Contributed by Michael McDermott
Aleta Ogord is from the 31st Century, in an alternate future of the Marvel Universe. She was born on the planet Arcturus, a daughter of the warlike Reavers. As a young adult, she and her adopted brother–and husband–Stakar, travelled to the Forbidden City, where they discovered a statue of the powerful Hawk God.
Aleta accidentally triggered the statue, and her body was destroyed, converted into pure energy. She and Stakar were merged into a single being, a powerful new being known as Starhawk! Now only one of them could exist in physical form at a time. When Stakar was corporeal, Aleta would go into limbo until he released her and let her assume physical form. However, Stakar maintained control of the body most of the time. Rather than be pressed into service as a weapon for the Reavers, Starhawk left for space. However, Aleta’s father, Ogord, vowed revenge for them refusing to obey him.
Stakar and Aleta explored space for a time, but eventually grew lonely. They secretly returned to Arcturus, and petitioned the Hawk God to temporarily separate them. They mated and had children, Tara, Sita and John. Stakar and Aleta were re-merged, and Aleta had the physical form in order to raise the children.
However, after a time, Stakar was drawn to the stars again, and reclaimed control of the body. The children were left in a hidden home, where they could have instant communication with Starhawk.Unfortunately, while Starhawk was away, Ogord managed to locate the home, and kill the children before Starhawk had a chance to save them. Aleta never forgave Stakar for that failure.
During their travels through space, Starhawk encountered and joined the spacefaring heroes, the Guardians of the Galaxy. During the brief periods that Stakar let her out of limbo, Aleta joined the team as well. On one of the team’s missions, Stakar and Aleta were separated again, into two bodies. Aleta relished her new freedom, and divorced Stakar, since she now hated him for failing to save their children, and forcing her to exist in limbo for so long. Aleta fell in love with her fellow Guardian, Major Vance Astro, and pursued a relationship with him. They even got engaged to be married.
However, a few months later, Stakar began to weaken and fade. It turned out he could no longer survive without being bonded to Aleta. He forcibly reabsorbed her, and fled from the team. When the remerging was complete, Starhawk returned to the Guardians, but things were different now. This time, instead of trading physical forms, they both shared the one body. Now when Aleta was in control, she still possessed Stakar’s male form. Aleta attempted to resume her relationship with Vance, but he was unable to cope with the fact that his lover now had a male body. Eventually, Stakar and Aleta were separated into two bodies again, and she and Vance were able to resume their relationship.
As Aleta, she possessed the ability to turn light solid. She was able to use this solid light in a variety of ways, as objects to use as weapons, or shields, project it as a blast, or create flight discs to propel herself. She was also able to phase through solid matter. As Starhawk II, she could travel at light speed, and had cosmic energy powers, which could be used for energy projection, healing abilities, and other effects. She was also the One-Who-Knows, giving her vast cosmic senses.
Created by Steve Gerber and Sal Buscema. Starhawk first appeared in Defenders #27 (volume 1) and Aleta Ogord in Defenders #29. Their dual nature is revealed in Guardians of the Galaxy #22 (volume 1).
Art by Jim Valentino, Steve Montano, and Evelyn Stein from Guardians of the Galaxy #24 (volume 1).
All rights reserved Marvel Comics
