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Courtney Whitmore found Sylvester Pemberton's gear in her stepfather's belongings and donned the costume in order to annoy him as partial revenge for marrying her mother and supposedly forcing the family to move from Los Angeles to Blue Valley, Nebraska. Dugan, a skilled mechanic, designed and built S.T.R.I.P.E., a Powered Armor which he rides in to accompany and protect her.
As well as her relationships with Atom Smasher and Captain Marvel, Courtney is the object of a crush held by Jakeem Thunder. She has also been stalked by Solomon Grundy who was at one point obsessed with her.
Eventually, she joined the Justice Society of America and, after being given Starman's (Jack Knight's) cosmic rod/staff, changed her identity to Stargirl. Courtney has appeared in most issues of JSA and it was in these pages that her little sister Patricia Dugan was born.
Stargirl is one of the more powerful members of the JSA, thanks to her cosmic rod and converter belt. She has developed from a bit of a brat to a well-rounded heroine. She is best friends with Hawkgirl and is also close to Power Girl, whom Courtney considers a role model of sorts. As well, she has started to befriend the new Supergirl, Kara Zor-El. Early in her superhero career, Courtney was invited to join Young Justice; she declined, since she was already a member of the JSA, but she remained a reserve member. Courtney often trusts and stands up for those whom other members of the team seemingly distrust, such as Atom Smasher, or Brainwave. She has also developed good leadership skills and courage, often throwing herself directly into harm's way. She can also be quite violently effective when angered. After Courtney's family was killed by Per Degaton's Forces (incident later erased from history) she utilized the rod to disintegrate all of the attackers.
Despite a glimpse into the future, which showed an adult Starwoman married to Albert Rothstein (a.k.a. fellow JSA member Atom Smasher), Courtney briefly dated another JSA member, Captain Marvel, who in actuality is a teenage boy named Billy Batson. However, Captain Marvel was, by all appearances to those not knowing Billy's secret, an adult, and the seemingly pedophiliaic relationship between Marvel and Stargirl drew the attention of JSA members Jakeem Thunder and Jay Garrick, the original Flash. After being confronted by Garrick over the issue, Marvel chose to leave the JSA - and Courtney - instead of telling the team his secret. Marvel has recently reappeared in the JSA and revealed he can't give his identity due to the wisdom of Solomon blocking him.
Courtney's family was murdered by agents of Per Degaton. She traveled with the rest of the JSA back to 1951. The time-traveling adventure featured the newest versions of classic JSA members meeting and fighting alongside the originals to try to save her family and the future. While there, she found herself forced to work with Atom Smasher again, for the first time since he defected to Black Adam's rival team. Following this, she apparently forgave him, but Atom Smasher was then nearly murdered by The Spectre. Though Atom Smasher was saved, the events clearly revealed the depth of feeling she has for him. She was quite relieved to return after this time-traveling adventure to see that her family was still alive.
Recently Atom Smasher was tried and convicted for actions he took while working for Black Adam, during a TV appearance Courtney stated that even though he was in prison she would "Wait for him"
During the Infinite Crisis, Courtney was approached by the Shade, who told her of the final demise of her biological father. The tragedy, and the witnessing of the love between Liberty Belle and Jesse Quick, a love even stronger than their strained family bond, led her to rethink her family life. She discovered that she couldn't hate her biological father, even for being an absentee, a slacker and even a supervillain thug, but learned from the tragedy to accept Pat Dugan as the first true paternal figure in her life.
While other members of the Justice Society were phased from the main Earth to the new Earth-Two, Whitmore along with teammates Mister Terrific and Doctor Mid-Nite remained, revealing that they would not have been native to Earth-Two.
Stargirl survived the Crisis largely intact, and has begun attending college. She has changed her equipment: her rod now compresses to a small cylinder, and when she activates it, her costume and belt appear while the rod grows to full size. She has started to take driving lessons from Mr. Terrific.
Courtney is involved with the new JSA helping to find the new Starman and is apparently somewhat of a hero figure for Cyclone. In preview art for Issue 3, Courtney and Maxine Hunkel are seen picking out Maxine's new costume. During this Courtney notes that calling yourself the anything Kid apparently leads to people treating you like a six-year old.
Stargirl possesses the strength level of a girl who age, size and weight who engages in intensive regular exercise.
Star-Rocket Racer: Pat Dugan provided her with a car for her birthday. Although Courtney has yet to realize it, the car is actually a modified version of the original Star-Rocket Racer, once used by her predecessor Sylvester Pemberton.
  Justice Society of America member |
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