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Five Revelations About Starfire From RED HOOD AND THE OUTLAWS #6

Her first appearance in "The New 52" was a major controversy.

You can't judge a book by its cover and apparently you shouldn't judge a character by their first "New 52" appearance. When RED HOOD AND THE OUTLAWS debuted, Starfire was the center of major controversy. Her purpose, intelligence and...recreational habits were all called into question. It's easy to jump to conclusion but often the best route would be to sit back and be wait to see what happens.

Starfire fans were outraged over the character parading around in a skimpy outfit, having no recollection of Dick Grayson (the love of her life), and for spending some casual time with Roy Harper. Characters don't always wear their hearts on their sleeves. While some of Kori's actions seemed extreme, there was the impression that we weren't being given all the facts. And with issue #6, it turns out that was indeed the case.

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Some characters in "The New 52" have gone through some changes but Starfire hasn't completely changed as many feared. We've been seeing more characterization being built throughout these first six issues and the chances are we still haven't seen everything. This issue does give some insight into who Starfire really is. If you haven't read RED HOOD AND THE OUTLAWS #6 yet, you should rush out and check it out because there will be some spoilers below.

== TEASER ==

Starfire Has a Brain

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Some of the outrage was over Starfire being portrayed as a bit of a bimbo. She seemed a little shallow and uncaring when it came to what was going on around her in the first issue. She followed Jason's instructions and had no concern over anything else. She later asked Roy if he wanted to sleep with her when Roy was under the impression she was "with" Jason. She also mentioned not having any recollection to her former teammates, including Dick Grayson.

What we see is she is intelligent. She manages to save Jason's lives, indicating she has some knowledge in first aid or even human physiology. She's running some heavy duty alien technology which also shows that she has to have an understanding of how it all works. She later shows quite a bit of insight into the way people and the world work.

No Need to Validate her Existence

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Often heroes feel the need to prove themselves to the world. As much as Jason would hate to admit it, he's still under the shadow of Batman. We even see a flashback scene between Jason and Dick where Jason clearly felt he was competing with Dick in becoming the next Robin.

Starfire is happy with who she is. She doesn't need to explain herself to others. This can easily give the impression that she doesn't care or is unaware of what's going on. She simply has her priorities straight and doesn't worry what others think or have to say.

This also goes along with what she chooses to wear. She's not really known for wearing a lot of clothing and that's because of the customs from her planet. She wears what's comfortable. Knowing that it's different for humans, she offers Jason some clothing that upset him. He objected to wearing them but she told him that they were just clothes. They couldn't hurt him and shouldn't define who he is.

Starfire Still Cares For Dick Grayson

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In the first issue Jason mentions that her race, the Tamaraneans, see humans as sights and smells. He also says they have short attention spans about "all things Earth." We get the idea that she has forgotten everything that happened before and everyone she knew. Dick Grayson was a huge part of her life and we were left wondering if she forgot all about him or didn't care about their past relationship.

On Starfire's ship, she still has several of Dick's outfits. She would have absolutely no need for them but chose not to get rid of them. She may not remember Dick's name but she hasn't forgotten what he meant to her. If the race simply can't hold memories when it comes to Earth things, the fact that she does still have memories of Dick says a lot.

Starfire Doesn't Live in the Past

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Too often characters sit around and brood over past events. Starfire has chosen to live in the present. When she explains this to Jason, he replies that it sounds familiar to something Batman had told him about "some sort of Buddhist philosophy."

Because she doesn't get worked up over things that have already happened, that doesn't mean she's an idiot. That doesn't mean that she doesn't care. She didn't have the greatest childhood and her experiences would be enough to drive others down a dark road but that's not her way. Starfire has always remained a positive person.

Jason Wasn't Really "With" Starfire

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In the first issue, when Roy sees that Starfire is Jason's back up, he asks if she's with them. Jason replies, "With us, yeah. But yeah, she's been 'with' me." This brought confusion to readers as later she sleeps Roy while Jason is in the next room.

