Blackfire (DC Comics)

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Blackfire
Idress, as she appeared on the final page of The New Teen Titans #22 (August 1982). Art by George Pérez.
Publication information
PublisherDC Comics
First appearanceThe New Teen Titans #22 (August 1982)
Created byMarv Wolfman
George Pérez
In-story information
Alter egoPrincess Komand'r
SpeciesTamaranean
Place of originTamaran
Team affiliationsCitadel
Justice League Odyssey
Titans
Notable aliasesKomal Anders
Princess Komand'r
Sister
Blazin' B
Abilities
List
  • Tamaranian physiology
    • Superhuman strength, speed, stamina, agility, reflexes, longevity, and vision
    • Nigh invulnerability
    • Ultraviolet radiation
    • Plasma blasts
    • Matter manipulation
    • Accelerated healing
    • Decelerated aging
    • Interstellar travel
    • Self-sustenance
    • Spacial adaptation
    • Language and voice mimicry via lip contact
    • Radiation immunity
    • Advanced martial artist and hand-to-hand combatant
    • Expert tactician and manipulator
    Psion Experiments Granted

Blackfire (born Princess Komand'r) is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics.[1] She is the older sister and archenemy of Teen Titans member Koriand'r/Starfire and of lesser-known youngest sibling Crown Prince Ryand'r/Darkfire.[2]

The character made her live adaptation debut in the DC Universe / HBO Max series Titans in the second and third seasons, portrayed by Damaris Lewis.

Publication history[edit]

Blackfire first appears in The New Teen Titans #22 and was created by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez.[3]

Fictional character biography[edit]

Princess Komand'r is the firstborn child and eldest daughter of Tamaran's royal family.[4] The first princess born in over a century, she should have been courted and showered with honors. On the day she was born, the Citadel Empire attacked and destroyed the western Tamaranean city of Kysarr and killed three thousand citizens in her name. Though she was in no way at fault for what had happened, Komand'r was, for all time, inextricably linked with that terrible day. To make matters worse, Princess Komand'r was crippled by a childhood illness that left her unable to harness ultraviolet light into energy to fly like most Tamaraneans. Because of Princess Komand'r's naturally grim disposition, a stark contrast to the royal family's generally contented outlook, the subjects of Tamaran hated her. As a result, though first in the line of succession, she was denied her birthright to be the next Crown Princess of Tamaran to maintain the respect and prestige of the royal family. Her privileges, honors, and her royal style and dignity were transferred to her younger sister, Princess Koriand'r (who would later become known as Starfire) and their long-lost younger brother crown Prince Ryand'r (known as Wildfire). Inwardly, Princess Komand'r's rage grew and her resentment turned to hatred for her own world, her people, her family, and lastly her younger sister who, in Princess Komand'r's eyes, made the fateful mistake of being born. Princess Komand'r's hatred continued and intensified when she and her sister were sent, per Tamaran's warlike custom, for warrior training with the Warlords of Okaara. Princess Komand'r's true feelings were exposed when during a sparring exercise she attempted to kill her younger sister. As a result, she was expelled by the Warlords. Humiliated by her own transgression, Princess Komand'r swore vengeance and joined the Citadel, quickly rising through their ranks to become a warrior-maiden fighting against the forces of her own world and, ultimately, her own family.

Komand'r later betrayed her home world with detailed information about Tamaran's planetary defenses to the Citadel. They conquered Tamaran with ease, and the surrender conditions included the enslavement of Koriand'r. Koriand'r was never permitted to return, since that would mean the Citadel would devastate the planet for abrogating the treaty. Komand'r was her sister's master and made the most of her younger sister's bondage with years of horrific servitude and torture. When Kori killed one of her rapists, Komand'r decided to execute her as punishment, but not before the sisters were attacked and captured by the Psions. Psions, largely a species of sadistic scientists, performed a deadly experiment on both of the sisters to see just how much ultraviolet energy their Tamaranian bodies could absorb before exploding from the overload. During the procedure, Komand'r's forces attacked the Psion ship to rescue her and while the Psions were distracted, Kori broke free with her newly developed starbolts, highly destructive blasts of bright pink-colored ultraviolet energy, which were a result of the experimentation. Against her better judgment she decided to free Komand'r, who was still absorbing more and more ultraviolet energy. However, far from grateful, Komand'r had struck her younger sister down with the same (but much stronger) lilac-colored ultraviolet energy and had her restrained for later execution. Kori escaped and stole a spaceship to planet Earth, where she met a young group of heroes-Robin, Wonder Girl, Changeling, Raven, Cyborg and Kid Flash- and helped form the new Teen Titans.[3]

Princess Komand'r appeared in the Rann-Thanagar War limited series, during which she killed Hawkwoman in her pursuit of a New Tamaran. She formed an uneasy alliance with the surviving players of the war in order to deal with more pressing concerns (Infinite Crisis). She was not seen during the Crisis series itself, but was featured in Hawkgirl and Hawkman comics as well as in JSA: Classified, attempting to kill Hawkman and Hawkgirl in order to further her own plans in the goings on & aftermath of the war. The Hawks defeated Princess Komand'r, after which Hawkman used Psion technology to strip the evil extraterrestrial princess of all of her abilities.

