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Starman
Ted Knight
Ted Knight
Alter Ego: Theodore Knight
First Appearance: Adventure Comics #61 (April, 1941)
Ted Knight is the original superhero to use the name Starman. Beginning adulthood as a wealthy heir in Opal City, he dedicated himself to science and developed the Gravity Rod. This allowed him to manipulate energy, and his cousin Phantom Lady encouraged him to become a superhero. His girlfriend during this time was Doris Lee. He was a member of the All-Star Squadron and the Justice Society. Following his retirement, he married Adele Drew and passed the legacy onto his children David Knight and Jack Knight.
- Boom Stick: Ted's powers come from the gravity rod that he carries. Without it, he's just a normal man.
- Charles Atlas Superpower: Even without his gravity rod, Ted Knight is a capable threat to the villains as he is a formidable hand to hand fighter, as well as being exceptionally strong.
- Clark Kenting: Starman wears a hood as part of his costume, but no mask. And yet, his girlfriend/fiance NEVER RECOGNIZES him as Starman. He also acts more weak and sickly than Clark Kent could ever dream of being as part of his "Ted Knight is a weakling" act.
- Gravity Master: Ted's gravity rod is the source of all his powers, and nullifying the pull of gravity is among the uses it has.
- Loves My Alter Ego: The series plays with this a bit by having Doris occasionally compare Ted to Starman, and ask why he can't be as much of a man as Starman. She only does it a few times, and it could be just an attempt to make Ted jealous.
- Millionaire Playboy: Ted Knight is filthy rich. He has no job, went to an exclusive prep school, has a butler to drive him around, and is never once seen working. He's described as "wealthy playboy Ted Grant". He outdoes Bruce Wayne in the Idle Rich superhero category. Later on he's always seen doing something related to his astronomy hobby, but he clearly has all the time and funds that he needs to pursue that hobby.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Working on the Manhattan Project will do that to a man.
- Parents as People: Ted was not the greatest dad to Jack. A lot of the 90s Starman was both of them having to deal with this.
- Playing Sick: Ted uses this tactic constantly in order to ditch his fiancee Doris Lee, put on his Starman costume, and go see what new assignment FBI chief Woodley Allen has for him.
- Ret-Canon: The miniseries The Golden Age had Ted go slightly mad from guilt over being involved in the Manhattan Project, something that would later be integrated into regular continuity (helps that Golden Age and Starman were both written by Robinson).
- Secret Identity: Ted goes to great lengths to keep his identity as Starman a secret, even from his fiancee. Oddly, his face is completely visible while he's in costume, but neither Doris Lee nor Woodley Allen recognize Ted as Starman.
- Star Power: The gravity rod draws its power from the stars, and can only be recharged at night. This leads to the occasional problem when it runs out during daylight, and Ted has no way to recharge it.
- Super Hero Origin: Ted never gets one. He's already active and known to Chief Allen in his first story, and the series never bothers to tell us just how or why he decided to become a costumed mystery man.
- Superhero Sobriquets: Starman is often referred to as "the Man of Night", but occasionally other names pop up, such as the "Astral Avenger". He's even referred to once as "The Dark Knight", a nickname that now belongs pretty much entirely to Batman.
- Superheroes Stay Single: Averted. Ted has a steady girlfriend in his first story, and by the second story they're engaged. They remain so for the rest of the series. A wedding or breakup is never shown. However, she did eventually die. David and Jack's mother is a different woman altogether.
- Superheroes Wear Tights / Superheroes Wear Capes: As Starman, Ted wears a classic cape and tights superhero costume.
- Swiss-Army Weapon: Ted's gravity rod can nullify gravity so Ted can lift heavy objects and fly, project intense heat for melting and cutting, deflect bullets, and various other things as the plot requires. The gravity nullification may account for some of Ted's feats of strength such as throwing criminals around as if they weigh nothing.
- Two-Fisted Tales: Like so many Golden Age heroes, Ted Knight is a man of action, using his fists and his brain (and good luck) as often as he uses his gravity rod. Many of the other staples of pulp storytelling appear over the course of the series, especially early on.
