TheStar-Spangled Kidis the name of severalsuperheroesin theDC Comics' mainshared universe.

Star-Spangled kid
The Sylvester Pemberton incarnation of the Star-Spangled Kid as depicted inAll Star Comics#64 (February 1977). Art by Wally Wood.
Publication information
PublisherDC Comics
First appearanceSylvester Pemberton:
Star Spangled Comics#1 (October 1941)
Courtney Whitmore:
Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E.#0 (July 1999)
Miss Martian:
Teen Titans#37 (August 2006)
In-story information
Notable aliasesMiss Martian
Courtney Whitmore
Sylvester Pemberton/Skyman
AbilitiesSylvester Pemberton
  • Superb athlete
  • Hand to hand combatant
  • Cosmic converter belt

Courtney Whitmore

  • Expert gymnast and kickboxer
  • Enhanced strength, speed, agility and stamina
  • Shooting star projection
  • Flight
  • Cosmic energy manipulation

Miss Martian To view all abilities click here:

Miss Martian’s abilitiesorWhite Martians

Fictional character history

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Sylvester Pemberton

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The original Star-Spangled Kid wasSylvester Pemberton,aGolden Agecharacter, created bySupermanco-creatorJerry Siegel.He adopted the identity to battleNazismduringWorld War II,and was unique in being a child with an adult sidekick, Stripesy a.k.a.Pat Dugan.[1][2]Both he and Dugan were superb acrobats along with having sufficient training in hand-to-hand combat, but the pair regularly bickered about which of them should get top billing.

Decades later, he changed his name toSkymanand ledInfinity Inc.[3]He was later killed byMister Bones's cyanide touch.

Courtney Whitmore

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Courtney is Pat Dugan's stepdaughter, who found Pemberton's gear in his belongings and donned the Cosmic Converter Belt, with a costume of her own design. She begins her career as the second Star-Spangled Kid to annoy Dugan as partial revenge for him marrying her mother and supposedly forcing the family to move from Los Angeles toBlue Valley, Nebraska.Dugan, a skilled mechanic, designs and buildsS.T.R.I.P.E.,amechawhich he rides in to accompany and protect her. Eventually, she joins theJSAand, after being givenJack Knight's cosmic rod, changes her identity toStargirl.

Miss Martian

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A third Star-Spangled Kid appears inTerror Titans#1 and is subsequently captured by the Terror Titans team for the Dark Side Club. The Star-Spangled Kid is forced to fight in a tournament against other meta-humans, going on to win the tournament. During the course of the storyline he appears to have a much stronger resistance to brainwashing than the other fighters, although he does eventually succumb. Later, it is revealed that he is the shape-shiftingMiss Martian,who is immune to the brainwashing and gradually frees the other combatants.[4]

Other versions

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  • An African-American child based on the Star-Spangled Kid, simply namedStars,appears inKingdom Come.This version wears a leather jacket, an American flag bandana, a T-shirt with an inverted American flag, and a cosmic belt in addition to wielding the Cosmic Staff. Additionally, he is accompanied by a muscular older man called "Stripes".
  • The Star-Spangled Kid appears inTiny Titans#38.

In other media

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  • The Sylvester Pemberton incarnation of the Star-Spangled Kid appears in theSmallvilletwo-part episode "Absolute Justice",portrayed by Jim Shield.
  • The Sylvester Pemberton incarnation of the Star-Spangled Kid appears in a photograph depicted in theStargirlepisode "Brainwave".

References

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  1. ^Green, Paul (2017).Encyclopedia of Weird War Stories: Supernatural and Science Fiction Elements in Novels, Pulps, Comics, Film, Television, Games and Other Media.McFarland & Co. pp. 165–166.ISBN978-1476666723.
  2. ^Benton, Mike (1992).Superhero Comics of the Golden Age: The Illustrated History.Dallas: Taylor Publishing Company. p. 184.ISBN0-87833-808-X.Retrieved1 April2020.
  3. ^Markstein, Don."The Star-Spangled Kid and Stripesy".Don Markstein's Toonopedia.Retrieved2 April2020.
  4. ^Terror Titans#6 (2008)
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