''Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E.'' is an American comic book published by

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with their f ...

, featuring the second

Star-Spangled Kid The Star-Spangled Kid is the name of several superheroes in the DC Comics' main shared universe. Fictional character history Sylvester Pemberton The original Star-Spangled Kid was Sylvester Pemberton, a Golden Age character, created by Jerry Si ...

and her stepfather, the original version's sidekick

Stripesy S.T.R.I.P.E. (short for Special Tactics Robotic Integrated Power Enhancer) is a superhero in the DC Comics DC Universe, Universe. S.T.R.I.P.E. is a powered armor suit invented and worn by Patrick "Pat" Dugan, the former adult sidekick to teenage ...

. It was first published in July 1999 (with a "zero issue") and ran for fifteen single issues. It was written by

Geoff Johns Geoffrey Johns (born January 25, 1973) is an American comic book writer, screenwriter, and film and television producer. Johns's work on the DC Comics characters Green Lantern, Aquaman, Flash and Superman, has drawn critical acclaim. He se ...

, with art by Lee Moder and Dan Davis.

Courtney Whitmore

Courtney is the stepdaughter of Pat Dugan and the main protagonist of the series. She found Sylvester Pemberton's cosmic converter belt in her stepfather's belongings and donned the costume in order to annoy him as partial revenge for marrying her mother and supposedly forcing the family to move from Los Angeles to Blue Valley, Nebraska. Dugan, a skilled mechanic, designed and built S.T.R.I.P.E., an armored robot which he rides in to accompany and protect her. Eventually, she joined the

Justice Society of America The Justice Society of America (JSA, or Justice Society (JS)) is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The team was conceived by editor Sheldon Mayer and writer Gardner Fox during the Golden Age of Comic Boo ...

and, after being given Starman's gravity rod by Jack Knight, changed her identity to Stargirl.

S.T.R.I.P.E.

S.T.R.I.P.E. is a

fictional Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying individuals, events, or places that are imaginary, or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent with history, fact, or plausibility. In a traditio ...

superhero in the

universe The universe is all of space and time and their contents, including planets, stars, galaxies, and all other forms of matter and energy. The Big Bang theory is the prevailing cosmological description of the development of the universe. A ...

. Real name Pat Dugan, he first went by the nickname Stripesy. He is notable for being the only adult sidekick to a teenage superhero—Sylvester Pemberton, the

. Stripesy was a gifted mechanic who built the duo's car, the Star Rocket Racer. Together, they were members of the Seven Soldiers of Victory and the

All-Star Squadron The All-Star Squadron is a DC Comics superhero team that debuted in ''Justice League of America'' #193 (August 1981) and was created by Roy Thomas, Rich Buckler and Jerry Ordway. Although the team was introduced in the 1980s, its self-titled series ...

. Stripesy was created by

Jerry Siegel Jerome Siegel ( ; October 17, 1914 – January 28, 1996) Roger Stern. ''Superman: Sunday Classics: 1939–1943'' DC Comics/Kitchen Sink Press, Inc./Sterling Publishing; 2006 was an American comic book writer. He is the co-creator of Superman, ...

(co-creator of Superman) and

Hal Sherman Hal Sherman (born Harold Sicherman; March 31, 1911Murray, Will. "The Wonder Woman Who Was Lost!: The Hal Sherman Story", ''Comic Book Marketplace'', May 2000, p. 44-53 – January 25, 2009) was a gag cartoonist and a Platinum Age and Golden Age co ...

, and first appeared in ''

Action Comics ''Action Comics'' is an American comic book/ magazine series that introduced Superman, one of the first major superhero characters. The publisher was originally known as National Allied Publications, and later as National Comics Publication ...

'' #40 (September 1941). The character has been updated for a new audience: Dugan's stepdaughter, Courtney Whitmore, has become the second

, partly in order to annoy him. This has led Dugan to develop a robotic suit of

armor Armour (British English) or armor (American English; see spelling differences) is a covering used to protect an object, individual, or vehicle from physical injury or damage, especially direct contact weapons or projectiles during combat, or ...

so as to accompany and protect her. He has also changed his moniker to S.T.R.I.P.E.. Dugan has also assisted Superman's comrade Steel.

References

Don Markstein's Toonopedia "Star-Spangled Kid and Stripesy"
DC Comics titles 1999 comics debuts Comics by Geoff Johns {{DC-Comics-stub