Charles McNider
Mikaal Tomas
Mikaal Tomas
Alter Ego: Mikaal Tomas
First Appearance: 1st Issue Special #12 (March, 1976)
Mikaal is a blue-skinned alien scout of an invasion force. Decided to side with Earth against his people.
- Addled Addict: He was planning to protect the people of Earth from the threat of his own race, and their own criminals. Then the 70s happened, and he ended up pursuing sex and drugs with the zeal his race normally shows for violence.
- Amazing Technicolor Population: Blue skin and hair that's supposed to be a shade of mauve, but usually gets depicted as comic-book red.
- Amnesiac Dissonance: A member of a Proud Warrior Race Guy species (which turned out to be a Talokian branch) who rebelled against his mission to attack and subjugate the Earth, but ultimately ended up an addled drug addict thanks to landing in the 70s, after which he was kidnapped and went through a number of horrendous travails. After Jack Knight rescues him from a freak show, he loses all his memories, and demonstrates a gentle, even meek personality. After recovering his memories, he hews more to the Proud Warrior Race Guy archetype, to the point of endangering his relationship with his boyfriend for a bit.
- Ascended Extra: Started out as a one-off character who then didn't appear for years. For a while between 2009 and 2011, he was the only Starman you'd see (the others being either dead or retired).
- Chest Blaster: His sonic gem is embedded in his chest and that's what blasts.
- Civvie Spandex: Mikaal usually just wears whatever clothing he's got on at the moment.
- Famous Ancestor: He's the distant ancestor of Shadow Lass of the Legion of Superheroes.
- Flight: One of the powers bestowed upon him by his sonic gem.
- Immortality Bisexuality: Not quite immortal (though he's looked like a young man for fifty Earth years), Mikaal has in his long life on Earth hooked up with both men and women, sometimes at once. When Jack Knight is surprised to hear this, Mikaal points out that he's an alien that doesn't really care about human sexual mores.
- Interspecies Romance: Developed a relationship with a human man named Tony, spent some time on the rocks after his personality shift, but eventually leveled out...until Tony was killed by supervillains after twelve years together.
- Long-Lived: A young man (implicitly the equivalent of his late teens or early 20s) when he arrived on Earth, he hasn't changed much by Starman '94, which explicitly takes place over twenty years later, nor his post-Starman appearances which take place roughly (very roughly) twelve years after.
- Odd Friendship: After his long-term relationship with Tony is ended by supervillain assassins, he meets Congorilla, whose best friend and crimefighting partner Freedom Beast was killed by the same assassins. The two team up to seek justice, and form a strong friendship along the way.
- Pay Evil unto Evil: Lampshaded. After regaining the entirety of his memories, he becomes more willing to kill violent criminals, at least in the Starman series. David Knight's ghost is startled when he blows up a car full of bank robbers, but Mikaal points out that they were endangering civilians (with their reckless driving and shooting) and had probably killed at least one guard.
- Polyamory: Among other sexual partners in the 70s, he was in a stable relationship with both a man and a woman. Well quotation mark-stable-quotation mark, considering they were all junkies sharing an apartment and with at least one of them occasionally prostituting themselves for drug money.
- Proud Warrior Race Guy: Descended from a Talokian off-shoot which had an in-born need for violence and conquering. Although he himself didn't have this same urge at first in spite of being raised in the culture, it's implied that the frankly horrific things he went through in his life turned him more toward this attitude after his memories were restored.
- Super-Strength: As a Talokian he's got greater strength than a human, though the extent is unknown.
Prince Gavyn
Prince Gavyn
Alter Ego: Gavyn
First Appearance: Adventure Comics #467 (January, 1980)
A member of an alien royal family. Condemned to die to prevent him from claiming the throne against the senior heir. The near-death experience activated superpowers within him.
- The Bus Came Back: After his feature ended, he disappeared for a few years, reappearing in a one-shot team-up with Superman explaining what had happened since (Mongul had killed his sister and taken over Throneworld). Then he died during Crisis. Then he sort of came back during the 90s Starman.
- Cain and Abel: His origin story started with him being airlocked to prevent this happening. There's no indication he actually would've tried, but hey-ho. Better safe than sorry?
