Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. #1
Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. #1 is the origin issue for Courtney Whitmore's career as the new Star-Spangled Kid — the teenage girl who would eventually become Stargirl — and serves as the debut story for several recurring supporting characters who would define Blue Valley's cast for the entire run. The issue marked the first published comic work of Geoff Johns, who would go on to reshape DC's publishing line for more than two decades, and it demonstrated early the hallmarks of his writing: intergenerational legacy, blended-family dynamics, and deep reverence for Golden Age continuity. By rooting a brand-new teenage hero in the history of the Seven Soldiers of Victory, the book announced a deliberate effort to weave the DC Golden Age back into contemporary storytelling — a thesis Johns would expand almost immediately in the concurrent JSA relaunch.
In "New Kid on the Block," newly arrived in Blue Valley, Courtney Whitmore stumbles upon a surprising family secret: her stepfather, Pat Dugan, was once Stripesy, the sidekick to the Star-Spangled Kid. When she accidentally activates the cosmic belt and wears it to her first school dance, the night takes a dramatic turn as a horde of hissing, hooded students descends—forcing Courtney and Pat to step into the spotlight as the new Star-Spangled Kid and S.T.R.I.P.E. Written by Geoff Johns and illustrated by Lee Moder, with Dan Davis on inks and Tom McCraw handling colors, the cover by Lee Moder and Dan Davis captures the moment the legacy begins.
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Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. was the first comic book series Geoff Johns wrote for DC Comics, developed while he was working as an assistant to director Richard Donner in Hollywood. Johns created Courtney Whitmore in honor of his younger sister Courtney, who died in the 1996 TWA Flight 800 disaster, giving the character a personal emotional foundation that informed her voice throughout the series. Editor Mike Carlin shepherded the book, which was drawn by Lee Moder with inks by Dan Davis; issue #1 carried a cover date of August 1999 and was published June 9, 1999, one month after the series-launching zero issue. The series ran for fifteen issues before concluding in 2000, and was later collected in two trade paperback volumes under the JSA Presents banner.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Issue #1 (cover-dated August 1999, published June 9, 1999) is titled 'New Kid on the Block' and presents the full origin of Courtney Whitmore as the new Star-Spangled Kid, following her introduction in the zero issue.
- First appearances in this issue include Cindy Burman (later the villain Shiv), Josh Hamman (Courtney's love interest), and Principal Sherman — all core members of the Blue Valley supporting cast.
- The issue was written by Geoff Johns with art by Lee Moder and Dan Davis; it is Johns' first published ongoing DC Comics series and one of his earliest professional comics credits overall.
- Pat Dugan / Stripesy, a Golden Age character created by Jerry Siegel and Hal Sherman who first appeared in Star Spangled Comics #1 (October 1941), is reimagined here as Courtney's reluctant stepfather and the operator of the S.T.R.I.P.E. power armor — making him the only adult who serves as sidekick to a teenage hero.
- The Seven Soldiers of Victory — including the Crimson Avenger, the Shining Knight, the Vigilante, Stuff, and Wing — appear in flashback, directly connecting the new series to DC's Golden Age legacy and establishing the historical weight behind Pat Dugan's past.
- Blue Valley, Nebraska is explicitly identified as the former hometown of Kid Flash (Wally West), anchoring the book in the broader DC universe geography established in The Flash.
- Courtney's motivation for donning the Star-Spangled Kid costume is deliberately unheroic — she does it primarily to annoy her stepfather — a subversive character premise that distinguished her from virtually every other teenage legacy hero of the era.
- The series was collected in JSA Presents: Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. Vol. 1 (2007, ISBN 978-1401213909) and Vol. 2 (2008, ISBN 978-1401216313), and the property was later adapted as the live-action Stargirl television series starring Brec Bassinger, which Geoff Johns also showran.
Cast · 23 characters
Full credits
Full plot ⚠ may contain spoilers
▸ Reveal full plot — may contain spoilers
Just after moving to Blue Valley, Courtney Whitmore finds out that her new stepfather, Pat Dugan, was once Stripesy, the sidekick of the Star-Spangled Kid. When she borrows the Kid's cosmic belt and wears it to her first school dance, she and her stepfather have to make their public debuts as the new Star-Spangled Kid and S.T.R.I.P.E. because it is invaded by a horde of hissing, hooded students.
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).