Courtney Whitmore (Earth-2: Post-Crisis)

"People can be bad, but people can be good too, and kind and compassionate. Behind the pain and the fear, it's all about love. People want to love and be loved."

- Courtney Whitmore to Henry King Jr.

Courtney Elizabeth "Court" Whitmore is the daughter of Barbara Whitmore and the step-daughter of Pat Dugan. After finding the Cosmic Staff, Courtney became the vigilante Stargirl, taking up the mantle of her step-father's deceased partner. Courtney was later told of the Justice Society of America's past and recruited her classmates to be the fallen team's successor in order to thwart Icicle and the Injustice Society of America's plan in Blue Valley.

Early Life
Courtney Elizabeth Whitmore was born in 2004 in Valley Village, California to Barbara Whitmore and Sam Kurtis.

On December 25, 2009, her father visited her for Christmas where they sang Christmas carols such as "Frosty" and made a snowman out of styrofoam. He then gave her a locket that was given to him by his mother which had a picture of himself in it, so she would always remember him.

On December 24, 2010, Courtney and Barbara were waiting in their apartment for Sam to arrive as he was meant to look after her while Barbara went to work. However, Sam did not arrive and Courtney was left with their neighbour, Maggie Kramer who looked after her until her mother returned. This led to Courtney and Barbara believing that Sam had abandoned them.

At some point after this, Courtney became a blue belt in karate and a student at Sherman High, where she joined the gymnastics team.

In 2018, Barbara Whitmore returned to her home town of Blue Valley, Nebraska to sell her mother's home. During this trip she went to Richie's Diner where she met Pat Dugan. The pair later got married at some point before 2020, with Pat becoming Courtney's step-father.

Moving to Blue Valley
In 2020, Courtney began to pack up the contents of her bedroom in preparation for the families move to Blue Valley when she came across a gift that she had got her father for Christmas ten years prior. She dusted the box off before placing it with the rest of her belongings, at which point Mary Kramer entered the room and the pair said their goodbyes. She then brought the boxes down to the moving van and the family got into Pat's car where Courtney took one last look at her home before beginning the drive to Nebraska.

The family eventually arrived in Blue Valley to their new home where Courtney stared at a box in the moving van that was labelled as auto parts. They then decided to head into town to find somewhere to eat where they come across the diner where Pat and Barbara met. Courtney then asked why Pat was in Nebraska, to which he responded that he was looking for something.

The next morning, Pat drove Courtney to Blue Valley High School in Starman's old car. During the ride, she was texting Mary about how much she missed her which Pat noticed, and so he attempted to start a conversation with her about the value of friends, but Courtney ignored him and continued texting. Once they arrived, Pat wished her a good day which only further annoyed Courtney as she walked inside. She made her way to the office to have a photo taken for her school ID where she asked Mrs. Patterson about joining the gymnastic team only to be told that it no longer exists due to the extracurricular activities having been recalibrated by The American Dream for optimal participation and that she should try out for cheerleading instead.

Courtney then leaves the office into the hallway where she is approached by Cindy Burman and Jenny Williams. Cindy suggested that Courtney should join the cheerleading team as she is in need of a new second but Courtney rejects this offer and so Cindy walks away.

During her lunch period, Courtney was looking for a seat when Paula Brooks approaches her and directs her to the "losers" table where she meets Beth Chapel, Rick Tyler and Yolanda Montez. Henry King Jr. then approached the table and began bullying Yolanda by calling her a slut and asking if she has any more pictures to share with then. Courtney jumps in to defend Yolanda and so Henry takes her phone, which causes her to push him back and into a cafateria lady. Principle Bowin notices this and takes Courtney to detention which causes her to miss the bus so she has to walk home.

Discovering the Cosmic Staff
Courtney then walks home, past Richie Rock's Diner, where she is greeted by Barbara for dinner. Courtney, Barbara and Pat then have a conversation about what to do that evening before Courtney tells Pat to stop acting like her father and storms off to the basement. Once there, she kicks over a box of Pat's stuff only to two pictures, one with him as Stripesy with the Star-Spangled Kid and the other a picture of the golden age Justice Society of America. She then notices a box with a glowing object inside of it and opens it to discover the Cosmic Staff, which she picks up and examines before it drags her to The American Dream building where she preforms a gymnastics routine before being flown to a drive-in theatre.

