Darkstar (Marvel Comics)

hideThis article has multiple issues. Please help or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these template messages) This article's lead section may be too short to adequately summarize the key points. Please consider expanding the lead to provide an accessible overview of all important aspects of the article. (January 2016) This article describes a work or element of fiction in a primarily in-universe style. Please to explain the fiction more clearly and provide non-fictional perspective. (August 2018) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) The topic of this article may not meet Wikipedia's general notability guideline. Please help to demonstrate the notability of the topic by citing reliable secondary sources that are independent of the topic and provide significant coverage of it beyond a mere trivial mention. If notability cannot be shown, the article is likely to be merged, redirected, or deleted. Find sources:  –  ·  ·  · scholar · JSTOR (August 2018) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

Darkstar
Darkstar
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Champions #7 (August 1976)
Created by	Tony Isabella (writer) George Tuska (artist)
In-story information
Alter ego	Laynia Sergeievna Petrovna Krylova
Species	Human Mutant
Team affiliations	X-Corporation Soviet Super-Soldiers Winter Guard Siberforce Champions of Los Angeles Exiles (Earth-616) KGB
Partnerships	Vanguard Titanium Man Crimson Dynamo Griffin
Notable aliases	Tyomni Zvyozda (Russian translation of codename); formerly "Great Beast" (with Vanguard & Ursa Major)
Abilities	Darkforce manipulation Flight Teleportation Concussive blasts Ability to create solid constructs composed of Darkforce energy

Darkstar (Laynia Petrovna) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. She has been depicted as a mutant superheroine, and a member of various super-teams in her career, including X-Corporation and Champions of Los Angeles.

Publication history[]

Darkstar first appears in Champions #7 (August 1976), and is created by Tony Isabella and George Tuska.^[1] She becomes a regular character in Champions for the remainder of the series's brief run, though she never joins the titular supergroup. A memo from series writer Bill Mantlo reveals that he intended for her to be a "floating" member who would come and go from the book as the occasion called for.^[2]

Fictional character biography[]

Laynia Petrovna and her twin brother Nikolai Krylenko were born in Minsk. When she grew up, she became a special operative of the Soviet government.

Champions[]

Darkstar joins a Soviet super-team recruited to bring Natasha Romanoff (the Black Widow) back to the USSR.^[3] She switches sides^[4] and then fights alongside the Champions.^[5] Iceman is smitten with her, but Laynia does not reciprocate his feelings.^[2] She helps the Champions on a few more missions before returning to Russia.^[6]

In Russia's employ[]

Darkstar becomes a member of the Soviet Super-Soldiers with her brother Nikolai (alias Vanguard) and the Crimson Dynamo. The Soviet Super-Soldiers battle Iron Man and Jack of Hearts on the moon, but wind up helping them against renegade Rigellians led by Commander Arcturus.^[7]

Later, Darkstar and Vanguard are sent along with new Soviet Super-Soldier Ursa Major by the KGB to defeat Sergei (aka Presence). Darkstar and Vanguard learn that Sergei is their father, and that Professor Phobos had exploited the Super-Soldiers. Darkstar helps free Sergei and Starlight, and defeat Phobos.^[8]

The Soviet Super-Soldiers are then sent by the Soviet government to Khystym to battle the Gremlin. They fight the Space Knights Rom and Starshine, but later ally with them against the Dire Wraiths. The Super-Soldiers befriend the Gremlin instead of fighting him.^[9]

Afterwards, the Soviet Super-Soldiers agree to help bring Magneto to justice. They fight the Avengers, but turn against the Crimson Dynamo when it is revealed that he had been manipulating events.^[10]

Darkstar, Vanguard, and Ursa Major defect to the United States seeking political asylum. They arrive at Avengers Island to ask for Captain America's help. They are beaten nearly to death by the Supreme Soviets, who had disguised themselves as members of the Avengers. The comatose subconscious minds of the Super-Soldiers form a "Great Beast" that follows the Supreme Soviets back to the USSR and tries to kill them. Captain America persuades the Great Beast to stand down, and the three Super-Soldiers later regain consciousness and recover from their injuries.^[11]

The Soviet Super-Soldiers are captured and returned to the Soviet Union. They are rescued by Blind Faith and the Exiles (not to be confused with the reality-hopping team the Exiles), whom Darkstar joins.^[12]

When the Supreme Soviets (who changed their name to People's Protectorate) are rechristened the Winter Guard, Darkstar is recruited back into the team.^{[volume & issue needed]} When that team disbands, Darkstar and Vanguard join a Russian mutant team,^{[volume & issue needed]} and later join forces with their father, the Presence.^{[volume & issue needed]}

