The Inspiration Behind CW’s Stargirl | Power Origins
In Stargirl, the CW’s latest superhero series, a new generation of champions emerges. The TV show stars a number of DC Comics characters, including Stargirl, who is based on Geoff Johns’ comic book heroine. Courtney Whitmore, a teen who teams up with her new stepfather, Pat Dugan, to track down the villains who wiped out a previous collection of heroes, the Justice Society of America.
Courtney’s motivation isn’t entirely altruistic: she believes her father, who vanished the day the team perished, was a member of the crime-fighting team. She meets new heroes along the road who will inherit the Society’s capes and cowls.
Geoff Johns has told the story of how Stargirl came to be so many times that he doesn’t mind telling it again. Here’s everything you need to know about the character’s origins in real life and in the show if you haven’t heard it before.
The Inspiration Behind CW’s Stargirl
Stargirl was developed by Johns in his first comic book series, Stars and Stripe, which was published in 1999. Part of the inspiration for the character came from 1941’s Star Spangled Comics, which featured a juvenile hero and an adult sidekick. The other source of inspiration was a more personal one.
The Stargirl series was inspired by a tragic event: Geoff’s sister, who perished in the TWA Flight 800 accident in 1996. As a foreign exchange student, she was on her way to France. Johns paid tribute to her by inventing the irrepressible Stargirl, who was always ambitious and unstoppable.
The Origin Of Stargirl In The Show
Stargirl’s origin narrative in the 1st Ep of Stargirl has parts from the comic book. Courtney Whitmore, aka Stargirl, is a regular adolescent with substantial gymnastics and martial arts training. Courtney Whitmore finds her stepfather’s secret life and unintentionally learns something dark about her new school. The most significant difference is that, on the show, Courtney finds the Cosmic Staff among Pat Dugan’s things, rather than the Cosmic Converter Belt.
The Cosmic Converter Belt or the Cosmic Staff are what give Courtney’s superpowers as Stargirl in the comic book and in the series. The Cosmic Staff appears to have a mind of its own and some degree of sentience, similar to Dr. Strange’s cap, which is a new twist in the show that you didn’t read about in the comics. The Cosmic Staff continues to try to compel Courtney to act, but it does so by being more violent than Courtney would desire. One more mystery to be solved as Stargirl progresses is why the Cosmic Staff even reacts to Courtney and refuses to work for anybody else.
