| Courtney Whitmore | |
|---|---|
.png) Stargirl as she appeared on a promotional image ofStargirl Spring Break Special #1 (May 2021). Art byTodd Nauck. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | As Courtney Whitmore (cameo): DCU Heroes: Secret Files & Origins #1 (February 1999) As Courtney Whitmore (full): Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. #0 (July 1999) As Stargirl: JSA: All Stars #4 (October 2003) |
| Created by | Courtney Whitmore: Geoff Johns Lee Moder Stargirl: Geoff Johns David S. Goyer |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Courtney Elizabeth Whitmore |
| Team affiliations | Justice Society of America Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. Suicide Squad Young Justice Justice League Justice League United |
| Partnerships | Starman |
| Notable aliases | Star-Spangled Kid |
| Abilities |
Via Cosmic Converter Belt:
Via Cosmic Staff:
|
Courtney Elizabeth Whitmore, known asStargirl and formerly as the secondStar-Spangled Kid, is asuperhero created byGeoff Johns and Lee Moder who appears inAmerican comic books published byDC Comics. The character's name, appearance, and personality were patterned after Johns' 18-year-old sister Courtney, who died in the explosion ofTWA Flight 800 in 1996.[1][2]
Stargirl has appeared inJustice League Unlimited,Batman: The Brave and the Bold,Justice League Action, andYoung Justice. She has also appeared in live-action showsSmallville played byBritt Irvin,Legends of Tomorrow played bySarah Grey, and in herown television series played byBrec Bassinger. Bassinger reprised the role in thefourth season of theHBO Max seriesTitans.
The character was created by writerGeoff Johns and artist Lee Moder. She made her first appearance inStars and S.T.R.I.P.E. #0 (July 1999).[3]
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Courtney Whitmore, stepdaughter ofPat Dugan, finds the originalStar-Spangled Kid's gear in her stepfather's belongings. She dons the costume to annoy Dugan, as she resents him marrying her mother and moving the family fromLos Angeles toBlue Valley, Nebraska. Dugan, a skilled mechanic, designs and buildsS.T.R.I.P.E., a robotic suit that he uses to accompany and protect her.[4]
During her time in Blue Valley, her frequent nemesis is the young villainess known asShiv, daughter of the immortalDragon King.[5] Their most recent rematch was inInfinite Crisis, on a page added to the hardcover edition.
Courtney joins theJustice Society of America. After being givenStarman Jack Knight'scosmic staff, she changes her identity toStargirl.[6] Courtney appears in most issues ofJSA and it is in these pages that her half-sister Patricia Dugan is born.[7]
Later, she confronts her predecessor's killer,Solomon Grundy. Driven further into madness by theJoker's chemical assault, Grundy attacks the JSA headquarters with the head of the Statue of Liberty. With the aid ofJakeem Thunder, Courtney fights Grundy in the streets and into the sewers below. The young heroes barely defeat Grundy andJohnnyThunderbolt repairs the Statue.[8] Grundy later develops an obsession with Courtney.
Courtney encountersMerry Pemberton, the sister of the original Star-Spangled Kid, during the "Sins of Youth" storyline. Merry's concerns about her brother's legacy and about young superheroes battling adults causes friction with Courtney. They resolve their differences during a battle against the forces ofKlarion the Witch Boy. Courtney later saves Merry's life during an attack byAmazo.[9] During this incident, Courtney is magically aged to an adult by Klarion.[10]
Later, she discovers her biological fatherSam Kurtis working as a common thug for an incarnation of theRoyal Flush Gang. They later confront each other during one of the Flush Gang's robberies.[6]
InStars and S.T.R.I.P.E. and an issue ofImpulse, Courtney hints at having a crush on Robin (Tim Drake), a concept that was not developed in subsequent issues.
Courtney briefly dates fellow JSA memberCaptain Marvel, who, in his secret identity of Billy Batson, is the same age as she, although she was attracted to Billy in his older form in the first place, without knowing his secret identity, and even kissed him.[11] To outsiders, however, Captain Marvel is by all appearances a fully grown up adult, and the relationship between Marvel and Stargirldraws criticism fromJakeem Thunder andJay Garrick. After Garrick confronts them, Marvel decides to leave the JSA and Courtney, instead of revealing his secret to the team.[12] Marvel later returns to the JSA and explains that the Wisdom of Solomon prevents him from revealing his secret identity.
A glimpse into the future shows an adult "Starwoman" married toAlbert Rothstein, the JSA member known as Atom Smasher.[13]
Courtney's family is murdered by agents ofPer Degaton[14] and she travels with the rest of the JSA to 1951. TheModern Age successors toGolden Age JSA members meet and fight alongside the originals to save her family and the future. She finds herself forced to work with Atom Smasher again, for the first time since he defected toBlack Adam's rival team. During her trip to the past, Courtney is briefly stuck in an asylum when she tries to recruit Ted Knight. Knight had become clinically depressed for his perceived role in the creation of the atomic bomb to the point that he initially thought Courtney was a hallucination, but she was saved by a figure later identified as Starwoman, an adult version of her infant sister Patricia. After the crisis is over, Courtney forgives Al for his past alliance with Black Adam but Atom Smasher is nearly killed bythe Spectre during an attack on Khandaq. He survives, but the event reveals the depth of Courtney's feelings for him. She returns to her own time to find her family alive again.
Later, Atom Smasher is tried and convicted for his actions while working for Black Adam. During a TV appearance, Courtney says that with Al in prison, she would "be there for him... no matter how long it takes."
