Courtney Whitmore
Courtney Whitmore is a female comic superhero who features in DC Comics.
Contents |
Biography
Origin
Courtney Elizabeth Whitmore was a female human born in the modern age as the daughter of Barbara Whitmore and Sam Kurtis.
They used to live in Beverly Hills where she was a student at Beverly Hills High. (Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. v1 #1)
Eventually, the family moved to Blue Valley though Courtney came to hate her step-father and felt that she lost everything due to her mother re-marrying. Despite her being unhappy, her family intended to make a new start in the town and admitted Courtney into Blue Valley High. After a day of trouble at school, she came back to her new home where she was going through the items during the unpacking and found one of her step-fathers items. Despite her reluctance initially, she decided to go through it and found a costume along with framed pictures which showed that he was once the superhero named Stripsey who was the sidekick of the Star-Spangled Kid. She later decided to go for the school dance on that night but was resentful again of her step-father being her chaperone. Courtney created a costume based on the Star-Spangled Kid where she took a belt from herin order to attract the attention of one of her classmates named Josh Hamman. (Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. v1 #1)
Afterwards, Pat consulted with Ted Knight (the original Starman, who invented the cosmic converter), who said that the belt would likely work differently for Courtney, and that it might take time for it to calibrate itself to her. At school, Courtney and Mary earned detention under the orders of Mr. Paul Deisinger, who ate crayons and turned out to be a super-villain called Paintball. (Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. v1 #2) Elsewhere, Dr. Graft created monsters within a secret laboratory, and bestowed Cindy Burman — who was the Dragon King's daughter — with special enhancements. (Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. v1 #3)
When she was grounded, she tried to sneak out to go to the school to watch a basketball game with her friends. She was confronted by Pat Dugan in his S.T.R.I.P.E. armor to stop her but they saw an incident emerging as a school with Courtney taking on her superhero guise to save people. Stars arrived at the scene where she witnessed the Marvel Family in a battle with Solomon Grundy with Dugan revealing that the undead monster had killed the former Star-Spangled Kid. Despite his fears, she decided to fight and be a hero where she helped in defeating the supervillain when further undead began to arise. It was then that Doctor Occult arrived who was recruiting others to help in an emergency with Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. joining other superheroes in fighting the crisis. (Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. v1 #4)
Stargirl
Courtney later received a call from Jack Knight who asked her to meet him in Opal City. Once there, he revealed that he was retiring from his role as Starman and wanted to pass the Cosmic Staff to her as his successor. She came to be honoured for this as Jack asked her to be a hero. (Starman v2 #80)
She attended the funeral of Wesley Dodd's alongside the other Justice Society members when the event was interrupted by a mortally wounded Jared Stevens who warned of a threat from the Dark Lord. The gathering was then attacked by the undead Sons of Anubis who sough to claim the relics of Fate. Stargirl participated alongside the other heroes in defeating the undead mummies whereupon it was discovered that the artefacts of Fate had disappeared. (JSA v1 #1) Afterwards, she followed Scarab through a portal without his knowledge leading to her being transported to the Tower of Fate. (JSA v1 #2) There, she saw him being brutally murdered by the Dark Lord Mordru who intended to kill her as well but the Justice Society arrived at the scene. Despite their aid, they were each easily overpowered by the sorcerer as he sought to claim the power of Doctor Fate. At that point, the Star-Spangled Kid was transported into Fate's amulet where Courtney the spirit of Kent Nelson. He told her that he was going to serve as a mid-wife to his successor and urged Courtney to use the Scarabeus on the Fate-Child who was in Mordru's possession leading to the child being turned into the new Doctor Fate. (JSA v1 #3) After Mordru's defeat, the Justice Society officially reformed, and while Jack Knight accepted membership, he headed back to Opal City. He suggested that Courtney join the team as the new Star-Spangled Kid. (JSA v1 #4)
This was due Mordru having switched places with Hector Hall where the Lord of Chaos unleashed his power against the Justice Society. During that time, Obsidian emerged revealing he had allied with Mordru and he attempted to consume his father into his shadows in order to claim the power of the Starheart. To save him, Captain Marvel and Stargirl followed leading to all three falling into the Shadowlands. Whilst trapped there, Captain Marvel was cut from the magic that empowered him turning him back into his mortal form of Billy Batson thus exposing his secret identity to Stargirl. (JSA v1 #47) The pair fought off shadow constructs that attacked them and Courtney came to express her feelings for Billy with the two sharing a kiss. They later found Alan Scott though the Shade stated that he had passed away with his last embers beginning to vanish. The young heroes believed that only through his daughter Jade could Scott be saved and they had Shade take them back to Earth. It was then that Courtney was ambushed by Obsidian who nearly killed her but Billy as Captain Marvel again helped rescue her. (JSA v1 #50) After the danger had passed, Courtney asked Captain Marvel out to the cinema though unknown to her the moment was witnessed by Jakeem Thunder. (JSA v1 #52)
Afterwards, the Justice Society learnt that Black Adam had taken over his former homeland of Kahndaq alongside other former heroes. Thus, they decided to confront him and travelled to the country but were attacked by the superhumans that had taken over the nation. This saw Pratt attack them with Courtney disappointed in him as she had always looked up to him but he came to knock her out. (JSA v1 #57)
