Sylvester Pemberton (Earth-2: Post-Crisis)

"Family isn't born. It's chosen."

- Sylvester Pemberton

Sylvester Pemberton is a former socialite and the vigilante known as Star-Spangled Kid, as well as the partner of Stripesy. Pemberton later acquired the Cosmic Staff and adopted the alias Starman, becoming a member of the Justice Society of America.

On December 24, 2010, Pemberton was thought to be killed during the final battle against the Injustice Society of America. However, 10 years later, Pemberton seemed to have survived the battle and searched for his former sidekick, Pat Dugan.

Early Life
Sylvester Pemberton was born to a wealthy unnamed father and mother in California. His parents would later have a daughter called Merri Pemberton, who he would be close with in their personal lives.

Stars & Stripes
"You taught me how to drive, Pat. You taught me how to stand up for myself. You taught me how to think for myself. You're more than a friend. You're my brother."

- Pemberton to Dugan

When Pemberton was fifteen years old, his family hired the twenty-year-old Pat Dugan as a driver and mechanic. They would later become good friends and when his parents were threatened by a group of criminals he put on a mask to stop them and Dugan came to his aid. This eventually resulted in him becoming a vigilante under the alias, the Star-Spangled Kid with Dugan joining him as his sidekick under the alias, Stripesy. At some point, the pair defeated the supervillain known as Doctor Weerd in Civic City, which was reported on by the Civic City News.

On Pemberton's 16th birthday, he was supposedly gifted a watch by his parents and later wore it to school. However, he got into a fight with Hop Harrigan and the watch was stolen. Scared and hopeless, Pemberton decided to tell his parents the truth and realized that they had forgotten his birthday in the first place, and the watch was in fact gifted by Dugan. On the next day, Pemberton stood up to Harrigan and took the watch back as it meant the world to him. He soon considered Dugan a brother despite not acting like it. At some point, he was also taught to drive a car by Dugan.

Seven Soldiers of Victory
Early in their careers, the pair joined the Seven Soldiers of Victory who were responsible for saving numerous lives, cities and even the entire planet at one point, but despite this they never got the credit that the Justice Society of America did. During their time on the team, they also fought Dragon King and destroyed a living weapon that he had designed to eradicate New York. Despite this, the team eventually disbanded, and the members lost contact with each other.

Pemberton's parents eventually found out about his vigilante activities and died as a result.

Justice Society of America
At some point during his adulthood, Pemberton discovered the Cosmic Staff, adopting the alias of Starman and was recruited by the Justice Society of America, bringing Dugan along with him as a sidekick. Dugan later took a photograph of the entire team together.

His sister later married Henry King Sr. who unbeknownst to him was the supervillain known as Brainwave, a member of the Injustice Society of America. The pair had a son named Henry King Jr. but Pemberton's involvement in his nephew's life in currently unknown due to the disagreements between him and Brainwave.

Christmas Eve
"It's over. But...the Justice Society must live on. Its legacy must survive. Someone...with honor and strength must carry the torch. Someone with grace and heroism. You can't do it. But someone out there will. But it's definitely not you. Pat. Yeah. You were a good friend."

- Pemberton's "last words"

On December 24, 2010, the Justice Society was lured into a trap by Icicle and the Injustice Society at an abandoned mansion after Brainwave had started to question their mission due to seeing the world through Merri's eyes. Pemberton told Stripesy over the radio not to come as he was only his sidekick and not a member of the JSA, but he ignored this advice. This resulted in him almost attacked by The Wizard, but Starman saved him at the last minute by firing an energy blast. He then hit The Gambler with the Cosmic Staff and defeated Tigress and Sportsmaster before being ambushed by Brainwave. He managed to defeat him, but was impaled by a shard of ice from Icicle while turning around. Dugan pulled the shard from him body and helped him to the Star-Rocket Racer, but they were pursued by Solomon Grundy, who almost managed to capture them if not for Dugan enabling the car's flight capabilities. He did however manage to damage the car, which resulted in it crashing in a nearby forest. Dugan helped Starman out of the car and onto the ground and told him that he would take him to a hospital, but it was too late, and he supposedly died after saying that Dugan must find a successor to carry on his legacy.

Legacy
Pemberton's apparent death caused Dugan to seek justice against the Injustice Society by building S.T.R.I.P.E. in an attempt to help Hourman who had also survived the battle, but Rex refused his help. Ten years after the battle, Courtney Whitmore discovered the Cosmic Staff and carried on his legacy as Stargirl, believing Pemberton to be her father. She later discovered that he was not actually her father, but was still his legacy and so continued to be Stargirl. Pemberton was eventually avenged by the new Justice Society when they defeated the Injustice Society.

Return
In December 2020, Pemberton approached Dugan'w old building manager in North Hollywood, California to ask where he was. The man informed him that Dugan had moved several months ago and asked who he was, with him responding that he was an old friend, Sylvester Pemberton.

An Old Friend
Months later, Pemberton travelled to Nevada and asked Dugan's ex-wife for his's whereabouts.

Former Powers

 * Powers via the Cosmic Staff: Pemberton's powers came from the Cosmic Staff.
 * Flight: Pemberton was able to fly when using the Cosmic Staff.
 * Photokinesis: Pemberton was able to generate light using the Cosmic Staff to temporarily blind or distract his enemies.
 * Stellarkinesis: Pemberton was able to create and manipulate stellar energy using his staff to use against his opponents.

Abilities

 * Hand-to-Hand Combat: Pemberton has been operating as a vigilante for years, training himself to fight skilled criminals.
 * Staff Fighting: At some point, Pemberton found the Comic Staff and became skilled while fighting opponents with the staff.
 * Driving: Pemberton was taught how to drive by Pat Dugan.

Former Equipment

 * Starman Suit: Pemberton wore a protective suit whilst operating as Starman.
 * Cosmic Staff: Pemberton used the Cosmic Staff, a weapon that was capable of giving him various superpowers such as flight, stellarkinesis and photokinesis.
 * Star-Spangled Kid Suit: Pemberton wore a protective suit whilst operating as the Star-Spangled Kid.

Trivia

 * Only Pemberton and Courtney Whitmore are the only known individuals to be able to wield the Cosmic Staff.
 * Pemberton was thought to have been murdered by Icicle on Christmas Eve 2010 but was later revealed to be alive.