Starman (comics)

Starman is a name used by several different DC Comics superheroes, most prominently Ted Knight and his sons David and Jack.

Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Jack Burnley, the original Starman, Ted Knight, first appeared in ''Adventure Comics'' #61 (April 1941). An astronomer, Knight invented a "gravity rod", later reinvented as a "cosmic rod", allowing him to fly and manipulate energy, and donned a red and green costume with a distinctive finned helmet.

Like most Golden Age heroes, Starman fell into obscurity in the 1950s. In the ensuing years, several characters, with varying degrees of relation to the original, briefly took the mantle of Starman.

In '' Zero Hour: Crisis in Time'' #1 (September 1994), writer James Robinson and artist Tony Harris introduced Jack Knight, the son of the first Starman. A reluctant non-costumed hero, he inherited his father's name and mission and used his technology to create a cosmic staff. He starred in a critically acclaimed series, written by Robinson, from 1994 until 2001.

The current successor of Starman is Stargirl, formerly the second Star-Spangled Kid.

Starman, announcing that he comes "from the past", appears in ''Justice League'' #7 (November 2018) and subsequent issues.

Below, in chronological order of activity (not of appearance), are the characters to have used the name "Starman".

Theodore Knight

Theodore Henry Knight is a 1940s DC Comics superhero who wore a red costume with a finned helmet and a green cape, and wielded a "gravity rod" (later "cosmic rod") which enabled him to fly and fire energy bolts. He is a member of the Justice Society of America.

Starman of 1951

The Starman of 1951 is a superhero who operated in the DC Universe in 1951. In pre-''Crisis'' continuity, the Starman of the 1950s was actually Batman, who briefly took up that mantle in ''Detective Comics'' #247 (September 1957), using variants of his usual equipment, but with a star motif instead of a bat, due to him having been hypnotized to be given a fear of bats in the belief that this would render him incapable of being a hero.

Post-''Crisis'', the character was retconned in ''Starman Secret Files and Origins''. The name was first used by the original Dr. Mid-Nite, Charles McNider. When David Knight, son of the original Starman, is drawn back in time, he takes over the identity from McNider for a brief period.

Star-Man

In ''Detective Comics'' #286, a villainous Star-Man appeared to menace Batman and Robin whose super-strength waned in the presence of a Tibetan belt worn by Batwoman.

Mikaal Tomas

Mikaal Tomas is an alien who traveled to Earth to help conquer it, but instead turned against his war-like people in defense of the human race. He first appeared in '' 1st Issue Special'' #12 (March 1976), and is notable as one of DC Comics' earliest openly gay superheroes.

Prince Gavyn

Prince Gavyn is a DC Comics superhero created by Paul Levitz and Steve Ditko in ''Adventure Comics'' #467 (January 1980). He is a spoiled, blond, playboy prince of an alien empire who discovered he was a mutant who could survive unaided in space.

Will Payton

Will Payton, a 1980s DC Comics superhero, was created by Roger Stern and Tom Lyle. Payton gained his powers of flight, super strength, a mild amount of shapeshifting, and the ability to alter his appearance and fire bolts of energy from his hands after being struck by a bolt of energy from a satellite in space. He was in his early twenties and worked as a magazine copy editor. He first appeared in ''Starman'' (vol. 1) #1 (October 1988).''Starman'' #1. (October 1988). DC Comics.

David Knight

David Knight, a 1990s DC Comics superhero, was the son of the original Starman and elder brother of the 1990s Starman, Jack. He first appeared in ''Starman'' (vol. 1) #26 (September 1990), having taken up his father's mantle, and was killed by an assassin in ''Starman'' (vol. 2) #0 (October 1994). He regularly (annually) appeared to Jack after his death, providing guidance for his brother. Toward the end of the series, his ultimate fate was revealed to have been different from what was previously believed (as noted above for the Starman of 1951).

In ''Starman'' (vol. 2) #81 (a one-issue revival tying into the ''Blackest Night'' event), David's corpse is reanimated as a member of the Black Lantern Corps. He unsuccessfully targets Hope and Mason O'Dare, and then confronts Shade, who pulls him into the Shadowlands, imprisoning him there. During their confrontation, the Black Lantern mentions his plan to lure Jack into another "talking with David" scene before killing him, a reference to David's prior role in the series.

Jack Knight

Jack Knight, a 1990s DC Comics superhero, is the son of the original Starman, Ted Knight. He wields a cosmically powered staff, but refuses to wear a costume, instead preferring a T-shirt, leather jacket (with star emblem on the back), a Cracker Jack prize sheriff's star, and light-shielding tank goggles. A reluctant hero that took up the mantle after David died, he is the protagonist of the comic book series written by James Robinson. Jack briefly joined the JSA, but soon retired at the end of the ''Starman'' series, passing along his cosmic rod to the JSA's young heroine, Stargirl.

Thom Kallor/Danny Blaine

Danny Blaine is a DC Comics superhero of the near future whose identity (but not his full story) is revealed in the 1990s ''Starman'' series. Danny Blaine was eventually revealed to be Thom Kallor, also known as Star Boy, a DC Comics superhero in the 30th century and a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes. He originally had powers similar to Superboy, but later lost them and retained only his innate ability to increase the mass of nearby objects. Thom takes on the mantle of Starman in the 21st century with the full knowledge that he will lose his life there. The Danny Blaine/Thom Kallor version was inspired by the '' Kingdom Come'' depiction of the character, designed by Alex Ross.

