STARSHINE

Real Name: Landra

Identity/Class: Extraterrestrial (Galadorian) cyborg

Occupation: Spaceknight, soldier 

Group Membership: Spaceknights of Galador (Astra, Hammerhand, Javelin/Darin, Rainbow); Rom's Spaceknights Squadron (Rom, Terminator)

Affiliations: Archon, Mole Man (Harvey Elder), Outcasts (Boulder, Digger, Landslide, Water Witch), Torpedo (Brock Jones)

Enemies: Dire Wraiths (including the "Wise One"), Dr. Dredd (Wraith), Galactus (Galan), Heatwave, Mentus (Prime Director);
    formerly Mole Man, Outcasts, Terminator 

Known Relatives: None 

Aliases: "Golden Starshine"

Base of Operations: Clairton, West Virginia;
    formerly Galador 

First Appearance:  Rom#14/2 (January 1981)

Powers/Abilities: Starshine wielded Galador's living light, which she could project as eye beams that could stun, temporarily blind, burn through solid rock, banish individuals to limbo, or slay. Her light also enabled her to strip away Wraith disguises, revealing the shapeshifters' true forms not just to Starshine, but to any witnesses nearby. Her light also enabled her to access the memory banks of other Spaceknights, and could teleport herself and others across intergalactic distances in a matter of seconds.  

    Starshine had superhuman strength; its level was not quantified but presumably was a little less than the sturdier Rom, who could lift 15 tons. She also had the ability to fly, to survive indefinitely in outer space, and she was invulnerable to injury by conventional means thanks to her Plandanium armor. All of her powers derived from her heavily armored cybernetic exoskeleton, an electrically maintained flexible metallic armor, which included fluid “motors” that gave her strength. . Starshine’s central and autonomic nervous system were “genetically grafted” into a computerized cybernetic exoskeleton. Her brain was augmented by organic computer assemblies and kept alive in a bloodlike fluid that still had to be circulated through her body’s vital organs to be provided with essential enzymes and vitamins with trace elements. Certain components of the “blood’s” plasma-like fluid were added to by automatic machinery that required occasional replenishment, and eliminated the need for breathing. Although, as a cyborg, Starshine did not sleep, she occasionally self-induced a “shutdown” of all her major systems in order to give herself time to rest and dream. Starshine's Galadorian technology provided her with electrically maintained flexible metallic armor, which included fluid “motors” that gave her strength.

    Starshine was equipped with rocket pods mounted in twin nacelles on her back. The pods were electrically powered, low-density plasma engines with sufficient velocity to achieve solar system escape velocity (36 mile per second, out of atmosphere). Starshine could fly through atmosphere at a maximum speed of Mach 4 (about 3000 miles per hour) before heat buildup from friction caused detrimental effects to her external sensor arrays. Cool atmospheric re-entry was achieved through rocket-assisted deceleration. Starshine contained internal sensing devices that allowed her to locate space warps (topological folds in the space/time continuum that permit “shortcuts” across vast interstellar distances).

    Starshine’s armor was capable of withstanding temperatures from 8000 degrees Fahrenheit to –350 degrees Fahrenheit, and was a hermetically sealed, vacuum tight, seamless shell (including articulation). Her armor was capable of withstanding ballistic impacts of up to large antitank weaponry, and overpressures of up to 40 pounds per square inch (the equivalent of the blast effects of 1000 pounds of TNT at the range of 100 feet) without damage or impairment of functions. Starshine’s natural organs within her armor were augmented by automated micro-functioning circuitry. Starshine’s cyborg form was designed with numerous site of redundancy programming so that her body could not lose her various abilities through damage or malfuntion.  She presumably possessed a translator similar to Rom's, though perhaps built-in, to enable her to communicate with any sentient being within seconds.

Height: (armor) 6'2" (by approximation); (as humanoid) unrevealed
Weight: (armor) 580 lbs. (by approximation); (as humanoid) unrevealed 
Eyes: (as cyborg) Yellow visual sensors; (as humanoid) unrevealed
Hair: (as cyborg) None; (as humanoid) unrevealed

History: (Rom#1 (fb) - BTS) - Circa the late 1700s by Earth reckoning, the Dire Wraiths threatened Galador and her colonies. Millions of youths volunteered to defend their homeworld by being bonded into cyborg armor to become living weapons: the Spaceknights. However, only around 1000 were initially found to be compatible. One of these was Landra, who became Starshine, able to control Galador's "living light." She joined her fellow Spaceknights forming a defensive ring around Galador when the Wraiths invaded the home solar system, and after a long and arduous fight, the battle ended with the Wraiths routed and fleeing.