Blackfire has later resurfaced in The Outsiders (vol. 3) #31-32 (Infinite Crisis tie-in issues) with her powers already having been restored by the Psions and enhanced to the point of gaining flight. Further along the line in R.E.B.E.L.S. (vol. 2), When Vril Dox moved the planet Rann into the location formerly held by Tamaran in the Vega System, Blackfire arrived with her army in attempt to seize the planet for her own people. Dox was able to quickly stop the hostilities, however, and brokered a treaty allowing Blackfire and her people to settle on the uninhabited southern continent of Rann. During these events, Blackfire gained a newfound sense of respect for Dox, realizing his egocentric personality was very similar to her own. The two went on an unofficial date disguised as a diplomatic dinner and after Dox was captured by Starro the Conqueror, Blackfire joined forces with Adam Strange and other members of L.E.G.I.O.N. to rescue him. Blackfire then subsequently claimed Dox as her king consort.

The New 52[edit]

Komand’r in The New 52: Redhood and the Outlaws #13. Cover art by Kenneth Rocafort.

In The New 52 (a 2011 reboot of the DC Comics universe), some people's origins and personalities have been changed to an unknown degree. While not at first referred to by name, it is said Starfire's sister sold her for the safety of their planet.[5] It is revealed that a parasitic race known as the Blight has taken over Tamaran, their purpose unknown and Koriand'r fears the worst for her sister.[6] Komand'r appears via flashback as her sister talks about their relationship, saying that they rarely get along and that Kori is embittered toward Komand'r and the people of Tamaran for letting her be enslaved. After Kori fought her way free, she was praised as a hero and given a ship named the Starfire by Komand'r, but the rift between the girls was still there. Komand'r appears to a captured Roy Harper and appears to be working with or under the Blight.[7] Roy's capture, however, was revealed to be a mission to rescue Komand'r, as he successfully teleported her back onto the Starfire.

The royal sisters reconcile in a teary conversation as Kori forgives her elder sister and the issue ends with the sisters preparing to take back Tamaran by themselves.[8] Kom and Kori fight through the hordes of the Blight with Jason, Roy and a few of the members of Kori's ship. Komand'r is stabbed in the back by a spear thrown by the Blight's leader. Kori's emotions send an energetic shock wave, wiping out everything around her. When the smoke clears she holds the defeated Blight leader. After the battle, Princess Koriand'r is next to the throne and Crown Princess Komand'r stumbles next to her. She asks Kori to stay, but realizes she cannot. They hug and Crown Princess Komand'r gives them a ship to get back to Earth.[9]

Powers and abilities[edit]

Princess Komand'r (Blackfire) is a Tamaranean like her younger sister; her physiology is designed to constantly absorb and control pure ultraviolet radiation into destructive and powerful bolts of energy which she calls "blackbolts." The radiation is then converted to pure energy which enabled her incredible feats of strength, speed, durability and the like; all on par or possibly greater than those of Starfire, having fought and bested her many times. This is not the case for flight, however, as she suffered a sickness in her youth which stripped her of this ability, but she found other means of circumventing this handicap. Being of royal blood and having fought in many wars, Komand'r also boasts impressive mortal combat skills superior even to her sibling, be it unarmed or with weaponry on hand, having battled and bested the likes of her own sibling (who is also a veteran warrior) and Thanagarian heroes Kartar Hol, Shayera Thal and Shayera Hol either in single combat or in pairs and win, as well as holding her own against the likes of a weakened Starro in his humanoid form (with some assistance from Starfire). Having undergone the same experiments conducted upon her by the Psions, Blackfire too has the ability to release her absorbed energy into incredibly powerful blasts called "starbolts". Hers by comparison, however, are considerably stronger enabling her to overpower her sister's starbolt energy. For a time Blackfire was stripped of all her powers by Hawkman using the same technology the Psions used in their experimentation upon her. Even without these strengths Komand'r is still a political activist and capable leader, being Queen of Tamaran she has access to a great many facilities, be it governmental or military in nature. Like any good politician, Blackfire is a skilled manipulator, able to utilize fear and misdirection to her advantage; even forging alliances with others despite her incredibly sociopathic nature.

When her natural abilities were restored in full, however, she not only regained all the natural Tamaranian abilities she initially lacked, Princess Blackfire even gained a capacity she lacked, namely faster-than-light aviary travel.[10] This accommodates her resilience against heat, radiation and the harsh vacuum of outer space coupled with a solar powered self-sustenance eliminating the need to eat, drink, sleep or an atmosphere to breathe, which enables the evil queen to travel interstellar distances unaided, though she can take in sustenance if she desires too.[11] She can also actively absorb stellar and UV energy like her sister but has a unique ability her counterpart does not, which is the active absorption of stellar energies to copy off new abilities from another person, like when she drew energy directly from Starfire emulating her omni-directional energy burst; due to her greater stellar energy absorption abilities, however, Blackfire can recover faster than her sister when she uses her powers in such a way.[12] Blackfire, like all Tamaraneans, can assimilate languages through physical contact with another person and is more fluent in the English language of humans than Koriand'r. She also does not need to eat or drink; though she can if unusually low on ultraviolet energy.

