Sylvester Pemberton (Earth-2: Post-Crisis)

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

- Sylvester Pemberton

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

On December 24, 2010, Sylvester was thought to be killed during the final battle against the Injustice Society of America. However, 10 years later, Sylvester 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."

- Sylvester to Pat

When Sylvester 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 Pat came to his aid. This eventually resulted in him becoming a vigilante under the alias, the Star-Spangled Kid with Pat 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 Sylvester'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, Sylvester 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 Pat. On the next day, Sylvester stood up to Harrigan and took the watch back as it meant the world to him. He soon considered Pat a brother despite not acting like it. At some point, he was also taught to drive a car by Pat.

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.

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

Justice Society of America
At some point during his adulthood, Sylvester discovered the Cosmic Staff, adopting the alias of Starman and was recruited by the Justice Society of America, bringing Pat along with him as a sidekick. Pat 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 Sylvester'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."

- Sylvester'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. Sylvester 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. Pat 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 Pat enabling the car's flight capabilities. He did however manage to damage the car, which resulted in it crashing in a nearby forest. Pat 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 Pat must find a successor to carry on his legacy.

Legacy
Sylvester's apparent death caused Pat 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 Sylvester 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. Sylvester was eventually avenged by the new Justice Society when they defeated the Injustice Society.

Return
In December 2020, Sylvester approached Pat's old building manager in North Hollywood, California to ask where he was. The man informed him that Pat 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, Sylvester travelled to Nevada and asked Pat's ex-wife for Pat Dugan's whereabouts.

Former Powers

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

Abilities

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

Former Equipment

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

Trivia

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