(Rom#13/2 - BTS) - With Galador saved, the Spaceknights hoped to have their humanity restored, but Galador's Prime Director reminded them that the Wraiths still threatened other, less protected worlds, and Rom, the first Spaceknight volunteer and respected for his heroism in the recent battle, rallied his fellow Spaceknights to remain cyborgs for a while longer, while they hunted the Wraiths to the end of the universe.

(Rom#20/2 (fb) - BTS) - Like her fellow Spaceknights, Starshine swore an oath never take an innocent life. 

(Rom#14/2 (fb) - BTS) - Landra sometimes forgot how her armor appeared to others, as she retained a strong memory of her human self.  

(Rom#14/2 -BTS) - Pursued by the Spaceknights, the Wraiths targeted Galador's outpost worlds and neighbors. As they hunted their quarry, the Spaceknights split into smaller squadrons, with Starshine accompanying Rom and Terminator.

(Rom#28 (fb) - BTS) - Starshine secretly always loved Rom.

(Rom#14/2) - Shortly after the trio destroyed a Wraith fleet in the D'Barrian satellite cluster, they received a distress call from Galador colony world Agricon, the agricultural world that Rom's beloved, Ray-Na, resided on. Racing to the planet, they arrived to find all seemingly well, with farmers tending the fields greeting their arrival with friendly waves and queries as to the progress of the war. Starshine began conversing with some children who expressed interest in her armor, but the conversation was abruptly curtailed when Terminator's black energy beams reduced the screaming children to twin piles of ash. Starshine yelled at Terminator in horror, and Rom accused him of being insane, but Terminator told them both that the children would have destroyed them had they tarried any longer, adding that Agricon was already lost. Rom's analyzer confirmed Terminator's claims, revealing the "farmers" to be disguised Wraiths. After dispatching the invaders, the Spaceknights flew to Agricon's capital, where they were confronted by Wraiths who had taken Ray-Na. Unwilling to be used against Rom, Ray-Na broke free, but her former captor shot and fatally wounded her. Rom ran to her and cradled her as she died, while Terminator and Starshine destroyed the Wraiths.  

(Rom#16/2) - Transiting space again, the trio of Spaceknights spotted a Galadorian hospital ship being attacked by Wraith Drakillars. Disinclined towards any mercy thanks to Ray-Na's recent demise, Rom began to efficiently eliminate the Wraiths using his neutralizer, a ruthlessness Terminator vocally approved of. Using her light eyes merely to blind the Wraith pilots so that they crashed into one another, Starshine expressed disdain at Terminator's "cold killer" admiration of Rom's current state, noting that she was content to let the Wraiths destroy themselves, albeit with her assistance. Starshine then queried why Terminator hurled himself recklessly into attacking Wraiths at close quarters, rather than striking from a safe distance as she and Rom did, further asking Terminator whether he wished to survive and claim his lost humanity. Terminator ignored her. 

    The battle ended, the trio entered the hospital ship through a hull breach and began a search for survivors. After many compartments filled only with corpses, they eventually located a small group who immediately cowered away from them. Thinking the survivors were scared by their mechanical appearance, Rom and Starshine tried to calm them, but one survivor, a physician acting as the group's spokesman, begged the Spaceknights help by killing them all as quickly as possible. Convinced it was the Wraith attack that had filled the survivors with unreasoning terror, Starshine approached them, ignoring the physician's insistence that she did not understand the situation and should keep back. Before she could touch the physician, Terminator grabbed Starshine and shoved her to the side, announcing that the physician was correct and the only help the Spaceknights could give was a swift and merciless death. As he said this, his eyebeams blasted, striking the ship's power core. Starshine called to Rom to stop Terminator, but it was too late. Rom and Terminator, the latter still half directing, half pulling Starshine as she screamed an enraged but impotent "No!", fled into space as the hospital ship exploded. 

