| Starfire | |
|---|---|
 Starfire as she appears on the cover ofTeen Titans #16 (March, 2018). Art by Sami Basri and Jessica Kholinne. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | DC Comics Presents #26 (October 1980) |
| Created by | Marv Wolfman George Pérez |
| In-story information | |
| Full name | Koriand'r |
| Species | Tamaranean |
| Place of origin | Tamaran |
| Team affiliations | Teen Titans Justice League R.E.B.E.L.S. The Outlaws |
| Partnerships | Nightwing Donna Troy Animal Man Adam Strange Blue Beetle (Jaime Reyes) |
| Notable aliases | Kory Anders |
| Abilities |
|
Starfire is asuperheroine created byMarv Wolfman andGeorge Pérez appearing inAmerican comic books created byDC Comics. She debuted in apreview story inserted withinDC Comics Presents #26 (October, 1980). Since the character's introduction, Starfire has been a major recurring character inTeen Titans and various other iterations of the team, sometimes depicted as the team's leader, and a significant love interest forDick Grayson.
Within the main continuity of theDC Universe, her origin is revealed to bePrincess Koriand'r, analien princess from the planet Tamaran and heir to the throne until she was ousted in a coup by her elder sister,Komand'r (also known as Blackfire), who sold her into slavery. Subjected totorture andsexual exploitation, Koriand'r was also subjected to experiments performed byPsion scientists, which gave her additional powers. Escaping her captors, she found herself on Earth and befriended the Teen Titans, becoming a long-lasting member of the team.[1] The character has appeared on several other teams, including theOutsiders,Outlaws, andJustice League Odyssey. While on Earth, the character has been depicted as a model under the aliasKory Anders, occasionally the leader of the Teen Titans, and was theprincipal ofTeen Titans Academy during a period in which the Titans help trained future superheroes of the DC Universe.
Starfire has been featured in various media outside comic books. Within television, she is notably voiced byHynden Walch in the animated seriesTeen Titans andTeen Titans Go!.Kari Wahlgren voices the character in theDC Animated Movie Universe,Injustice 2, andLego DC Super-Villains.
Created byMarv Wolfman andGeorge Pérez, Starfire first appeared in a inDC Comics Presents #26 (October 1980), in apreview story heralding a new incarnation of theTeen Titans that also introducedCyborg andRaven. The new series,The New Teen Titans, debuted in November 1980, and the Teen Titans subsequently became DC Comics' most popular superhero team of its day.[2] Wolfman named the character as a pun on the wordcoriander.[3]
Pérez said of his design for Starfire:
...I figured based on the description, wasRed Sonja in outer space, so she ended up having a visual cue from that. WhenJoe Orlando passed by and saw the character sketches he suggested that maybe her hair should be longer. That I took to the ninth degree and gave her theMighty Mousecontrail.[4]
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Princess Koriand'r was born on the planet Tamaran, located in theVega system. Koriand'r was the second of three children. She and her brother Ryand'r are placed first in theline of succession after their older sister Komand'r is crippled by a childhood illness that robs her of the ability to fly. Shunned and embittered by Tamaran's society, Komand'r allies with theCitadel and helps them conquer Tamaran.
Koriand'r is captured by the Citadel for six years and subjected to physical and emotional torture and sexual abuse. She and Komand'r are both captured by thePsions, who experiment on them and test their ability to absorb solar energy. Both sisters gain the ability to project blasts of solar energy, referred to as "starbolts". Koriand'r escapes and eventually finds her way to Earth, where she gains the help of the Teen Titans.[5]
Starfire would join the new iteration of the Teen Titans withRobin,Wonder Girl,Kid Flash,Cyborg,Changeling andRaven. The first adventure she had with her teammates was battling against Grant Wilson aka theRavager, the son of the mercenaryDeathstroke, who was gifted enhanced abilities like his father due to the experiments by the terrorist organizationH.I.V.E.. She would also aid the Titans by protecting the planet Earth and the dimension of Azarath from the demonTrigon, and battling against various supervillains including theFearsome Five, Brother Blood and the former members of the Brotherhood of Evil,Madame Rouge, andGeneral Zahl. At one point, Starfire became a model under the alias "Kory Anders".
