CW is soon to release their new TV series Stargirl, so it is quite fitting that we look at her today. Stargirl has been consistently one of DC's second tier characters meaning that she has had a regular background role in the comics, or membership in superhero teams, but has not been seen as one of the main heroes. Similarly, we cannot discuss Stargirl without her partner S.T.R.I.P.E who was introduced all the way back in 1941 under the name Stripesy. Today we'll look at both characters and their history in the DC Universe.
The Star-Spangled Kid and Stripesy
Even before the United States entered the Second World War, there was a feeling that they would soon enter and feared espionage from the Axis powers. In 1941, before the bombing of Pearl Harbor which brought the US into the war, a wave of US-themed, nationalistic heroes came into being. The most famous would, of course, be Captain America, published by Marvel's forerunner Timely. All the comic book publishers had some form of nationalistic character to whip up patriotism: the Fighting Yank from Nedor Comics, Yank and Doodle from Prize Publications, and Miss Victory from Helnit Comics being some notable examples. DC had a plethora of patriotic heroes with names such as Uncle Sam, Liberty Belle, and Miss America. Debuting in Star Spangled Comics #1 in October 1941, (although one had been introduced in the earlier Action Comics #40), was a new patriotic duo fighting Nazi agents: the Star-Spangled Kid and Stripesy. Sylvester Pemberton was a spoiled rich kid and Pat Dugan was his bumbling chauffeur. However, they were secretly honed acrobats and athletes, and donned costumes forming the duo Star-Spangled Kid and Stripesy. In a story created by Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel and artist Hal Sherman this duo of non-superpowered heroes fought against Nazi spies wanting to take down America. The two were noted for flipping the superhero genre. Normally, the younger character was the sidekick, but it was the older Stripesy who was the sidekick. That is the only thing innovative about the duo. Publishers wanted to make sales on the popular 'patriotic hero' genre, and it was certainly quantity over quality. Stripesy's appearance is literally a well-built man in a red-and-white striped shirt, and his abilities were acrobatics and being a good engineer. Unsurprisingly, it did not take long for the duo to be relegated to a team of B-tier heroes.
By the end of 1941 writer Mort Weisinger was tasked in creating a new superhero team, due to to massive popularity of the Justice Society. Leading Comics #1 introduced a new team: the Seven Soldiers of Victory. Comprised of largely newly created characters the Seven Soldiers were: the Star-Spangled Kid and Stripesy; Green Arrow and his sidekick Speedy; the cowboy-themed hero Vigilante; Shining Knight, a member of the Knights of the Round Table frozen in time; and the Crimson Avenger, DC's answer to the Green Hornet. What was interesting about this time, in contrast to the Justice Society, was that each member did not have superpowers - instead they relied on their own physical skills, abilities, and gadgets to fight crime and spies. Throughout the war they remained popular, but the end of the war came with the end of their popularity. Western, romance, and animal stories started replacing superheroes in popularity, and wartime heroes suffered as a result. By the mid-1940s the Star-Spangled Kid and Stripesy had stopped their appearances.
Return
In the 1970s, nostalgia for the 'Golden Age of Comics' of the 1940s, and searching for new and interesting stories, DC decided to bring back the Seven Soldiers of Victory. How could they though? The Seven Soldiers had not been published since 1945! The writers of Justice League of America had the answer. From issues #100-102 in 1972 we found out why the Seven Soldiers vanished, (other than the publisher's desire to jump on new trends), and how they were brought back. On a mission in 1950 a problem in time scattered the team throughout history, so the Justice Society and Justice League teamed up to rescue them. Stripesy was rescued from ancient Egypt by Batman, Hourman, and Starman, and the Star-Spangled Kid was rescued from a cave 50,000 years ago by Aquaman, Wildcat, and Green Lantern. Brought back to the 1970s, and not 1950, the rescued Seven Soldiers made a new life. Stripesy gets married to someone called Maggie, but she eventually left him taking their son with her. The Star-Spangled Kid continued with heroics helping Dugan regain his lost patents, and fighting his nephew who had used the family estate to fund supervillains. In a revived All-Star Comics he grew close to Starman - a scientist who constructed a powerful rod which could manipulate energy. When Starman was injured, he gave Pemberton his rod which the young hero used to create a streamlined version of the rod in the form of a belt. With this he adopted the moniker Skyman. However, it would end in tragedy. While fighting alongside a new team called Infinity Inc. he was killed by the hulking zombie Solomon Grundy.
Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E
Finally, we've arrived at when Stargirl arrives on the scene in the comic series Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. Debuting in Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E #1 in 1999 we see the origins of a new pairing. A retired Pat Dugan remarried and moved to Nebraska, with the new life and marriage came a stepdaughter - Courtney Whitmore. Courtney was resentful of Pat coming into her life, and moving the family to Nebraska, so was not the biggest fan of her new stepdad. That is, until she came across his old keepsakes. There she found out that her stepfather Pat was actually the former hero Stripesy, so she decided to pull a prank on him. Going to a fancy-dress party she donned a costume similar to that of Stripesy's old partner, and included his old belt. However, during the party an old enemy of the Seven Soldiers, who survived the war until now, called the Dragon King attacked leading to Courtney using the cosmic belt of the old Star-Spangled Kid to defend herself. At the same time, Pat knew that one day he might have to return as a superhero, so he put his engineering skills to the test. Creating a suit, resembling a mix between the Iron Giant and Iron Man, he adopted the new moniker S.T.R.I.P.E - Special Tactics Robotic Integrated Power Enhancer. He joined Courtney and together the beat the minions of the Dragon King; seeing how well the formerly feuding pair worked together they decided to make it a permanent pairing. Courtney became the new Star-Spangled Kid, and together they formed Stars and Stripes. Courtney, in particular, proved to be popular with fans thanks to her charm and bubbly personality. A big reason behind this was that writer Geoff Johns based her off of his sister who had tragically died in a plane crash, so Courtney became a tribute to her. The quaint pairing and stories made Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E a welcome part of the DC Universe - even if they never became as popular as other characters.
Becoming Stargirl
The popularity of the duo meant that they soon appeared in wider comics, namely the Justice Society. Courtney and Pat added a familial aspect to the Justice Society which extended to the rest of the team. It was through this that the duo became a mainstay of the DC Universe, even if it was a minor one. In Starman Vol. 2 #80 Starman had been impressed by Courtney's dealing of the dark magic using Klarion, and decided that she was the best person to inherit his Cosmic Staff. Accepting it, and to honour the older hero, she adopted the moniker Stargirl. Armed with both Skyman's belt and Starman's staff this gave Courtney enhanced strength, durability, speed, and agility, as well as energy projection and flight. During her time with the Justice Society she became close friends with Power Girl, and even started dating Captain Marvel, (Shazam). The team had such a close bond that, in full costume, the entire Justice Society came to her house for a surprise party after she got back from the dentist. Meanwhile, S.T.R.I.P.E remained a loyal member of the team helping build equipment and supporting Stargirl. In JSA #81 Courtney found out that her absent biological father had died, which sent her world into crisis. While wanting to hate him for abandoning both herself and her mother, she couldn't find the hatred. Instead, she chose to find love, and realise that she always had a father - Pat. From there, they grew closer as a father and daughter superhero duo. Following the reboot of the DC Universe in The New 52 the duo shifted to the Justice League as the Justice Society was written out of the timeline, but then Doomsday Clock changed things. In Doomsday Clock we found out that Dr Manhattan from Watchmen had been manipulating the DC timeline, which cause the JSA to be written out of existence. However, at the event's end when he returned things to 'normal', the duo were part of the Justice Society.
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