Stardust (Lambda-Zero) is a
fictional character
In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, play, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life person, ...
appearing in the
comic books
A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...
published by
Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...
and existing in that company's
Marvel Universe
The Marvel Universe is a fictional shared universe where the stories in most American comic book titles and other media published by Marvel Comics take place. Super-teams such as the Avengers, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, the Guardians of ...
. Stardust is one of the many
Heralds of Galactus. Unlike most of Galactus's Heralds, Stardust seeks to kill all who attempt to escape the planets that Galactus feeds upon, an action that Galactus neither requires nor forbids.
This Stardust should not be confused with the other Marvel character known as Stardust, a former enemy of
Rom the Spaceknight
Rom the Space Knight is a superhero, originally a toy and then a magazine lead. Rom was created by Scott Dankman, Richard C. Levy, and Bryan L. McCoy for Parker Brothers and is now a Hasbro asset. After the toy was licensed to Marvel Comics, Rom ...
.
Fictional character biography
The Ethereal Lambda-Zero, who later became known as Stardust, the Herald of Galactus, was first introduced in the comics series ''
Stormbreaker
''Stormbreaker'' is a young adult fiction, young adult action-adventure book written by British author Anthony Horowitz, and is the first novel in the Alex Rider, ''Alex Rider'' series. The book was released in the United Kingdom on the 4th of ...
: The Saga of
Beta Ray Bill
Beta Ray Bill is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Debuting in the Bronze Age of Comic Books, the character was initially intended to be a surprise; an apparent monster who unexpectedly turns out ...
''. The first planet Stardust fed to Galactus was New Korbin, after she slaughtered most of the planet's inhabitants.
This led to a series of confrontation with Beta Ray Bill, who was busy attempting to rescue the Korbinites. The two fought each other, and after the first confrontation, Stardust sought out Bill after he obtained the Meta-Orb. Planning on crushing Bill with it, the two fought each other until Stardust opened a portal to a dimension filled with the most evil beings of the
universe
The universe is all of space and time and their contents, including planets, stars, galaxies, and all other forms of matter and energy. The Big Bang theory is the prevailing cosmological description of the development of the universe. Acc ...
hoping to trap Bill there. Bill managed to escape, but a being named Asteroth escaped and began destroying entire worlds. Stardust and Bill joined forces, with Stardust using his powers to open a
black hole
A black hole is a region of spacetime where gravitation, gravity is so strong that nothing, including light or other Electromagnetic radiation, electromagnetic waves, has enough energy to escape it. The theory of general relativity predicts t ...
behind Asteroth hoping to lock Asteroth in it. However, Asteroth resisted and the hole instead sucked both Stardust and Bill to a near death.
Galactus had empowered Ray to help Stardust take down her opponent. With the black hole still open, Ray managed to do this, but in return was together with Asteroth sucked into the hole. Stardust has returned off-panel through unknown means, evident by her presence in Annihilation.
Annihilation
Stardust is sent by Galactus to ask the Silver Surfer to meet with Galactus. Stardust meanwhile is under orders to help the other remaining former heralds Red Shift and Firelord as they combat the Annihilation wave fleet. Later the three heralds join with Nova's United Front and defeat and capture one of
Annihilus
Annihilus () is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, primarily as an adversary to the Fantastic Four. The character debuted in '' Fantastic Four Annual'' #6, which was published in November 1968. Annihilus w ...
' queens. With the Silver Surfer and Galactus now captured and Firelord half-dead, Stardust and Red Shift are the only two active heralds.
Stardust and
Red Shift
In physics, a redshift is an increase in the wavelength, and corresponding decrease in the frequency and photon energy, of electromagnetic radiation (such as light). The opposite change, a decrease in wavelength and simultaneous increase in fr ...
were presumed dead after holding back a massive energy blast from Galactus' absorbing device. Stardust has since returned.
It is later revealed that Stardust is an Ethereal, a race of beings of pure energy, and that being imbued with the Power Cosmic, in effect, made Stardust indestructible, allowing her to reconstitute herself if "destroyed". She was then confronted by the last fifty-three members of their race, who were nearly made extinct by the Annihilation Wave. Accusing Stardust of treason for leaving them, they attacked Stardust, and in the ensuing battle Stardust "kills" the remaining members of their race in self-defense, and then absorbs the remainder of their living energies. However, she then finds Galactus and, distraught that she has been replaced as a Herald by the Silver Surfer, gives up the remains of her race to feed Galactus, against their protests; an act that surprises Galactus, as no herald has ever willingly given up its race to him. Stardust is then named Galactus's second herald, as Galactus's now increased hunger requires more worlds to devour. It is also then revealed that Galactus is the only creature that Stardust will ever love.