    Setting down on a nearby asteroid, Starshine was about to turn her lightbeams on Terminator, but Rom intervened. Starshine berated him for defending a murderer who would destroy even his own people, accusing him of not being a man anymore, but a cold cyborg monster, bereft of humanity. This finally prompted Terminator to break his silence, asking Starshine if she had noticed the discoloration spreading over the skin of the survivors he had killed. When she admitted she had seen this, Terminator informed her that the Drakillars had not been seeking to destroy the hospital ship, but to infect it with the incurable Wraith plague. He then explained how his homeworld, Theyri, had been the first Galadorian world infected with the same plague, and how he had been the only survivor, saved by having the few cells yet to be infected grafted into spaceknight armor. Wordlessly, Starshine listened as Terminator explained that the physician had known the survivors had no hope of salvation, and risked infecting the rest of the Golden Galaxy if not destroyed. Terminator concluded by telling Starshine that her accusation was right: he was no longer a man, and the plague had ensured he would never again become one. Unlike her, he had no humanity left to return to.

(Rom#19/2 (fb) - BTS) -  Rom's energy analyzer detected a faint Wraith bioenergy trail stretching from the remains of the Galadorian hospital ship to the planet Thruvia, a pleasant world with technology and culture akin to medieval Europe, with castles and armored knights riding steeds. 

(Rom#19/2) - Landing near a castle, the trio were confronted by the lizard-riding Archon, Lord of Thruvia, who stated he had been forewarned of their coming and had taken a vow to protect his world from their ravages. Starshine was shocked, noting there had never been any enmity between Galador and Thruvia, but Terminator noted there was now, and tried to demonstrate the Spaceknights' strength by blasting Archon off his steed. However, Archon blocked the blast with his shield. Incredulous, Starshine claimed there was no metal capable of turning aside a Galadorian black light beam, just before Archon raised his lance and blasted them with sonic waves designed to paralyze the Spaceknights' nerves and circuits, swiftly rendering all three unconscious. They woke to find themselves bound by energy shackles, facing the king's assembled court. Starshine asked Rom why they were submitting when they could easily shatter the restraints any time they wished, and Rom informed her that he wished to learn why the previously friendly Thruvians had become hostile before he responded with aggression. Terminator then wondered aloud where the Thruvians had gotten hold of the technology that had been used against the trio. Saying they would only find out by asking, Starshine identified herself to Archon and demanded to know why they had been treated as enemies when they had come to save his world from evil. Removing his helmet, Archon called her a lying witch, making it clear he believed Galador had been destroyed by the Wraiths and that she and her companions were impostors. Archon called forth his advisor, the "Wise One," who had told him of Galador's downfall and foretold the false Spaceknights' arrival. Agreeing that there was deception at work, Starshine unleashed her light beams, which burned off the Wise One's disguise, revealing him to be a Wraith. As the Thruvians reeled in shock, Terminator destroyed the electro-shackles, then killed the Wraith, ignoring Rom's request to let him banish it. However, in his rage, Terminator's black light beams also damaged the castle. Archon raced forward intent on stopping Terminator, still wrapped up in his rage and blasting at the castle, but Terminator turned on him, angry at being confronted by Archon's Wraith-forged shield, and slew the king. Horrified, Starshine turned on Terminator, angrily decrying him as a murderer, adding that they had come to help the Thruvians, not destroy them. As Starshine knelt beside Archon's corpse, grieving, the ashamed Terminator admitted a madness had come over him, and agreed to return with them to Galador to face trial. 

