STARBRANDSTARBRAND
Real Name: Suzanne Selby
Identity/Class: Human mutate
Occupation: Prisoner;
former migrant worker, Roxxon limestone plant worker
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: Avengers (Black Widow/Natalia Romanova, Blade/Eric Brooks, Captain America/Steve Rogers, Captain Marvel/Carol Danvers, Ghost Rider/Robbie Reyes, She-Hulk/Jennifer Walters, Thor/Thor Odinson), Boy-Thing, Silver Surfer (Norrin Radd), Space Coyotes
Enemies: Firelord (Pyreus Kril),
Gladiator (Kallark), the Shi'ar, Terrax (Tyros)
Known Relatives: Unidentified daughter
(Starbrand)
Aliases: "Madam"
Base of Operations: Ravenstarr
Prison Galaxy;
formerly Kansas City, Kansas, USA
First Appearance: (mentioned): Avengers VII#27
(January, 2020);
(fully seen): Avengers VII#29 (March, 2020)
Powers/Abilities: As a host for the Star
Brand, Suzanne Selby could project interstellar energy and fly through
space unaided. In times of intense pain, Starbrand would assume a
flaming energy form and would lose control of the energy emanating from
her body.
Height: Unrevealed
Weight: Unrevealed
Eyes: Blue (glowing yellow when manifesting powers)
Hair: Strawberry blonde
History: (Avengers VII#30 (fb)) - Suzanne
Selby worked at a Roxxon limestone plant in Kansas City, Kansas for
fifteen years before the plant closed and moved to Madripoor. Out of
work, the pregnant Selby and her boyfriend were recruited by the Space
Coyotes, ex-S.H.I.E.L.D. agents who trafficked aliens. Smuggled into
the Shi'ar Empire alongside numerous other alien migrant workers, Selby
became a grape picker, barely making ends meet and not able to afford a
trip back to Earth. Not long after Selby was separated from her
boyfriend somewhere in the Reiggart System, Selby was caught by the
Shi'ar border patrol as she was picking krawberries for three imperial
credits a day. Detained as an illegal alien, Selby was taken to a
holding moon, where she remained for weeks until she was brought before
the Shi'ar Intergalactic Immigration Court and sentenced to three years
in the Ravenstarr Prison Galaxy with her unborn child sentenced to two
years, pending birth. While being transported to Ravenstarr, Earth's
Star Brand chose Selby as its latest host and its power exploded
outward from Selby's form. Destroying her transport craft, Selby, now
transformed into the new Starbrand, flew out into Ravenstarr as she
went into labor.
(Avengers VII#27 (fb) - BTS) - As Selby's Star Brand
power fluctuated during her labor, the power flared out, burning Star
Brand-like scars onto the foreheads of Shi'ar soldiers who retreated
from the Ravenstarr Prison Galaxy in an escape pod. Majestor Gladiator
of the Shi'ar Empire later visited the surviving Shi'ar officers that
had returned from Ravenstarr and saw the Star Brand-shaped burns on
their foreheads. Speaking to the captive former Ravenstarr prisoner,
the Brood Zeta 987-349, Gladiator was warned that "murder star would
brand him" by the Brood before Gladiator slaughtered the alien.
Gladiator then traveled into space towards Ravenstarr, seeing a Star
Brand-shape flare in the sky around the prison galaxy and informing his
subordinates to contact the Avengers.
As the Avengers prepared for
their mission into space, She-Hulk thought about recent cryptic
warnings that an all-seeing Daredevil had recently provided and how
Captain America thought the Star Brand might have something to do with
their impending space mission. Thinking of how the previous Star Brand
host had exploded, She-Hulk wondered if this new Starbrand might be
able to answer questions She-Hulk had about her new powers, hoping that
the new Starbrand was not as lost as she was.
(Avengers VII#28 (fb) - BTS) - Learning of the new
Starbrand, three former Galactus heralds (Silver Surfer, Firelord and
Terrax) banded together to find and destroy the new Starbrand.
(Avengers VII#27 - BTS) - Days after they ventured into the Ravenstarr Prison Galaxy, the Avengers found themselves trapped by the prisoners' magnetic webs and Captain America thought to himself how they had not heard from the Shi'ar in days nor had they had any contact with the new Starbrand other than seeing its effects. While Captain America subsequently battled a Brood-infected Thor, the lost Ghost Rider, Black Widow, Blade and Boy-Thing drove through the Ravenstarr Prison Galaxy, passing several prison planets with Star Brand-like burns.
(Avengers VII#28 - BTS) - Following the defeat of the
Brood-infected Thor, Captain America and Captain Marvel discussed how
they needed to find the new Starbrand and get back to Earth before Thor
lost whatever was left of his true self. Captain America felt that the
sooner they found the Starbrand, the sooner they could save their
teammate. When Ghost Rider and his group of Avengers were attacked by
the Silver Surfer, Ghost Rider confronted the Surfer and learned that
they both sought the new Starbrand. The Surfer suggested the Avengers
leave Starbrand to him but Ghost Rider refused, suggesting the Surfer
was scared of the Starbrand that none of them had yet met. The two then
battled, during which the Surfer commented that the Avengers wanted the
Starbrand because they were assembling the primordial forces whether
they realized it or not. The Surfer eventually caused Ghost Rider's
Hell-Charger to crash onto a nearby prison planet, at which the
Avengers received a communication from Gladiator informing them that he
had found the new Starbrand.
(Avengers VII#29) - When the
Hell-Charger was attacked by former Ravenstarr prisoners, Black Widow
donned her War Widow armor and fought them off, offering to spare his
life in exchange for information as to the whereabouts of the new
Starbrand. Before the prisoner could fully reveal the location,
however, Silver Surfer killed him and warned that the Avengers would
not get to find Starbrand. Insisting that the Avengers could not do
what was necessary involving the Starbrand, the Surfer accused the
Widow of letting entire worlds burn for the life of one human life,
tipping off the Widow that the new Starbrand was from Earth. Defeating
Black Widow, the Surfer explained that Starbrand's fate had already
been decided but he was soon engaged by Blade, who wore Boy-Thing as a
suit of armor to battle the Surfer. The heroes fought Silver Surfer
until a nearby prison planet exploded in Star Brand-shaped flames,
tipping all off to the new Starbrand's location. While Ghost Rider's
team of Avengers and Silver Surfer prepared to follow the stellar
energy pangs of the new Starbrand, Captain America's group was fighting
Terrax and Firelord, who insisted that the Star Brand should never have
existed in the first place. Fighting Terrax one-on-one, She-Hulk
thought how this new Starbrand needed the Avengers' help to control her
newfound powers and subsequently blasted Terrax with gamma energy as
Firelord remarked that the Avengers could not even protect their
teammate Thor, much less a Star Brand host. Firelord then proclaimed
himself the herald of the new Starbrand's death until his fight with
Captain Marvel was interrupted by the same Star Brand energy spike
witnessed by Ghost Rider's group elsewhere. As the Avengers realized
that the new Starbrand's powers had fully awoken, Gladiator confronted
Suzanne Selby and ordered her to stand down. Refusing, Selby blasted
Gladiator and expressed her pain and how she had not wished to be
possessed of the Star Brand's power. As Gladiator sentenced the
Starbrand to death, she insisted that she could not control her powers
when her pain grew and that she had not meant to earlier burn some of
the other Ravenstarr prison planets. Despite Starbrand's pleas,
Gladiator continued his sentence, adding to the death sentence Selby's
unborn child, prompting Selby to threaten to destroy the entire galaxy
to save her child.