She then noticed Henry King Jr., Brian Tanner Balloid and Travis Thomas harrassing Josh Hamman by vandalising his mother's car. Courtney then decided to teach them a lesson by puncturing Henry's father's car with the cosmic staff but is noticed by the boys and a fight ensued. The staff then proceeded to knock out all three opponents before firing a blast that blew up the car, which caused Courtney to run away.

She returned to her home to put the staff back in the basement when she was confronted by Pat who told her that the staff was too dangerous to be outside of its crate. Courtney asked for an explanation about the origin of the staff and Pat explained to her how the JSA died to save the world ten years prior with Courtney coming to the conclusion that Starman must have been her father because her father never came to visit her on the exact same night. She then went upstairs to ask her mother if this was the case but she was cut off by Barbara explaining that her father was not a superhero and had abandoned them.

Courtney then went to meet Pat on the porch where he told her more about his history within the JSA and how he met Starman before asking her not to tell her mother. She agreed to keep his secret if he stayed out of her way, but was convinced otherwise by Pat.

She then went to bed but was awoken by the cosmic staff opening her door. This caused her to scream which was heard by Barbara who yelled to ask if she was okay. Courtney quickly put the staff under her bed before Barbara entered her room and asked what was the matter, with her saying that she couldn't sleep. They then had a conversation where Courtney agreed to give Pat a chance which pleased Barbara and they said goodnight.

Fighting Brainwave
The staff then went to the window and when Courtney grabbed hold of it, it flew her out of the window and to a rooftop near The American Dream building where she practiced with the staff further. She eventually jumped off the building and rode on the staff through the town and into the sky until she was hit by a tire which knocked her off the staff and to the ground on a pile of tires at the Blue Valley Tire Factory.

She was then thrown into a fence and dragged towards the entrance by Brainwave's mental abilities. She ran into the building to get help but is instead dragged into the air and mentally interrogated by Brainwave about who she is, where she got the staff and why she attacked his son. He drags her closer towards him and continues to read her mind at which point he discovers that she is thinking about her father. Courtney asks the staff to do something and it responds with striking Brainwave in the face. However, he landed on his feet and threw tires at her with his mind which she dodged with her gymnastic skills before blasting him with a beam of energy from the cosmic staff.

Courtney then ran out of the factory where she was confronted by a large robot which knocked her to the ground. She got up and pointed the staff at it before Pat revealed that he was controlling the robot.

After she realizes it is Pat, Courtney does not trust him, telling him to stay away from her. Pat convinces her to trust her and she let's him get her out of there and somewhere safe. Once back at Pat's garage, Courtney's hands are shaking and tells the staff to just give her a minute. After Courtney calms down a little bit, Pat asks who attacked her, Courtney gives her description, and says he through tires at her with his eyes. Pat explains it was with his mind, and that his name was Brainwave, and he was a member of the group that killed the JSA, the ISA. Courtney asks if he killed her dad. Pat tells her Starman was not her dad, and that brainwave killed many JSA members that night, but that it was their leader, Icicle who killed Starman. Pat later explains he built the robot out of old car parts

After Pat inadvertently inspired Courtney to get a suit for herself as Stargirl, Courtney took Starman's suit to school. Once at school, she re-purposed it to fit herself, and in the process destroyed the sewing lab.

At Blue Valley High's open house, Courtney and Pat know that Brainwave will undoubtedly show up there. They search for him during the open house, while at the same time, Brainwave is searching for them. Once Courtney sees Brainwave, and thinks about it, Brainwave hears her thoughts and is able to find her. During their confrontation at the open house, Brainwave reads Courtney's made and discovers she believes Starman is her father. He also discovers her real name, and about her mother. He threatens to kill her mother unless Courtney meets him at midnight with the cosmic staff. Once Brainwave leaves Courtney, she races to find pat, and tells him what Brainwave said. Pat makes up an excuse to tell Barbara, and get's her to leave the open house, and go home.

