A young teenage boy who accompanied his archeologist father to investigate what they discover to be crashed alien spaceship in the Siberian wastes near the Yenisei River in Russia back in June, 1908...the lad sneaks into the spaceship at night, where he triggers an energy blast that gives him great strength and speed, turning him into Russia's first hero....Starfire!
This Starfire debuted in Teen Titans #18 (November-December, 1968), and would later be tied to the Teen Titans.
Eye Of The Beholder!
In
Teen Titans #18 (November-December, 1968) by
Len Wein,
Marv Wolfman and
Bill Draut, under a
Nick Cardy cover, we first meet Starfire in Stockholm, Sweden, where the Teen Titans and Starfire have to work together to stop the jewel thief, Andre Le Blanc from stealing the crown jewels. Kid Flash, of all the Teen Titans, is especially displeased for their American team to have to work with the Russian hero, and the Russian lad is none to fond of his American counterparts. The teens get a chance to try to capture Andre when he takes a practice run, but the team just works against each other, allowing Le Blanc to escape.
The kids regroup, with tensions running high, when they split up to guard the thief's next target. There, Andre traps Aqualad, Kid Flash, Robin and Wonder Girl (all under the watchful eye of Starfire)...with Starfire eventually confronting Le Blanc, who bests him and puts his life in danger. Thankfully, Starfire had freed the Teen Titans from their traps (who held back to allow Starfire the honor of capturing Le Blanc), and together, they bring Andre to justice, learning the lesson that all men of all nations need to work together.
A Pretty Girl Is Like A -- Maladi!
With
New Teen Titans #18 (April, 1982) by
Marv Wolfman,
George Perez and
Romeo Tanghal, the original Starfire returns (and his given name of Leonid Kovar) is revealed. Here, starting in a forgotten bureau in the Soviet Union, Marek Slavik finds out his son Tomas was killed by Americans. Marek's brother Tomas and wife Sonya were also killed earlier in two incidents involving the American army, and thus Slavik plots revenge. Using a long abandoned project, Slavik infects his secretary, young bride-to-be Maladi Malanova, with a radiation (unbeknownst to her), and sends her with papers to deliver to New York City (promising her that she will be back before her wedding...a lie). Later, King Faraday, of the FBI, recruits Robin and Wonder Girl to inform the other Titans that their old "friend", Starfire, is back in the USA on a covert mission.
The Titans gather in their tower, and look for Kovar, finding that one of the custom agents at the airport collapsed (where Maladi was 3 days before) and was taken to the hospital. Raven finds out that the man was infected with a radiation poisoning and the Kovar was interested in this as well. Kovar closes in on Maladi, but the Titans interfere, thinking he might be responsible to the radiation poisoning. The Titans capture Kovar, where he explains that Slavik poisoned his secretary to spread death in America, and that though she cannot be saved, anyone she touched could be. Kovar escapes Titans Tower to continue to go after her, while Maladi goes to a doctor to see about her sickness.
Kovar tracks her down, and lets her know of her dire situation, and that he plans to kill her. The Titans show up and fight him, stopping his plan. They take her to a hospital where she dies. Kovar, after being confronted by Kid Flash by his cold plan to kill her asks why...and Leonid explains that instead of the slow death she got he was to offer her a quick death, as he could do no less for the woman he was engaged to.
Though not in the issue, Kovar got a new heroic name, that of Red Star in
Action Comics #551, and fought alongside the heroes during the Crisis On Infinite Earths, was later involved with the first Justice League International/Suicide Squad
team-up, came back to America to fight with Hammer and Sickle of the People's Heroes at S.T.A.R. Labs, got a new costume and joined the Titans during the Titans Hunt against the Wildebeest, during which time he developed energy manipulation powers, stayed with the team until Zero Hour, but returned again with yet another new costume, all the while, loyal to Russia, yet also an honorable hero.
