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So, of course, I needed a victim . . . er . . . .subject for
this month's column and I was feeling pretty tapped
out. Short on time and not having any single character
leaping out at me in need of a drastic revision, I
did what I always do, I started going through Who's
Who and the Marvel Universe books, stalking my prey.
And, I found one! It's even a timely choice, with the
announcement of Jim Shooter as the new writer on
Legion of Super-Heroes. Yes, I know I did a group of
Legion villains last month, but I was in a bind, so
you'll just have to bear with me.
This guy started out near the end of Shooter's second
run on the Legion, created by Shooter and Mike Grell,
he was first believed to be the father of Brainiac 5,
but was later shown to have lied.
Pulsar Stargrave -I always loved the name, if not the
character-first appeared in Superboy and the Legion of
Super-Heroes # 223 as a cosmic-level threat to the
Legion. Apparently, a Coluan who'd absorbed the power
of an exploding star, he certainly appeared to belong
in the same class with baddies like Mordru or the
Fatal Five, but for some reason, he just never
followed through. I like to think he got distracted by
his smokin' hot henchperson, Quicksand. Hopefully he
ditched the grabby henchman with the ridiculously
descriptive name, Holdur.
Stargrave suffered, as did many of Grell's characters,
from the influence of disco on comics.
(Disco, for those of you who don't know, is one of the
great evils of the 20th century. We can only hope it
has been stamped out forever.)
This is how Stargrave looked, when he first fought the
Legion way back then . . .
This is based on the first appearance, where he wore
gloves. The gloves vanished in the next issue.
For all that's wrong with him, I think he's a
character that can be salvaged. It's not a bad idea
for the Legion to have to face an evil Brainiac type,
and the name Pulsar Stargrave helps avoid confusion
with the good Brainiac character. Also, he has power
in addition to a high-level intellect, making him
different from other Brainiac spin-offs.
Here's an idea for how he might look in the Legion
animated series. In the animated series, all Coluans
are some kind of pseudo-cyborg life-forms. So, too, is
Stargrave, but he's more. He's a pseudo-cyborg with
the power of a supernova.
And, because every evil overlord needs a hot
girlfriend and a compliant lackey . . .
And, for the regular Legion book, a more modern styled
costume. Stargrave should not have any outward signs
that he's any different from other Coluans. If he's
even a Coluan, and not just someone who looks Coluan.
I wanted to adapt some of Grell's ornaments, for
Stargrave, but try to give them in a more modern, less
"jewelry-looking" style.
I thought Holdur should be even more "alien" than
originally, so I adapted my animated version for the
regular series style. Same for Quicksand. Also, I
figure these guys don't wear "costumes" as such, they
just dress in a certain style most of the time.
Yes, I know he sort of appeared in L.E.G.I.O.N. as Mr.
Starr, but I didn't like much of the stuff in that
book, so I'm ignoring it. Besides, there're plenty of
galactic threats in the 21st Century, we need another
big bad for the 31st.
I'll try to stray from the Legion a bit, next time,
but I ain't promising anything. I have my eye on the
LSV, at some point.
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