Courtney Whitmore (comics)

Superherobox|

caption= Artwork for the cover of "JSA" #81 (Mar, 2006) featuring Stargirl framed by S.T.R.I.P.E.
Art by Alex Ross.
character_name=Stargirl
alter_ego=Courtney Whitmore
publisher=DC Comics
debut="Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E." # 0 (July 1999)
creators=Geoff Johns
alliances=Justice Society of America Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. Suicide Squad Young Justice
aliases=Star-Spangled Kid
supports=
powers=Enhanced strength, speed, agility, stamina and 'shooting stars' derived from Cosmic Converter Belt; flight and energy manipulation derived from Cosmic Staff; trained gymnast and kickboxer.|

Courtney Whitmore is a fictional character, the superheroine Stargirl (often called "Stars" or "Star") in the DC Comics Universe. Originally known as the second Star-Spangled Kid, she uses the identity of Stargirl since she was presented with the Cosmic Staff by Jack Knight. The character is a creation of Geoff Johns, who is said to have based her personality on that of his sister, also named Courtney, who died in the explosion of TWA Flight 800 in 1996. [ [http://www.newsarama.com/general/GeoffJohns/GeoffPartOne.htm Newsarama.Com - Behind The Pages: Geoff Johns (Part 1 - Stargirl-TWA 800 connection)] ] Johns is an avid fan of Captain Carrot and the Zoo Crew [ [http://www.comicbloc.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-11250.html Comic Bloc Forums: Stargirl & Captain Carrot References] ] and Courtney's original outfit is similar to Zoo Crew member Yankee Poodle's.

Fictional character biography

tars and S.T.R.I.P.E.

Courtney Whitmore, stepdaughter of Pat Dugan, found the original Star-Spangled Kid's gear in her stepfather's belongings and donned the costume in order to annoy him as partial revenge for marrying her mother and supposedly forcing the family to move from Los Angeles to Blue Valley, Nebraska. Dugan, a skilled mechanic, designed and built S.T.R.I.P.E., a robotic suit which he rides in to accompany and protect her.

During her time in Blue Valley, her frequent nemesis is the young villainess known as Shiv, daughter of the immortal Dragon King. The two had their most recent rematch in "Infinite Crisis", in a page added to the hardcover edition.

targirl

Eventually, Courtney joins the Justice Society of America and, after being given Starman Jack Knight's cosmic staff, changes her identity to Stargirl.

Courtney has appeared in most issues of "JSA" and it was in these pages that her little sister Patricia Dugan was born.

During her time with the team, she confronts her predecessor's killer. Solomon Grundy, driven further into madness by the Joker, attacks the JSA headquarters with the head of the Statue of Liberty. With the aid of only Jakeem Thunder, Courtney fights him in the streets and into the tunnels below. The two heroes barely defeat Grundy. Jakeem's Thunderbolt fixes the Statue.

Courtney encounters Merry Pemberton, the sister of her predecessor. Originally, tensions existed between the two as Merry had feelings about her brother's legacy and also did not like the fact young superheros operated on the same field as adult ones. These problems were resolved when the two were part of a larger battle against the forces of Klarion the Witch Boy. Courtney even saves Merry's life from an attacking Amazo. During this incident, Courtney temporarily has the body of a much more mature adult. Later, she discovers her biological father working as a common thug for an incarnation of the Royal Flush Gang. They would personally confront each other during one of the Flush Gang's robberies.

Despite a glimpse into the future, which showed an adult Starwoman married to Albert Rothstein (a.k.a. fellow JSA member Atom Smasher), Courtney briefly dated another JSA member, Captain Marvel, who in his true identity of Billy Batson is actually younger than her. However, Captain Marvel was, by all appearances to those not knowing Billy's secret, an adult, and the relationship between Marvel and Stargirl drew the attention of JSA members Jakeem Thunder and Jay Garrick, the original Flash. After being confronted by Garrick over the issue, Marvel chose to leave the JSA - and Courtney - instead of telling the team his secret. Marvel reappeared in the JSA and revealed he can't give out his true identity due to the wisdom of Solomon blocking him.

JSA/JSA and Black Reign

During this storyline, Courtney's family was murdered by agents of Per Degaton. She traveled with the rest of the JSA back to 1951. The time-traveling adventure featured the Modern Age successors to Golden Age JSA members meeting and fighting alongside the originals to try to save her family and the future. During this adventure, she found herself forced to work with Atom Smasher again, for the first time since he defected to Black Adam's rival team. Following this, she apparently forgave him, but Atom Smasher was then nearly murdered by the Spectre. Though Atom Smasher was saved, the events clearly revealed the depth of feeling she has for him. She was quite relieved to return after this time-travelling adventure to see that her family was still alive.

