Aleta Ogord, briefly also known as Starhawk, is a fictional character, a

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a fictional character who typically possesses ''superpowers'' or abilities beyond those of ordinary people, is frequently costumed concealing their identity, and fits the role of the hero, typically using their ...

ine appearing in

American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical literature originating in the United States, commonly between 24 and 64 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publ ...

s published by

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

. The character is depicted in a future of the

Marvel Universe The Marvel Universe is a fictional shared universe where the stories in most American comic book titles and other media published by Marvel Comics take place. Superhero teams such as the Avengers, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, the Guardia ...

and is the adoptive sister of

Starhawk Starhawk (born Miriam Simos on June 17, 1951) is an American feminist and writer. She is known as a theorist of feminist neopaganism and ecofeminism. In 2013, she was listed in Watkins' ''Mind Body Spirit'' magazine as one of the 100 Most Spir ...

Michelle Yeoh Yeoh Choo Kheng (; born 6 August 1962), known professionally as Michelle Yeoh (), is a Malaysian actress. In a career spanning over four decades, Yeoh has appeared Michelle Yeoh filmography, in projects encompassing a wide array of genres, a ...

played Aleta in the

Marvel Cinematic Universe The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on List of Marvel Cinematic Universe films, a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appe ...

film ''

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 ''Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2'' is a 2017 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics superhero team Guardians of the Galaxy (2008 team), Guardians of the Galaxy, produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios M ...

'' (2017).

Publication history

Aleta Ogord first appeared in '' The Defenders'' #29 and was created by

Steve Gerber Stephen Ross Gerber (; September 20, 1947 – February 10, 2008) was an American comic book writer and creator of the satiric Marvel Comics character Howard the Duck. Other works include '' Man-Thing'', ''Omega the Unknown,'' ''Marvel Spotlight ...

Sal Buscema Sal Buscema ( ; born Silvio Buscema, , on January 26, 1936) is an American comics artist, primarily for Marvel Comics, where he had a ten-year run as artist of ''The Incredible Hulk (comic book), The Incredible Hulk'' and an eight-year run as art ...

, and

Vince Colletta Vincente Colletta (October 15, 1923 – June 3, 1991)Vincent Colletta

. Aleta later appeared in ''

Guardians of the Galaxy The Guardians of the Galaxy are a fictional superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Comic book teams 1969 team The 1969 version of the Guardians of the Galaxy (1969 team), Guardians of the Galaxy were the origi ...

'' as a member of the titular superhero team. Writer/artist

Jim Valentino Jim Valentino (born October 28, 1952) is an American writer, penciler, editor and publisher of comic books, best known for his 1990–1992 work on '' Guardians of the Galaxy'' for Marvel Comics, and for co-founding Image Comics, a company publ ...

soon redesigned her appearance, more clearly defined her powers, and separated her from

. Valentino explained, "I didn't want

Supergirl Supergirl is the name of several fictional superheroines appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The original, current, and most well known Supergirl is Supergirl (Kara Zor-El), Kara Zor-El, the cousin of superhero Superman. Th ...

- and she was, basically, Starhawk in drag. I saw several things in her: She would be the statuesque female that fanboys seem to require ... She would be a bit above everyone (Yondu referred to her as a 'goddess', and if you look, you'll note that her feet never touch the ground). She would also play as a catalyst for both Starhawk and Vance."

Fictional character biography

Aleta Ogord is one of the alien

Arcturan This is a list of alien races that appear in Marvel Comics. Overview There are countless different extraterrestrial races in Marvel Comics universe. The vast majority are humanoid in structure. Galactic Council The Galactic Council is the assemb ...

race from the planet called Arcturus IV, where she was born in towards the end of an

alternate timeline Alternate history (also referred to as alternative history, allohistory, althist, or simply A.H.) is a subgenre of speculative fiction in which one or more historical events have occurred but are resolved differently than in actual history. As ...

20th century in the

Earth-691 Within Marvel Comics, most stories take place within the fictional Marvel Universe, which in turn is part of a larger multiverse. Starting with the Captain Britain story in '' The Daredevils'' #7, the main continuity in which most Marvel story ...

reality. Aleta was trained to have aggressive traits and she resented her intellectual adopted brother Stakar whom she considered weak. When she and Stakar became physically merged, where only one of them existed physically at a time, Aleta spent a great deal of time a suspension in limbo. Aleta became passive and eventually grew to love Stakar. The Hawk God then allowed Aleta and Stakar to separate from each other temporarily and she had three children with him: Tara, Sita, and John. Aleta's father Ogord sought revenge on Starhawk for abandoning him, kidnapped his grandchildren, and turned them into psychic vampires. The children were all killed, and Aleta held it against Stakar for the rest of his life, as she felt he could have prevented it. As an adventurer and protector, Starhawk and Aleta first meet the Guardians of the Galaxy and the

Defenders Defender(s) or The Defender(s) may refer to: * Defense (military) * Defense (sports) ** Defender (association football) Arts and entertainment Film, television, and theatre Film * ''The Defender'' (1989 film), a Canadian documentary * ''The D ...

. They aided the heroes in defeating the

Badoon The Badoon are a fictional Reptilian humanoid, reptilian List of extraterrestrials in fiction, alien species appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The Badoon Exfulgence are notable for living under strict Sex segregation, ...

invasion force. Starhawk accompanied the Guardians of the Galaxy on a space mission, and helped defeat the Topographical Man. It is revealed how Stakar and Aleta had first together as a composite being as Starhawk. They helped battle the Reavers of Arcturus. Starhawk teamed with the time-traveling

Thor Thor (from ) is a prominent list of thunder gods, god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding æsir, god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology, sacred g ...