In both animated shows, Blackfire can project her lilac-colored ultraviolet energy reserves as optic blasts, revealed to be facet received after her changes phase, in the episode Betrothed she had come into possession of a mystical artifact dubbed the Jewel of Charta, which greatly magnified her abilities tens of times greater, turning her normally lilac-colored "blackbolts" a bright red. Her enhanced durability and invulnerability were amplified as well, to the point of withstanding a barrage of Starfire's bright green starbolts and appear unscathed.

She is also a master manipulator and deceiver, capable of using kind and friendly words to achieve her vile goals.

In the live-action series Titans, she is able to freely take possession of anyone she sees fit by injecting them with a microchip.

Earth One[edit]

In Teen Titans: Earth One, Blackfire is a failed Star Labs clone headed up by Niles Caulder to defeat the Titans.[13]

In other media[edit]

Television[edit]

Princess Komand'r / Blackfire as depicted in Teen Titans
Damaris Lewis portrays Blackfire in Titans.
  • Blackfire appears in Teen Titans, voiced by Hynden Walch.[14] This version is an intergalactic criminal who possesses the ability to fly and shares a similar build as Starfire. In the episode "Sisters", Blackfire travels to Earth in an attempt to frame Starfire for her crimes, only to be defeated by the Teen Titans and arrested by Centauri police officers. As of the episode "Betrothed", she has broken out of prison and taken over Tamaran. Using her authority, she attempts to force Starfire to marry an alien prince to obtain the Jewel of Charta and strengthen her powers. After being defeated by Starfire in a duel, Blackfire loses the throne and is subsequently exiled.
  • Blackfire appears in the DC Nation Shorts segment "Blackfire's Babysitter".[citation needed]
  • Blackfire appears in Teen Titans Go! (2013), voiced again by Hynden Walch.[14] Similarly to the Teen Titans (2003) incarnation, this version is an intergalactic criminal.
  • Blackfire appears in Titans, portrayed by Damaris Lewis.[15] Introduced in the second season, this version is the younger sister of Starfire who murdered the Tamaranean royal court and her parents to seize the throne. In the present, she infects Tamaranean emissary Faddei with a mind-controlling parasite and sends them to Earth to manipulate Starfire into coming back. When she refuses, Blackfire strands her on Earth before eventually using another parasite to possess a woman and alter her body to resemble her own. As of the third season, Blackfire had lost control of her host, been captured by scientists, and held captive in an underground facility. Despite being weakened, she uses her extrasensory abilities to implant visions of her whereabouts in Starfire's mind and temporarily possess her. After Starfire and Gar Logan locate her, Blackfire demands the former to kill her, but Starfire refuses. The sisters fight until Starfire eventually defeats Blackfire. However, upon realizing the scientists intend to hold Blackfire until she dies, Starfire releases her, who reluctantly allows them to bring her into their fellow Titans' protective custody. During this time, Blackfire enters a relationship with Superboy before eventually returning to Tamaran.

Film[edit]

Blackfire appears in DC Super Hero Girls: Intergalactic Games, voiced again by Hynden Walch.[14] Among others, she represents the Korugar Academy as a participant in the eponymous games.

Miscellaneous[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Rovin, Jeff (1987). The Encyclopedia of Supervillains. New York: Facts on File. p. 26. ISBN 0-8160-1356-X.
  2. ^ Cowsill, Alan; Irvine, Alex; Manning, Matthew K.; McAvennie, Michael; Wallace, Daniel (2019). DC Comics Year By Year: A Visual Chronicle. DK Publishing. p. 188. ISBN 978-1-4654-8578-6.
  3. ^ a b Jimenez, Phil (2008). "Blackfire". In Dougall, Alastair (ed.). The DC Comics Encyclopedia. London: Dorling Kindersley. p. 55. ISBN 978-0-7566-4119-1.
  4. ^ Cowsill, Alan; Irvine, Alex; Korte, Steve; Manning, Matt; Wiacek, Win; Wilson, Sven (2016). The DC Comics Encyclopedia: The Definitive Guide to the Characters of the DC Universe. DK Publishing. p. 47. ISBN 978-1-4654-5357-0.
  5. ^ Red Hood and the Outlaws #1
  6. ^ Red Hood and the Outlaws #10
  7. ^ Red Hood and the Outlaws #11
  8. ^ Red Hood and the Outlaws #12
  9. ^ Red Hood and the Outlaws #13
  10. ^ Outsiders (vol. 3) #31-32
  11. ^ R.E.B.E.L.S (vol. 2) #24
  12. ^ Outsiders (vol. 3) #32
  13. ^ Teen Titans: Earth One Vol. 2
  14. ^ a b c d "Blackfire Voices (Teen Titans)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved December 15, 2023. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its opening and/or closing credits and/or other reliable sources of information.
  15. ^ Pollock, Sarabeth (August 24, 2021). "Exclusive: Damaris Lewis opens up about Blackfire on Titans season 3". Winter is Coming. Retrieved December 15, 2023.

External links[edit]

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