman series. Jack Knight, son of the original Starman Ted Knight, has to accept his place as the newest Starman when his brother David's career is cut short by an assassin's bullet. Although he accepted the destiny he's mocked and denied for most of his life on his own terms, Jack came to appreciate and even love his role as Starman, Opal City's guardian superhero. Jack would discover that legacy and destiny are distant cousins when his role as Starman proved to be critical in shaping the destiny of one of the greatest heroes in DC Comics history: Superman.
In Starman #51 by writers James Robinson and David S. Goyer and artist Peter Snejbjerg, Jack is on a mission to space to find his girlfriend's lost brother, the Starman Will Payton. Traveling in an antiquated spaceship along with Mikaal Tomas, the Starman of the 1970s, and a Mother Box whose holographic form is Jack's father Ted, their mission gets derailed by a chance encounter that causes them to be lost in time and space. After meeting the Legion of Superheroes in the 31st century, Jack and his compatriots find themselves on the planet Krypton, years before its fateful destruction, where they meet a teenage Jor-El, Superman's father. Recognizing who he is, Jack contemplates how much Jor-El should learn about their home planet and its connection to his unborn son when they are captured by Kryptonian authorities.
Although they are disarmed and later interrogated by Seyg-El, Jor-El's father, and Superman's grandfather, the Starmen and their electronic friend do not buckle or betray each other. Although they are chosen to be imprisoned instead of dissected for scientific study (which is apparently an act of mercy), Jack and his friends are freed by Jor-El who helps them return to their ship. Before leaving him to willingly face punishment for his interference, Jor-El is given the binary coordinates to Earth including pictures, to help him remember in case Jor-El or his children visit once he gets a rocket that could travel such a distance.
Later in the series, Jack gets an unexpected visit from Superman shortly after his father's funeral who learned of their adventures in space and wanted to inquire about his father. Atop Opal City rooftops and the Turk County grass fields, Superman listens as Jack tells him about his father, a younger version of a man Kal-El barely remembers but one that Jack knew had adventure, spirit, hope and caring that set him apart from the cold and scientific collective consciousness of Krypton. Even though he would eventually be a part of that collective later in his life, Jor-El remained an individual whose spirit, although hidden, was never extinguished.
As the conversation includes Jack's hesitance to continue as Starman due to his responsibilities of being a parent and a brief intermission of crimefighting, Superman asks the real burning question: why didn't he warn Jor-El about Krypton's future destruction? Although he could have changed the details, Jack argues that the knowledge of the future could have ensured a different outcome, one that Krypton lived or possibly one where Superman never made it to Earth thus denying its greatest champion. When Superman counters with the suggestion that Jack changed the future by letting Jor-El know of Earth's existence, Jack argues that he wasn't changing the future, he was only helping to ensure an event that he knew was destined to happen. In the end, Jack reveals that he believes it was his destiny as Starman to ensure that Superman would make it to Earth, that it was his destiny to help Kal-El arrive at the place where he would find his destiny.
With nothing left to be said, Superman and Jack shake hands and thank each other, with Jack thanking Superman for simply being the symbol and inspiration that he is. In a show of respect and absolute confidence, Superman tells him to call him by his birth name Kal before flying away. James Robinson would revisit Krypton in the 2008-2009 New Krypton series which saw Krypton live again when the former City of Kandor survivors were restored to full-sized existence and formed a new Krypton on Earth's solar system. Although Jack's career as Starman would end shortly after that, with the legacy passed on to his fellow JSA teammate Courtney Whitmore, Jack could enjoy retirement knowing that he accomplished something nobody couldn't ever take away from him. Although this accomplishment would be retconned during The New 52 reboot in 2011, Jack was the Starman who helped give the world Superman. Not bad for a second-rate hero (his words) who didn't want to be one in the first place, not bad at all.