You know how The Beat works now. While everybody else works hard on getting the best interviews, writing the strongest articles and the most incisive opinion pieces you could find, I run around in circles and yell excitedly about obscure D-List Marvel heroines.

Which brings us to the imminent arrival of 2012’s International Darkstar Day! A tradition dating back perhaps millennia, IDD celebrates Russia’s #1 Superhero, Laynia Petrovna!

Darkstar by Kalman Andrasofsky

Currently a member of The Winter Guard and absolutely not floating lifelessly in orbit around the Earth, Darkstar was first created by Tony Isabella and George Tuska in The Champions, before getting taken on by writers like Bill Mantlo, Fabian Nicieza and Kurt Busiek. Secretly one of Marvel’s most popular characters, or so I keep telling myself, she was killed off by Grant Morrison in New X-Men. Boooo! But then she triumphantly returnedto life in the greatest Marvel storyline of all time, Darkstar & The Winter Guard, by David Gallaher and Steve Ellis. Hurray!

Darkstar by Danielle Corsetto

How do we celebrate Darkstar Day? Well, let me elucidate ya. The basic premise of Darkstar Day is: people around the world draw pictures of Darkstar, and we post them online, and then we celebrate those pictures. It is… perhaps not the most revolutionary celebration. But it’s a fun one! If you want to take part, all you have to do is draw a picture of Darkstar – spend a week working on it or half a minute, it doesn’t matter – and then send it across to me at [email protected]. I will share every Darkstar I receive!

This year’s International Darkstar Day falls on the 18th December, so on that day I’ll be sharing some of the results with you right here, along with some of the great IDD offerings of the past. Guys, let’s do this! Tell your kids! Tell your parents! Gather around the fireplace and make IDD12 the biggest and best one yet!

Note: if you’d rather draw a picture of Pixie then that’s okay too

18 COMMENTS

  1. Darkstar!

    Hero of Russia!

    Darkstar!

    Because all of Russia’s other heroes turn evil every time Iron Man needs to punch someone!

    Darkstar!

    Because someone needs to be sober!

    Darkstar!

    Because seriously it’s like the Titanium Man, Crimson Dynamo and like 40 inexplicably asian generals with acromegaly and names like General Korg. And I guess that one red guardian who is maybe a lady, I dunno. Wiki is hard!

    Darkstar!

  2. darkstar, i see you in the morning
    darkstar, sleeping next to me
    darkstar, let the memory of the evening
    be the first thing that you think of
    when you open up your smile and see me, darkstar……….
    crosby, stills, & nash

  3. Isn’t that Ms. Marvel?
    No wait… I was thinking of Captain Marvel.

    At least the star is not a boob window.

  4. Um…. She’s from Minsk, Belarus, not Russia. (Yeah, go ahead and make the “Belle-Russian” joke.)

  5. That was the OTHER Darkstar!

    Darkstar was born in Belarus, yes, but she is a Russian citizen. She tried to gain American citizenship but ultimately it was revoked and she was sent home.

  6. Darkstar!
    There’s been two?
    Darkstar!
    At least she doesn’t talk like Yakoff Smirnoff!
    Darkstar!
    I’m the only one finding this funny, aren’t I?
    Darkstar!

  7. I used to like Darkstar back in the day. I used to play that Russian superhero group in the old Marvel RPG (old school pen and paper style).

  8. Hey, I like Darkstar! She was the ONE interesting new (or old…) character in the Champions series. A pity she never again went into the spotlight until she was fridged by Morrison, darn him!

    And she has a psycho uberpowered dad and a harcore commie brother, cool!

    If superhero readers would ever be interested in reading about such a character (exceedingly unlikely), she could have some great stories.

Comments are closed.