- Dropped a Bridge on Him: During the event of Crisis on Infinite Earths, he was frazzled by the Anti-Monitor's anti-matter wave, which was only recounted after the fact by Harbinger. Later this turned out to be not quite true.
- Fusion Dance: His discorporated essence wound up killing/empowering Will Payton.
- Primary-Color Champion: His costume is bright red and yellow.
Will Payton
Will Payton
Alter Ego: William Payton
First Appearance: Starman (Vol. 1) #1 (October, 1988)
A regular human mutated by a space-faring bolt of energy.
- Adaptation Dye-Job: Black hair in his original series. His Rebirth continuity version has white hair.
- The Bus Came Back: After being phased out / just erased from continuity by Flashpoint, he reappeared during Scott Snyder's Justice League run.
- Fusion Dance: After being hit by Gavyn's power he was killed and Gavyn's soul replaced his, leaving him amnesiac to Gavyn's memories but possessed of all of Will's. Eventually his situation is figured out, and his Gavyn-memories start returning, but he thinks of himself as both.
- Out of Focus: In the 80s, Will had his own series, which lasted a good long while. He's never really regained that level of focus.
- What Did I Do Last Night?: His story begins with him waking up with total amnesia and superpowers. It eventually turns out he was also waking up from being dead.
David Knight
David Knight
Alter Ego: David Knight
First Appearance: Starman (Vol. 1) #26 (September, 1990)
Son of Ted and older brother of Jack. Claimed the mantle of his father and served as a rival to Payton.
- Death Equals Redemption: David Knight was something of a pompous ass in life. After his tenure as the Starman of 1951, and a stint in the afterlife, he's a lot nicer.
- Inadequate Inheritor: David Knight was a good son, who idolized his father, but he was never meant to be Starman, and Ted knew it.
- It's Not You, It's My Enemies: David Knight broke up with his girlfriend because of this, even though she was aware and accepting of the risks.
Jack Knight
Jack Knight
Alter Ego: Jack Knight
First Appearance: Zero Hour: Crisis in Time #1 (September, 1994)
The son of Golden Age Starman Ted Knight, Jack reluctantly took up the Starman name upon the death of his older brother, David, the previous Starman. At first, Jack resented his duties as a superhero, but as time went on he matured both as a hero and as a human being, and even became a founding member of the JSA's current incarnation. After discovering he had a son, Jack passed his Cosmic Rod on to Stargirl and retired, having earned his Happily Ever After.
- Author Avatar: Jack Knight, was blatantly and unabashedly a dual creator avatar. The first volume's introduction has a third party writer note that Jack is writer James Robinson and that he bears a strong resemblance to artist and designer Tony Harris.
- Civvie Spandex: Jack's superhero suit consists of a leather jacket, a pair of goggles and whatever else he happens to be wearing at the time.
- Former Teen Rebel: Jack, owing to admitted neglect on Ted's part. As a youth he got into trouble with the police numerous times, and even broke into a pharmacy at one point (implying a drug problem). Although he's hardly strait-laced as an adult, he's mostly grown out of it (and matures further throughout the series).
- Goggles Do Nothing: Averted, as Jack's bomber jacket and aviator goggles are specifically meant to offset the odd conditions of flying with an extremely bright staff.
- Good Is Not Nice: Jack could be the poster boy, at least early on in the series. He is told, point blank, by the ex-girlfriend he is trying to romance again (using his becoming a superhero as evidence of his newfound maturity) that "You may be a hero, Jack Knight, but that still doesn't make you a nice person."
- Hidden Depths: One of Jack's defining traits. Most people dismiss him as a snarky hipster with zero ambitions, but he's actually an insatiably curious bookworm with an encyclopedic knowledge of literature and cinema, he can be amazingly hard-working when he sets his mind to something (he once learned Japanese just so he could read a jeans catalogue, for example), and he has a surprisingly refined speaking style in his inner monologue.
- Knight in Sour Armor: To put it mildly, Jack has a very caustic personality at the start of the series, though not nearly so much as in his youth.
- Legacy Character: Jack is actually the sixth or seventh Starman, depending on how you count; the series inspired many other DCU Legacy Characters.