Later, Atom Smasher was tried and convicted for actions he took while working for Black Adam, and during a TV appearance, Courtney stated that even though Al was in prison, she would "wait for him."

"Infinite Crisis"

During the Infinite Crisis, Courtney was approached by the Shade, who told her of the final demise of her biological father. The tragedy, and the witnessing of the mother-daughter love between Liberty Belle and Jesse Quick led her to rethink her family life. She discovered that she couldn't hate her biological father for being an absentee, a slacker and even a supervillain thug, and also learned from the tragedy to accept Pat Dugan as the first true paternal figure in her life.

Stargirl also was part of a makeshift Titans team that attacked a rampaging Superboy-Prime in Smallville, Kansas. Superboy kills several of her comrades, including Pantha and Baby Wildebeest and maims Risk, removing his arm.

Afterwards, she began attending college. She has changed her equipment: her rod now compresses to a small cylinder, and when she activates it, her costume and belt appear while the rod grows to full size.

New Justice Society Series

Courtney is involved with the new JSA helping to find the new Starman and is apparently somewhat of a hero figure for Cyclone. In Issue 3, Courtney and Maxine Hunkel are seen picking out Maxine's new costume. During this Courtney notes that calling yourself the anything Kid apparently leads to people treating you like a six-year old. She is also shown forging the beginnings of a friendship with Lightning in issue 12

ecret identity

Over the years Courtney has been a little careless with her secret ID with many school friends and even some villains learning it, (she admits as much during the "Identity Crisis" crossover). In fact Courtney revealed her ID (to her friend Mary) moments into her first outing (though she was at this point only dressed as a hero having yet to decide to give it a go as a career). It's currently unclear how public her ID is though it seems to be known by many in the heroic community. (This is in fitting with the current DC practice where most of the heroes seem to know the others on first name basis).

Personality

Stargirl has developed from a bit of a brat to a well-rounded heroine. She is best friends with Hawkgirl and is also close to Power Girl, whom Courtney considers a role model of sorts. As well, she has started to befriend the new Supergirl, Kara Zor-El. Early in her superhero career, Courtney was invited to join Young Justice; she declined, since she was already a member of the JSA, but she remained a reserve member aiding them in events such as 'Sins of Youth'. Courtney often trusts and stands up for those whom other members of the team seemingly distrust, such as Atom Smasher, or Brainwave. She has also developed good leadership skills and courage, often throwing herself directly into harm's way. She can also be quite violently effective when angered. After Courtney's family was killed by Per Degaton's Forces (an incident later erased from history) she used the rod to disintegrate all of the attackers.

As well as her relationships with Atom Smasher and Captain Marvel, Courtney is the object of a crush held by Jakeem Thunder. She has also been stalked by Solomon Grundy who was at one point obsessed with her. In Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. and an issue of "Impulse", Courtney dropped hints of having a crush on Robin (Tim Drake), but that hasn't been picked up on in recent years.

tarwoman

Courtney is seen in Teen Titans 53 along with Lex Luthor and his future Titans. Her role is minimal. (She is, however, 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.)

Other media

Courtney and S.T.R.I.P.E. have also appeared in the "Justice League Unlimited" animated series, where she is voiced by Giselle Loren.

Stargirl and her partner appear in a speaking role in the episode "Chaos at the Earth's Core." In that story, Stargirl is childishly jealous of Supergirl's fame (a contrast to the comics, where they are the best of friends). However, in the resulting adventure in Skartaris, the girls come to an understanding.

She later appeared in "Patriot Act", where she and other League members were trying to stop a mutated General Wade Eiling from rampaging through a city. In this episode she takes the place of the original Star-Spangled Kid and the original Starman in the symbolic and unofficial reformation of the Seven Soldiers of Victory. Stargirl was badly injured by Eiling, but survived the incident and flashes a smile when she is loaded into an ambulance. In this episode, Stargirl reveals that she has no inherent powers, and all of her special abilities come from her staff.

She and S.T.R.I.P.E. later helped repel the invasion of Earth by Darkseid's forces in the series finale, "Destroyer."

The single-carded action figure in the DC Universe Justice League Unlimited line refers to Courtney as Pat Dugan's niece, rather than stepdaughter.

References