With Stargirl receiving her own live-action TV series today on DC Universe (and tomorrow on The CW!), I figured this would be a good time to look back on her previous animated appearances. I know there are reports of the character also possibly appearing on the upcoming Black Adam movie, and her debut on the big screens could probably have been a better reason to start such a thread, but it remains to be seen just when or if that movie will actually be produced. I also have to admit there's really not all that much to discuss about Stargirl's career in animation, as she only had a few appearances by this point, but I think there's still enough enough material here to cover for a decent sized retrospective.
While these new articles may not be as detailed or well-written as those in the past (due to various reasons, including but not limited to time constraints), I hope you all enjoy reading through this updated retrospective, and keep in mind these are just my opinions. Feel free to share your own thoughts, comments or even point out any possible errors in my write-ups below! Most of the images seen below appear courtesy of The World's Finest.
Considering Stargirl is a legacy character, I need to include a bit of DC Comics history here as a prologue of sorts. There have been at least seven characters to name themselves Starman in the comics, dating back to the original Ted Knight version, who debuted in 1941. Stargirl - real name: Courtney Whitmore - wasn't introduced until 1999, so you can imagine how much Starman-related lore there exists. Taking into account the fact that I am not overly familiar with any of them, I will only mention specific things about these previous characters, only when or if necessary.
I realize I am skipping over a lot of stuff, but the basic premise here is that Courtney is the teenage step-daughter of Pat Dugan (former side-kick to the Star-Spangled Kid a.k.a. Skyman), who first takes on the same "Star-Spangled Kid" moniker, before inheriting the Cosmic Staff from a previous Starman (Jack Knight, one of the sons of the original character). This Staff gives its wielder super powers, including but not limited to flight, levitation of objects and energy manipulation, among others. Pat Dugan also teams up with her, after constructing a giant, heavily armed suit of armor, known as S.T.R.I.P.E. Throughout her career, Courtney as Stargirl has mostly been associated with the Justice Society of America. Here she would form some sort of relationship with fellow member Captain Marvel (Shazam, that is, in case you're confused...). This relationship was kind of controversial and didn't really go anywhere either, considering Courtney was in fact more interested in the Captain's kid alter ego, Billy Batson. As Stargirl, she would also make enemies with the likes of Dragon King (and his daughter!) or Solomon Grundy. For the most part, she's always been a pretty fun and cheerful character which took part in several adventures since her introduction in the DC Universe. The comics starring her have usually been a lot more cheerful and adventurous than some of the darker comics released at the same time.
It should also be noted Courtney Whitmore was created by writer Geoff Johns and artist Lee Moder, with the former modelling the character after his late sister, as a tribute.
Stargirl made her animated debut in 2004, on Justice League Unlimited. I presume the show needs no introduction around these parts, but just to play it safe, it was the sequel to the previous Justice League animated series, set in the DC Animated Universe, as I imagine most everybody reading this already knows. The highlight for Unlimited was probably the Cadmus story-arc which was spread throughout most of it's run. I found the majority of stories presented here to be pretty awesome, and I think the show had some great depictions for most of the characters, or at least the major ones and the occasional guest-stars.
Courtney was one of the many new recruits aboard the Watchtower, and as such she can be seen in quite a few episodes, albeit only in the background. It should also be noted that Pat Dugan was also a new recruit, and the two were usually seen together but as mentioned before, mostly in minor scenes. As a result, I will comment on their more noticeable outings below, and not list every single one of their cameos. Another interesting thing to note is that the JLU also featured a Starman - an alien prince named Gavyn, who appeared even less than Courtney and never even spoke, but I figured it was a neat bit of trivia to include here. Giselle Loren provided Courtney's voice on the show, while Pat was apparently voiced by Phil LaMarr.
After making numerous cameos since the beginning of the show, and fighting alongside the other heroes against armies of cloned Ultimen aboard the Watchtower (long-story), Stargirl and S.T.R.I.P.E.'s first big episode occurred in the final season. "Chaos at the Earth's Core" is mostly a showcase for Supergirl, but Courtney gets some focus as well. In this story, the three aforementioned characters alongside Green Lantern John Stewart, arrive at the center of the Earth, where they encounter Warlord Travis Morgan, a lesser known character from the comics. The episode is pretty decent but it gets a little tedious by the end. Still I liked the setting and the more "sword and sorcery" approach used here. I never even heard of Warlord prior to this episode so it was pretty cool seeing the creative team use a more obscure character and add him and his world to the ever-growing DCAU.
