Starfox Appeciation!

[Dermie]

In the wake of the announcement that Starfox will be returning and playing a major role in an upcoming graphic novel, I figure we are overdue to show Eros some love around here!

This thread is dedicated to the erotic Avenger, Starfox of Titan!

Share and discuss!

[Viz]

Is Thanos's brother still alive? When is the last time we saw him, the semi-recent Captain Marvel comic?

[Dermie]

Is Thanos's brother still alive? When is the last time we saw him, the semi-recent Captain Marvel comic?

Yep, he's still alive. I think the last time he turned up was in Dan Slott's SHE-HULK run.

[CaTigeReptile]

Yep! It's been like ten years since we've seen him. Because the She-Hulk storyline basically made him unusable.

Up until the announcement I thought I'd never see him in anything again ever, despite him being Thanos's brother - but HE'S GONNA BE IN SOMETHING!!



I think everyone knows that Starfox is my favorite character and I basically have a PhD in Starfox. (Not that it's hard since he's had less than 200 appearances.) Drawn him, written stories about him, cosplayed as him, had a custom shirt made . . .

I'm just so happy he's going to be in something, because this is a character with ridiculous potential. He's cute and happy and fun and I as a woman have never thought he was creepy in the slightest. His little hair-horns, hee hee hee! So flamboyant and campy - but we've seen him be quite serious and capable, too, like in Avengers Annual #14.


I love how he's so bubbly but really by all accounts shouldn't be given how traumatic his back story is. It's gotta make you wonder what's going on in his head. I love how he represents life and love and happiness and everything his brother doesn't, and how just like we fear in reality it makes him so much weaker. But I also love how Thanos, when played by the Mistress Death angle, is actually also about love, and it's just in two different ways.

I love how he represents traditionally female-assigned traits, too, such as beauty and sexuality and vanity and flightiness and of course emotion, but is the good guy as opposed to a 'sissy villain.' I love that, even though not a part of his original concept, he has the power to take away people's pain (Silver Surfer Annual #5) and also the power to stop evil or solve crises without using violence or pain. I love how he's almost always written as not actually that fond of his own powers - because he's an ancient universe-traveling alien and he could so easily be a victim of his own ability/desirability. In no canon appearance other than the She-Hulk storyline does he have the ability to make people attracted to him or like him in any way - he can only make them feel good.



I love that he's an empath (Solo Avengers #21, Silver Surfer Annual #5, Avengers: Celestial Quest #4) and so has that connection to emotion and that potential psionic power. His brother and his father are so powerful but he doesn't seem to be. Maybe he is - or maybe there's some other reason why he's not. We've seen him do some other crazy one-off psionic stuff (Avengers: Galactic Storm, SSA #5 again, ugh whatever the issue number of Avengers where he single-handedly takes out Nebula and her crew by staring at them until they pass out . . .)

What was it like growing up with Thanos? Does he think Thanos can be 'fixed?' How is he capable of frivolity after the Titanian civil war and Infinity Gauntlet and then Genis-Vell and Phyla-Vell dying? Is he still in love with Elysius? Does he avoid relationships because he outlives everyone (speaking of which, what is his mental maturity level like)? What about him made Mar-Vell become his best friend? (I mean that's pretty much one of the biggest arguments - he wouldn't have been Captain Marvel's best friend if he were an insufferable and annoying douchebag.)

There's also a really easy fix for his powers if people just can't get over them: have it be that his powers work by draining away his own pleasure. It puts a limiter on them (since we've seen him use it successfully on Silver Fricking Surfer), and negates any salacious motive for using them (if the idea of a non-rapist male superhero is sooo impossible to swallow).

Also, I love how funny/light his sexuality is played up. Which of course leads us to is he really, like, cishet? 'Cause I think he's way more like Jack Harkness, you know - pansexual flirty space explorer. That's what he's all about, after all, Greek god of love and all that. Except hotter. Like, he's supposed to be sexier than the sexiest man you can possibly think of, and that's awesome. It's a fun way to throw the women a bone - an alien from an egalitarian society who just likes hooking up, no strings attached - he very much respects women in his appearances and is shown to be absolutely capable of forming meaningful, non-sexual relationships with them (even when they do have sex - like with She-Hulk). He could totally be played up as the male beefcake version of all the T&A cheesecake gratuitous sexuality we see the female characters posed up in.