It turns out, Jason and Starfire didn't sleep together. They spent the night talking. You could say they bonded in a way that goes beyond a simple physical act. Jason's words describes her perfectly:

We don't choose our teachers in life. Sometimes they are crazed vigilantes pretending to love us like a son...and other times they take the form of a space kitty who is smarter than anyone gives her credit for.

A Final Note: What About the Kiss?

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That's one of the ways Tamaraneans assimilate language and knowledge. When Jason mentioned he wanted to talk, she assumed that would be a way.This isn't the first time she's done it. Way back in 1980's NEW TEEN TITANS #2, that's how she learns English. Too much shouldn't be read into it.

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The bigger question is why was Dick protesting so much in assisting her in learning the language?

174 Comments

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Lvenger

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Edited By Lvenger

@sethysquare: 1. Putting Starfire in a scantily clad costume, making her appear to be a dumb character who did nothing more than follow order, forget her time in the Teen Titans and Dick Grayson along with appearing to sleep around with two men? The first few issues of Red Hood and the Outlaws did not do Starfire any favours.

2. In your opinion. In my opinion, Batman or Action Comics are the best comics of the New 52 but to another person, the best new 52 book could be Animal Man or Captain Atom. It's subjective despite critical reception, what matters is people's own viewpoints. And to me, Red Hood and the Outlaws is one of the worst of the New 52 books.

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Jonny_Anonymous

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Edited By Jonny_Anonymous

I would like to say that Starfire does remember Nightwings name because she said it in issue 3.

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Eyz

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Edited By Eyz

I'm actually starting to warm up to this title. They actually finding a better pace and actually establish the cast now.

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wiski

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Edited By wiski

To the people saying Lobdell 'gave in' and retconned the changes in, Lobdell had been saying since issue 1 that he had a plan to have an issue explaining the backstory and that people needed to wait and see what happened with character development instead of overreacting.

Of course, a lot of people that liked issue 1 predicted that things would be explained and the people who hated it would just say Lobdell caved in and changed it, so it's no real surprise.

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sethysquare

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Edited By sethysquare

@Grim said:

Seeing as to how this issue has a ton of timeline-establishing situations in it, i doubt any of it was a last second cop-out deal like some of you are implying. There are two revelations about Dick Grayson's past, a nearly full establishment of Starfires life on earth, and the story brings us full circle in the origin of the trio.

Also, the book has been one of the best of the N52. Why on earth would anyone give in to the critics when the book is selling so well? If anything, the controversy has proven good for the book, so it would be stupid to take it away because some people are complaining about something that (lets be logical) is well within Starfire's character, and always has been. Just because they never expanded on it in the 80's doesn't mean Starfire hasn't always been a very accidentally-sexual person. As shown in Tony's article, shes always been rather uninformed and curious about human sexuality. The only reason she was a one man girl in the old days was because there would have been REAL backlash if any comic was portraying a sexually social female.

I'm fairly certain there have been no changes in the planned plot since issue one. Not as a result of the fans complaining anyway. The comics industry openly believes that the negative minority is always the loudest (as in, the few people who dislike something make sooo much noise it SEEMS like the majority dislikes it), and so they rarely listen to the fans when the sales are up. Also, im pretty sure there was confirmation that we would see an explanation for Starfire's actions like the day of issue one.

So no you guys. i dont think this is a deviation from the plan.

Agree with this.

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sethysquare

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Edited By sethysquare

@Lvenger: Firstly, he didn't make any mistake.

Secondly, you're missing out on the best book in DC.

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Void_Heart

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Edited By Void_Heart

star fire needs her own comic

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thedeenslist

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Edited By thedeenslist

I was ready to dump Red Hood until I read issue #3, the last pages with Tim's memory that he chose to forget added some heart and character to the book which it really needed after the first two issues. Now with Starfire's tale here, it's fun to see the dichotomy of these two characters. Kori refusing to be defined by anything but herself and living for the now rather than the past. Goes extremely well in highlighting the contradiction that is Tim's reasons.

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sethysquare

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Edited By sethysquare

@Knight Train: @sinful said:

I don't see it as planned. More like he gave in.

No, you guys are wrong.

http://redhoodsden.blogspot.com/

This was done way back in october. Scott always had plans for this.

