Darkstar(Laynia Petrovna) is a character appearing inAmerican comic bookspublished byMarvel Comics.Created byTony IsabellaandGeorge Tuska,the characterfirst appearedinThe Champions#7 (August 1976).[1]Darkstar belongs to the subspecies of humans calledmutants,who are born with superhuman abilities.[2]She has been depicted as a member of various super-teams in her career, includingX-CorporationandChampions of Los Angeles.
| Darkstar | |
|---|---|
 Darkstar | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | The Champions#7 (August 1976) |
| Created by | Tony Isabella(writer) George Tuska(artist) |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Laynia Sergeievna Petrovna Krylova |
| Species | Human mutant |
| Team affiliations | X-Corporation Soviet Super-Soldiers Winter Guard Siberforce Champions of Los Angeles Exiles (Earth-616) KGB |
| Partnerships | Vanguard Titanium Man Crimson Dynamo Griffin |
| Notable aliases | Tyomni Zvyozda (Russian translation of codename) Formerly "Great Beast" |
| Abilities |
|
Publication history
editDarkstar first appeared inThe Champions#7 (Aug. 1976), and was created byTony IsabellaandGeorge Tuska.[3]
She became a regular character inChampionsfor the remainder of the series' brief run, though she never joined the titular supergroup. A memo from series writerBill Mantlorevealed that he intended for her to be a "floating" member who would come and go from the book as the occasion called for.[4]
Fictional character biography
editChampions
editLaynia Petrovna and her twin brotherNikolai Krylenkoare born inMinsk.After growing up, she becomes a special operative, working for theSovietgovernment.
Darkstar is a member of a Soviet super-team recruited to bringBlack Widowback to the USSR.[5][6]However, she decides to switch sides and then fights alongside the Champions.[7][8][9]She helps the Champions on a few more missions before returning to Russia.[10]
Soviet Super-Soldiers
editDarkstar becomes a member of theSoviet Super-Soldierswith her brotherVanguard(Nikolai Krylenko) and theCrimson Dynamo.The Soviet Super-Soldiers battleIron ManandJack of Heartson the moon but wind up helping them against renegadeRigelliansled by Commander Arcturus.[11]
Later, Darkstar and Vanguard are sent along with new Soviet Super-SoldierUrsa Majorby theKGBto defeatPresence.They learned that Sergei is their father and thatProfessor Phoboshas exploited the Super-Soldiers. Darkstar helps free Sergei and Tania Belinsky's Red Guardian, and defeats Phobos.[12]
The Soviet Super-Soldiers are then sent by the Soviet government to Khystym to battle theGremlin.They fight the Space KnightsRomandStarshine,but later, ally with them against theDire Wraiths.The Super-Soldiers befriend the Gremlin instead of fighting him.[13]
Afterward, the Soviet Super-Soldiers agree to help bringMagnetoto justice. They fight theAvengersbut turned against the Crimson Dynamo when it is revealed that he had been manipulating events.[14]
Darkstar, Vanguard, and Ursa Major defect to the United States seeking political asylum. They arrive atAvengers Islandto ask forCaptain America's help. They are beaten nearly to death by theSupreme Soviets,who had disguised themselves as members of the Avengers. The comatose subconscious minds of the Super-Soldiers form a "Great Beast" that follows the Supreme Soviets back to the USSR and tries to kill them. Captain America's negotiation skills were successful in convincing the Great Beast to back off, leading to the recovery of the three Super-Soldiers who had previously been injured and unconscious.[15]
The Soviet Super-Soldiers are captured and returned to theSoviet Union.They are rescued byBlind Faithand the Exiles (not to be confused with the reality-hopping team theExiles), whom Darkstar joins.[16]
When the Supreme Soviets (who changed their name to People's Protectorate) are rechristened theWinter Guard,Darkstar was recruited back into the team.[17]When the team disbanded, Darkstar and Vanguard joined the Russian mutant teamSiberforce,[16]and later joined forces with their father, the Presence.[volume & issue needed]
When Vanguard dies on the Starbrand mission led byQuasar,Darkstar and the Presence decide to kill Quasar, who allows them to believe that they have succeeded while he had left Earth.[18]
Death
editDarkstar joins theParisbranch ofX-Corporationin France, in which she is possessed byWeapon XII,a creation of theWeapon Plus Project,and subsequently killed byFantomex.[19]A funeral is held atPère Lachaise Cemeteryin Paris, where she was buried.[20]She is temporarily resurrected through theTransmode Virusto serve inSelene's army of deceased mutants during their assault onUtopia.[21]
New Darkstars
editA new, red-haired Darkstar namedSasha Roerichwho is genetically modeled to resemble Petrovna first appears as a member of the Winter Guard.[22]After being altered again by The Presence, she is transformed into a tentacledDarkforcebeast before being killed byRed Guardian.[22]
With Sasha's death,Reena Stanicofftakes over the role.[22]She is killed during an attack on Winter Guard headquarters by a Dire Wraith who assumes her form.[23]Although the Winter Guard fends off the attack, her death is covered up by the government.
