Who the Clix? is a series of articles featuring information on comic book characters that have been made into figures for the popular tabletop game Heroclix. These articles are meant to help Heroclix players learn more about the characters behind their favorite pieces.
Today we look at one of the few characters to exist in both the New Universe and Earth-616: Star Brand
Appearances in Heroclix: Avengers Assemble
First Appearance: Star Brand #1
Team Affiliations: N/A
Powers: Nigh unlimited powers, limited only by the wielder’s own imagination.
Created By: Jim Shooter
The Star Brand is a multiversal system meant to empower and police a population when the time is right. One user of the Star Brand transferred it to an asteroid to rid himself of it. The Brand released a huge amount of energy which bombarded the Earth and mutated a large portion of the population; this transformation came to be known as the White Event.
The Old Man is the first known wielder of the Brand in Universe 148611 who initially claim to be an alien warrior but is later revealed to be a centuries old Dutch trader kept alive by the power of the Brand. He tries to remove the mark by passing it onto an asteroid (which creates the White Event) and after failing, passes the mark onto Ken Connell.
Ken Connell, a mechanic from Pittsburgh, is the next wielder of the Brand. He uses his powers to try and be a hero but is ultimately limited by his limited knowledge and questions regarding how to best use this godlike power. He eventually accidentally destroys Pittsburgh by releasing a massive plume of energy and wanders the earth powerless and insane thanks to the intervention of the Star Child.
The Star Child is the son of Ken Connell and his wife Madelyne Felix, conceived while Connell wielded the Star Brand. The Star Child grows quickly and accidentally kills his mother by bursting from her womb. Upon this unnatural birth, the Star Child has full control and understanding of the Star Brand but no idea how the world or human society works. He attemps to “fix” the world several times and fails, ultimately deciding to retreat to space and meditate on the best course of action.
Before leaving, the Star Child chooses Jacob Burnsley to watch over the world during his exile. Jacob is gifted with a portion of the Star Brand’s power and tries to make the world a better place. However, these efforts ultimately prove fruitless.
The Star Child eventually realizes that the Star Brand seems to be a cosmic anomaly. Though he was grown in his mother’s womb like a normal child, because of the Brand’s power he is actually more like a clone of his father. The Old Man is not a Dutch trader or alien, but instead his father from the future thrown centuries into the past by the Star Child. In order to purify the universe of the Star Brand, the Star Child locks himself, his father and his father (as the Old Man) in a time loop. However, this plan is thwarted by pilot Jim Hanrahan.
Jim Hanrahan’s jet is damaged during a fight between Jacob Burnsley and the Old Man during the Star Child’s exile in space. Jacob rescues Jim and heals his wounds, inadvertently gifting the pilot with a portion of the Star Brand power.
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Appearances in Heroclix: Avengers Assemble
First Appearance: Avengers (vol. 5) #8
Team Affiliations: Avengers
Created By: Jonathan Hickman
Kevin Conner is a bullied college student on Earth-616. He receives the Star Brand during a strange White Event and the resulting unstable power destroyed his college and everyone in it except Kevin. Nightmask attempts to help the young Star Brand learn how to control his powers and the pair meet with Ex Nihilo on Mars. They eventually agree to an exile on the Sol’s Hammer Weapon, a massive space station structure orbiting near Earth’s sun, while Kevin learns to control his power so that he does not hurt any other innocents.
When the Avengers leave Earth to fight the Builder War, Star Brand is recruited alongside Ex Nihilo, Abyss and Nightmask. Star Brand proves instrumental in the destruction of the Builder Fleet and is welcomed as an official member of the Avengers when they all return to Earth.
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