Marvel Comic Books History: Who Is Starbrand?

Who is the most powerful Avenger ever? Starbrand, of course, the space-time entity with a long Marvel history. The cosmic forces of the Marvel Multiverse are constantly pitting themselves against each other. From primordial beings like Death and Eternity to all-knowing races like the Beyonders, everyone seeks to control their own corner of the Multiverse.

Beyonders are infamous for orchestrating the Secret Wars. But they’re not the only omnipotent Marvel meddlers. The Builders are actually older and more powerful! However, what’s an omnipotent extraterrestrial race without their world-ending super-powered weapon? This is where Starbrand comes into play. So who exactly is Starbrand? Let’s start with the character’s complex origins.

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Starbrand’s Marvel Publication History

Star Brand is the symbol itself, referred to as a glyph. When an individual is imbued with this power, they become the Starbrand. The character and concept are from a largely forgotten era of Marvel comics history when Marvel wanted to ground its stories in real life. No magic, no mythology. So, naturally, a cosmic-powered entity like Starbrand popped up.

As a product of Jim Shooter’s New Universe books, the Star Brand debuted in 1986 and lent its power to four people, with its main owner being Kenneth Connell. Later, in 2008, Warren Ellis reimagined the rules of the Star Brand even further, adding more extraterrestrial lore to the glyph. Most recently, in 2013, Jonathan Hickman reintroduced Starbrand into the main Marvel continuity of Earth-616. But that was only the beginning of the trouble.

Kevin Connor as the First 616 Starbrand

What’s so dangerous about the Star Brand’s power? Well, the bearer’s potential for energy and matter manipulation is nearly infinite. That means the Starbrand, at full power, can not only transmute matter itself but also harness healing power and any kind of energy blast imaginable. On the other hand, the potential for horrific destruction is also a possibility.

When the Star Brand chose Kevin Connor as its Earth-616 host, his ascension into Starbrand annihilated his entire university and the surrounding town. Everything in Kevin’s vicinity was reduced to smoldering ash. With great cosmic power comes a big ol’ learning curve. If you’re thinking it sounds like Kevin wasn’t completely ready for the Star Brand, you’d probably be right. But circumstances forced the Star Brand’s hand in choosing someone quickly.

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The Builders and the Last White Event

Remember the Builders mentioned above? They’re described as the first children of the Enigma Force. That’s why the Builders rank so high among multiversal beings. But even before the intimidating Builders, the universe was home to two opposing forces: the classic binary of light and dark. In opposition to Knull’s darkness (yes, the same Knull responsible for Gorr’s Necrosword and the Venom symbiotes), light gathered itself into the Enigma Force.

When the Enigma Force chooses a champion, that individual becomes Captain Universe. In their ongoing rivalry, the God of Light stands against the King in Black in an eternal tug of war. And as children of Captain Universe, the Builders are a planetary defense system. They create life and give it order.

Riding the Superflow

Where do Builders live? Well, technically, as the omnipotent multiversal race they are, the Builders are everywhere and everywhen. But their homebase is the Superflow. The Superflow is like the connective tissue between universes. It’s where abstract ideas meet physical reality. Builders employ four main types of super-powered beings to help create, maintain, and judge lifeforms: Starbrands, Nightmasks, Justices, and Cyphers.

These heralds appear when a world enters the “newuniversal structure,” a designation that means this world’s influence will reach into the Multiverse. Once this level is achieved, Starbrands and the others are dispatched from stations within the Superflow. In what’s called a White Event, they’re assigned a planet to watch over and usually, that’s that. They protect the peace and report back to the Builders. But when the Beyonders complicated matters, their incursions caused mayhem in the Superflow. During the Last White Event, the Builders tried to stop multiversal collapse by terminating multiple universes. Amid all the pandemonium, an unprepared human like Kevin Connor was selected as a Starbrand.

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Starbrand and the Avengers (and Mephisto!)

While Kevin Connor’s initiation as a Starbrand was a complete disaster, he did eventually join the Avengers alongside Adam Blackveil, Earth-616’s Nightmask. Kevin and Adam helped the Avengers and other super heroes during the Builders War. They even attended college together after the Multiverse’s restoration! Sadly, Robbie Reyes accidentally killed Kevin using the Ghost Rider’s Penance Stare. With that, the Star Brand was loose again.

For unknown reasons, the Star Brand latched onto Suzanne Selby, a human refugee in the Shi’ar Galaxy. Suzanne also happened to be pregnant. Though she died in childbirth, she passed her powers on to her baby, whom the Avengers took in and named Brandy. While Brandy is still a young super hero, she has already accomplished a lot. As an adolescent, she teamed up with alternate reality versions of Rocket Raccoon and Groot. Then, she helped the Avengers defeat Mephisto, whose latest plot involved using the Multiversal Masters of Evil to kill the Stone Age Avengers and prevent super heroes from ever existing. Thanks Brandy!

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Has your brain officially gotten lost in the Multiverse? Perhaps the Star Brand even fried those synapses a bit? You’re not alone. Incursions and cosmic power are a tricky business.

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