(Rom#20/2) - On Galador, a somber assemblage of Spaceknights gathered to witness Terminator's trial. At the Prime Director's behest, Starshine announced her accusation against her brother Spaceknight, stating that he had murdered an innocent lifeform. Terminator admitted his actions, but to Starshine's surprise, Rom spoke up asking for mercy for Terminator. Starshine reminded Rom that Terminator had broken his Spaceknight oath regarding not killing innocents, but Rom reminded her that while all other Spaceknights were volunteers who chose to make the sacrifice to become Spaceknights, with the hope of one day having their humanity restored, Terminator's origin and ultimate fate were far different, making it unsurprising that he had become so cold and cruel. Though Terminator, convinced he would eventually lose control and kill again, told Rom not to defend him, Rom's words impacted on the Prime Director, who offered Terminator a choice of punishment: death or banishment. When Terminator elected for the former, Starshine was horrified. Having assumed the Prime Director would seek to rehabilitate Terminator, not kill him, she begged for Terminator to be spared, but the Prime Director overruled her. He summoned the living fire, which engulfed Terminator. All present shielded their eyes from the bright light, even Starshine, and when it faded, it seemed that the flame had consumed Terminator, leaving behind naught but ash. The Prime Director declared the trial over, a proclamation Starshine echoed as a question. Staring at the glowing spot Terminator had been standing on, Rom confirmed "Terminator is no more." No one in the room realized that the renegade Spaceknight Mentus had actually teleported Terminator away for his own sinister purpose, and Terminator's seeming demise prompted Rom to decide to leave Galador's star system on a solo mission pursuing the Wraiths further afield, a choice that Starshine queried but the Prime Director agreed to.

(Rom#25 (fb) - BTS) - Starshine left Galador to hunt Wraiths.    

(Rom#21/2) - Sometime later, after all the Spaceknights had departed, leaving the Prime Director protected only by the Angel Elite, Terminator attacked the Hall of Science and broke into the cryogenic chamber where his fellow Spaceknight's remaining human components were stored. He mused over some of the units, including Starshine's, then activated his eyebeams, telling himself he would forever destroy their dreams of having their humanity restored....

(Rom#21/2 - BTS) - Despite his ominous proclamation, Terminator merely stole one cryogenic canister, then returned to his new master, Mentus. The Angel Elite checked the cryogenic chamber and discovered all the other canisters, including Starshine's, were intact.

(Rom#25 (fb) - BTS) - Transformed by Mentus to look like Rom, Terminator "returned" to take over Galador's rule, and imprisoned the Prime Director. When other Spaceknights returned from the stars, he took them to Mentus, who captured them too and froze them in suspended animation, though they apparently remained somewhat aware of their condition and the passage of time.

(Rom#28 (fb) - BTS) - After ending the Wraith menace on the world she had been sent to, Starshine returned to Galador.

(Rom#25 (fb) - BTS) - Starshine was one of Mentus' victims, and languished in a frozen state for an undisclosed period, which to her seemed like an "eternity."

(Rom#25) - Eventually the true Rom returned to Galador, and freed the Prime Director, who in turn told him of the other Spaceknights' fate. Rom revived them all with his neutralizer. As the ice melted, the Spaceknights expressed joy at being freed, and Starshine, spotting Rom, correctly concluded he was their savior. They shared a brief but joyous reunion, but Rom informed them that they still had to deal with Mentus. Starshine and the other Spaceknights followed Rom into battle. They soon encountered Angel Elite who believed Terminator was the true Rom, and thus that the Spaceknights were all impostors, but on Rom's instructions, Starshine temporarily blinded them with her lighteyes, taking them out of the fight without harming them. 

    The Spaceknights then confronted Terminator, Mentus and the latter's Dire Wraith allies. Mentus fled as the Spaceknights battled the Wraiths, and Rom confronted his doppelganger. Both hesitated to blast the other with their neutralizers, fearing destroying the half of Rom's humanity contained therein, but Terminator decided it was better to live as a half-human than return to his previous form, completely bereft of humanity, and prepared to fire. Flying up, Starshine pleaded with him, admitting she had been wrong to castigate him in the past for taking a life, since it had been his own lifelessness that had turned him cold and cruel. Admitting her own error, she told him he was the one now in the wrong, seeking to deny Rom his rightful humanity, and reminding Terminator that it was not Rom's fault he had died and been resurrected in cold Spaceknight armor, but the Wraiths'. Pointing out that Mentus had him serving Wraithkind by turning him against the Spaceknights who were his friends, Starshine finally got through to Terminator, allowing him to break Mentus' control, and he turned his neutralizer on the Wraiths instead. Starshine watched as Rom welcomed Terminator back into the Spaceknights' ranks, and she and the other Spaceknights followed both of them in pursuing Mentus. They discovered the renegade lying lifeless next to the corpse of the Prime Director, but before they could mourn, the Prime Director's spirit rose from the bodies. He told them he had dealt with Mentus, and though this had slain his frail body, his spirit had ascended. However, though he felt he would soon be drawn to become part of some greater cosmic intellect, he had held off doing so to warn them of a deadly danger approaching Galador - Galactus!    