Courtney is approached by theShade, who tells her that her biological father is dead. This tragedy and her experience of the relationship betweenLiberty Belle andJesse Quick prompts her to re-evaluate her family life.[15] She discovers that she can't hate her biological father for his failings as a father and as a man. She also learns to accept Pat Dugan as her only real father figure.
Stargirl becomes part of a coalition consisting of the JSA, the Doom Patrol and the Teen Titans that is organized to stopSuperboy-Prime from destroyingSmallville. Superboy-Prime kills several of the Titans, includingPantha andBaby Wildebeest and maimsRisk, removing his arm. Stargirl later attends a memorial service for heroes who died in the Crisis.[16]
Afterwards, she begins attending college. She has altered her equipment: her rod now telescopes into a small cylinder, and her costume and belt materialize as the rod extends to full size.
Courtney joins the new roster of the Justice Society and fights without S.T.R.I.P.E.'s assistance.[17]
A seasoned hero despite her age, she forges a bond with her young teammateCyclone, the eager and over-impulsive granddaughter of the firstRed Tornado. They two bond after witnessing the death ofMister America and Courtney suggests Cyclone create a new superhero costume and name.[18] Stargirl resumes her role of mentorship for the youngest heroes by helpingJefferson Pierce's daughter,Jennifer, cope with her powers and her isolation.[19] Courtney later expresses toDamage her doubts aboutGog.[20]
A future version of Courtney is seen inTeen Titans (vol. 3) #53 along withLex Luthor and his future Titans. Her role is minimal, however, she is seen wearing Jack Knight's goggles and jacket—the closest she has ever come to Jack's vision of "Starwoman" at the end of his series.
In theFinal Crisis miniseries, Courtney joins with other heroes to form an underground resistance againstDarkseid.[21]
Courtney is present (and apparently involved in voting) for discussions on how to move the JSA forward after the Gog debacle (and whom to retain or remove from the team) and she defends some of the heroes who sided with Gog. Later she is present when the JSA meet a depowered Billy Batson, who reveals hissecret identity to the others.[22]
After the battle withBlack Adam andIsis, Courtney was unhappy, as the events had happened on her birthday (and had ruined any planned celebrations). When she goes home and opens the door, the entire Justice Society is present and have prepared a late surprise party for her. Later she is unhappy to learn she still needed her braces despite being acknowledged as one of the senior members of the JSA.[23] It has been established that both she and Atom Smasher love each other in direct quotes rather than asides and implied habits, but the elder JSA members' comments about their age difference forced Al to turn Courtney down, stating he loved her "like a sister".[24][25]
Following a massive supervillain attack, the JSA is split in two.Power Girl convinces Courtney to join the JSA All-Stars splinter group. She later expresses a deep feeling of regret over siding with the All-Stars, claiming that she feels more at home with the original roster. Karen talks her through these doubts, telling her that she needed Courtney on the team because all the other teen members of the JSA look up to her.[26]
In September 2011,The New 52 rebooted DC's continuity. In this new timeline, Stargirl appears as part of a newJustice League of America title.[27]
Born in Los Angeles, Courtney Whitmore was cleaning out the office of Barbara Whitmore's boyfriend Pat Dugan when she found a staff, a belt, and a shirt with a star on it. While trying them on, she became Stargirl and caught the perpetrator of a fire she spotted. The heroic actions went viral.[28] After talking to her friend about what happens next, Courtney was informed by Pat that the person who originally wielded the equipment has died. Though Pat agreed to train her, Courtney had to respond to the criminal activity caused byShadow Thief who was taking hostages to draw out a superhero. She managed to rout out Shadow Thief. When Stargirl returned home, she found that Shadow Thief arrived first, killed her brother, and wounded Barbara and Ted. Stargirl used this trauma to become a better superhero.[29]
Amanda Waller later chooses Stargirl as the public face of the JLA's public relations campaign.[30] After the JLA disbands inForever Evil, she joinsJustice League United.[31]
InDoomsday Clock, Stargirl is among the superheroes who confrontDoctor Manhattan on the Moon.[32] Stargirl appears with the Justice Society of America when Manhattan restores them and theLegion of Super-Heroes.[33]
InThe New Golden Age, Stargirl helps rescue thirteen missing sidekicks known as the Lost Children, who theTime Masters kidnapped in an attempt to rescue them fromDoctor Manhattan's alterations to the timeline.[34] After discovering that the children cannot be returned to their own times or risk causing a time paradox, Courtney helps them find homes in the present day.[35]
InTitans: Beast World,Huntress and Stargirl battle various heroes who were mutated byBeast Boy's spores.[36]
Courtney is an expert gymnast and kickboxer.
When wearing the Cosmic Converter Belt, Stargirl has enhanced strength, speed, agility, and stamina as well as the ability to project shooting stars.
When wielding the Cosmic Staff, Stargirl can fly and perform cosmic energy manipulation.
Besides her stepfather Pat Dugan, the following are supporting characters of Stargirl:
With her stepfather as S.T.R.I.P.E., Stargirl had her own set of enemies that she fought in the comics:
An adult alternate universe variant of Courtney Whitmore from Earth-7 appears inCountdown: Arena.[citation needed]
Courtney Whitmore as Stargirl was originally going to appear inBlack Adam as a member of the Justice Society of America, but was cut from the film.[58][59][60]
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| National | |