It turns out that Warlord and his people are at war with an evil wizard who's being advised by Metallo and Silver Banshee. To make things worse, Kara is being affected by the so-called Great Stone, which is in reality a giant piece of Kryptonite and is revealed to have some healing abilities as well, at least for Warlord's people. As far as Stargirl is concerned, she gets to partake in some decent action scenes as well, and kind of enjoys having to step in and save the powerless Supergirl. There's also a neat sub-plot about Courtney being jealous of Kara, which is tied-up nicely by the end with the two heroines becoming friends. Mostly complaining how their adoptive or step-parents wouldn't let them have their ways and all the restrictions they set for them, was one of the foundations for the friendship. The show - or any other animated project for that matter - never really brought up this pairing again, as opposed to say Supergirl and Batgirl, who similarly formed a bond earlier in the DCAU and have been teammates in various other adventures since then.
Stargirl's last major role on the show was in the episode titled "Patriot Act", where she alongside S.T.R.I.P.E. and other, less powerful members of the League are attacked by General Eiling, now mutated into a brutish monster. The General wishes to prove how dangerous the heroes are and that he's the true patriot there. Logically, he sets out to beat them up, destroying part of the city in the process resulting in some collateral victims as well. The heroes manage to stand up to him for most of the episode, but I think it was really Shining Knight's turn to shine in this episode. That's not to say the others didn't put up a good enough fight - Courtney and Pat also have some pretty cool scenes, but nothing really stood out to me. The episode is still kind of fun overall and works as a decent enough epilogue of sorts to the Cadmus arc from the previous season. It should also be noted that the heroes featured in this episode are an homage to the team from the comics known as the Seven Soldiers of Victory.
As mentioned before, Courtney and Pat had numerous other minor scenes, such as helping various other members of the League in their fights against nanotech aliens, Amazo or Darkseid's forces in the series finale. But I think I covered their most notable appearances. Looking back, this was a decent portrayal for the characters, but they never really left that big of an impression on me. They were entertaining enough and were used effectively, though not too often. But given the large number of characters featured on the show that is understandable.
Stargirl next had a brief appearance on Batman: The Brave and the Bold - an animated series starring Batman (obviously!), based on the comic book series The Brave and the Bold. Produced by James Tucker and Michael Jelenic, this was basically a team-up show, with Batman appearing in every episode alongside various other characters from the DC Universe. It premiered in fall 2008 on the Cartoon Network, and lasted for 65 episodes (and it also received a direct-to-video movie in 2018, in a pretty surprising turn of events... even more so when you realize the movie is a cross-over with Scooby-Doo!). Mostly depicting adventures either adapted or inspired by some of the weirdest comic book stories from the Silver Age of comics, The Brave and the Bold still managed to be a pretty awesome show overall, though the quality of the episodes varies from time to time. I initially didn't really care for the show but I got to admit it did grow on me along the way and all in all I find it very enjoyable. I think it's pretty amazing how many characters they managed to feature throughout the show's run, and pretty much every character that showed up proved to be very entertaining. It was also my introduction to many of the more obscure characters of the DC Universe, some of which I never even heard of before.
The show's format included teasers - short scenes that are shown before the opening credits - which were most of the time completely unrelated to the main plot of the episode. This helped bring in even more characters to this universe. Interestingly enough, Stargirl only ever appeared in such a teaser scene, the one for the episode titled "Cry Freedom Fighters!", which premiered in 2010. Her voice was provided by Hope Levy. Unrelated to the main story, the teaser for the episode saw Courtney in the middle of her fight with one of Darkseid's minions, Mantis. Realizing she might need some help in defeating her opponent, she uses her Cosmic Staff to create a Bat-signal in the sky, hoping the Dark Knight would see it. As luck would have it, Batman was busy at the time so Blue Beetle - the Jaime Reyes version that is - comes to the rescue instead.
Courtney is somewhat disappointed in teaming up with a "knock-off version of the Blue Beetle" as she calls him, alluding to the fact he's a re-imagined version of a previously established hero. It's also a fun bit of meta-commentary on the whole situation, when you consider Courtney herself is such a character herself. It's a quick, harmless gag that fits so well with the tone and style of the show. The two manage to take down Mantis after tricking him into absorbing energy from both of them, thus over-loading him and knocking him unconscious. Courtney takes the villain away, while Jaime discusses with Batman how she's still a rookie but they can teach her the ropes. It's interesting seeing Jaime in such a position, since he's been pretty much a regular supporting character on the show, and was a rookie himself who was taught by Batman in his first few appearances. As far as Stargirl is concerned though, this was her only appearance on the show, for whatever reasons. I don't believe she ever had any other cameos, either. It might have been fun seeing her return occasionally, considering how well even this short scene worked out.