- Never-Forgotten Skill: Jack learned Jujutsu years prior to the series, apparently on a lark, and then dropped it. When the series starts, he's able to take down multiple Mooks barehanded.
- Older Than They Look: Jack apparently looks a good deal younger than he actually is, though the difference isn't actually spelled out.
- Put on a Bus: At the end of his series, at James Robinson's request.
- Really Gets Around: Implied of Jack before he became Starman. In Jack's case, it shows what a shallow person he used to be.
Thom Kallor/Danny Blaine
Allies
Doris Lee
Doris Lee
First Appearance: Adventure Comics #61 (April, 1941)
The girlfriend of Ted Knight. When Brain Wave prevented all of the members of the JSA but Wonder Woman from attending a meeting she recruited Doris and the other members girlfriends to help her track down the villain. This was when Doris first learned about her boyfriend's secret identity despite her giving him multiple openings to tell her in the past so she donned a Starman costume, grabbed the Gravity Rod and used his identity for the day.
- Pretty in Mink: Dorris Lee has a long fur coat she wears to formal occasions to look nice.
- Superpowers For A Day: After learning that Ted had been hiding his identity as Starman from her for years Doris Lee took the Gravity Rod and used his identity for the day.
Hope O'Dare
Hope O'Dare
A member of the O'Dares and a police officer.
- I Have Brothers: Hope O'Dare has four brothers. She and her brothers are all cops and it's mentioned that she is the one everyone is frightened of.
- Fair Cop: It doesn't change the fact that she's still a tough-as-nails cop capable of going toe-to-toe with supervillains.
- Dating Catwoman: Ends the comic in a serious, long-term relationship with the Shade, who can range from Anti-Hero to Anti-Villain depending on his mood.
Enemies
Bliss
Bliss
First Appearance: Starman Vol 2 #7 (May, 1995)
An incubus who ran the circus where Jack first met Mikaal. He fed off emotions, with a particular fondness for the suffering of the members of his freak show. Jack confronted him, and the surge of hope in the freaks weakened Bliss enough for Jack and Mikaal to banish him back to Hell.
- Emotion Eater: Bliss is an incubus who feeds off emotions, with a particular fondness for the suffering of the members of his freak show.
- Repulsive Ringmaster: Ran a freak show where he deliberately made his performers suffer so he could feed off their misery.
Culp
Simon Culp
First Appearance: Starman Vol 2 #63 (March, 2000)
Shadow-wielding immortal dwarf who was caught in the same supernatural event as the Shade. He and the Shade are sworn enemies.
- Casting a Shadow: Culp has the ability to manipulate shadow-matter to a variety of effects.
- Complete Immortality: He was immortal due to his connection to the shadow-matter, but this was apparently eliminated when his shadow powers were removed.
- Create Your Own Hero: His attempt to use Richard Swift in the ritual he was using to gain darkness powers imbued Swift with the same powers Culp acquired. Swift became the Shade, and Culp's most constant foe.
- Depraved Dwarf: A dwarf driven by an insatiable lust for power and who practices the dark arts.
- Expy: Of the similarly-named Quilp, the evil dwarf from the Victorian novel The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens. (Accordingly, the Shade as a young man has some commonalities — and shares a first name with — Dick Swiveller from the same novel.)
- Teleportation: Possesses the ability to travel great distances in short amounts of time, by traveling between Earth and the Dark Zone.
Doctor Doog
Doctor Doog
First Appearance: Adventure Comics #61 (April, 1941)
Doctor Doog was a criminal scientist who was the leader (and only known member) of the "Secret Brotherhood of the Electron". Doog kidnapped a Prof. Davis in order to steal his powerful Ultra Dynamo, which would give him control over all electricity in the United States.
- Bald of Evil: Bald as a cue ball.
- Mad Scientist: Doog created a device which allowed them to nullify ordinary electricity.
- Mind Control: Doog was a powerful hypnotist.
Doctor Phosphorus
Doctor Phosphorous
Alter Ego: Dr. Alexander Sartorious
First Appearance: Detective Comics Vol. 1 #469 (May 1977)
Employed by Nash to kill Ted Knight, the original Starman, Batman villain Dr. Phosphorous failed in his attempt, but irradiated Ted with enough energy that Ted's body succumbed to radiation poisoning in his blood.
