Darkstar (comics)
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- For the DC Comics characters, see Darkstars.
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Darkstar (Layina Petrovna) is a fictional character, a mutant superhero in the Marvel Comics universe. She has been a member of various superteams in her career and ultimately died as a member of the X-Corporation in New X-Men #130.
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[edit] History
[edit] Champions
Her first appearance was in Champions #7 as part of a Soviet super-team recruited to bring Natasha Romanoff (the Black Widow) back to the USSR. She turned sides in #10 of that series, and joined the Champions in #11, remaining with the team until its disbanding.
While a member of the Champions, she and Bobby Drake, former X-Man known as Iceman were close to entering into a romantic relationship, but Laynia liked Iceman as a friend, and not as a love-interest. She quit the Champions and returned to Russia, leaving behind a devastated Iceman.
[edit] In Russia's employ
Later on, she was a key player in the Contest of Champions miniseries, in which she represented Russia as part of the international superhero contest. Her origin was revealed by Bill Mantlo in a Hulk storyline.
Darkstar made a number of further appearances, usually alongside the Soviet Super-Soldiers with her brother, Vanguard. The former Soviet Super-Soldiers eventually defected to the United States, but were captured and returned to the Soviet Union. They were rescued by a man known as Blind Faith, and his team called the Exiles (not to be confused with the reality-hopping team the Exiles), whom she joined.
Later, when the People's Protectorate was rechristened the Winter Guard, Darkstar was recruited back into the team. After that team also disbanded, Darkstar and Vanguard teamed with a Russian mutant team and later joined forces with their father, the Presence.
[edit] X-Corporation
In New X-Men #130, she had joined the X-Corporation Paris branch, in which she was possessed by Weapon XII, a creation of the Weapon Plus Project, and was subsequently killed by Fantomex. A funeral was held in her honor at Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, where she was buried.
[edit] Powers
Darkstar was a mutant who could psionically access the extradimensional energy of the Darkforce dimension, which granted her a number of superhuman abilities. She was connected to the Darkforce dimension by means of her consciousness being split between her physical body and a Darkforce representation of same, both symbiotically linked. Darkstar could thus utilize the Darkforce for various purposes. Most often she projected it as simple mentally-controlled solid objects such as pincers, rings, columns, and spheres, or as beams of concussive force. If Darkstar was rendered unconscious any Darkforce constucts of her making would immediately dissipate. Darkstar could teleport herself and up to three others by opening a portal into the Darkforce dimension and traveling through it. The maximum distance she could teleport was never revealed. Because crossing the Darkforce dimension disoriented her sense of direction, and the light of Earth blinded her for several seconds upon reemergence, traveling in this manner was risky.
Darkstar could 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 were unknown at the time of her death.
[edit] Skills and Abilities
Darkstar was a skilled hand-to-hand combatant, having been trained by the KGB. She was fluent in both Russian and English.
[edit] Alternate Versions
In Earth #3740, the native timeline of Heather Hudson of the dimension-jumping Exiles, the Soviet Union still exists. Darkstar is part of the Soviet Super-Soldiers.
In Exiles #43, another alternate version of Darkstar was shown. She was a member of the Republican Guard, Russia's superhuman team, alongside Crimson Dynamo, Omega Red, Gremlin and the Titanium Man.
[edit] In other media
Darkstar guest-starred in the X-Men Animated Series episode Red Dawn. She's 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.