One Year Later

The One Year Later line-up of the Justice Society had a new, schizophrenic Starman. Fully aware of his condition and plagued by voices and shattered impressions of his adventures through time and space, he voluntarily went to reside at the Sunshine Sanitarium in Opal City when not performing his superheroic feats, seeking a cure and protection until the JSA sent Doctor Mid-Nite and Stargirl to recruit him. He accepted, asking only a cure for his addled mind in exchange.

Hailing from the original Legion of Super-Heroes universe, where he was known as Star Boy, he received from Brainiac 5 of the Three Worlds a complete map of the Multiverse, printed on his star-clad suit, to use in a mission meant to save the entire space-time continuum. It was implied that his addled status was actually a deciding factor in his choice, since his borderline insanity was meant to prevent telepaths or skilled interrogators from gaining any information from him. However, he got stranded on Earth-22, the ''Kingdom Come'' universe, thus witnessing the dramatic events on that Earth and receiving added damage to his frail mind, worsened by the lack of the advanced medication to which he had had access in his own time.

He later decided to take the name of Danny Blaine, after his favorite pulp adventurer from Xanthu, a situation that paid off when his mental sanity was restored to him by the literal-minded Old God Gog. Unable to ensure the absolute secrecy of his mission while being Starman all the time, he accepted a job as a gravedigger in Metropolis. With Gog's defeat, Starman was returned to his disturbed state, steadily worsening due to his lack of proper medication; however, in his work as a gravedigger, he was able to locate Superboy/Kon-El's corpse and transport it to the Fortress of Solitude, where it lay under special Kryptonian crystals in a regeneration chamber for 1,000 years. The crystals recharged Conner's (Superboy) life force; thus bringing on his resurrection 1,000 years in the future as seen in ''Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds'' – the penultimate chapter of ''The Lightning Saga''.

Farris Knight

The Starman of the 853rd century is Farris Knight, who is also a member of Justice Legion Alpha and was a major character in the series ''DC One Million''. He is a distant descendant of Jack Knight and the Mist's son. Farris commands an alien artifact called a "quarvat", similar in function to the "cosmic rod". He lives on a space station (in the orbit of Uranus) from which he monitors the artificial sun Solaris. He asserts that being the descendant of the Mist as much as the Knights, he was predisposed to villainy, and Solaris eventually corrupts Farris. The man arranges for the defeat of the two JLAs and travels back in time to kill the originator of his hated responsibility, Ted Knight. Meeting Ted, however, changes his mind and Farris ultimately sacrifices himself to save the modern day Earth from Solaris' machinations, his lost quarvat apparently going on to be found by his own great-grandfather (resulting in its existence being a temporal paradox).''Starman'' (vol. 2) #1,000,000 (November 1998)

Victor Sono

Introduced in ''Jonah Hex'' (vol. 2) #27 (March 2008), the "Star Man" of the Old West originally came to New York City with his father from Italy just after the Civil War ended. His name was Victor Sono. His father tried to get work as a sheriff, but the group of lawmen with whom he interviewed mocked and killed him for being disabled. Young Victor later found his body hanging outside the building and decided to avenge his death. He pickpocketed a pistol and fired on the group. Before he could do much damage, however, the owner of the pistol, Jonah Hex, who was in town collecting a bounty, knocked him out and took his gun back. He nearly left the boy to the "lawmen", but after recalling his own terrible childhood, came back and rescued Victor, whom he left at an orphanage. Years later, Hex and Victor would cross paths again, Victor now calling himself the Star Man. He had dedicated his life to killing unjust lawmen and adding their sheriff's stars to his coat. The Star Man has a habit of manipulating Hex for his own ends, although he does know that he owes Hex his life.

Enemies

Each of the different incarnations of Starman has his own enemies:
* The Blockbuster II - The brother of the original Blockbuster who went through the same treatment his brother went through.
* Deadline - A mercenary who can become intangible.
* Deathbolt - A criminal who was turned into a living battery by the Ultra-Humanite.
* Doctor Phosphorus - A radioactive villain with burning skin.
* Harold Melrose - A scientist.
* The Mist - A supervillain who can turn into living vapor.
* The Power Elite - A group of six superpowered villains.
** David Winters - A member of the Power Elite who can fire radiation blasts from his eyes.
** Dennis Blake - A member of the Power Elite with energy-projecting abilities.
** Frank Donovan - A member of the Power Elite who can shoot plasma flames from his hands.
** Olivia Hardy - A member of the Power Elite with super-strength.
** Samantha Morgan - A member of the Power Elite who can change her size.
** Stanley Hale - A member of the Power Elite with flight and telekinesis.
* The Rag Doll - A contorting supervillain.
* The Spider II - The son of the original Spider.

Other versions

* Stargirl (Courtney Whitmore), formerly the second Star-Spangled Kid, is a superheroine who inherited Jack Knight's cosmic staff after he retired from being Starman. She is a member of the Justice Society of America.
* In ''JSA'' #72, a female calling herself "Starwoman" is revealed to be Patricia Lynn Dugan (the half-sister of Courtney Whitmore).
* In '' JLA: Age of Wonder'', Starman is portrayed as a fellow inventor alongside Superman, Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla