Prince Gavyn
1905 - Prince Gavyn is born the Crown Prince of Throneworld.
1928 - 23-year-old Gavyn is betrayed by his royal advisers & is cast to Earth through a wormhole.
1932 - 27-year-old Gavyn, posing as an earth scientist, creates his Cosmic Rod & becomes the first Starman.
1941 - 36-year-old Gavyn. joins the Justice Society when they are formed after the attack on Pearl Harbor, revealing his alien origins to his teammates.
1945 - WW2 ends.
1948 - 43-year-old Gavyn is able to reverse-engineer the wormhole that brought him to earth and returns to the Throneworld with the Justice Society. They defeat the usurpers, freeing his people, and install his sister on the thone. He stays on his planet as his teammates return to Earth.
The name "Starman" is actually one of the most expansive legacies in DC comics. No fewer than TEN different characters have used the name, and several of them are actually really important to the overall history of the DC universe. Our goal was to focus on the most important versions of Starman and to find a way to make each new iteration visually and creatively distinct while still making sure we honor the overall history of the name. To that end, we've created five different heroes that use the name, each from a different era. some of them are directly from the comics, others are amalgams of more than one version of Starman.
In this case, we've combined the characters Ted Knight, the original Starman, and Prince Gavyn, the first alien version of the hero. This is happening very specifically because we don't want a character that exists during World War II to have any familial connections to any modern heroes, or it will disrupt our timeline. Ted Knight exists in our timeline as a member of the All-Star Squadron, but he will have a different costume. Meanwhile, his costume will be worn by this character, who has Ted's appearance, but Gavyn's story.
In this case, we've combined the characters Ted Knight, the original Starman, and Prince Gavyn, the first alien version of the hero. This is happening very specifically because we don't want a character that exists during World War II to have any familial connections to any modern heroes, or it will disrupt our timeline. Ted Knight exists in our timeline as a member of the All-Star Squadron, but he will have a different costume. Meanwhile, his costume will be worn by this character, who has Ted's appearance, but Gavyn's story.
(This)Starman's Comic HistoryThe original Starman, Ted Knight, is one of the classic legacy characters in DC, as important in his time as Batman and Superman are today. He debuted in 1941 in the pages of Aventure Comics, a creation of comic legend and eventual Justice League creator Gardner Fox. He was a scientist that invented the Gravity Rod, a tool that granted him superpowers. He was a founding member of the Justice Society of America, as well as one of the main members of the All-Star Squadron. He is essentially the patriarch of one of the largest heroic legacies in comics.
Meanwhile, the character Prince Gavyn was an entirely new take on Starman. He debuted in 1980, also in Adventure Comics. He was a deposed alien prince with a variety of powers and was supposedly killed during the Crisis of Infinite Earths, although James Robinson's Starman vol 2 established that he actually wound up empowering another Starman character, Will Payton. |
Our Starman StoryThis version of Starman is meant to be our version of the original character. His adventures take place during World War II, alongside the rest of the original Justice Society. This being the case, it became absolutely necessary for us to have him in the original Starman costume... it's just such a perfect time capsule of a costume, so perfectly representing that era of science fiction. To have a character wear it in any other era would simply not be as satisfying.
But of course, Ted Knight has children who play roles in the modern timeline, so he simply can't be active during WWII. We've already designed a team for characters in this position; our take on the All-Star Squadron. If Ted isn't the hero wearing this costume during wartime alongside the Justice Society, then who is it? Obviously, the answer was Prince Gavyn. He was a less-popular version of Starman, but his story actually fits with this original version of the character really well. This costume can absolutely be worn by a deposed alien prince who has found a new home on Earth. It takes the weird Flash Gordon vibe of this costume (which I happen to love) and makes it feel more narratively relevant. Gavyn introduces the science of the Gravity-Rod to Earth, serving with his fellow heroes during the War. We introduced the idea that he actually does eventually retakes his position as the ruler of Throneworld, abdicates the throne to his sister, choosing to stay on as her main advisor. Combine that story with the very particular look of Ted Knight's costume, and you get a very specific notion of who the character is. He becomes a fantastic beginning to the legacy of Starman. |