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"Average is better than bad"

"StarHammer is the story of a teen who inherits a powerful alien artifact and proceeds to make a series of increasingly poor decisions."

StarHammer is a webcomic launched in 2015 written by J. N. Monk with art by Harry Bogosian.

StarHammer is set in a world of super-powered beings (known as Advanced Humans) and with mass empowerment there comes massive problems. With Advanced Humans (advies) deciding to become superheroes or supervillains, the US government created the Department of Advanced Human Affairs to keep the situation under control.

StarHammer follows Eveylyn Li, a high schooler at Royce Academy, who wakes up to find Orion's Mallet, a powerful piece of alien technology, following them around. The floating hammer was once the signature weapon of ex-superhero StarHammer and with it in Evey's hands, they embark on their own journey of heroism. Along the way, Evey encounters a number of challenges ranging from other advies, to bureaucracy, to the former StarHammer who wants her weapon back.


StarHammer contains examples of:

  • Arc Villain: Book 1 has Orson Lindsay, a tech-based villain from Danae's tenure as StarHammer. Throughout Book 1, he was laying the groundwork for his return, and the Trust Fund Babies are revealed to be working for him.
  • Big Bad Wannabe: King Mackerel, full stop. While he has the powers and cruelty, he's too obsessed with being 'the nemesis' to think about how ridiculous he acts or how transparent his Attention Whore personality is. Then he gets his ass kicked by The Chessmaster.
  • Bond Villain Stupidity: In classic villain fashion, Orson likes to monologue. He actually has some built-in safeguards just in case someone tries to catch him off-guard, as is the case with the Crimson Comet. However when he ends up monologuing at Evey, they instead charge at Davis while Orson's attention is elsewhere and neutralize Orson's means of mass mind-control. Danae even comments on it, saying Orson's still easily distracted.
  • Catapult Nightmare: Evey has one at the beginning of Chapter 6. They dream of the future where their accomplishments are lauded only for the ceremony to go awry and all of their friends dying. However, it's the appearance of an angelic Raf coming to save them that shocks Evey enough to wake up.
  • The Chessmaster: Sybil Thompson, AKA Dr. Valentine gave Izzy superpowers and drove a wedge between her and Evey to ensure Evey would lose her mind while Izzy became an unscrupulous adventurer. Then they backstabbed their Eldritch Horror partner for being borderline uncontrollable.
  • Clap Your Hands If You Believe: This is speculated to be the source of power for Superion, the greatest of Earth's superheroes. At the Center for Advanced Human History, the exhibit on Superion addresses this:
    "Are Superion's powers mental or physical? While exactly how any advanced human's abilities work is a subject of fierce debate, it's believed that Superion's are in fact mental. Yes, he's super strong, but it's not muscles unless you count the psychic kind. Superion is able to effortlessly lift things that are many times his weight simply by being in contact with them. He's even able to lift himself into the air simulating flight!"
  • Expy: Orion's Mallet is based on Mjölnir with the powerset based on the Green Lantern Ring.
  • Hero Killer: Murdering Heroes is a good way for villains to build their credibility. Orson Lindsay's murder of Superion establishes him as an immense threat and ups the stakes considerably. He even mentions how the murdering of heroes will go on his CV.
  • Me's a Crowd: Kate has the ability to create copies of herself and she joined the Trust Fund Babies under the pseudonym of Multiply. Her ability also lets her duplicate items she is in contact with, like her clothes and money. The original Kate hasn't made an appearance in story, however, and so far only the copies of copies have been seen with one mentioning that the further from the original Kate they are, the dumber they become.
  • Mundane Utility: Neuroscience has advanced considerably and outside of mind control and scientific study, its commercial application really took off. Movie theaters induce Synaesthesia to make films much more immersive giving rise to the Synema. Evey's noted to be largely unaffected by the phenomena and comments on her lack of immersion.
  • Named After Someone Famous: Xavier McCoy, Superion, was named for inventor Elijah McCoy.
  • Non-Action Big Bad: Davis's primary contribution is his psychic abilities and unlike Orson and the Trust Fund Babies, he has no pyshical fight capabilities.
  • No-Sell: There are a handful of people immune to thought-based attacks and utilities, Evey being one of them. In comic they were unaffected by Thought Epidemics and trips to the Synema aren't as fun for them because the tech doesn't work on them.
  • No Sense of Personal Space: The Alt Text notes that Carol doesn't understand boundaries even when sober.
  • Only the Chosen May Wield: Orion's Mallet chooses its wielder.
    Danae: It's not like Thor's Hammer - anyone can pick it up. But so far, only two people can use it. Me. You.
  • Robot Buddy: Emerson has Zari, a cute spherical robot who helps him with his tasks.
  • Robotic Reveal: Downplayed. Izzy is revealed to be a cyborg when a strike from Evey during training tears open their robotic arm. In-Universe this was already known to all parties beforehand but to the audience, it's a big reveal.
  • Starter Villain:
    • Played With: Seisma is the first antagonistic obstacle that Evey encounters and also marks her first use of Orion's Hammer as she summons Ursa Major. It's not much of a fight, with Seisma getting in an unrelated shouting match and then glomped into submission by a cosmos Bear.
    • Played Straight with Multiply who's the first low-level supervillain that Evey faces and the first real fight they get into.
  • Stupid Crooks: Kate's attempt to rob a burger joint was poorly thought out, she even did it with her face exposed. Another Kate mentions that their duplication power makes forging money incredibly easy and to end up robbing a fast-food restaurant is short-sighted and not worth the risk. She further notes that when the copies make copies they get dumber the further removed from Kate prime they become.
  • The Team Benefactor: Kate's ability to duplicate allows her to copy and forge money. As such she's the main benefactor behind the Trust Fund Babies.
    "They need me to keep the lights on"
  • Technopath: Emmerson Castillo developed his powers later in life. He can communicate with technology and funneled that skill into becoming a successful inventor.
  • Trademark Favorite Food: For Evelyn, it's french fries.
  • World's Strongest Man: Superion, the strongest of Earth's heroes. He's Famed In-Story as one of the most powerful beings on Earth.


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