, and battled

Korvac Korvac is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He first appeared in '' Giant-Size Defenders'' #3 (Jan. 1975) and was created by Steve Gerber and Jim Starlin. Publication history Korvac debuted in '' ...

and his Minions of Menace. Starhawk later traveled to the present day alongside his fellow Guardians, and assisted the

Avengers Avenger(s) or The Avenger(s) may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Marvel Comics universe * Avengers (comics), a team of superheroes **Avengers (Marvel Cinematic Universe), a central team of protagonist superheroes of "The Infinity Sag ...

in their battle against Korvac. Alongside the Guardians, the

Fantastic Four The Fantastic Four, often abbreviated as FF, is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The team debuted in '' The Fantastic Four'' #1 ( cover-dated November 1961), helping usher in a new level of realism i ...

, Dargo, and Keeper, Starhawk battled manifestations of Korvac's power in various eras. In 3017 A.D., The Guardians went on a quest to find the lost

shield A shield is a piece of personal armour held in the hand, which may or may not be strapped to the wrist or forearm. Shields are used to intercept specific attacks, whether from close-ranged weaponry like spears or long ranged projectiles suc ...

Captain America Captain America is a superhero created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby who appears in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in '' Captain America Comics'' #1, published on December 20, 1940, by Timely C ...

. They battled

Taserface Taserface is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is a supervillain and a recurring adversary of the original Guardians of the Galaxy. Taserface appears in several forms of media, such as the Marv ...

and the Stark, and defeated the Stark. Eventually, Aleta defeated and expelled Stakar's consciousness from her being, and sent Stakar back in time to begin his life cycle again. Eventually, Aleta and Starhawk were separated, and she began a relationship with

Vance Astro Vance Astro, born Vance Astrovik and going by the code name Major Victory, is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is usually depicted as being from the Earth-691 timeline of the Marvel Univers ...

, until a dying Starhawk reabsorbed her to save his own life. For a time, the merged being existed only in Stakar's newly darkened form, even when Aleta was in control, until Aleta finally overpowered Stakar, sent him back to his infant body in the past, and assumed the mantle of Starhawk. She held the title for a brief period, until Stakar returned during a visit to another timeline, after which she gave up the title and powers of Starhawk to be rid of Stakar's influence, which had made her cold and unfeeling. Although she was still in love with Vance and was engaged to marry him, the series ended leaving the future of their relationship ambiguous.

Powers and abilities

Aleta is part of the alien race from the planet called Arcturus IV and she has been merged with her adopted brother Stakar to form a composite being due to the effects of an energy device. Aleta can focus

photons A photon () is an elementary particle that is a quantum of the electromagnetic field, including electromagnetic radiation such as light and radio waves, and the force carrier for the electromagnetic force. Photons are massless particles that ...

into solid-light constructs (such as battering rams, bubbles, ramps, etc.). She can stand on a disc of her solid light and use it to fly by mentally commanding it to rise upwards. Later she was shown to create more complicated constructions and manipulate them (moving and changing size). She was able to lift things weighing up to 50 tons, as well as enhanced stamina, durability and agility that are common among Arcturans. When she became

, Aleta gained the ability to fly at speeds approaching that of light by tapping anti-gravitons, was able to survive in the effects of the vacuum found in space, manipulation of light to fire concussive force blasts or to create protective shields, and displayed limited

precognition Precognition (from the Latin 'before', and 'acquiring knowledge') is the purported psychic phenomenon of seeing, or otherwise becoming directly aware of, events in the future. There is no accepted scientific evidence that precognition is a ...

. She possesses an extremely long lifespan and an immunity to most known diseases and radiation sickness. She possesses extrasensory sensitivity to energy patterns and fluctuations. She is able to phase through solid matter by aligning her own molecules in a corresponding pattern to the molecules of the object she is attempting to pass through. After separating from Stakar, she retained the powers granted to her through their merging. Aleta has knowledge of the archaeology of Arcturus IV. She also has extensive knowledge of various civilizations throughout the Milky Way Galaxy.

In other media

* Aleta Ogord appears in ''

'', portrayed by

. This version is a member of the Ravagers. In a mid-credits scene, she interacts with members of Yondu Udonta's original team. * Aleta Ogord appears as a playable character in ''

Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2 ''Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2'' is a Lego-themed action-adventure video game developed by Traveller's Tales and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One on 14 November 2017 and ...

'' via the "Classic Guardians of the Galaxy" DLC pack.

Reception

Lucas Siegel of

Newsarama ''Newsarama'' is an American website that publishes news, interviews, and essays about the American comic book industry. It is owned by Future US. In June 2020, Newsarama was merged with the website ''GamesRadar+'', also owned by Future US. Hi ...

commented on the relationship of Starhawk and Aleta: "You can think of him as a super-hero version of manga mainstay Ranma. He shares his body with a woman named Aleta, and swaps back and forth with her. This was a pretty common device in the 80s and 90s, especially with cosmic characters (the whole regular-person-containing-full-might-of-cosmic-entity deal), so it makes sense to have one of these on the team."

References

External links

Aleta Ogord
at Marvel.com
Aleta Ogord
at Marvel Wiki
Aleta Ogord
at Comic Vine {{DEFAULTSORT:Ogord, Aleta Characters created by Sal Buscema Characters created by Steve Gerber Comics characters introduced in 1975 Fictional characters who can manipulate light Fictional characters with precognition Marvel Comics aliens Marvel Comics extraterrestrial superheroes Marvel Comics female superheroes