Starro

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Starro
Starro as depicted in JLA Secret Files and Origins #1 (September 1997). Art by Phil Jimenez (penciler/inker) and Tom McCraw (colorist)
Publication information
PublisherDC Comics
First appearanceThe Brave and the Bold #28 (March 1960)
Created byGardner Fox
Mike Sekowsky
In-story information
Alter egoStarro
SpeciesStar Conqueror
Place of originStar Planet
Team affiliationsSecret Society of Super Villains
Sinestro Corps
Notable aliasesIt
Starro Spores
Starro Conquerors
Mother Starro
Star O
Cobi
Abilities(All versions):
  • Mind control
  • Bio-fission
  • Size alteration
  • Energy absorption and projection
  • Color shifting
  • Regeneration

(Giant versions):

  • Qwardian power rings
  • Collective consciousness
  • Interstellar travel
  • Similarity manipulation
  • Psionic empowerment
  • Terraforming

(Humanoid/Jarro version):

Starro (also known as Starro the Conqueror) is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in The Brave and the Bold #28 (March 1960), and was created by Gardner Fox and Mike Sekowsky.[1]

Starro is the first villain to face the original Justice League of America. Debuting in the Silver Age of Comic Books, the character has appeared in both comic books and other DC Comics–related products, such as animated television series, video games, and the DC Extended Universe film The Suicide Squad (2021).

Publication history

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Starro as seen on the cover of The Brave and the Bold #28. Art by Mike Sekowsky.

The character debuted in The Brave and the Bold #28 (March 1960) in the story "Starro the Conqueror", which was also the first appearance of the Justice League of America.[2] According to editor Julius Schwartz, the title "Starro the Conqueror" was inspired by a Ray Cummings story, "Tarrano the Conqueror".[3][4] The second appearance of Starro was 17 years later in an 11-page Aquaman story in Adventure Comics #451 (May–June 1977). It appeared again only four years later in a two-part story in Justice League of America #189–190 (April–May 1981), then again a year after that in an alternate universe story in Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew! #1 (March 1982), and it appeared briefly in Crisis on Infinite Earths #9 (December 1985).

In post–Crisis on Infinite Earths DC comics, Starro appeared in a five-part story in Justice League Europe #25–28 (March–July 1991) and was revamped and reintroduced in JLA Secret Files #1 (September 1997) and JLA #22–23 (September–October 1998). Another version of the character featured in the intercompany crossover JLA/Avengers #1–4 (September 2003 – May 2004); Teen Titans (vol. 3) #51–54 (November 2007 – February 2008); Green Lantern/Sinestro Corps: Secret Files #1 (February 2008) and Booster Gold (vol. 2) #13–14 (December 2008 – January 2009).

Its post–Infinite Crisis appearances include R.E.B.E.L.S. (vol. 2) #1–13 (April 2009 – April 2010) and R.E.B.E.L.S (vol. 2) Annual #1 (December 2009). Another version appears in Forever Evil #1 (November 2013), and a new version called Genetically Modified Starro appeared in New Super-Man #4 (2016).

Fictional character biography

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Starro is a highly advanced starfish-like alien with a single central eye and prehensile extremities. The entity visits Earth and empowers three starfish; the creatures begin wreaking havoc, such as exploding an atomic bomb and absorbing its energy, kidnapping scientists and absorbing their brain power and placing the residents of Happy Harbor, Rhode Island, under mental control. Eventually, they are stopped by the superheroes Aquaman, the Flash, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter and Wonder Woman. The heroes defeat Starro by coating it with quicklime, which nullifies its abilities.[5][6] A segment of Starro survives and regenerates into a complete creature, but is stopped by Aquaman before being able to renew its plan of conquest.[7]

Starro eventually reappears and forces humans to nurture it until it is able to assume its former proportions. Being able to reproduce asexually, Starro creates millions of miniature duplicates of itself, which the authors called spores. These spores attach to the faces of the entire population of New York, allowing Starro to control their minds with its own. The creature uses these spores to control several members of the Justice League until it is defeated by extreme cold.[8] Later, after Superman is accidentally transported to an alternate universe, Starro is again defeated by Superman alongside Captain Carrot and his Amazing Zoo Crew. Superman then takes the defeated Starro back to his universe.[9]

Starro later convinces Justice League Europe that it is dying and wishes to return to space. Aided by former Green Lantern Kilowog, Starro returns to his original spaceship and tricks the heroes by programming it to explode. It then releases thousands of spores over a fictional version of Western Europe. Controlling the minds and bodies of thousands of humans, Starro seizes power, with several members of Justice League Europe opposing the alien. Starro is finally defeated when the Justice League member Ice freezes the original Starro.[10]