(Avengers VII#30 (fb)) -
Refusing to allow Gladiator to harm her baby, Selby blasted Gladiator
with the Star Brand's energies while Gladiator offered him sympathies
and tried to explain that th Star Brand was too powerful to be allowed
free. Gladiator was then attacked by the Brood-infected Thor as Terrax
and Thor arrived on the scene and the exhausted Selby collapsed. Before
Terrax could kill Selby, Captain Marvel attacked him and reported back
to the other Avengers that she had found the new Starbrand. Silver
Surfer arrived soon after and, after seeing that Selby was pregnant,
attempted to halt Terrax's attack to discuss the matter but Terrax
opted to kill all present combatants. Ghost Rider, Blade, Boy-Thing and
Black Widow arrived moments later and Ghost Rider suggested getting
Selby into his Hell-Charger and out of there but Captain Marvel
informed Ghost Rider that Selby was in no state to be moved. Captain
Marvel then reported a medical emergency and Captain America and
She-Hulk arrived, warning the former Galactus heralds and Gladiator to
stay away from Selby. Surfer agreed to spare Selby but Gladiator
insisted that both Selby and her child were dead the moment the Star
Brand made Selby its host. Determined to help Selby, She-Hulk absorbed
Selby's pain-triggered Star Brand energy projections as Captain America
helped Selby deliver her daughter. The other Avengers battled Gladiator
and the Galactus Heralds while a laboring Selby announced that she
needed to get herself and her baby back to Earth. Unfortunately, Selby
died in childbirth as Captain America successfully delivered Selby's
newborn daughter.
Returning to Earth with
Selby's infant daughter, Captain America informed Black Panther how the
Star Brand had bonded with the pregnant Selby inside the Ravenstarr
Prison Galaxy. Black Panther remarked that he could imagine how that
went when Gladiator found Selby and Captain America replied that if
Black Panther thought Gladiator had tried to kill Selby, he was right.
As Captain America further explained Selby's story to Black Panther,
Black Panther revealed that she had been identified as Kansas resident
Suzanne Selby and informed the other Avengers of Selby's origins. Upon
hearing the story, Captain America informed Black Panther that Selby
had died in childbirth despite all efforts to revive her. Looking at
Selby's corpse, Captain America then asked Black Panther if had been
able to find Selby's next of kin but Black Panther replied that Selby
had none.
(Avengers VII#32 - BTS) - When Tony Stark returned to
the Avengers, he jokingly asked Thor if Suzanne Selby's daughter was
his child and wondered if Selby had disclosed her status during the
Avengers' encounter with her. Thor assured Stark that Selby's infant
daughter was not Stark's child and explained that while the Avengers
might have failed Suzanne Selby, they would fiercely protect Selby's
daughter.
Comments: Created by Jason Aaron, Ed McGuinness, Paco Medina and Mark Morales.
Suzanne Selby's height & weight was impossible to
approximate as she only shown either in flashback not near anyone whose
height & weight have been officially determined or in present
hunched over or laying down.
Profile by Proto-Man.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Starbrand (Suzanne Selby) has no known connections to:
images: (without ads)
Avengers VII#30, p14, splash page (Starbrand, main image)
Avengers VII#30, p11, pan3 (Suzanne Selby, headshot)
Avengers VII#30, p11, pan2 (Suzanne Selby pre-transformation)
Avengers VII#30, p13, pan4 (transformation)
Avengers VII#29, p18, pan3 (Starbrand in energy form)
Avengers VII#29, p20, splash page (Starbrand manifesting the Star Brand
power)
Avengers VII#30, p3, pan2 (Starbrand projecting stellar energy)
Appearances:
Avengers VII#27 (January, 2020) - Jason Aaron (writer), Ed McGuinness
(pencils), Mark Morales (inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Avengers VII#28 (February, 2020) - Jason Aaron (writer), Ed McGuinness
(pencils), Mark Morales (inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Avengers VII#29 (March, 2020) - Jason Aaron (writer), Paco Medina, Ed
McGuinness (pencils, inks), Mark Morales (inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Avengers VII#30 (March, 2020) - Jason Aaron (writer), Ed McGuinness
(pencils), Francesco Manna (pencils, inks), Mark Morales (inks), Tom
Brevoort (editor)
Avengers VII#32 (May, 2020) - Jason Aaron (writer), Ed McGuinness,
Francesco Manna (art), Tom Brevoort (editor)
First Posted: 05/17/2020
Last updated: 05/17/2020
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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