Next: Stargirl in Action!
While these new articles may not be as detailed or well-written as those in the past (due to various reasons, including but not limited to time constraints), I hope you all enjoy reading through this updated retrospective, and keep in mind these are just my opinions. Feel free to share your own thoughts, comments or even point out any possible errors in my write-ups below! Most of the images seen below appear courtesy of The World's Finest.
Considering Stargirl is a legacy character, I need to include a bit of DC Comics history here as a prologue of sorts. There have been at least seven characters to name themselves Starman in the comics, dating back to the original Ted Knight version, who debuted in 1941. Stargirl - real name: Courtney Whitmore - wasn't introduced until 1999, so you can imagine how much Starman-related lore there exists. Taking into account the fact that I am not overly familiar with any of them, I will only mention specific things about these previous characters, only when or if necessary.
I realize I am skipping over a lot of stuff, but the basic premise here is that Courtney is the teenage step-daughter of Pat Dugan (former side-kick to the Star-Spangled Kid a.k.a. Skyman), who first takes on the same "Star-Spangled Kid" moniker, before inheriting the Cosmic Staff from a previous Starman (Jack Knight, one of the sons of the original character). This Staff gives its wielder super powers, including but not limited to flight, levitation of objects and energy manipulation, among others. Pat Dugan also teams up with her, after constructing a giant, heavily armed suit of armor, known as S.T.R.I.P.E. Throughout her career, Courtney as Stargirl has mostly been associated with the Justice Society of America. Here she would form some sort of relationship with fellow member Captain Marvel (Shazam, that is, in case you're confused...). This relationship was kind of controversial and didn't really go anywhere either, considering Courtney was in fact more interested in the Captain's kid alter ego, Billy Batson. As Stargirl, she would also make enemies with the likes of Dragon King (and his daughter!) or Solomon Grundy. For the most part, she's always been a pretty fun and cheerful character which took part in several adventures since her introduction in the DC Universe. The comics starring her have usually been a lot more cheerful and adventurous than some of the darker comics released at the same time.
It should also be noted Courtney Whitmore was created by writer Geoff Johns and artist Lee Moder, with the former modelling the character after his late sister, as a tribute.
Stargirl made her animated debut in 2004, on Justice League Unlimited. I presume the show needs no introduction around these parts, but just to play it safe, it was the sequel to the previous Justice League animated series, set in the DC Animated Universe, as I imagine most everybody reading this already knows. The highlight for Unlimited was probably the Cadmus story-arc which was spread throughout most of it's run. I found the majority of stories presented here to be pretty awesome, and I think the show had some great depictions for most of the characters, or at least the major ones and the occasional guest-stars.
Courtney was one of the many new recruits aboard the Watchtower, and as such she can be seen in quite a few episodes, albeit only in the background. It should also be noted that Pat Dugan was also a new recruit, and the two were usually seen together but as mentioned before, mostly in minor scenes. As a result, I will comment on their more noticeable outings below, and not list every single one of their cameos. Another interesting thing to note is that the JLU also featured a Starman - an alien prince named Gavyn, who appeared even less than Courtney and never even spoke, but I figured it was a neat bit of trivia to include here. Giselle Loren provided Courtney's voice on the show, while Pat was apparently voiced by Phil LaMarr.
After making numerous cameos since the beginning of the show, and fighting alongside the other heroes against armies of cloned Ultimen aboard the Watchtower (long-story), Stargirl and S.T.R.I.P.E.'s first big episode occurred in the final season. "Chaos at the Earth's Core" is mostly a showcase for Supergirl, but Courtney gets some focus as well. In this story, the three aforementioned characters alongside Green Lantern John Stewart, arrive at the center of the Earth, where they encounter Warlord Travis Morgan, a lesser known character from the comics. The episode is pretty decent but it gets a little tedious by the end. Still I liked the setting and the more "sword and sorcery" approach used here. I never even heard of Warlord prior to this episode so it was pretty cool seeing the creative team use a more obscure character and add him and his world to the ever-growing DCAU.
