| Star-Striker | |
|---|---|
 | |
|
Real name |
Beverly Banks (née Brighton) |
|
Age |
35 years old |
|
Alignment |
Good |
|
Superpowers |
None |
|
Origin of powers |
– |
|
Family/marital status |
Married with 2 kids |
|
Civilian occupation |
Executive manager at Multinational Intellectual Logistics & Financing |
|
Appearance |
Medium height, toned body, big breasts, big ass, fair complexion, short wavy brown hair, green eyes |
Leader of the Supermoms, and arguably the main character in most of the stories.
Her superhero persona is a play on the archetypes of American superhero comics (especially, patriotic-themed heroes like Captain America or DC and Marvel's Miss Americas). The skimpiness of her costume is a subtle nod to American cape comics' traditions of female costume design, especially how they often become a lot skimpier as a teen character reaches adult age.
Biography[]
Beverly Brighton was always fascinated by superheroes, and although she had no superpowers of her own, was determined to become one. She created her own costume and started training her body to peak physical condition. At the age of 14, Beverly decided it's time, and tried applying to various superhero teams – but was rejected every time due to her young age. Not one to back away after such a minor setup, she decided to form a superhero team of her own. After putting up flyers, she got several responses from young superheroines her age, and thus, the Teen Queens were born.
After the Teen Queens disbanded, Beverly got a job at Multinational Intellectual Logistics & Financing, quickly working her way up the corporate ladder to the lucrative position of a high-ranking executive manager. During this time, she dated several men (including superhero Gunner Graves), but these relationships didn't last long. Until at a corporation-organized charity dinner, Beverly met a recently divorced Steve Banks, and soon it was wedding bells for the young couple. In a couple of years they already had two children, Betsy and Ben.
In the events described in Supermoms #1, Beverly returned to being Star-Striker, becoming the valiant leader of Teen Queens' new iteration – the Supermoms!
Appearances: Supermoms ##1-4, Star-Striker ##1-5, Star-Striker #1 Condensed, Diva #1, Kaiju #1, Kaiju #2 (mentioned), Tropica #1 (mentioned), Mrs. Evil #1, Short #1, Sampler #1, Holiday Special #1.
Powers[]
Star-Striker is a peak athlete, skilled in acrobatics and multiple martial arts. However, Beverly makes sure not to overtrain her body, so she looks more like a Sports Illustrated cover girl than a Flex cover girl, so to say.
Star-Striker's greatest asset, however, is being a brilliant strategist and tactician. She can quickly assess the situation at hand, see the big picture, and determine the best course of action for each of her teammates. Many a battle was won thanks her quick and creative thinking. She issues her commands using the Crypto-Communicators – gilded oval-shaped devices that are integrated into the Supermoms's costumes.
Costume[]
As most Supermoms, Beverly wears the same costume she wore as a Teen Queen, but it looks much more skimpy and lewd on her voluptuous matured body. She decided to keep wearing it mostly for nostalgia's sake, and also partly due to the insurmountable amount of bureaucracy and paperwork required by the Grand Registry to change a superhero's official costume.
Star-Striker's costume consists of a blue tube top, blue shorts with a Crypto-Communicator on the belt area, blue thigh-high heeled boots with large white stars on the sides, blue elbow gloves with white stars on the sides, a blue domino mask, and a long flowing red-and-white striped cape. The heroine's ability to act as an efficient melee fighter in such an impractical costume is a testament to her skills.
Personality[]
Beverly is a heroic woman, never the one to stand on the sidelines while someone's being hurt or unprotected. While not exceptionally booksmart in the academic sense, Beverly is a very intelligent, level-headed and down-to-earth person. Strong-willed and assertive, she's the type of woman who prefers doing things herself than wait for them to be done by others. However, in stiuations requiring teamwork, as a natural born leader with good problem-solving skills, she can quickly determine the best course of action for those in her command.
Organizing, improving and managing things isn't just part of Beverly's day job, it's her true calling. Too many times has Beverly chosen to spend her time and effort on perfecting something, just because nobody else has been arsed to do it. This passion also results in her constant and diligent efforts towards self-improvement, with Beverly never being satisfied with her current knowledge, skill set and physical form. It may be said that Beverly can't stand imperfection, though she's never fanatical about it.
Some things can make Beverly lose her temper, and she may fume for a whole day, but she never lets it cloud her judgment in important affairs. Her penchant for self-improvement often makes her dissatisfied with herself, however she uses these feelings as inspiration to try harder.
One of Beverly's guilty pleasures is dumping a big part of her executive's salary into expensive and exquisite lingerie. Her husband doesn't mind, though.