UGH I just love this character so much AND THEY'RE BRINGING HIM BACK I'M SO EXCITED Eros! Eros! EROS! EROS! EROSSSSS!!!!

[From The Shadows]

Starfox was actually one of my favorite Avengers characters for a while. Perhaps he can be salvaged. I just hope Remender remembers that Eros has had that "rapist" thing retconned and doesn't use it to do a darker story with the character because he loves that sort of thing, not sure he's gonna restore the lighter version, I don't think he really
does light. So I'm a little concerned, lol. What does everyone else think?

[CaTigeReptile]

I think they wouldn't be bringing Eros to the forefront unless this all eventually ties in to them making money off of him (i.e. MCU). Remender said something to the effect of that he wants to make Starfox popular/well-liked by fans, and I wouldn't be surprised if they put him on an Avengers roster. So I'm pretty sure we can throw out the She-Hulk storyline since it basically destroyed the character/is the main reason why people dislike him. I'm wondering if they're gonna just retcon those powers of his entirely, though, since it was Stern who put them in during his Avengers run. That'd be such a waste of something so interesting and so fitting for the original concept of the character!


The story itself won't be light, though, that's for sure: Titan is at its best when it's in peril.

But like I said, it's so fascinating how Eros himself is lighthearted even though his story and history is so dark: grew up with a sadistic brother, mother was murdered, all but like 20 of his people were killed by said brother, fought a guerrilla war against his brother in the ruins of his own civilization, best friend died of cancer: That's where he was when he joined the Avengers all adorable and smiley.


Like this. This is nuts. Why is he smiling? The situation he's describing is horrific.

Since then, we know that he remembers the horrible suffering of watching all of his friends die after half the universe was killed and he was subjected to horrible torture by his brother (Infinity Gauntlet is some messed up stuff!), his surrogate children have both died, then apparently Thanos attacked Titan again, and NOW Ultron has taken over ISAAC (this is where we can assume he is at that point).



His story is about as dark as it gets already and always has been, which again to me just makes his cuteness all the more intriguing.

[Mundungus]

Yep! It's been like ten years since we've seen him. Because the She-Hulk storyline basically made him unusable.

Up until the announcement I thought I'd never see him in anything again ever, despite him being Thanos's brother - but HE'S GONNA BE IN SOMETHING!!



I think everyone knows that Starfox is my favorite character and I basically have a PhD in Starfox. (Not that it's hard since he's had less than 200 appearances.) Drawn him, written stories about him, cosplayed as him, had a custom shirt made . . .

I'm just so happy he's going to be in something, because this is a character with ridiculous potential. He's cute and happy and fun and I as a woman have never thought he was creepy in the slightest. His little hair-horns, hee hee hee! So flamboyant and campy - but we've seen him be quite serious and capable, too, like in Avengers Annual #14.


I love how he's so bubbly but really by all accounts shouldn't be given how traumatic his back story is. It's gotta make you wonder what's going on in his head. I love how he represents life and love and happiness and everything his brother doesn't, and how just like we fear in reality it makes him so much weaker. But I also love how Thanos, when played by the Mistress Death angle, is actually also about love, and it's just in two different ways.

I love how he represents traditionally female-assigned traits, too, such as beauty and sexuality and vanity and flightiness and of course emotion, but is the good guy as opposed to a 'sissy villain.' I love that, even though not a part of his original concept, he has the power to take away people's pain (Silver Surfer Annual #5) and also the power to stop evil or solve crises without using violence or pain. I love how he's almost always written as not actually that fond of his own powers - because he's an ancient universe-traveling alien and he could so easily be a victim of his own ability/desirability. In no canon appearance other than the She-Hulk storyline does he have the ability to make people attracted to him or like him in any way - he can only make them feel good.



I love that he's an empath (Solo Avengers #21, Silver Surfer Annual #5, Avengers: Celestial Quest #4) and so has that connection to emotion and that potential psionic power. His brother and his father are so powerful but he doesn't seem to be. Maybe he is - or maybe there's some other reason why he's not. We've seen him do some other crazy one-off psionic stuff (Avengers: Galactic Storm, SSA #5 again, ugh whatever the issue number of Avengers where he single-handedly takes out Nebula and her crew by staring at them until they pass out . . .)

