Starjammers Baby!

I must say, Kamiza’s excellent MEV Polaris preview has me excited for a variety of reasons. First of all, Lorna Dane is one of my favorite characters, and has been ever since she kicked Krakoa’s ass back in the early days of Uncanny. Secondly, and most importantly, she has the STARJAMMERS affiliations!

As a public service I’m going to try and answer all of your Starjammers-related questions, but mostly just one.

Who are the Starjammers?

If there was ever a team that so clearly defined ‘D-List’ it would be the Starjammers. They are best known for appearing in several X-Men/Shi’Ar stories, but have worked alongside others heroes in the past such as The Defenders.

The Starjammers are a ragtag group of space pirates/freedom fighters led by Cyclops’ long-lost father, Corsair. Whenever there is trouble with the Shi’Ar Empire it’s likely that Corsair and the Starjammers are somehow involved. They have fought for the good of the universe on several occasions, often joining forces with Empress Lilandra whenever she gets overthrown in a violent coup (which seem to happen quite often. Go figure.)

Who are the Starjammers?

At first it seems bizarre that we would get the Starjammers in any context. Although the current incarnation of the group features better-known characters such as Havok, they’re still a team with few comic book appearances under their belt, and even fewer fans. However, with Cyclops playing such a prominent role in Marvel Evolution it only makes sense that the rest of his family receive some love as well.

WHO are the Starjammers?

There have been over a dozen Starjammers throughout the years, but only a handful of characters are directly associated with the group:

• Um. There’s Corsair, who is your typical space pirate. He’s kind of cool.
• Hepzibah, Corsair’s lover, who is a cat/skunk/woman/assassin. You kids like that, right?
• Raza Longknife, an alien cyborg who wields (appropriately enough) a knife!
• And Ch’od, a giant lizard man who has a silly name. Awesome.

Additionally, every member of the X-Men could be considered an unofficial Starjammer, since the groups have teamed up on countless occasions. The current roster includes Marvel Girl, Havok, Polaris, Lilandra and several more characters you are probably even less familiar with.

Who ARE the Starjammers?

This is a group who exists solely to shake up the status quo and fight the good fight regardless of the odds. With few resources of their own, they manage to bring entire Empires to their knees and restore power to the people. It will be interesting to see how the team is represented in card form, since their rebellious nature could be interpreted in a hundred different ways.

As the first Starjammer to be previewed, Polaris doesn’t give us a lot of clues. It seems likely that her dual-affiliation is a nod to continuity more than a representation of what to expect from the team. However, she is the only member of X-Force so far whose activate ability requires a discard. That seems costly, even for such a great ability… could this in and of itself be a clue?

Cards are expensive. But if you were a space pirate, where would you get your cards!? Hey, there’s a guy sitting right across from me with an entire hand full of cards…

Wild speculation, or brilliant detective work? You decide!

WHO ARE THE STARJAMMERS?

I’m tried explaining it to you! Sheesh! Did you even read the article?