See Batman: Rogues Gallery (Part 1) for more details.
- Killed Off for Real: Even though he was eventually brought back outside the series, Ted Knight used his Cosmic Rod to lift a chunk of concrete out of the ground and crushed him with it. As far as Starman is concerned he's dead as a dodo, which was Ted's intent.
The Infernal Doctor Pip
The Infernal Doctor Pip
First appearance: Starman Vol. 2 #30 (May 1997)
Dr. Pip was an explosives genius who terrorized Opal City in a bombing campaign.
- Dead Man Switch: In a later appearance, he wore a suit of Power Armor with an explosive attached large enough to take a sizable portion of Opal City with him if he was defeated.
- Demolitions Expert: Dr. Pip is a genius with explosives.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Was badly injured when he was caught in one of his own explosions.
- Killed Off for Real: Unlike Doctor Phosphorus, his death in the series sticks...it's a little hard to bring back a guy who gets blown up by his own nuke while inside a shadow dimension. (Knock on wood).
- Mad Bomber: Pip loves to spread terror with his explosions, regardless of their actual purpose. The bigger the bang, the better.
- Powered Armor: After being greatly wounded when he was caught in one of his own explosions, he sought revenge with a large mechanical suit of armor with an explosive attached large enough to take a sizable portion of Opal City with him.
- Serial Killings, Specific Target: Pip was hired by a member of the Sloane family to kill his wife with a bomb and to keep setting up explosives in populated areas to cover his tracks, which Pip was happy to oblige.
The Mist I
The Mist I
Adventure Comics #67 (October, 1941)
Many years ago, the scientist now known only as the Mist created an "Invisio - Solution" that could turn people and objects invisible. He tried to sell it to the US government during World War I only to be met with rejection and scornful disbelief. The Mist vowed revenge and after World War Two began in Europe, he sent invisible agents to steal all of America's military secrets. He also tried to use invisible planes to bomb factories geared for defense. However, the Mist's schemes were thwarted by the man who would become his archenemy, Starman. Over the following half-century, the children of both men got caught up in that feud.
- Deal with the Devil: Made a deal with the demon-lord Neron, restoring his sanity and curing his senility.
- Evil Old Folks: The Mist was not a young man when he began his career as a supervillain in the 1940s. His career continued into the 1990s.
- Intangibility: Prolonged exposure to the Invisio-Solution granted the Mist the ability to turn his body intangible.
- Invisibility: The Mist's signature creation—Invisio-Solution—a chemical which can make organic and inorganic materials invisible.
- Mass Hypnosis: He is able to hypnotically control those that come into contact with his vaporous state.
- Not My Driver: The Mist pulls this on a pair of henchmen who betrayed him in Justice League of America #195.
- Real Award, Fictional Character: He fought in World War I as a Captain in the Canadian Army, winning the Victoria Cross.
The Mist II
The Mist II
First Appearance: Starman Vol 2 #0 (October, 1994)
The daughter of the original Golden-Age Mist, Nash grew up as a meek stuttering girl with only her brother Kyle as a friend. Before her brother was killed she couldn't stand any kind of violence, but after her brother's death and her beloved father's descent into madness, she under went a major personality shift into a sadistic, calculating evil woman who dedicated her self to destroying Jack Knight and the entire Starman legacy.
- Abusive Parents: She deliberately raped Jack to conceive a child whom she was going to raise to become a villain in order to further harm Jack. Played with in that Nash planned to be this, but doesn't get the chance to do anything to her son because he's still a baby when she gets shot by her father.
- Avenging the Villain: Becomes a supervillain primarily to avenge the death of her brother Kyle.
- Daddy's Little Villain: The daughter of the original villain who follows in his footsteps.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: The death of her brother Kyle had a profound change upon Nash, as she successfully sought a way to transform herself into the new Mist.
- Intangibility: She is able to alter her physical state into a gaseous form. With this ability, she can dissolve herself into vapors and seem to appear out of nowhere instantly.