What was it like growing up with Thanos? Does he think Thanos can be 'fixed?' How is he capable of frivolity after the Titanian civil war and Infinity Gauntlet and then Genis-Vell and Phyla-Vell dying? Is he still in love with Elysius? Does he avoid relationships because he outlives everyone (speaking of which, what is his mental maturity level like)? What about him made Mar-Vell become his best friend? (I mean that's pretty much one of the biggest arguments - he wouldn't have been Captain Marvel's best friend if he were an insufferable and annoying douchebag.)

There's also a really easy fix for his powers if people just can't get over them: have it be that his powers work by draining away his own pleasure. It puts a limiter on them (since we've seen him use it successfully on Silver Fricking Surfer), and negates any salacious motive for using them (if the idea of a non-rapist male superhero is sooo impossible to swallow).

Also, I love how funny/light his sexuality is played up. Which of course leads us to is he really, like, cishet? 'Cause I think he's way more like Jack Harkness, you know - pansexual flirty space explorer. That's what he's all about, after all, Greek god of love and all that. Except hotter. Like, he's supposed to be sexier than the sexiest man you can possibly think of, and that's awesome. It's a fun way to throw the women a bone - an alien from an egalitarian society who just likes hooking up, no strings attached - he very much respects women in his appearances and is shown to be absolutely capable of forming meaningful, non-sexual relationships with them (even when they do have sex - like with She-Hulk). He could totally be played up as the male beefcake version of all the T&A cheesecake gratuitous sexuality we see the female characters posed up in.

UGH I just love this character so much AND THEY'RE BRINGING HIM BACK I'M SO EXCITED Eros! Eros! EROS! EROS! EROSSSSS!!!!

I've had next to no exposure to Starfox in my comic reading experience but when I read he was returning in Rage of Ultron and then I stumbled upon this thread and saw your post. Your words have given me a greater appreciation of him and I hope he is done justice. I LOVE your idea that his ability to give other people pleasure reduces his own. That is frickin' great.

[CaTigeReptile]

Yeah, the Guardians would be a weird fit. If the larger Abnett and Lanning team were still around I could see Eros fitting in pretty well. By which I mean, not fitting in, in the same way that none of them fit in very well. With the new movieverse team Eros would definitely be the odd one out. Ultimately, where he goes probably depends on the movies. Given that (I think) Thanos is slated to be in Avengers 3, I assume that's where Eros will be in the books. But if they plan on building Thanos up a bit in Guardians 2, then I would bet on Eros doing at least a short-term stint in the Guardian book.

The Infinity team was pretty great. I wouldn't mind them getting back together, though I think that Jack of Hearts is still dead (yes?). Given Thor's new status as a Celestial killer and Tigra's half Skrull baby, the team could have some interesting cosmic stories to tell. I wouldn't mind if they added Carol to the team, since she seems to be the new cosmic liaison for the Avengers. I don't know that she and Eros have ever interacted in any kind of meaningful way, despite their mutual close connection to Mar-Vell, but it would be interesting to see that explored.

Besides all of this, Wendell Vaughan really needs a team.

Avengers 3 for sure. He's the link from the Avengers directly to Thanos. I think depending on the exposure level they'd want to go with him (provided Rage of Ultron isn't a giant mess-up), they might do the whole "pops up once in a while everywhere" thing. But I do think Remender (well, Editorial, really) intends to put him on an Avengers roster - I feel like he even said something to that effect.

Hahahaha. Imagine if Eros got his own mini or ongoing one day. I would just feel so . . . . vindicated, like laughing at people who would cry over it.

Actually, Eros would do really well in a story arc in Carol's book. It could have something to do with Mar-Vell (or Genis or Phyla).

Also yes. Wendell is another adorable dork.

I've had next to no exposure to Starfox in my comic reading experience but when I read he was returning in Rage of Ultron and then I stumbled upon this thread and saw your post. Your words have given me a greater appreciation of him and I hope he is done justice. I LOVE your idea that his ability to give other people pleasure reduces his own. That is frickin' great.