(Rom#26) - Galactus' worldship, Taa II, approached Galador, and Galactus exited, his arrival announced by his herald, Terrax. When the Spaceknights proved defiant, Terrax struck the ground with his axe, causing a shockwave that temporarily knocked them off their feet. Starshine watched as the Prime Director's spirit sought to confront Galactus, only to be swiftly absorbed instead, and she decried the possibility that the cosmic intellect he had predicted he would join with might be the planet-eater. Rom rallied the Spaceknights to Galador's defense once more, and Starshine cried that they would follow him wherever he led them. As they flew into battle, Terrax made the ground beneath them curl up to block their path, but Starshine burned straight through the obstacle with her lighteyes. 

    The Spaceknights attacked Terrax, but he recovered and blasted Rainbow with energy from his axe. Realizing Rainbow was dying, Starshine called futilely at Terrax to stop, then, as Rainbow called for Starshine to avenge her, the enraged Starshine turned her lighteyes on the villain. Moments later, Rom and Terminator left the battle against Terrax to confront the true threat, Galactus. For a moment Starshine wondered if they were fleeing, leaving the others to take on Terrax alone, but then she decided that she could not believe Rom would desert them. Terrax taunted her with the suggestion that Rom had chosen to save himself, angering Starshine further, but despite her defiant response, she secretly wondered where Rom and Terminator had gone. The Spaceknights and Angel Elite encircled Terrax, and Starshine taunted him in turn, stating that Galactus did not care if Terrax lived or died. Blinding him with her light, she added that Galactus had other heralds before Terrax, and would have others after he was gone. Raging at this, Terrax was swiftly overpowered by the Spaceknights. Moments after this small victory however, Terminator crashed to the ground, slain by Galactus. Starshine and the others were stunned, wondering what this would mean for Rom. 

(Rom#27) - Soon after, Rom returned with Galactus, announcing he had struck a deal with the world-eater to spare Galador. However, standing over Terminator's downed form, a mournful Starshine pointed out that Galactus had taken the lives of both the Prime Director and Terminator.  This last was news to Rom, and Starshine informed him of the manner of Terminator's demise. They watched as Galactus, seeking to demonstrate he bore them no malice now, had Terrax entomb Terminator's remains (and half of Rom's humanity). Starshine then queried what pact Rom had made with Galactus. When he told his fellow Spaceknights that he had promised to lead Galactus to an entire star system he could devour, they balked, with Starshine unhappy that Galador had purchased its existence by tossing Galactus the bones of other worlds. However, when Rom added that the system in question was the Dark Nebula, home of the Dire Wraiths, their disapproval turned instantly into acclamation, with Starshine hoping that one enemy of Galador would consume the other, and perhaps both would perish. 

    Galactus then teleported all the Spaceknights present, including Starshine, to his ship. Though doubting whether Galactus would keep his word, they remained on board as Rom led the ship to the Dark Nebula, and watched as Terrax disembarked to prepare things for Galactus. Looking outside, Starshine noted she had forgotten how insidiously evil the Dark Nebula was. Moments later, a terrified Terrax teleported back on board, and begged him to to enter the Nebula. Suspecting he had been tricked, but refusing to back down, Galactus teleported both himself and the Spaceknights to the surface of Wraithworld. They watched as he made repeated attempts to begin consuming the planet, only for it to fight back and thwart each try. As acid rain fell down, eating into even the Spaceknights' Plandanium armor, Starshine told Rom they had to leave before their armor dissolved about them, but he reminded her that Galador's fate hung in the balance. Angry, Galactus decided to try consuming the source of Wraithworld's power, its Black Sun. Watching him fly to the sun and grow in size to eclipse it, Starshine wondered which would consume the other, and the Spaceknights hastily returned to the relative safety of Taa II. Moments after reaching it, they witnessed a wearied and disheveled Galactus teleport on board, conceding the Dark Nebula was more than he could stomach. Initially angered at Rom for his perceived deception, Galactus heard Rom's rebuttal, and saw the funny side of the trick. Starshine asked Galactus if that meant he would keep his end of the bargain, and Galactus responded that he would,. and more. Mentus had moved Galador through space towards the Dark Nebula, and Galactus would move it from harm. Waving his hand, he emitted a light that blinded the Spaceknights temporarily, and they found themselves standing on an asteroid. Starshine wondered where Galactus had sent them, but Rom told her to scan her vector-circuits as he had done, to find their location. Realizing they were in the Golden Galaxy, where Galador should be, Starshine concluded Galactus had gone back on his word and consumed Galador, but Rom informed her that Galactus had relocated it in space, keeping it safe while denying them their homeworld.   