Laynia Reborn
editThe Dire Wraith who assumes Reena's form is eventually overwhelmed and taken over by Darkforce energy. Petrovna seizes control of the creature and resurrects herself.[23]She reunites with her brother Vanguard and returns to active duty alongside her brother and Ursa Major.[volume & issue needed]She fightsHyperion.[24]She is later blasted into space with other members of the Winter Guard by the Intelligencia, but manages to survive.[25]
Darkstar is present when the Winter Guard is reassembled.[26]
In the 2017Icemanseries, Darkstar joins the other Champions at a reunion to remember Black Widow after her death during theSecret Empireseries.[27]
In "Blood Hunt",Darkstar is among the Darkforce users who lose control of their powers, which blocks the sun and facilitates a vampire invasion.[28]
Powers and abilities
editDarkstar is amutantwho has the psionic power to access the extradimensional energy of the Darkforce dimension, which grants her several superhuman abilities.[29]She is connected to the dimension by splitting her consciousness between her physical body and its Darkforce representation, both symbiotically linked. She can utilize the Darkforce for various purposes, such as causing Darkforce to behave like either matter or energy. Furthermore, she can project Darkforce as simple, mentally-controlled solid objects, possessing the density of steel, such as pincers, rings, columns, and spheres, or as a beam of concussive force. If Darkstar is rendered unconscious, any Darkforce constructs of her making immediately dissipate. Darkstar canteleportherself and up to three others by opening a portal into the Darkforce dimension and traveling through it; the maximum distance she can teleport has never been revealed. Because crossing the Darkforce dimension disorients her sense of direction, and the light of Earth blinds her for several seconds upon reemergence, traveling in this manner is risky.
Darkstar can levitate herself and fly at subsonic speeds by generating a virtually invisible portal into the Darkforce dimension along the contours of her body without passing through it, then balancing the attractive force of the dimension against that of the Earth's gravity.
Darkstar is a skilled hand-to-hand combatant, having been trained by the KGB andBlack Widow.She is fluent in bothRussianandEnglish.
While the original Darkstar's costume was designed by the Soviet government and was made of a synthetic stretch fabric insulated against the cold, the other two Darkstar costumes are composed of Darkforce material.[22]
Reception
editCritical reception
editDeirdre Kaye ofScary Mommycalled Darkstar a "role model" and "truly heroic."[30]Bradley Prom ofScreen Rantincluded Darkstar in their "10 Best Black Widow Comics Characters Not Yet In The MCU" list.[31]Kara Hedash ofThe Mary Sueranked Darkstar 5th in their "7 Female Superheroes Who Should Join Marvel’s Cinematic Universe" list.[32]Sage Kortenber ofCBRranked Darkstar 5th in their "Black Widow: 10 Most Powerful Russians In Comics" list.[33]
Other versions
edit- An alternate universe variant of Darkstar from Earth-58163 appears inCivil War: House of M#2 as a member of the Soviet Super-Soldiers.[34]
- Two alternate universe variants of Darkstar appear inExiles.The first variant appears inExiles#43 as an inhabitant of an unidentified universe, where she is a member of the Republican Guard.[35]The second appears inExiles#84 as a native of Earth-3470, where the Soviet Union still exists and she is a member of the Soviet Super-Soldiers.[36]
In other media
editTelevision
edit- Darkstar appears in theX-Men: The Animated Seriesepisode "Red Dawn", voiced by Elizabeth Rukavina.[37][38]This version can manipulate energy instead of the Darkforce. She initially works as an enforcer for Russian generals who seek to reestablish the Soviet Union until she learns of their work withOmega Redand works with theX-Mento stop them.
- Darkstar makes a non-speaking cameo appearance in theX-Men '97episode "Tolerance is Extinction – Part 3".[39]By this time, she has joined theWinter Guard.
- Darkstar appears in theAvengers Assembleepisode "Secret Avengers", voiced byLaura Bailey.[37]This version is a member of the Winter Guard.
- Darkstar appears inMarvel Future Avengers,voiced by Eri Saito in Japanese andKari Wahlgrenin English.[37]This version is a member of the Winter Guard.