I am very very pleased to have shown you the fabulousness that is Starfox! I hope you go out and read more of him! (Though this thread has a LOT of panels posted)

Thanks! The pleasure power fix seems like such a no-brainer to me. Hell, you could even say that sex "replenishes" it the quickest for him . . . though personally I don't think anyone needs an excuse to be promiscuous, and not that people ever ask men for one.

[616MarvelYear is LeapYear]

I think everyone knows that Starfox is my favorite character and I basically have a PhD in Starfox. (Not that it's hard since he's had less than 200 appearances.) Drawn him, written stories about him, cosplayed as him, had a custom shirt made . . .

I'm just so happy he's going to be in something, because this is a character with ridiculous potential. He's cute and happy and fun and I as a woman have never thought he was creepy in the slightest. His little hair-horns, hee hee hee! So flamboyant and campy - but we've seen him be quite serious and capable, too, like in Avengers Annual #14.

I love how he's so bubbly but really by all accounts shouldn't be given how traumatic his back story is. It's gotta make you wonder what's going on in his head. I love how he represents life and love and happiness and everything his brother doesn't, and how just like we fear in reality it makes him so much weaker. But I also love how Thanos, when played by the Mistress Death angle, is actually also about love, and it's just in two different ways.

I love how he represents traditionally female-assigned traits, too, such as beauty and sexuality and vanity and flightiness and of course emotion, but is the good guy as opposed to a 'sissy villain.' I love that, even though not a part of his original concept, he has the power to take away people's pain (Silver Surfer Annual #5) and also the power to stop evil or solve crises without using violence or pain. I love how he's almost always written as not actually that fond of his own powers - because he's an ancient universe-traveling alien and he could so easily be a victim of his own ability/desirability. In no canon appearance other than the She-Hulk storyline does he have the ability to make people attracted to him or like him in any way - he can only make them feel good.



I love that he's an empath (Solo Avengers #21, Silver Surfer Annual #5, Avengers: Celestial Quest #4) and so has that connection to emotion and that potential psionic power. His brother and his father are so powerful but he doesn't seem to be. Maybe he is - or maybe there's some other reason why he's not. We've seen him do some other crazy one-off psionic stuff (Avengers: Galactic Storm, SSA #5 again, ugh whatever the issue number of Avengers where he single-handedly takes out Nebula and her crew by staring at them until they pass out . . .)

What was it like growing up with Thanos? Does he think Thanos can be 'fixed?' How is he capable of frivolity after the Titanian civil war and Infinity Gauntlet and then Genis-Vell and Phyla-Vell dying? Is he still in love with Elysius? Does he avoid relationships because he outlives everyone (speaking of which, what is his mental maturity level like)? What about him made Mar-Vell become his best friend? (I mean that's pretty much one of the biggest arguments - he wouldn't have been Captain Marvel's best friend if he were an insufferable and annoying douchebag.)

There's also a really easy fix for his powers if people just can't get over them: have it be that his powers work by draining away his own pleasure. It puts a limiter on them (since we've seen him use it successfully on Silver Fricking Surfer), and negates any salacious motive for using them (if the idea of a non-rapist male superhero is sooo impossible to swallow).

Also, I love how funny/light his sexuality is played up. Which of course leads us to is he really, like, cishet? 'Cause I think he's way more like Jack Harkness, you know - pansexual flirty space explorer. That's what he's all about, after all, Greek god of love and all that. Except hotter. Like, he's supposed to be sexier than the sexiest man you can possibly think of, and that's awesome. It's a fun way to throw the women a bone - an alien from an egalitarian society who just likes hooking up, no strings attached - he very much respects women in his appearances and is shown to be absolutely capable of forming meaningful, non-sexual relationships with them (even when they do have sex - like with She-Hulk). He could totally be played up as the male beefcake version of all the T&A cheesecake gratuitous sexuality we see the female characters posed up in.

UGH I just love this character so much AND THEY'RE BRINGING HIM BACK I'M SO EXCITED Eros! Eros! EROS! EROS! EROSSSSS!!!!

This to me is a very impressive analysis of the Eros character.