(Rom#28) - Starshine agreed with Rom that the Spaceknights could not devote their time to searching for Galador, for that would cause them to abandon countless worlds to Wraiths. Instead they needed to return to their mission while hoping their quest would one day lead them back to Galador. One of the other Spaceknights asked her how they might begin their request renew, and reach the worlds suffering from Wraith infestation. Starshine did not respond, but her lighteyes projected beams out to strike each of them, picking out the coordinates of worlds from their memory circuits, and then the light cocooned each individual Spaceknight and transported them through space with a speed defying imagination. Since she had completed her last assignment, and since she harbored secret feelings for Rom, Starshine decided to accompany him to Earth, though she informed her surprised companion that her presence was merely because two Spaceknights could eradicate Wraithkind more easily than one. 

    Rom took Starshine to Clairton, but the "locals," secretly replaced by Wraiths during his absence, reacted in fear at the presence of a second, unanticipated Spaceknight who might upset the ambush they had planned. Starshine noticed the behavior, but Rom believed they were merely scared because the only Spaceknight they knew was him. Playing along, the fake townspeople welcomed Starshine. Starshine suggested that either she or Rom should scan the populace for Wraith infiltrators, but the faux Torpedo took the chance of agreeing with her, claiming the locals had nothing to hide, then swiftly delayed any such action by pointing out the arrival of "Brandy Clark," a local Rom harbored romantic feelings for. Blinded by his love for her, Rom insisted his heart told him the locals were who they appeared to be, and blinded in turn by jealousy, Starshine failed to insist on carrying out a scan. "Brandy" invited Rom back to the Clark house to rest, while "Steve Jackson," her "boyfriend," told Starshine she was welcome too.

    By the lake next to the Clark house, the two Spaceknights unwittingly briefed their enemies on the fate of Galador, Mentus and the Dark Nebula. Maintaining the charade, the "humans" went inside, leaving Starshine to admit to Rom that she envied the closeness he had found with the humans, but insist that since their humanity was now taken from them, she and him should be close to each other now. Around dawn, Rom showed Starshine the Wraithfinder he had constructed, a 3-D replica of Earth with lights showing every place Wraiths were to be found. Starshine noticed that one of the lights represented Clairton, revealing the Wraiths were in town, but before they could figure things out, they were distracted by disguised Wraiths rushing to the house to inform them that "people" all over town were being dragged into the ground. The Spaceknights concluded that the Wraiths were behind these attacks, and the disguised Wraiths played along, pointing out that the attacks must be coming from the old mines that honeycombed the ground beneath Clairton. "Brandy" insisted on accompanying the Spaceknights, but Starshine derided the suggestion that she would go weaponless against the scourge of space. However, "Steve" produced Wraith weapons he claimed had been procured from the lairs of Wraiths Rom had previously driven away. When Rom told them he could not let them endanger themselves, Starshine changed her tune, telling him they had a right to fight for their world, secretly hoping  Brandy would fall in battle, leaving Rom to her. Angered, Rom raced off, intent on eliminating the threat before his human friends could get there, with Starshine close behind.

    Soon reaching the mines, the two Spaceknights entered. Rom informed Starshine that while the humans were not cowards or weaklings, he did not wish to have them rush into danger, but she thought to herself that Rom was denying the truth -- if something happened to Steve, Rom would feel he had the right to profess his love to Brandy, and so she similarly would have the right to profess her love if Brandy died. Deep underground the pair were confronted by a gigantic Murder-Mole, but though it knocked them both flying, Rom called forth his analyzer rather than his neutralizer, unwilling to hurt it if it proved indigenous to Earth. Exasperated, Starshine emitted a light flash from her eyes, forcing the light-sensitive creature to flee.  