She was in her home working on the Cosmic Staff when she was visited by Captain Marvel. He told her that he had to quit the Justice Society and end their relationship after Jay Garrick had confronted them after them secretly going out with one another. Courtney urged Billy to reveal his identity to the others and that they would understand as he was the same age as her. However, the magic of wisdom told Captain Marvel that he should not reveal his identity to the others due to dangers to his civilian life. Thus, whilst he did love Courtney, he could not take that risk and departed with this leaving Whitmore crying as a result. (JSA v1 #59)
Post-Flashpoint
Following the Flashpoint, a new version of reality was created with a different history of events. Courtney Whitmore
She came to operate in Los Angeles, California where she became a popular new superhero that rivalled Hollywood celebrities. As Stargirl, she came to save hundreds of people from various accidents, superhuman threats and natural disasters. (Justice League of America v3 #1)
As Stargirl, she responded to a bank robbery committed by King Midas and his henchmen who were attempting to steal from the First Bank Omaha. Pat later helped defeat the villain in his S.T.R.I.P.E. suit but Courtney came to be late for school at Blue Valley High though her step-dad helped cover for her. Dugan later then received a call from his old teammate Greg Saunders from his time among the Seven Soldiers of Victory with Pat looking to take Courtney along to hep him investigate the matter. (Infinite Frontier v1 #0)
Overview
Personality and attributes
In appearance, Courtney Whitmore was a young woman with long blonde hair. (Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. v1 #0) At first, she came to operate under the name of Star-Spangled Kid which was suggested by Jack Knight. (JSA v1 #4)
Her favorite food was said to be orange pancakes. (JSA v1 #68)
Courtney only sporadically saw her biological father Sam Kurtis and when she did, it was rarely positive. (Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. v1 #10) When she found him working as a low-level goon for the Royal Flush Gang, she broke all ties with him for good. (JSA: All Stars v1 #4) She started acknowledging Pat as her real father, even after Kurtis' death. (JSA v1 #81)
She came to wonder why her mother had not remarried someone more like her father. (Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. v1 #1) She had a stepbrother in Michael Justin Dugan who was her stepfathers son from his first marriage. (Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. v1 #9) Courtney came to have a younger half-sister who was named Patricia Lynn Dugan. (JSA v1 #26)
Courtney was once romantically involved with Billy Batson after she learnt he was actually Captain Marvel. The pair became secretly involved but as his true identity was a secret from the Justice Society it made their relationship inappropriate as he appeared as someone in his mid-20s whilst Courtney was only 16 years old. Thus, after Garrick confronted Captain Marvel, Billy decided he had no choice but to end their relationship though he did care for Courtney. (JSA v1 #59)
Powers and abilities
She came to take driving lessons from Mr. Terrific. (JSA v1 #85)
From her step-father, she had taken the cosmic converter belt that provided her superhuman strength. (Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. v1 #1) She later came to learn that the belt could fire light forms that were shaped as stars at targets. (Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. v1 #4)
She came to inherit the Cosmic Staff from Jack Knight who had gifted it to her after he retired from being Starman. (Starman v2 #80) The solar-powered cosmic staff was considered one of the most powerful weapons on the planet. (Justice League of America v3 #1) It was said to be a sentient allowing the amazing weapon to work alongside her. (Infinite Frontier v1 #0)
Notes
- Courtney Whitmore was created by Geoff Johns where she made her first appearance in Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. v1 #0 (July, 1999).
- In an interview on Newsarama, it was aid that the character of Courtney Whitmore was inspired by Geoff John's sister Courtney Johns.
Alternate Versions
- In DC Comics Bombshells v1 #1 (2015), an alternate version of Courtney Whitmore appeared in the 1940s alternate world. This version was a citizen of Soviet Union Russia where she went by the name of Kortni Duginovna.
In other media
Television
- In Justice League Unlimited, the Courtney Whitmore Stargirl was introduced into the DC Animated Universe series where she was voiced by actor Giselle Loren.
- In Smallville, Courtney Whitmore as Stargirl appeared in the setting of the live-action television series where she was portrayed by actor Britt Irvin. This version is a member of the Justice Society and was mentored by Sylvester Pemberton.
- In Batman: The Brave and the Bold, the Courtney Whitmore Stargirl made a number of appearances in the animated series where she was voiced by actor Hope Levy.
- In Legends of Tomorrow, Courtney Whitmore as Stargirl appeared in The CW live-action television series set in the Arrowverse where she was portrayed by actor Sarah Grey. This version is a member of the Justice Society of America (JSA), who operated in 1942 before most of them went missing during a mission in 1956 and presumed dead. In reality, they dispersed themselves across the timeline to protect fragments of the Spear of Destiny, with Stargirl escaping to the sixth century and creating the court of Camelot under the alias of Merlin.
- In Justice League Action, Courtney Whitmore as Stargirl appeared in the animated television series where she was voiced by actor Natalie Lander.
- In Young Justice: Outsiders, Courtney Whitmore appeared in the animated television series where she was voiced by actor Whitney Moore. This version was not a superhero but rather the young host of Goode World Studios who did an interview with Garfield Logan after he became a celebrity star actor. As of a flashback depicted in the episode "Volatile", Whitmore has become Stargirl and joined the Outsiders.
- In Stargirl, Courtney Whitmore featured in the setting of the live-action television series where she was portrayed by actor Brec Bassinger.
Video games
- In Injustice: Gods Among Us, Stargirl appeared in a cameo in the video game where she was shown as a statue outside the Hall of Justice.
- In Infinite Crisis, Stargirl appeared as a playable character in the MOBA video game where she was voiced by actor Natalie Lander.
Appearances
- Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. v1: (1999)
- JSA v1:
- JSA: All Stars v1:
- Infinite Crisis v1:
- Justice Society of America:
- Final Crisis v1:
- Justice League of America v3:
- Justice League United v1:
- Infinite Frontier v1: (2021)
External Links
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