Starfire was also romantically linked with Dick Grayson (aka Robin, later Nightwing) in various runs ofTeen Titans.
InNew Titans, Tamaran is attacked by the Psions, who destabilize the planet's core. Starfire's parents Myand'r and Luand'r, manage to evacuate the planet before it is destroyed, but choose to remain behind in an attempt to defend Tamaran and are killed in the ensuing explosion.[6]
InInfinite Crisis, Starfire is among the heroes who battleAlexander Luthor Jr. and stop him from destroying themultiverse. She is presumed dead, but survives and is teleported to another planet alongsideAnimal Man andAdam Strange due to Luthor altering the Zeta Beams that would have returned them to Earth. After returning to Earth, the three heroes reunite on several occasions, including the limited seriesCountdown to Adventure andRann–Thanagar War.[7]
Following the dissolution of the current JLA afterBlackest Night, Starfire is invited by Donna to joinKimiyo Hoshi's new Justice League.[8] After a short time with the team, Starfire quit the team and left a note to Dick explaining why. She then returns to where Tamaran used to be, to find that it had mysteriously returned. It is revealed thatVril Dox has moved the planetRann where Tamaran used to be. Starfire agrees to join Legion and enters into a relationship withCaptain Comet. Tamaranean refugees led by Blackfire attack Rann, believing that since the planet was in Tamaran's orbit they had claim to it. Dox resolves the conflict by allowing the Tamaraneans to live on Rann's uninhabited southern continent.
In 2011, DC Comics cancelled all of their monthly titles and rebooted theDC Universe continuity with 52 new titles in an initiative dubbedThe New 52. As part of the relaunch, Starfire became the cast member of the seriesRed Hood and the Outlaws. In the new continuity, the character appears to have a similar origin, though she is now a member of that titular group, in whichJason Todd (Red Hood) andRoy Harper (Arsenal) are her teammates. As in the previous continuity, she has a past relationship with Dick Grayson. One significant change to her backstory is that she was sold into slavery by her sister to save Tamaran from the Citadel. Another is that her ship, which crashed on a tropical island, appears to be her primary home, where she keeps a number of articles ofDick Grayson's clothing - which eventually serve to become part of Jason's Red Hood uniform.[9][10]
It is soon revealed that Koriand'r is the commander of a spaceship namedStarfire, the crew consisting of slaves she helped free when she herself escaped slavery. The Starfire has returned to earth for Kory because that Tamaran has been taken over by the Blight, a parasitic alien species.[11] Starfire talks to Roy and Jason in private and explains that she and Komand'r, her sister, were always not on the best of terms, though they tried. This is mainly because Kory blames her sister and the people of Tamaran for her enslavement, so she is torn on if she should help them now. Roy is then kidnapped during an attack on the ship and taken to Tamaran, driving Starfire to go to her home planet.[12] Eventually, Starfire decides she cannot leave her people and her sister helpless, so after they rescue Roy, the Outlaws and the crew of theStarfire help Blackfire take back Tamaran, and Kori reconciles with her sister.
| Starfire | |
|---|---|
| Publication information | |
| Schedule | Monthly |
| Format | Ongoing series |
| Genre | Superhero |
| Publication date | August 2015 – July 2016 |
| No. of issues | 12 |
| Creative team | |
| Written by | |
| Penciller |
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| Inkers |
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In 2015, Starfire received a self-titled series where she returns to Earth and moves toKey West. Additionally, she adopts Syl'Khee, a worm-like alien based onSilkie from theTeen Titans animated series.[13] She desires to experience a normal human life and appeared to have no interest in heroism or her former life. She befriends the local Sheriff, Stella Gomez, who helps her find a place to live and constantly dealt with Kori's naiveté regarding human culture. Kori also meets Stella's widowed brother, Sol (who happened to bear a striking resemblance to Dick Grayson), and later began dating him. Starfire later meetsAtlee, a waitress who is secretly a super-powered woman from a civilization living below the Earth's surface. Despite no longer wanting be a hero, trouble continues to find Kori in her new home and she is forced to defend Key West from various threats.
