Hero Profile: Stargirl

I wonder why it seems that characters that succeed another hero do better than their predecessor. Hal Jordan, Barry Allen, and the other Green Lanterns and Flashes are significantly better known than the original Green Lantern and Flash. And we seem to be seeing a similar transition with Spider-Man. His successor in the Ultimate Universe, Miles Morales, is so popular he is going to be the main Spider-Man after the series ending crossover event, the Secret Wars. Part of it could just be better stories. I mean, come on, in his original run Daredevil had a minor plot about incorporating a silly cape into his costume to hide his stuff. Not the most riveting pages for Murdock. But that can’t be it entirely. Whatever, it is something to ponder while I talk about our next character, Stargirl.

Anyone else think the Mecha Dad is overkill?

Before we talk about Courtney Whitmore, we need to discuss her Step-Dad, Pat Dugan. After being stuck in Ancient Egypt for a while, Pat returned to the present day and started making some changes. He got married to a woman named Maggie and they had a son, before his wife left him. Crappy move on your part Maggie. He was part of Infinity, Inc. along with longtime friend Sylvester Pemberton. After Sylvester’s murder, Dugan married again, and moved his family out to Blue Valley, Nebraska. His step-daughter, Courtney, did what your average teenager would do and blamed all her problems on her new step-dad. After the move, Courtney rummaged through her Step-Dad’s belongings and found the Star-Spangled Kid’s gear. Pat kept it for sentimental reasons, I imagine. Courtney took the costume and gear and started doing the superhero thing herself, mostly to annoy Pat. Teenagers suck. Also, why didn’t Pat keep Sylvester’s superpower belt in a safe or something? Whatever, in order to keep an eye on Courtney, Pat also got back into the superhero business. This time, though, he put his mechanical engineering skills to use and built a large robotic suit to make up for his lack of superpowers. Thus the duo of Star and S.T.R.I.P.E. was born. Reborn? Whatever, they somehow found a few villains to fight in Blue Valley (aka Podunk) Nebraska, and Courtney made a name for herself.

A short time later, Courtney joined the Justice Society of America. She’s also given the Cosmic Rod from Starman, like her predecessor Sylvester. She decided to change her name to Stargirl…for some reason. While part of the JSA she battled the undead superzombie and Star-Spangled Kid killer, Solomon Grundy. Along with teammate Jakeem Thunder, the two heroes were able to beat back Grundy. And get some payback for Sylvester. She also encountered Merry Pemberton, Sylvester’s adopted sister. Merry is also known as Gimmick Girl, a sort of Batgirl style superhero with a lot of gadgets. Their relationship is rocky at first, because Merry has concerns about teen heroes and her brother’s legacy. She basically thought that teen should leave saving the world to adults. Merry changes her tune after they are forced to work together to stop a powerful sorcerer, Klarion the Witch Boy. Courtney eventually learns that her father, Sam Kurtis, is a thug working for the Royal Flush Gang. The RFG’s top five members are all given code names based on a royal flush, Ace, King, Queen, Jack, and Ten. Her dad was none of these, just a low level enforcer type. Kind of a letdown, honestly. I mean, if you’re going to learn your father’s a criminal, it’d be nice to know he’s a famous criminal. She takes her Father down along with this version of the Gang during a robbery. Talk about a hollow victory.

Oy, another superpowered woman with a belly
shirt. And she's not bullet proof!

Courtney causes a bit of trouble among the JSA when she starts dating teammate Captain Marvel (now known as Shazam). Why is this an issue? In his normal form, Billy Batson, is a kid in his late teens like Courtney. As Captain Marvel, he’s magically transformed into an adult. Oh, and Billy didn’t tell anyone aside from Courtney about his age changing antics. So yeah, some of the JSA were a little uncomfortable with the apparently thirty something Captain dating a sixteen year old. As they rightly should. Superheroes have to deal with enough legal stuff without pulling "relationship" with minor laws into it. The situation is eventually cleared up, when Billy reveals the weirdness of his powers, but there was a lot of tension with the group for a while.

Sometime later, Courtney’s family were murdered by agents working for the time hopping villain Per Degaton. For those who don’t recognize the name, he’s basically DC’s Red Skull. She and the rest of the modern JSA travel back to 1951, where they team up with the original JSA to battle Per Degaton. The two teams take down Degaton, and then return to the right time periods. And, to Courtney’s delight, her family was alive again in the modern day. High fives all around. A surprising blow came when the super-criminal Shade told her that Kurtis died. This caused Courtney to reevaluate her life a little, and better understand how she feels about her family. She decides she can’t hate her Father for being, well, a sucky human being, and that Pat is the father figure/Dad that she can rely on. She is part of a team up that consists of the JSA, the Doom Patrol, and the Teen Titans to stop a rampaging Superboy-Prime. For those just joining us, he’s an insane version of Kal-El aka Clark Kent from a parallel dimension. So, yeah, about as dangerous a foe as one can have. The coalition is victorious, but take heavy losses in defeating Superboy-Prime. It’s after this confrontation that she becomes her own hero, beginning to handle things without her step-dad’s assistance. It took a bit, but Stargirl started to outshine the Star-Spangled Kid.