When Vanguard dies on the Starbrand mission led by Quasar, Darkstar and the Presence decide to kill Quasar, who allows them to believe that they have succeeded while he has left Earth.^[13]

Death[]

Darkstar joins the Paris branch of X-Corporation,^[14] in which she is possessed by Weapon XII, a creation of the Weapon Plus Project, and subsequently killed by Fantomex. A funeral is held at Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, where she is buried. She is temporarily resurrected by means of the Transmode Virus to serve in Selene's army of deceased mutants during their assault on the mutant nation of Utopia.^[15]

New Darkstars[]

A new, red-haired Darkstar named Sasha Roerich^[16] who is genetically modeled to resemble Petrovna first appears as a member of the Winter Guard in Hulk #1. After being altered again by The Presence, she is transformed into a multi-tentacled Darkforce beast, before being killed by Red Guardian.^[16]

With Sasha's death, Reena Stanicoff takes over the role.^[16] She is killed during an attack on Winter Guard headquarters by a Dire Wraith, who then assumes her form.^[17] Although the Winter Guard fends off the attack, her death is subsequently covered up by the government.

Laynia Reborn[]

The Dire Wraith who assumed Reena's form is suddenly overwhelmed and taken over by Darkforce energy. Petrovna seizes control of the creature and resurrects herself.^[17] She reunites with her brother Vanguard and returns to active duty alongside her brother and Ursa Major.^{[volume & issue needed]} She fights Hyperion.^[18] She is later blasted into space with other members of the Winter Guard by the Intelligencia, but manages to survive.^[19]

Darkstar is present when the Winter Guard is reassembled.^[20]

Powers and abilities[]

Darkstar is a mutant who can psionically access the extra-dimensional energy of the Darkforce dimension, which grants her a number of superhuman abilities. She is connected to the dimension from her consciousness being split between her physical body and its Darkforce representation, both symbiotically linked. She can utilize the Darkforce for various purposes, such as causing Darkforce to behave like either matter or energy. She can project Darkforce as simple, mentally-controlled solid objects, possessing the density of steel, such as pincers, rings, columns, and spheres, or as a beam of concussive force. If Darkstar is rendered unconscious, any Darkforce constructs of her making immediately dissipate. Darkstar can teleport herself and up to three others by opening a portal into the Darkforce dimension and travelling through it; the maximum distance she can teleport has never been revealed. Because crossing the Darkforce dimension disorients her sense of direction, and the light of Earth blinds her for several seconds upon reemergence, traveling in this manner is risky.

Darkstar can levitate herself and fly at subsonic speeds by generating a virtually invisible portal into the Darkforce dimension along the contours of her body without passing through it, then balancing the attractive force of the dimension against that of the Earth's gravity. The upper limits of her powers are unknown.

Darkstar is a skilled hand-to-hand combatant, having been trained by the KGB and by Black Widow. She is fluent in both Russian and English.

While the original Darkstar's costume was designed by the Soviet government and was made of a synthetic stretch fabric insulated against the cold, the other two Darkstar costumes are composed of Darkforce material.^[16]

Other versions[]

Civil War: House of M[]

Darkstar is seen as a member of the Soviet Super-Soldiers.^[21]

Exiles[]

Different versions of Darkstar have been encountered by the Exiles:

• On Earth 3470, the native timeline of Heather Hudson of the dimension-jumping Exiles, the Soviet Union still exists. Darkstar is part of the Soviet Super-Soldiers.^[22]
• An alternate version of Darkstar was shown in yet another universe. She was a member of the Republican Guard, Russia's superhuman team, alongside Crimson Dynamo, Omega Red, Gremlin, and the Titanium Man.^[23]

In other media[]

• Darkstar appeared in the X-Men animated series. In the episode "Red Dawn", she is initially the mutant enforcer for a group of Russian generals seeking to reestablish the Soviet Union with the aid of Omega Red. After witnessing the crimes committed by Omega Red, Darkstar rebels against the generals and sides with the X-Men and Colossus.
• Darkstar appears in the Avengers Assemble episode "Secret Avengers", voiced by Laura Bailey.^[24] She appears as a member of the Winter Guard.
• Darkstar appears in the Marvel Future Avengers anime series as a member of the Winter Guard, voiced by Eri Saito in Japanese and Kari Wahlgren in English.^{[citation needed]}

Notes and references[]

External links[]

• Darkstar (Laynia Petrovna) at the Marvel Universe wiki
• UncannyXmen.net Spotlight On Darkstar