Courtney Whitmore (New Earth)



Real Name: Courtney Whitmore Nicknames: None Former Aliases: Stars, Star-Spangled Kid Other Current Aliases: No other known current aliases

Status
Occupation: Heroine Legal Status: Legal status unknown Identity: Secret Marital Status: Single (See trivia) Group Affiliation: JSA, The Justice League Unlimited(TV Series) Base of Operations: Formerly Beverly Hills, California; later Blue Valley, Nebraska; later Metropolis; later, Manhattan, New York City

Origin
Courtney Whitmore is the fictional superheroine Stargirl in the DC Universe. She was originally known as Star-Spangled Kid II, but took the identity of Stargirl, when she was presented with the Cosmic Rod by Starman VII, Jack Knight.

Place of Birth: Beverly Hills, California Known Relatives: Barbara Dugan nee Whitmore (mother); Sam Kurtis (father, deceased); Pat Dugan (AKA STRIPE, Stepfather); Mike Dugan (stepbrother); Patricia Dugan (sister) First Appearance: Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. #0 First Animated Appearance: Justice League Unlimited (TV Series), Series Premire: "Initiation"; First Speaking Appearance: "Chaos at Earth's Core" Final Animated Appearance: Series Finale: "Destroyer"

History
Stargirl is one of the more powerful members of the JSA, thanks to her cosmic rod and converter belt. She 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. (Ironically, in the Justice League Unlimited episode "Chaos at the Earth's Core", Supergirl and Stargirl were portrayed as rivals, although by the end of the episode, the two appeared to start to form a friendship.) 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. 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 (incident later erased from history) she utilized 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.

Stars and Stripe
Stargirl, who was previously called Star-Spangled Kid, is Courtney Whitmore, stepdaughter of Pat Dugan. The character was created by Geoff Johns, who is said to have based her personality on that of his sister who tragically died in TWA Flight 800. Johns is an avid fan of Captain Carrot and the Zoo Crew and Courtney's original outfit was quite similar to Zoo Crew member Yankee Poodle's.

Courtney Whitmore found Sylvester Pemberton'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 Powered Armor which he rides in to accompany and protect her.

JLA/JSA
Eventually, she joined the Justice Society of America and, after being given Starman's (Jack Knight's) cosmic rod/staff, changed 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.

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 actuality is a teenage boy named Billy Batson. However, Captain Marvel was, by all appearances to those not knowing Billy's secret, an adult, and the seemingly pedophiliaic 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 has recently reappeared in the JSA and revealed he can't give his identity due to the wisdom of Solomon blocking him.

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 newest versions of classic JSA members meeting and fighting alongside the originals to try to save her family and the future. While there, 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.

Recently Atom Smasher was tried and convicted for actions he took while working for Black Adam, during a TV appearance Courtney stated that even though he 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 love between Liberty Belle and Jesse Quick, a love even stronger than their strained family bond, led her to rethink her family life. She discovered that she couldn't hate her biological father, even for being an absentee, a slacker and even a supervillain thug, but learned from the tragedy to accept Pat Dugan as the first true paternal figure in her life.

While other members of the Justice Society were phased from the main Earth to the new Earth-Two, Whitmore along with teammates Mister Terrific and Doctor Mid-Nite remained, revealing that they would not have been native to Earth-Two.

Stargirl survived the Crisis largely intact, and has begun 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. She has started to take driving lessons from Mr. Terrific.

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. However, in the resulting adventure in Skartaris, the girls come to a 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 in the symbolic and unofficial reformation of the Seven Soldiers of Victory. Stargirl was badly injured.

Characteristics
Height: 5'5" Weight: xxx lbs (xxx kg) Eyes: Blue Hair: Blonde Unusual Features: No unusual features

Powers


Known Powers: The Cosmic Convertor Belt gives Stargirl:

Enhanced Strength

Enhanced Agility

Shining Stars: ability to fire blinding explosive 'stars.'

The Cosmic Rod controls gravity enabling her to:

Flight

Energy constructs: project solid light constructs.

Known Abilities:Courtney is skilled in gymnastics and kickboxing. Strength Level: Strength level unknown

Miscellaneous
Equipment: Cosmic Convertor Belt Transportation: Pat Dugan provided her with a car for her birthday. Although Courtney has yet to realize it, the car is actually a modified version of the original Star-Rocket Racer, once used by her predecessor Sylvester Pemberton. Weapons: Cosmic Rod

Trivia

 * Courtney carries on three legacies, that of the first Star Spangled Kid, that of the various Starmen and (arguably) her adoptive father Pat Dugan.


 * Courtney has a habit of riding her cosmic rod like a witch's broom.


 * Courtney wears braces. Halo from Batman and the Outsiders also wore braces.


 * Courtney Whitmore is loosely based on Courtney Johns, the late sister of comic book creator Geoff Johns. Courtney Johns died on TWA Flight 800, which exploded off the coast of New York in 1996.


 * In a future-fate vision, Courtney Whitmore is married to fellow JSA teammate, Atom Smasher.

Recommended Readings

 * JSA
 * Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E.

Related Articles

 * JSA
 * Starman (Jack Knight)
 * Star-Spangled Kid (Sylvester Pemberton)
 * STRIPE