Gender clarification
When she first revealed her existence, Stardust claimed that she existed as pure cosmic energy, making it hard to say whether Stardust is a male or female. Stardust was also referred to as "he" in ''Stormbreaker'', the character's first appearance, but a particular reference to Stardust in ''Fantastic Four'' makes the character appear to be female,. Later writers would make Stardust female, reflected by her appearance in The Super Hero Squad Show voiced by Cheryl Hines.
Powers and abilities
Stardust is a
Herald of Galactus
Galactus () is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Formerly a mortal man, Galactus is a cosmic entity who consumes planets to sustain his life force, and serves a functional role in the upkeep of t ...
imbued with the
Power Cosmic
Galactus () is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Formerly a mortal man, Galactus is a cosmic entity who consumes planets to sustain his life force, and serves a functional role in the upkeep of ...
and as such possesses high levels of superhuman strength, durability,
[''Stormbreaker: The Saga of Beta Ray Bill'' #1–6 (2005)] reflexes, and stamina to confront and match powerhouses such as Beta Ray Bill
as well as the other standard abilities of a Herald, such as creating a
black hole
A black hole is a region of spacetime where gravitation, gravity is so strong that nothing, including light or other Electromagnetic radiation, electromagnetic waves, has enough energy to escape it. The theory of general relativity predicts t ...
or opening inter-dimensional portals.
Stardust is an Ethereal, a race of beings of pure energy. Being imbued with the Power Cosmic makes Stardust immortal, allowing her to reconstitute herself if "destroyed", such as during the Annihilation Wave
or having its physical structure dispersed.
[''Stormbreaker: The Saga of Beta Ray Bill'' #3]
In other media
Television
* Stardust appears in ''
The Super Hero Squad Show
''The Super Hero Squad Show'' is an American superhero animated series produced by Marvel Animation. It is based on the Marvel Super Hero Squad action figure line from Hasbro, which portray the Avengers, the X-Men, and various other characters o ...
'' episode "Last Exit Before Doomsday" voiced by
Cheryl Hines
Cheryl Ruth Hines (born September 21, 1965) is an American actress and director, best known for playing the role of Larry David's wife, Cheryl, on HBO's ''Curb Your Enthusiasm'', for which she has been nominated for two Emmy Awards. She also sta ...
.
Comics Continuum
/ref> She arrives on Earth while looking for Silver Surfer. Stardust ends up captured by Doctor Doom's minions as Doctor Doom forces them to take him to Galactus.
* Stardust appears in '' The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes'' episode "Avengers Assemble." She appears as one of Galactus's four heralds and is depicted as a creature composed of Sentient Water, rendering her a representative of the element of water. Stardust oversaw the construction of a device in the ocean that would help Galactus consume the Earth. She ended up fighting a team of superheroes consisting of Human Torch
The Human Torch (Jonathan "Johnny" Storm) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is a founding member of the Fantastic Four. He is writer Stan Lee's and artist Jack Kirby's reinvention of ...
, Wasp
A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder. Th ...
, Wolverine
The wolverine (), (''Gulo gulo''; ''Gulo'' is Latin for "gluttony, glutton"), also referred to as the glutton, carcajou, or quickhatch (from East Cree, ''kwiihkwahaacheew''), is the largest land-dwelling species of the family Mustelidae. It is ...
, Thing
Thing or The Thing may refer to:
Philosophy
* An object
* Broadly, an entity
* Thing-in-itself (or ''noumenon''), the reality that underlies perceptions, a term coined by Immanuel Kant
* Thing theory, a branch of critical theory that focuses ...
, and Hawkeye. She was destroyed by the combined attacks of Human Torch and Wasp.
References
Bibliography
* ''Stormbreaker: The Saga of Beta Ray Bill'' #1 (March 2005)
* ''Annihilation: Silver Surfer'' #2–3 (July–August 2006)
* ''Annihilation'' #1–3 (October–December 2006)
* ''Annihilation: Heralds of Galactus'' #1 (April 2007)
External links
*
Stardust's profile
on ''The Appendix to the Marvel Handbook''
Stardust
at the Marvel Database
"What is a herald of Galactus?"
on Flickscribe.com
* http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Lambda-Zero_(Earth-616)
{{Marvel Cosmic
Villains in animated television series
Marvel Comics aliens
Marvel Comics characters with superhuman strength
Fictional androgynes
Fictional characters with superhuman durability or invulnerability