Tamaraneans are depicted as an emotionally expressive people who view affection, nudity, and sexual intimacy without the taboos common to human society. Physical closeness, such as kissing, can also serve cultural and practical purposes rather than being strictly romantic (such as kissing to absorb language). Marriage in Tamaran, however, is shown to be a monogamous institution and is often arranged for political reasons. This cultural openness has sometimes brought Starfire into conflict with Earth's social norms, where her comfort with nudity or casual displays of affection may be misunderstood. Despite this leading to much online speculation over Starfire's personal sexual preferences, her canonical romantic relationships have been portrayed as heterosexual.
Starfire is a Tamaranean and as such her physiology is designed to constantly absorbultraviolet radiation. The radiation is then converted to pure energy, allowing her to fly at supersonic speeds. Starfire is capable of using this power to fly in space and even go fast enough to cross several solar systems in minutes to seconds.[citation needed] This energy also gives her incredible superhuman strength and durability. After being experimented on by the Psions, Starfire gained the ability to release her absorbed energy into powerful blasts called "starbolts".[5]
Starfire is also proficient in hand-to-hand combat, having been trained by the Warlords of Okaara. Her natural strength, combined with her fighting skills, allowed her to defeat the powerfulDonna Troy about one out of three times during purely hand to hand matches.[14] She later proved strong enough to fight againstWonder Woman for a short period of time and, during a fit of rage, was so strong that Donna was unable to contain her without the help ofMon-El.
As shown in the "Insiders" crossover story arc (Teen Titans andOutsiders), Starfire can also release nearly all of her stored energy as a powerful omni-directional explosive burst, many times stronger and more powerful than her standard blasts. The released energy leaves her in a weakened state.[15] She is also able to absorb ambient ultraviolet energy consciously.[16] Starfire demonstrated more control over her powers in the New 52 reboot, using her internal energy to melt the metal of Jason Todd's gun when it came into contact with her skin.[citation needed]
Starfire, like all Tamaraneans, is capable of assimilating languages through physical contact with another person.[17] She also does not need to eat, drink, breathe, or sleep to survive unless she is low on ultraviolet energy.[citation needed]
Starfire placed 21st on IGN's 2013 list of the "Top 25 Heroes of DC Comics".[23] She was also ranked 20th inComics Buyer's Guide's "100 Sexiest Women in Comics" list.[24]Comic Book Resources ranked Starfire 13th in their "The 20 Strongest Female Superheroes, Ranked" list,[25]
| Title | Material collected | Publication date | Pages | ISBN |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Red Hood and the Outlaws: The Starfire | Red Hood and the Outlaws Vol 1 #8–11 | July 2013 | 160 | 978-1401240905 |
| Starfire: Welcome Home | DC Sneak Peek: Starfire Vol 2 #1–6 | March 2016 | 159 | 978-1401261603 |
| Starfire: A Matter of Time | Starfire Vol 2 #7–12 | January 2017 | 144 | 978-1401270384 |
| Part of: I Am Not Starfire | Original material | July 2021 | 166 | 978-1779501264 |
| Teen Titans: Starfire | November 2024 | 196 | 978-1779517999 |
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[The New Teen Titans] went on to become DC's most popular comic team of its day. Not only the springboard for the following month'sThe New Teen Titans #1, the preview's momentous story also featured the first appearance of future DC mainstays Cyborg, Starfire and Raven.
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