- Knockout Gas: Her gaseous form could serve as a tranquilizing agent.
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: As Nash herself lampshades, she had the chance to kill Jack and let him go. As a result, Jack fought her brother and it ended with Kyle dying so she blames Jack for making her responsible for her brother's death.
- Sinister Shades: Wears industrial flip-up sunglasses as part of her costume.
- Stalker with a Test Tube: Rapes Jack in order to bear his child to use a weapon against him.
Prairie Witch
Prairie Witch
Alter Ego: Abigail Moorland
First Appearance: Starman Annual Vol 2 #1 (December, 1996)
Abigail Moorland was a mystic who plagued Opal City during the 1940s and came into conflict with the original Starman.
- Amazing Technicolor Population: Has green skin.
- Flying Broomstick: Prairie Witch rode on a flying broomstick. Starman was convinced that it was some kind of technological trick until he yanked it away from her (causing her to plummet to the ground) and discovered it was a perfectly ordinary broom.
- Hot Witch: Her look was passed on 1950s pin-up illustrations of witches.
- Mage Marksman: Carried a pair of single-action revolvers.
- Most Common Superpower: Gives Phantom Lady a run for her money.
- Retired Outlaw: By the end of the millennium, she was quite elderly and suffering from emphysema. However, she came out of retirement to assist Simon Culp in a ritual against Starman's successor and son, Jack Knight. In return, she was given sufficient funds to move to warmer Florida, where she has remained since then.
- Stocking Filler: Wears fishnet stockings as part of her Hot Witch costume.
Rag Doll
Rag Doll
Alter Ego: Peter Merkel Sr.
First Appearance: Flash Comics #36 (December, 1942)
See The Flash – Rogues Gallery
- Fountain of Youth: Sold his soul to Neron in exchange for a young and healthy body.
- Not Quite Dead: The heroes present thought the blast (explained below) had killed him, but his followers spirited his body out of the morgue and he spent over a decade in a terrible physical state a hair short of death before Neron appeared before him to make a deal.
- Targeted to Hurt the Hero: In the 80's, while Ted was still Starman, he and fellow JSA members Flash and Green Lantern busted Rag Doll, who threatened to use his cult to kill their families. As he was fleeing, there was a flash and Rag Doll was on the ground, dying. Although the heroes involved declined to speak further beyond this, Jack believes that Ted blasted Rag Doll with lethal force to protect him and David.
Solomon Grundy
Solomon Grundy
Alter Ego: Cyrus Gold
First Appearance: All-American Comics #61 (Oct. 1944)
See Green Lantern (1941).
Spider
Spider
Alter Ego: Lucas Ludlow-Dalt
First Appearance: Starman Vol 2 #47 (October, 1998)
The son of the original villain masquerading as a superhero Alias the Spider and a reporter, Lucas was born after his father was killed by the Shade. He took up his criminal father's identity and career when he reached adulthood. Lucas is recruited by Culp as part of his plan to get revenge on the Shade.
- Animal-Themed Superbeing: Of the 'Animal Alias' variety. Apart from his silk-netting Trick Arrow, his abilities have nothing to do with spiders.
- Arc Welding: Thomas Halloway, the original Spider, was one of Quality Comics' characters that DC acquired way back in the day (from the pages of Crack Comics), later one of the Seven Soldiers of Victory. Lucas's appearance reveals he was actually kind of a bastard, and then ties him into the Ludlow family who've hounded the Shade.
- Avenging the Villain: Takes up the Spider to identity to avenge his father's death at Shade's hands.
- Crippling the Competition: Green Arrow got the Spider's aiming eye with an arrow, hoping to end the criminal's career by maiming him. As it turned out, this didn't work.
- Improbable Aiming Skills: Unlike his father, who was just a good archer, Lucas has superhuman aiming, even when blind.
- Killed Off for Real: Lucas was murdered by his brother Thomas, who usurped his identity to become the next Spider.
- Legacy Character: Adopted his father's costume and identity, in Seven Soldiers.
- Rogues' Gallery Transplant: Went to fight Hawkman and Green Arrow.
- Trick Arrow: He occasionally uses trick arrows, notably arrows which trail a spider web-like netting.
