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.

[Cernunnos]

I have a soft spot for Starfox. I know some people think he's lame, but I don't.

[Anthony Shaw]

Starfox has always been one of my favorites. I love his lighthearted nature. He always struck me as a Legion member due to his costume, and appearance. I have been reading Roger Stern's run on Avengers, and I enjoy Starfox now as I did when I was a kid.

I do hope Starfox gets more spotlight. That Slott story should never be mentioned again.

I hope he does appear in film. Eros is just plan fun.

[CaTigeReptile]

Starfox has always been one of my favorites. I love his lighthearted nature. He always struck me as a Legion member due to his costume, and appearance. I have been reading Roger Stern's run on Avengers, and I enjoy Starfox now as I did when I was a kid.

I do hope Starfox gets more spotlight. That Slott story should never be mentioned again.

I hope he does appear in film. Eros is just plan fun.

Exactly! Stern writes him so cute - but I swear there was always a little hint of something else in there.

One of my favorite panels is from Avengers:Infinity, which Stern wrote. It's an awkward moment that pretty much sums up a whole lot of his character:

*

*I have so many Starfox panels for when I did my thesis for my PhD in Starfox, obviously.


I'm really starting to think we're gonna see him in the MCU. If you had asked me last week I would have scoffed at you bitterly, but now . . . Ahahaha I'm still so excited!

But I'm sure if/as he gains popularity I'll start to grow territorial, especially since as a female comic book fan there is a certain amount of disbelief/quizzing one is subjected to that I by sheer luck in being an Eros fan have managed to avoid. I don't want to start getting the whole "oh you only know him from the movies" thing.

At SDCC there was only one guy who reacted less than absolutely positively to the Eros cosplay - a probably 17-year-old or so who said "Oh, I think he's creepy." It wasn't three minutes in until he admitted he'd only read a cracked.com article about him. (And the tune of those articles will change soon!)

Oh, there was another guy who asked me what Starfox's real name was, and when I told him he said "good" like he was impressed with me.

But I was really surprised and delighted by the recognition and positivity I got for it - at least 20+ people over the weekend exclaimed "Starfox! Awesome!" or "Wait, are you Eros?!" at me, and 10+ took my picture. Most of them, but certainly not all, were of the age range that probably read him as a kid.

So in other words I think he's gonna have his day soon. It's about time!

[From The Shadows]

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.

Oh, I dont think Remender will do a light story on the whole, thats for sure I just meant Eros himself instead and not some dark twisted version, though as you said Remender said he wanted people to like him again, so its seems illogical to bring that story back. And he will be writing Nightcrawler too, another fave of mine (which interestingly I like for similar reasons: The painful/tragic past, the bright outlook, having villainous family members) This is really great to have a fave from Limbo and one from Death be in the same story. 2 mints in one, haha! My faith in Marvel is not that strong these days but I admit this has my curiosity piqued.

The last I read of Star Fox was in Infinity Gauntlet and of course I fell in love with the character under Stern! I loved Eros' dynamic with the rest of the Avengers. Stern was the man! One of my all time favorite comic runs ever! Great scans, CaTigeReptile!

That said, I still don't quite trust the event, though! I'll have to find out through reviews and fans before I decide to make as big a purchase as a crossover event. My money is pretty tight these days.

[Viz]

I like Starfox a lot too, although I think I grew to like him more as I realized he was Thanos's brother. My first experience with him was John Buscema's Avengers #250-260ish (SW2 tie-in) where he meets Nebula (niece?) and team-ups with Firelord. Whatever happened to that buddy-story?

[CSTowle]

Ah poop, got excited when I saw they were bringing him back but it's Remender?

[CaTigeReptile]

I like Starfox a lot too, although I think I grew to like him more as I realized he was Thanos's brother. My first experience with him was John Buscema's Avengers #250-260ish (SW2 tie-in) where he meets Nebula (niece?) and team-ups with Firelord. Whatever happened to that buddy-story?

The Firelord-Starfox story was continued in Silver Surfer (v3? The series in 1989): 19 and 20. Dermie has a much better timeline below. Silver Surfer Annual #5 happens and it's a really really great story. Which is also a relief because I think the story about him in Silver Surfer Annual #4 is the worst I've read (keep in mind I was unable to read the She-Hulk story) that wasn't overtly retconned or that didn't take place in an AU - although you can see that Marz changed his mind about the character over time!

Starfox is also in a few other issues of SS and he's pretty great.




So Jerome Opena drew Starfox this past Valentine's Day. He posted a little video.



This is the picture. This is probably what he's gonna look like. He looks a bit grittier to me - Starfox with scruff? He almost looks a bit like Wolverine (but sexier, of course, as he must be). The little video is totally on-point, though: Opena's coloring in the heart with a pink crayon and Rick Astley is playing in the background.

What do you guys think of this look?

[Dermie]

I like Starfox a lot too, although I think I grew to like him more as I realized he was Thanos's brother. My first experience with him was John Buscema's Avengers #250-260ish (SW2 tie-in) where he meets Nebula (niece?) and team-ups with Firelord. Whatever happened to that buddy-story?

Steve Englehart picked it up briefly for an issue or two of his SILVER SURFER run, when the Surfer crossed paths with them on their search. But the two of them ended up parting ways after AVENGERS #301-303. Eros and Firelord ran into the last surviving member of the Nova Corps--the insane Super-Nova, who captured Firelord and nearly beat Starfox to death. Eros managed to escape and get the Avengers for help. They freed Firelord and defeated Super-Nova, but Firelord continued on with his search for Nebula on his own, rather than waiting for Eros to recover.

Starfox eventually continued his hunt for Nebula solo--and caught up with her in John Byrne's AVENGERS run.

[Zero Hunter]

I would kill for a Hercules/Starfox mini series. They could be like the Blue Beetle and Booster Gold of the Avengers