| Sylvester Pemberton | |
|---|---|
.png) Sylvester Pemberton as the Star-Spangled Kid, as depicted inAll-Star Comics #58 (January 1976). Art byRic Estrada. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | Star Spangled Comics #1 (October 1941) |
| Created by |
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| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Sylvester Pemberton Jr. |
| Team affiliations | |
| Partnerships | Pat Dugan |
| Notable aliases | Star-Spangled Kid,Skyman |
| Abilities |
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Sylvester Pemberton Jr., alternately known asTheStar-Spangled Kid andSkyman, is asuperhero in theDC Comicsuniverse. Sylvester first appeared inStar Spangled Comics #1 (October 1941) and was created byJerry Siegel andHal Sherman.[1]
Starting October 1941, the character headlined his own comic,Star Spangled Comics, which introduced his sidekick, Stripesy.[2] Fall 1941 was a boom period for patriotic superheroes as the country prepared to enterWorld War II; during this period, comic book publishers also launchedMiss Victory,Miss America,U.S. Jones,the Fighting Yank,the Flag,Captain Flag andYank and Doodle, among others.[3]
The Star-Spangled Kid and his sidekick, Stripesy, appeared inStar Spangled Comics until issue #86 (November 1948). The comic continued after that, primarily as a vehicle forRobin the Boy Wonder. In issue #131 (August 1952), the book was renamedStar Spangled War Stories. The Star-Spangled Kid also appeared inWorld's Finest Comics from 1942 to 1945.[4]
A version of Sylvester Pemberton, namedStarman, appears inStargirl, portrayed byJoel McHale.
The originalStar-Spangled Kid wasSylvester Pemberton Jr., aGolden Age character. He became the Star-Spangled Kid to battle enemies spies andfifth columnists duringWorld War II and the Cold War.[5] Sylvester was a spoiled, pampered rich kid who snuck out of the house to fight crime and evil; his parents never suspected what their son was up to.[6]
He was unique in that he was a kid superhero who operated with an adult sidekick, Stripesy a.k.a.Pat Dugan, the family's chauffeur.[7] Both he and Dugan were superb acrobats and had sufficient training in hand-to-hand combat. They devised a series of acrobatic maneuvers that allowed them to build upon one another's strengths: the Kid's agility and Dugan's prowess. They also built the Star Rocket Racer, a bubble-topped limousine with the functions of a rocket and helicopter.
According toJess Nevins' Encyclopedia of Golden Age Superheroes, the Kid's enemies "range from ordinary criminals and Axis agents to the mad scientist Dr. Weerd, False Face, the Black Magician, the moon-mad Moonglow, Presto the criminal magician, and the rope-gimmick using Rope."[8]
The Kid and Stripesy were members of theSeven Soldiers of Victory as well as theAll-Star Squadron. In 1948, Pemberton and Dugan were joined byMerry, the Girl of 1000 Gimmicks, who supplanted The Kid and Stripsey from their own feature.
The Seven Soldiers were lost in time and rescued decades later by theJustice League of America and theJustice Society of America. Aquaman, Wildcat and the Silver Age Green Lantern rescued the Star-Spangled Kid, who was 50,000 years in the past and hiding in a cave so his flu would not wipe out humanity.[9] Sylvester then joined the JSA, at which time a then-injuredStarman loaned him his cosmic rod. It was later revealed that Starman wanted the young man to become his heir as neither of his sons expressed interest in carrying the mantle.[10] Soon afterward, the Kid refined the technology of the rod, devising a belt with similar powers such as energy projection, flight and matter transmutation. Eventually, Sylvester temporarily retired from superheroics to reclaim his inheritance and his father's business, plus movie studio Stellar Studios, from his corrupt nephew, who was using those funds to run his own evil organization, Strike Force.
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Sylvester later changes his name toSkyman and becomes the leader ofInfinity Inc.[11] During this period, he forms a partnership withLos Angeles to commission the team as for-hire protectors. He also purchases property to revitalize related movie production facilities.
Solomon Grundy later kills Sylvester usingMister Bones' cyanide touch.[12] He has remained dead since, withCourtney Whitmore becoming the second Star-Spangled Kid before changing her name to Stargirl.[13][14] Additionally, an alternate timeline version of Sylvester assists the Justice Society in battlingExtant.[15]
In the series52,Lex Luthor obtains the rights to Infinity Inc.'s name from the Pemberton family and passes the Skyman mantle to a new superhero named Jacob Colby. Colby is later killed byEveryman, who assumes his form.[16]
Star-Spangled Kid has nosuperpowers, but is a superb athlete and hand-to-hand combatant. For a time he used Starman's cosmic rod. Later, he wore a "cosmic converter belt" which enabled him to fly, increased his strength and agility, and gave him the ability to create solid light objects and project energy blasts. When he reconfigured the belt into his new costume as Skyman, he initially only had the power of flight, but as time went on, he modified the suit so it possessed all of the other powers that the converter belt had as well.