Family[]
Steven Watterson "Steve" Banks[]
Beverly's husband. Age: 35 years old. Steve is a stay-at-home dad, with a yet unspecified freelance job (artist? writer? programmer?). He is laid back and easygoing, and generally a fun guy to be around. It was one of the reasons Beverly married him, though it has its downsides. Steve being so carefree and nonchalant means that most family problems and responsibilities fall on Beverly's shoulders. Basically, she wears the pants in this household. But with her energetic personality of a leader, she wouldn't have it any other way. While Steve's childish attitude sometimes infuriates her, Beverly loves him to bits.
Recently, Beverly started feeling jealous when Steve watches Star-Striker's heroic deeds on TV. She understands that it's stupid, but can't help feeling jealousy towards her own alter ego.
In a future issue, it's planned to be revealed that Steve's first wife was Victoria Timberlake, Beverly's worst rival in high school. This news comes as a shock for Beverly who hasn't seen Victoria since school and hasn't gotten over her contempt and resentment towards her. However, later, after bonding during a supervillain attack, the two women unexpectedly become best friends, much to Steve's horror.
Appearances: Supermoms ##1-2, Supermoms #3 (mentioned), Star-Striker #1, Star-Striker #1 Condensed, Star-Striker #3, Star-Striker #5, Mrs. Evil #1 (mentioned), Sampler #1.
Elizabeth Ross "Betsy" Banks[]
aka Kid Striker. Beverly and Steve's daughter. Age: 14 years old. Betsy is a spitting image of Bev when she was 14, except for her long, dyed-blonde hair. Betsy inherited her mother's athleticism, and is the head cheerleader of Sapphire City Magnet School. While not as exceptionally smart and cunning as her younger brother, she's definitely not an airhead, seemingly also inheriting Beverly's energy and organizing skills. Betsy's much more pragmatic and ruthless in reaching her goals, though, never the one to be stopped by any obstacle on her way. She's not a bad or evil person, but she's won't shy away from using dirty and underhanded methods in getting what she wants, a tactic that got her the position of head cheerleader.
Betsy idolizes Star-Striker, not knowing her idol is secretly her own mother. After the emergence of the Supermoms, she quickly joined a small Star-Striker fan club in her school, and after a long and ingenious campaign of diplomacy and intrigue, blackmail and charm, ended up emerging as president of the sole unified Official Star-Striker Fan Club of Sapphire City. ...There are times when Beverly gets a bit scared by her daughter's obvious political skills.
Not content with that, Betsy wanted to become a superhero (or at least, a sidekick) herself – much to her mother's chagrin, since Beverly considered superheroics not a wise and safe career choice for her daughter. However, Betsy was persistent, and after creating her own costume and assisting Star-Striker at a couple cases, managed to become the reluctant heroine's official sidekick. She still doesn't know Star-Striker's secret identity, though.
Thomas Evelle is Betsy's lab partner at school. They also get acquainted in their secret identities as Kid Striker and Evil Boy, and treat each other in a friendly way, rather as enemies, much to Star-Striker's and Mrs. Evil's dismay. At the moment, their interaction is non-romantic, though Thomas is showing some interest in Betsy.
Appearances: Supermoms #1, Supermoms #2 (mentioned), Supermoms #3, Star-Striker ##1-5, Star-Striker #1 Condensed, Mrs. Evil #1 (mentioned), Sampler #1, Holiday Special #1.
Benjamin Franklin "Ben" Banks[]
Beverly and Steve's son. Age: 12 years old. Ben is as mischievous as he is brilliant. It is suspected that he inherited his mother's smarts. He excels at all subjects in school, but enjoys nothing more than tormenting his older sister. Beverly as well had better keep her wits about her, or else Ben could deduce her secret!
Appearances: Supermoms #1, Supermoms #2 (mentioned), Star-Striker #1, Star-Striker #5, Sampler #1.
Sgt. Star & Airstrike Lass[]
Beverly's parents. Growing up, Beverly didn't know her parents were well-known superheroes, Sgt. Star & Airstrike Lass. They hid their secret identities from their daughter, while she was hiding the fact that she was training to become a superheroine herself. One day, both secrets were out, and Beverly adopted the alias of "Star-Striker" as an homage to her parents. They're currently living in a retirement home for old superheroes.
Appearances: Supermoms #3.
Gallery[]
Links[]
- Pictures of Star-Striker in her canon costume
- Pictures of Beverly Banks in civilian clothes
- Full Star-Striker gallery (with variant costumes, etc.)
- Star-Striker's family members gallery