During JLA and referring to itself only as It, another member of Starro's species takes control of the Flash and the population of the fictional Blue Valley using spores. Although the JLA intend to intervene, they are advised against doing so by the Spectre, who reveals the alien's intention is to capture and control the heroes and use their special abilities to conquer the galaxy. The JLA requests the Spectre to temporarily remove their powers, thus eliminating the potential threat they may have posed otherwise. This tactic allows them to distract the entity while Batman disables it with extreme cold.[11] This version of Starro returns and is revealed to be a scout for a much larger member of the species called the "Star Conqueror". Covering Europe with its body, the entity gains control of the minds of most humans while they sleep. Dream of the Endless aids the JLA in battling the entity psychically in a shared dream; simultaneously, a small team of heroes attacks its physical form. Assisted by a homeless man resisting the entity's control, the heroes free mankind from the alien's influence. Dream captures the Star Conqueror and stores the entity with his other keepsakes.[12]

In the DC/Marvel Comics crossover JLA/Avengers, Starro battles the alternate universe superhero team the Avengers.[13]

In the 2005–2006 "Infinite Crisis" storyline Starro appears as a member of Alexander Luthor, Jr's Secret Society of Super Villains.[14] Starro eventually returns to Captain Carrot's universe to spark a conflict between aquatic and terrestrial creatures. Despite the efforts of the Zoo Crew, Starro floods the planet and defeats the heroes, who are then magically transported to safety with other surviving refugees by another animal team, Just'a Lotta Animals. Zoo Crew member Pig Iron battles Starro underwater, sacrificing himself as the rest of the heroes escape.[15]

Post Infinite Crisis

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In R.E.B.E.L.S., a new incarnation of Starro is introduced. This version is Cobi, a Hatorei alien from the planet of the same name.[16] After the Star Conquerors invaded his planet, Cobi fell under their control and worked with them to expand their empire.[17][18]

New 52/DC Rebirth

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During New 52, Starro is still linked with the Justice League via historian David Graves' book making sporadic appearances throughout.[19]

Other versions

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  • An alternate universe incarnation of Starro, amalgamated with Krypto, appears in JLA: The Nail.[20]
  • An alternate timeline incarnation of Starro appears in Booster Gold vol. 2.[21]
  • During the Justice League: No Justice event, one version of Starro sacrifices itself to protect the universe from the Omega Titans.[22][23] However, Batman preserves part of it which grows into a new individual dubbed "Jarro".[24][25][26]
  • An alternate timeline incarnation of Starro who joined the Sinestro Corps appears in Titans Tomorrow.[27]

Powers and abilities

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Starro is an alien conqueror with a humanoid central mind commanding spores that resemble either giant or small Terran starfish. An asexual creature, Starro's spores are capable of generating clones that act in accordance with the original's will. The clones are parasites by nature and can attach themselves to a humanoid's face, and subsequently take control of the host's central nervous system, thereby controlling the host. Control of the host is lost once removed from the victim. Originally the first Starro could transform two Earth starfish into duplicates of itself equal to it in size and power.[28]

Both variants of the parasite are capable of energy absorption/projection, flight, changing color and self-regeneration, while the larger ones have a high degree of invulnerability as well as telepathy; the giant Starro possessing much more potent mental capabilities is able to indirectly influence the minds of a potential host race, capable of lulling countless people into an induced slumber and accessing their thoughts via dreams.[29] Another of the original Star Conquerors possessed psychic abilities powerful enough to overwhelm and circumvent the willpower of Hal Jordan to prevent access to his Lantern Ring's abilities.[30] Their size can also vary from being as big as city blocks to larger than a small planetary ocean body, in which case said Starro probe can radically alter the very climate, topography, and geography within its vicinity akin to terraforming. A future Starr Conqueror spore eventually came to weaponize five Qwardian power rings on its pointed tentacles; the rings could create objects based on the wielder's thoughts, but only those fueled by fear instead of willpower. Given the difficulty in their usage, Starro's capacity to use five at once indicated a mastery of the fear element and its usage in battle, as shown when it went up against multiple iterations of Titans all at once.[31] The latest version of the Star Conqueror shows how it uses its parthenogenesic capabilities to breed microscopic clones of itself, which can be inhaled by potential victims, serving as a catalyst to affect the giant iteration's telepathic abilities.[32]

The humanoid Starro possesses superhuman durability and telepathy and can transform Earth starfish into Starro spores.[33]

In other media

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Television

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Film

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  • Starro makes a cameo appearance in Justice League: The New Frontier.
  • Starro makes a cameo appearance in Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths.
  • Starro makes a cameo appearance in Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox.
  • Starro appears in The Suicide Squad.[36] This version is capable of growing larger and more powerful depending on the number of thralls it possesses or consumes. Additionally, its control is permanent, with the hosts dying as soon as its spawn attach to them. Thirty years prior, Starro was captured by American astronauts and transferred to a Corto Maltesean research facility called Jötunheim, where the local and U.S. governments secretly collaborated to fund and oversee the Thinker's experiments on Starro using enemies of the Corto Maltesean regime in what would be called "Project Starfish". In the present, Amanda Waller sends the Suicide Squad to destroy Starro before it can be weaponized by Corto Maltese's new anti-American regime and to conceal the U.S.'s role in the project. After the team accidentally release Starro, it kills the Thinker in retaliation for experimenting on it. Upon escaping, it enslaves Corto Maltesean citizens and soldiers before being killed by the squad and a swarm of Corto Maltese's rats led by squad member Ratcatcher 2.
  • Starro appears in Batman and Superman: Battle of the Super Sons, voiced by Darin De Paul.[37][34]