    Continuing down the tunnels, the pair were attacked en masse by Subterraneans, but they too fled when Starshine unleashed her light. Learning from a scan that they were native to Earth, Rom told her not to harm them, and, with the Subterraneans dispersed, continued down the tunnels. As the Spaceknights tried to figure out how Earth could be home to multiple sentient species, they reached a large chamber, and were confronted by the Mole Man and his Outcasts. 

    On Mole Man's orders, the Outcasts attacked, but Starshine easily dodged Landslide and Water Witch's attacks, then incapacitated them with her lighteyes. Still disbelieving Rom's assertion that their foes were human, Starshine suggested they destroy them, and Rom chastised her for starting to sound as bloodthirsty as Terminator. The Spaceknights confronted Mole Man, and Rom told Starshine off when she again unleashed her light, blinding him. Hearing Rom say he was pledged to protect humanity, the Mole Man called forth Clairton's real residents, whom he had rescued, and they revealed that with his help, they had now pulled down underground all the impostors and defeated them. However, this last was disputed by Brandy and Steve's Wraith doppelgangers, who had followed the Spaceknights as promised and so evaded the purge. Calling out their defiance, they opened fire on Rom, but Starshine threw herself in the path of the beams and was fatally wounded. Rom summoned his neutralizer and swiftly banished the pair, then rushed to Starshine's side. Brandy had already reached her, and when Rom blamed himself for not scanning the townspeople when they arrived, Starshine told him it was her fault, admitting it was her jealousy of Brandy that had blinded her, and that she had encouraged "Brandy" to follow them into danger, almost hoping she would be killed and leave Rom for her. Moments later, she died in Rom's arms. 

(Rom#29) - The Clairton townsfolk held a somber funeral for Starshine, carrying her corpse to the town cemetery in a glass-topped coffin. Grieving, Rom told his fallen companion that he could not wake her from her endless sleep, but he could release the energies encased within her Spaceknight armor, so that her eternal soul could soar with the angels. He blasted her remains with his neutralizer, freeing her light essence from the armor which bound it. The Clairtonites watched in awe as a phantasm of light in Starshine's form rose from the grave, then vanished, leaving behind a darkened grave.

(Rom#36) - Some time later, after Rom had departed Clairton to track down Wraiths elsewhere on Earth, Brandy Clark came to realize how much she loved him. Missing him, she went to the cemetery to talk to the other person who had loved and lost Rom, Starshine. At Starshine's gravestone, she confessed her feelings for Rom. Moments later, to her shock, Starshine's glowing ghost appeared to her. Telling Brandy not to fear, Starshine told her they were sisters of the soul. When Brandy asked her how she could be there after dying, Starshine reminded her that Rom had freed her spirit, and told her that spirit wished Rom to be loved by both of them. She then transferred her powers to Brandy, and vanished. For a few moments Brandy thought she had imagined everything, but then her hand began to glow.

(Rom#40 (fb) - BTS) - Wraiths observed the power transfer from afar, and sent a warlock, Dr. Dredd, to use Brandy's desire against Rom.

(Rom#37) - Brandy dug up Starshine's grave, smashed the glass covering, and hauled the empty armor to the trunk of her car.

(Rom#38) - Brandy took the armor to a pharmaceutical lab in Clairton that was closed for the weekend, but was unsure what to do next. She asked herself aloud what she hoped to accomplish, and was surprised to be answered by a new arrival, who told her she wished to become a Spaceknight and to offer her love to Rom, and that for this, she would need the assistance of Dr. Dredd.

(Rom#39 (fb) - BTS) - Brandy agreed to let Dredd carry out a magical ceremony that would merge her with the armor.

(Rom#39) - Spotting the light in the lab window as he drove round town looking for Brandy, Steve Jackson investigated, and caught Dredd in the middle of the ceremony, with Brandy and the Starshine armor both floating off the ground, facing each other and surrounded by a corona of light.

(Rom#40) - Dredd held Steve trapped by a spell as he mystically merged Brandy with Starshine. The Torpedo arrived and tried to stop Dredd, but was too late, and was knocked unconscious by the new Starshine.

(Rom Annual#3) - Some months later, Hybrid undid the merger, presumably destroying what was left of Starshine's armor.

(Rom#73 - BTS) - The murderous second-generation Spaceknight destroyed the cryogenic vault containing the stored remains of the Spaceknights, including (presumably) Landra's.  