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CrimsonTempest

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Edited By CrimsonTempest

I can safely say, this issue matches Batman #6 in terms of importance; its plot really impressed me. My compliments to Mr. Lobdell, now I shall eat a bucket of crow.

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Lvenger

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Edited By Lvenger

I still don't like the costume. It's even more skimpy than Starfire's original costume. This isn't even enough to prove to me that Lobdell's completely improved over the mistakes of the previous issues as to me, nothing can beat Wolfman's interpretation of Starfire. To be honest, I'm glad I'm not reading this book as the past issues haven't been very good. However, this issue does show that Lobdell is making steps in the right direction. Hopefully he'll be able to redeem his past mistakes.

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goldenkey

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Edited By goldenkey

one of the better books in the new 52. really impressed with it. It also goes toe to toe with art of ANY book out there. It's great.

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Afro_Warrior

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Edited By Afro_Warrior

@sinful:

I think it was planned. If you go back and look at the interviews he's done on this very site, in response to pretty much all of the criticism of Starfire he has said wait until we get to the Starfire centric issue before you judge her.

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SevanGrim

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Edited By SevanGrim

Seeing as to how this issue has a ton of timeline-establishing situations in it, i doubt any of it was a last second cop-out deal like some of you are implying. There are two revelations about Dick Grayson's past, a nearly full establishment of Starfires life on earth, and the story brings us full circle in the origin of the trio.

Also, the book has been one of the best of the N52. Why on earth would anyone give in to the critics when the book is selling so well? If anything, the controversy has proven good for the book, so it would be stupid to take it away because some people are complaining about something that (lets be logical) is well within Starfire's character, and always has been. Just because they never expanded on it in the 80's doesn't mean Starfire hasn't always been a very accidentally-sexual person. As shown in Tony's article, shes always been rather uninformed and curious about human sexuality. The only reason she was a one man girl in the old days was because there would have been REAL backlash if any comic was portraying a sexually social female.

I'm fairly certain there have been no changes in the planned plot since issue one. Not as a result of the fans complaining anyway. The comics industry openly believes that the negative minority is always the loudest (as in, the few people who dislike something make sooo much noise it SEEMS like the majority dislikes it), and so they rarely listen to the fans when the sales are up. Also, im pretty sure there was confirmation that we would see an explanation for Starfire's actions like the day of issue one.

So no you guys. i dont think this is a deviation from the plan.

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KainScion

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Edited By KainScion

@sinful: i agree as well. he gave in. he knew he was up sh!t creek without a paddle and he pussied out.

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knighteagle

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Edited By knighteagle

@Knight Train: not agreeing with you that he did change his original plans, i personally think he went for the shock value on purpose but isnt it a good thing if he did change things, meaning that he and DC Comics are listening to their fans?

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Knight Train

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Edited By Knight Train

@sinful: I agree. He messed up, listened to the criticisms, ret-conned them in, and then pretended they were always going to be that way. Rather clever

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knighteagle

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Edited By knighteagle

Personally loved the series since issue #1, glad people are finally giving Lobdell some credit. Loving the relationship between Jason and Starfire looking forward to the rest of the series :)

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sinful

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Edited By sinful

I don't see it as planned. More like he gave in.

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Ganthetsward20

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Edited By Ganthetsward20

I felt this was out "point 1" so to speak if this had been our true first issue we would have had a way less hate going on in the beginning, but that probabbly wouldnt have gotten it its views. Now we all have to look back and can see this was planned and we all fell for it. Starfire was always going to be cool like this we just saw her in a skewed way thanks to issue #1 I personally like how surprised this series has made me.

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Ganthetsward20

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Edited By Ganthetsward20

@Eonidas: I like the red costume that dick is wearing-

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WildValentine

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Edited By WildValentine

Man, Jason's becoming less and less easy to hate. Scott Lobdell is really impressing me and making me feel for his character. His life no longer revolves around why Batman didn't avenge him, which is a bloody breakthrough.

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Eonidas

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Edited By Eonidas

Does anyone else prefer the old Nightwing costume (especially in the flashback) over the new black and red one? Dick needs some blue.

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Void_Paladin

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Edited By Void_Paladin

I actually really enjoyed this issue.