Video games

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Miscellaneous

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References

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  1. ^ Cowsill, Alan; Irvine, Alex; Korte, Steve; Manning, Matt; Wiacek, Win; Wilson, Sven (2016). The DC Comics Encyclopedia: The Definitive Guide to the Characters of the DC Universe. DK Publishing. p. 286. ISBN 978-1-4654-5357-0.
  2. ^ Rovin, Jeff (1987). The Encyclopedia of Supervillains. New York: Facts on File. p. 328. ISBN 0-8160-1356-X.
  3. ^ Wells, John (2015). American Comic Book Chronicles: 1960-64. TwoMorrows Publishing. p. 17. ISBN 978-1605490458.
  4. ^ Tarrano the Conqueror by Ray Cummings. Retrieved October 10, 2019 – via Gutenberg.org.
  5. ^ The Brave and the Bold #28 (February–March 1960)
  6. ^ Cowsill, Alan; Irvine, Alex; Manning, Matthew K.; McAvennie, Michael; Wallace, Daniel (2019). DC Comics Year By Year: A Visual Chronicle. DK Publishing. p. 93. ISBN 978-1-4654-8578-6.
  7. ^ Adventure Comics #451 (May–Jun 1977)
  8. ^ Justice League of America #189–190 (April–May 1981)
  9. ^ Captain Carrot & His Amazing Zoo Crew #1 (March 1982)
  10. ^ Justice League Europe #24–28 (March–July 1991)
  11. ^ JLA Secret Files #1 (September 1997)
  12. ^ JLA #22–23 (September–October 1998)
  13. ^ JLA/Avengers #1–4 (September 2003 – May 2004)
  14. ^ Infinite Crisis #7 (June 2006)
  15. ^ Captain Carrot and the Final Ark (October 2007)
  16. ^ R.E.B.E.L.S. Vol 2 #5
  17. ^ R.E.B.E.L.S. Vol 2 #22
  18. ^ R.E.B.E.L.S. Vol 2 #28
  19. ^ Justice League Vol. 2 #6-7
  20. ^ Justice League: The Nail #3
  21. ^ Booster Gold (vol. 2) #13–14 (December 2008 – January 2009)
  22. ^ DC Nation #0 (July 2018)
  23. ^ Justice League: No Justice #3 (July 2018)
  24. ^ Justice League (vol. 3) #10 (December 2018)
  25. ^ Justice League (vol. 3) #29 (October 2019)
  26. ^ Matadeen, Renaldo (March 23, 2019). "Starro or Jarro? The Justice League's Newest Member, Explained". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved July 22, 2024.
  27. ^ Teen Titans (vol. 3) #51-54
  28. ^ The Brave and the Bold #28 (February–March 1960)
  29. ^ JLA #22–23 (September – October 1998)
  30. ^ Dark Nights: Metal #4 (February 2018)
  31. ^ Teen Titans (vol. 3) #53
  32. ^ Justice League (vol. 3) #55 (October 2020)
  33. ^ R.E.B.E.L.S. Annual v2 #1
  34. ^ a b c d "Starro Voices (DC Universe)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved July 22, 2024. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its opening and/or closing credits and/or other reliable sources of information.
  35. ^ "Star Conquerer Voice - Batman: The Brave and the Bold (TV Show)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved July 22, 2024. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its opening and/or closing credits and/or other reliable sources of information.
  36. ^ Freeman, Molly (March 26, 2021). "The Suicide Squad Trailer Reveals DC Villain Starro & Full Team". Screen Rant. Retrieved March 26, 2021.
  37. ^ Luchies, Adam (July 3, 2022). "'Batman and Superman: Battle of the Super Sons' Sets 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray & Digital Release". Collider. Retrieved July 22, 2024.
  38. ^ Eisen, Andrew (October 2, 2013). "DC Characters and Objects - Scribblenauts Unmasked Guide". IGN. Retrieved July 22, 2024.
  39. ^ Mark Meer [@Mark_Meer] (November 28, 2022). "THE STARS ARE RIGHT! Starro the Conquerer arrives in @GothamKnights in the free Heroic Assault update, Nov 29 at 8AM PT. Honored to be voicing this classic #DCComics villain, whose ability to bring people together I've long admired.😁 #GothamKnights #Starro #StarroTheConquerer" (Tweet). Retrieved July 22, 2024 – via Twitter.
  40. ^ "Justice League Adventures #5 - The Star-Conqueror (Issue)". Comic Vine. Retrieved July 22, 2024.
  41. ^ "Justice League Unlimited #24 - Alone Among the Stars (Issue)". Comic Vine. Retrieved July 22, 2024.
  42. ^ "Comic Con Conversation – Mattel's Frank Varela Part I". The Fwoosh. Archived from the original on 2013-08-02.
  43. ^ Smallville Season 11 #18
  44. ^ "Injustice 2's Red Lantern Corps Has Basically Created a Death Starro". 9 June 2018.
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