Like her predecessor, Sylvester Pemberton, Courtney doesn’t have superpowers. Instead she relies on insanely advanced technology. The cosmic converter belt that came with her costume enhances her strength, speed, and stamina to beyond peak human levels. It also gives her the ability to fly. Later, when she is given the Cosmic Rod she also gains the ability to shoot blasts of energy channeled from the Rod, which she dubs “shooting stars.” She is a trained gymnast and kickboxer, and has learned some staff fighting basics after getting the Rod.

Patching up someone you thought of as invincible is a great
way to change your feelings about someone.

Stargirl has been used several times more often than the Star-Spangled Kid in various DC series. I know I’ve harped on this point a bunch, but it is just so strange to me. You’d think you’d at least need to mention Sylvester to explain Courtney’s background, but nope, no reference what so ever. At least most of the time.

Both Stargirl and S.T.R.I.P.E. appear in a few episodes of Justice League Unlimited. They are largely background characters, but they do get a few episodes. When first introduced in “Chaos at the Earth’s Core,” Courtney is disgusted, and obviously jealous, of the popularity of another blonde teen superhero, Supergirl. While returning from a mission in Japan Stargirl, Supergirl, S.T.R.I.P.E., and GL John Stewart are led to Skartaris, a primordial world at the Earth’s core. The group helps local hero Warlord depose a brutal dictator, and keep a huge chunk of Kryptonite from the villainous machine Metallo. The two teen superheros come to an understanding by episode’s end, and have a real funny exchange about whose relative is more over protective, S.T.R.I.P.E or Superman. Got to say, when comparing Stargirl’s curfew to Supergirl’s two year stuck in Kansas, Supergirl wins. At least in my book. Courtney also takes Sylvester’s place in a Seven Soldiers of Victory union in the episode “Patriot Act.” All around bad guy, General Wade Eiling, steals a super-soldier formula from the now defunct Cadmus Labs. I bet he was hoping for a Captain America result, but instead the “Captain Nazi” formula transforms him into something akin to the Abomination. He wants to “protect” the world from Metahumans, somewhat ironic given his now mutant form, and starts causing a ruckus. The most powerful, powered beings of the Justice League are away on missions, so it’s up to Stargirl, S.T.R.I.P.E., Shining Knight, Crimson Avenger, Vigilante, Speedy, and de facto leader Green Arrow to stop the mad General. The team does fairly well, but in the end they are simply outmatched. They’re an a pair of archers, an old school knight, a cowboy, noir style detective, a teenager with a power staff and one proto-Iron-Man against something that equates to the Hulk. You can only do so well in that situation. Eiling only stops when a civilian points out the flaw in his logic. That, he wants to protect the world from meta-humans, but he is in fact fighting superheroes that don’t have superpowers. Eiling backs down, but still swears he was right. Jerk. Despite the loss, it is kind of cool to see a lesser known team together.

Sigh, yet another costume that doesn't transition
well from the page to the screen.

Courtney Whitmore is played by actress Britt Irvin on the CW’s Smallville from season nine onwards. She first appeared in Absolute Justice. After her mentor Sylvester Pemberton is murdered by Icicle, she steals his staff from the police and takes up the moniker Stargirl. She is instrumental in getting the disillusioned Hawkman into helping young Clark Kent and the Justice League stop Icicle. She’s largely a background character from then on, but she does help the Justice League evolve a little. Simply by suggesting that the team tries to hang out off the clock as well, to help with team bonding and all that.

She’s also an unlockable character in Injustice: Gods Among Us, Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham, and Infinite Crisis. So yeah, counting those, Courtney is in five times the series that Sylvester is in. Way to outplay the original, Courtney.

Conceptually, Stargirl has got a lot going on for her. She’s a teenage superhero from a blended family, the successor to her predecessor the Star-Spangled Kid, Starman and to an extent her Step-Dad’s legacies as a heroes. That’s a lot to work with. The whole rebel teenager thing has been done to death, but this other stuff does make up for it. The Cosmic Rod is an impressive weapon, and she uses it expertly. While I haven’t read it myself, the revelation she has about her family and the nature of her relationships with her father and her Step-Dad just before the Infinite Crisis, does sound like an interesting story arc. It just sounds like something that an actual person growing up would have to deal with at some point. I’m all about adding a bit of realism to these surreal stories, but only a bit. And that’s all I really have to say about that. She’s the stupendous successor, the stellar Stargirl.

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Courtney_Whitmore

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https://www.pinterest.com/pin/16255248631349463/
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