Once back home, Pat instructs Courtney not to go to face Brainwave, that he would, and if he was not home in the morning to get her mother and Mike, and leave Blue Valley forever. After Pat goes to face Brainwave, Courtney has a talk with her mother, who mentions how much she cares for Pat, which convinces Courtney to go and face Brainwave and protect Pat. Once she makes this decision she puts on her suit for the first time, and jumps off onto the staff. As Pat is quickly loosing the battle with Brainwave, Courtney arrives, and knocks Brainwave back with an energy wave from the staff. After dodging multiple attacks from Brainwave, Courtney gets hit by one, and loose reach of her staff. When Pat turns on his headlights, and temporarily blind Brainwave, Courtney uses the staff against Brainwave's mind which ends up frying his mind and putting him into a coma.

After the battle with brainwave, Pat and Courtney return to the garage, where Pat expresses that he lost confidence in himself, and that he was of no help, that she save him. Courtney then tells him that the staff chose her, and she chooses him. She then comes up with a better code name for pat then "Stripsy", she comes up with "S.T.R.I.P.E.", an acronym standing for "Subatomic Technical Robot Internet Pat Enhancer".

Looking Out for Trouble
Five months after Christmas, Courtney led her team and went on patrol for 7 days a week. However, her team attempted to take a break as they thought they were protecting a town that did not need protection at the time. Courtney then returned to home, reading through Golden Age JSA files. Unfortunately, she was found by Pat and was questioned over staying up all night.

Before leaving school, Pat and Barbara revealed their upcoming trip to Yellowstone National Park with Courtney refusing to go as she persisted in protecting Blue Valley. On the way to school, Courtney talked to Yolanda about the latter's murder of Brainwave, telling her that she did not witness the incident and should not give her opinion.

She then went to school and had lunch while listening to Artemis' conversation with her friends. Out of fear, Courtney assaulted Artemis and nearly injured her, with the latter showing that she was merely returning the stick to Jerome. Principal Sherman quickly entered the cafeteria and brought her away to his office. Courtney then sat with her parents and understood that she failed history and English final exams, assigned to summer school and no longer able to go on a trip. Pat talked to her and reminded her of finding a balance on being a superhero and a civilian, grounding her of being Stargirl for 2 weeks.

Later that night, Courtney heard noises on the lower level and took the Cosmic Staff to check out the source. A green light glowed in the dark, revealing a person stealing the Power Battery. They then fought each other, using their respective artifacts and causing damage all over the house. Pat, Barbara and Mike entered the room, with Courtney telling them that it was merely a misunderstanding, which she encountered for the second time in the day.

Powers

 * Powers via the Cosmic Staff: The cosmic staff gives Courtney numerous powers.
 * Flight: Courtney can fly and levitate using the cosmic staff.
 * Stellarkinesis: Courtney can create and manipulate stellar energy to use against her opponents.
 * Photokinesis: Courtney can use the energy generated by the cosmic staff to temporarily blind and distract people.

Abilities

 * Peak of Human Physical Condition: Courtney is at peak human condition due to being a former gymnast and can preform many manoeuvres such as flips and aerials with ease.
 * Acrobatics: Courtney is a highly skilled acrobat due to her time on the gymnastics team in Los Angeles.
 * Skilled Hand-to-Hand Combatant: Courtney is a highly skilled martial artist, she was a blue belt in karate from a young age and was able to effectively fight members of the Injustice Society of America such as Sportsmaster and Tigress.
 * Skilled Staff Fighter: Courtney is an effective staff fighter both with the cosmic staff as shown in both of her fights with Brainwave and with other weapons such as Sportsmaster's baseball bat.
 * Sewing: Courtney knows how to sew as shown when she created the Stargirl Suit from the Starman Suit.

Current Equipment

 * Cosmic Staff: Courtney uses the Cosmic Staff, a weapon invented by Ted Knight that gives her abilities such as flight and energy manipulation.
 * Stargirl Suit: Courtney created and wears a protective suit whilst operating at Stargirl.

Trivia

 * Courtney was on her school's gymnastics team in Los Angeles.