It turns out that Warlord and his people are at war with an evil wizard who's being advised by Metallo and Silver Banshee. To make things worse, Kara is being affected by the so-called Great Stone, which is in reality a giant piece of Kryptonite and is revealed to have some healing abilities as well, at least for Warlord's people. As far as Stargirl is concerned, she gets to partake in some decent action scenes as well, and kind of enjoys having to step in and save the powerless Supergirl. There's also a neat sub-plot about Courtney being jealous of Kara, which is tied-up nicely by the end with the two heroines becoming friends. Mostly complaining how their adoptive or step-parents wouldn't let them have their ways and all the restrictions they set for them, was one of the foundations for the friendship. The show - or any other animated project for that matter - never really brought up this pairing again, as opposed to say Supergirl and Batgirl, who similarly formed a bond earlier in the DCAU and have been teammates in various other adventures since then.
Stargirl's last major role on the show was in the episode titled "Patriot Act", where she alongside S.T.R.I.P.E. and other, less powerful members of the League are attacked by General Eiling, now mutated into a brutish monster. The General wishes to prove how dangerous the heroes are and that he's the true patriot there. Logically, he sets out to beat them up, destroying part of the city in the process resulting in some collateral victims as well. The heroes manage to stand up to him for most of the episode, but I think it was really Shining Knight's turn to shine in this episode. That's not to say the others didn't put up a good enough fight - Courtney and Pat also have some pretty cool scenes, but nothing really stood out to me. The episode is still kind of fun overall and works as a decent enough epilogue of sorts to the Cadmus arc from the previous season. It should also be noted that the heroes featured in this episode are an homage to the team from the comics known as the Seven Soldiers of Victory.
As mentioned before, Courtney and Pat had numerous other minor scenes, such as helping various other members of the League in their fights against nanotech aliens, Amazo or Darkseid's forces in the series finale. But I think I covered their most notable appearances. Looking back, this was a decent portrayal for the characters, but they never really left that big of an impression on me. They were entertaining enough and were used effectively, though not too often. But given the large number of characters featured on the show that is understandable.
Stargirl next had a brief appearance on Batman: The Brave and the Bold - an animated series starring Batman (obviously!), based on the comic book series The Brave and the Bold. Produced by James Tucker and Michael Jelenic, this was basically a team-up show, with Batman appearing in every episode alongside various other characters from the DC Universe. It premiered in fall 2008 on the Cartoon Network, and lasted for 65 episodes (and it also received a direct-to-video movie in 2018, in a pretty surprising turn of events... even more so when you realize the movie is a cross-over with Scooby-Doo!). Mostly depicting adventures either adapted or inspired by some of the weirdest comic book stories from the Silver Age of comics, The Brave and the Bold still managed to be a pretty awesome show overall, though the quality of the episodes varies from time to time. I initially didn't really care for the show but I got to admit it did grow on me along the way and all in all I find it very enjoyable. I think it's pretty amazing how many characters they managed to feature throughout the show's run, and pretty much every character that showed up proved to be very entertaining. It was also my introduction to many of the more obscure characters of the DC Universe, some of which I never even heard of before.
The show's format included teasers - short scenes that are shown before the opening credits - which were most of the time completely unrelated to the main plot of the episode. This helped bring in even more characters to this universe. Interestingly enough, Stargirl only ever appeared in such a teaser scene, the one for the episode titled "Cry Freedom Fighters!", which premiered in 2010. Her voice was provided by Hope Levy. Unrelated to the main story, the teaser for the episode saw Courtney in the middle of her fight with one of Darkseid's minions, Mantis. Realizing she might need some help in defeating her opponent, she uses her Cosmic Staff to create a Bat-signal in the sky, hoping the Dark Knight would see it. As luck would have it, Batman was busy at the time so Blue Beetle - the Jaime Reyes version that is - comes to the rescue instead.
Courtney is somewhat disappointed in teaming up with a "knock-off version of the Blue Beetle" as she calls him, alluding to the fact he's a re-imagined version of a previously established hero. It's also a fun bit of meta-commentary on the whole situation, when you consider Courtney herself is such a character herself. It's a quick, harmless gag that fits so well with the tone and style of the show. The two manage to take down Mantis after tricking him into absorbing energy from both of them, thus over-loading him and knocking him unconscious. Courtney takes the villain away, while Jaime discusses with Batman how she's still a rookie but they can teach her the ropes. It's interesting seeing Jaime in such a position, since he's been pretty much a regular supporting character on the show, and was a rookie himself who was taught by Batman in his first few appearances. As far as Stargirl is concerned though, this was her only appearance on the show, for whatever reasons. I don't believe she ever had any other cameos, either. It might have been fun seeing her return occasionally, considering how well even this short scene worked out.
Next: Stargirl in Action!
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