Video games
editDarkstar appears as a playable character inLego Marvel Super Heroes 2.[40][41]
Notes and references
edit- ^"10 Russian superheroes in the Marvel Universe".Big News Network.Retrieved2023-03-25.
- ^Flavell, Leah (2019-12-12)."Black Widow: 10 Marvel Characters From The Comics Who Could Show Up".CBR.Retrieved2023-03-25.
- ^DeFalco, Tom; Sanderson, Peter; Brevoort, Tom; Teitelbaum, Michael; Wallace, Daniel; Darling, Andrew; Forbeck, Matt; Cowsill, Alan; Bray, Adam (2019).The Marvel Encyclopedia.DK Publishing. p. 99.ISBN978-1-4654-7890-0.
- ^Walker, Karen (July 2013). "'We'll Keep on Fighting 'Til the End': The Story of the Champions ".Back Issue!(#65). Raleigh, North Carolina:TwoMorrows Publishing:17–23.
- ^The Champions,no. 7 (Aug. 1976).Marvel Comics.
- ^Flavell, Leah (2019-12-12)."Black Widow: 10 Marvel Characters From The Comics Who Could Show Up".CBR.Retrieved2022-11-08.
- ^The Champions,no. 10 (Jan. 1977). Marvel Comics.
- ^The Champions,no. 11 (Feb. 1977). Marvel Comics.
- ^Young, Andrew (2017-03-17)."10 Most Interesting Marvel Superhero Teams You've Never Heard Of".WhatCulture.Retrieved2022-11-08.
- ^Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man#17 (April 1978)
- ^Iron Man#109, 112. Marvel Comics.
- ^The Incredible Hulkvol. 2 #258–259. Marvel Comics.
- ^Rom#45-46. Marvel Comics.
- ^X-Men Vs. Avengers#1–3. Marvel Comics.
- ^Captain America#352–353. Marvel Comics.
- ^abSoviet Super Soldiers#1 (Nov. 1992). Marvel Comics.
- ^Iron ManVol 3 #9-10
- ^Quasar#60. Marvel Comics.
- ^New X-Men (2001 series),no. 130 (Oct. 2002). Marvel Comics.
- ^New X-Men#131
- ^X-Forcevol. 3 #21 (Jan. 2010). Marvel Comics.
- ^abcdHulk: Winter Guard,no. 1 (Dec. 2009). Marvel Comics.
- ^abDarkstar & The Winter Guard,no. 3 (Aug. 2010). Marvel Comics.
- ^Age of Heroes,no. 3 (Aug. 2010). Marvel Comics.
- ^The Amazing Spider-Man#676. Marvel Comics.
- ^Avengersvol. 8 #10. Marvel Comics.
- ^Grace, Sina(w), Gill, Robert (a), Rosenberg, Rachelle (col), Sabino, Joe (let), Shan, Daniel (ed). "Champions Reunited"Iceman,vol. 3, no. 6–7 (October–November 2017). New York City, New York: Marvel Comics.
- ^Blood Hunt#1. Marvel Comics.
- ^Allan, Scoot (2020-12-18)."Marvel: 10 Mutants With A Connection To Other Dimensions".CBR.Retrieved2022-11-08.
- ^"Looking For A Role Model? These 195+ Marvel Female Characters Are Truly Heroic".Scary Mommy.29 November 2021.Retrieved2022-11-08.
- ^Prom, Bradley (2022-05-27)."10 Best Black Widow Comics Characters Not Yet In The MCU".ScreenRant.Retrieved2022-11-08.
- ^Winkle, Dan Van (2018-05-24)."7 Female Superheroes Who Should Join Marvel Movies".The Mary Sue.Retrieved2023-03-25.
- ^Kortenber, Sayge (2019-12-24)."Black Widow: 10 Most Powerful Russians In Comics, Ranked".CBR.Retrieved2022-11-08.
- ^Civil War: House of M#2
- ^Exiles,no. 43 (Jan. 2005). Marvel Comics.
- ^Exiles#84. Marvel Comics.
- ^abc"Darkstar Voices (Marvel Universe)".Behind The Voice Actors.RetrievedJanuary 1,2025.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 credits or other reliable sources of information.
- ^"X-Men: The Animated Series - Every Mutant That's Ever Appeared On The Show".Marvel.5 September 2017.Retrieved2023-03-25.
- ^"Tolerance is Extinction – Part 3".X-Men '97.Season 1. Episode 10. May 15, 2024. Disney+.
- ^"LEGO Marvel Superheroes 2 cheats: Full list of codes & how to use them".Radio Times.Retrieved2023-03-25.
- ^"LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 2 cheats and codes list".Eurogamer.net.2017-11-24.Retrieved2023-03-25.