Comments: Created by Bill Mantlo (writer), Steven Grant (story suggestion) and Sal Buscema (artist).

    Starshine (and Terminator) also appear in the main story in Rom#20, but only as forms taken on by Dire Wraiths transformed by Mentus to torment Rom into seeking a way to return to Galador.

    I've included Dr. Dredd and Heatwave as enemies, despite them never meeting Starshine. I figure that you can consider anyone who uses your corpse for a black magic rite, or who destroys your remaining stored humanity (even if you are dead at the time), as being less than friendly. Though I've left out Brandy's appearances as Starshine, I felt it was relevant to include the issues up until Landra's armor became Brandy's, plus the issue where Hybrid destroyed it. In some respects, Landra died several times - slain in Rom #28, her human components were removed from the armor by the neutralizer in Rom #29, her spirit "gave up the ghost" (merged with Brandy?) in Rom #36, her armor was transferred to a new owner in Rom #40, and then was destroyed in Rom Annual #3, and the other half of her human remains were destroyed in Rom #73.

Profile by Loki.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Starshine is connected to, but should not be confused with

• Starshine, Brandy Clark, who took her armor @ Rom#1
• Starshine, Annara, her Galadorian successor @ Spaceknights#2

images: (without ads)
Rom #25, p16, panel 3 (main image)
Rom #26, p20, panel 2 (headshot)
Rom #21, 2nd story, p5, panel 3 (Landra's stored humanity)
Rom #25, p14, panel 1 (Starshine frozen in ice)
Rom #28, p2, panels 3-5, p3, panel 1 (Starshine scans and teleports the Spaceknights)
Rom #28, p21, panel 2 (Starshine is fatally wounded)
Rom #28, p22. panel 6 (Starshine dies in Rom's arms)
Rom #29, p3, panel 2 (Starshine's spirit is released from her armor)
Rom #36, p5, panel 8 (Starshine's ghost confronts Brandy)
Rom #36, p6, panel 3 (Starshine's spirit passes her light power to Brandy)
Rom #40, p15, panel 6 (Brandy merges with the Starshine armor)

Appearances:
Rom#14 (January 1981) - Bill Mantlo, Sal Buscema, Jo Duffy
Rom#16 (March 1981) - Bill Mantlo, Sal Buscema, Jo Duffy
Rom#19 (June 1981) - Bill Mantlo, Sal Buscema, Al Milgrom
Rom#20 (July 1981) - Bill Mantlo, Sal Buscema, Joe Sinnott, Al Milgrom
Rom#21 (August 1981) - Bill Mantlo, Sal Buscema, Joe Sinnott, Al Milgrom
Rom#25 (December 1981) - Bill Mantlo, Sal Buscema, Joe Sinnott, Al Milgrom
Rom#26 (January 1982) - Bill Mantlo, Sal Buscema, Joe Sinnott, Al Milgrom
Rom#27 (February 1982) - Bill Mantlo, Sal Buscema, Joe Sinnott, Al Milgrom
Rom#28 (March 1982) - Bill Mantlo, Sal Buscema, Joe Sinnott, Al Milgrom
Rom#29 (April 1982) - Bill Mantlo, Sal Buscema, Chic Stone, Mike Esposito, Frank Giacoia, Rick Magyar, Al Milgrom
Rom#36 (November 1982) - Bill Mantlo, Sal Buscema, Ian Akin, Brian Duffy, Ann Nocenti
Rom#37 (December 1982) - Bill Mantlo, Sal Buscema, Ian Akin, Brian Duffy, Ann Nocenti, Al Milgrom
Rom#38 (January 1983) - Bill Mantlo, Sal Buscema, Ian Akin, Brian Duffy, Ann Nocenti, Al Milgrom
Rom#39 (February 1983) - Bill Mantlo, Sal Buscema, Ian Akin, Brian Duffy, Ann Nocenti
Rom#40 (March 1983) - Bill Mantlo, Sal Buscema, Ian Akin, Brian Duffy, Ann Nocenti, Al Milgrom
Rom#73 (December 1985) - Bill Mantlo, Steve Ditko, Joe Sinnott, Mike Carlin

First Posted: 02/27/2017
Last updated: 02/27/2017

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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