Starjammers
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The Starjammers are a fictional team of space pirates from the pages of the X-Men comic books published by Marvel Comics. The Starjammers first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #107 and were created by Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum.
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[edit] The Characters
- Corsair: Leader, father of the X-Men Cyclops, Havok, and Vulcan
- Ch'od: Large reptilian creature, a member of the Saurid race.
- Cr+eee: a white, furry companion for Ch'od which only he can understand
- Hepzibah: Corsair's lover, a member of the Mephitisoid race; her true name is nearly unpronounceable to humans
- Raza Longknife: a cyborg; original species unrevealed.
- Binary: a mutated form of Carol Danvers which controlled vast amounts of cosmic energy, had superstrength, flight, and the ability to survive unaided in space
- Sikorsky: Insect-like robot, expert-physician
- Waldo: the artificial intelligence of the Starjammers' ship, destroyed beyond repair
- Keeyah: a Kree who briefly acted as pilot
[edit] Origin
The story of the Starjammers began with Christopher Summers, a military pilot returning with his family from a trip to Alaska. Without warning, their plane was attacked. Chris's wife, Katherine, strapped their two sons (Scott Summers and Alexander Summers who later became the X-Men Cyclops and Havok) to their only parachute and pushed them out of the plane, saving their lives. The husband and wife were then teleported from their plane to the ship of an advanced alien race called the Shi'ar. This had been a zoological scouting mission to bring in a human specimen. They were brought before D'Ken, the then ruler of the Shi'ar Empire, who was immediately smitten with Katherine, making her his concubine and sending her husband to the slave pits. Eventually, Christopher escaped and reached D'Ken's private quarters to try to assassinate him. However, he was caught and punished by having his wife murdered before his eyes, and his unborn son cut out of her womb. His spirit broken, he was sent to a mining camp on another planet.
[edit] The Formation of the Team
While working in the mining camp, Christopher witnessed the guards mercilessly beating a feline-like female. He stepped in, trying to get them to stop, but was then beaten himself. The woman was taken to the holding cells and Christopher huddled up in a corner, ashamed of himself. A little while later, Raza and Ch'od passed by and asked Christopher for the whereabouts of their comrade Hepzibah. Unfortunately, Chris was too afraid to answer. After they had left, Chris felt guilty and went to the guards' quarters, starting a fight after killing one of them. Surrounded on all sides, Christopher's cause seemed hopeless when Raza and Ch'od jumped in. After getting past the guards, they freed the cat-woman and snuck on board a Shi'ar starship. Christopher used his pilot call-sign, Corsair. Naming Christopher their Captain, they became the Starjammers, a group of space pirates rebelling against D'Ken's leadership.
[edit] Recent Events
The Starjammers have had many adventures across the universe, many of them on Earth with the X-Men, during which Christopher Summers finally met his long lost sons, now X-Men.
A recent Starjammers series introduced a new member of the Starjammers. Although this series was seemingly out of Marvel Universe continuity, the events of the series were referenced in a recent entry in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe series.
The Starjammers are slated to appear in the upcoming story arcs of Uncanny X-Men accompanied by Lilandra. The creator said that the events would tie in with what was revealed in X-Men: Deadly Genesis.
[edit] Other media
The Starjammers appeared in an X-men animated series five-part episodes called the Phoenix Saga.
The Starjammers appear to be an homage to a team of traders who appeared in the Poul Anderson book Satan's World. That team included a human, a dragon-like alien, and a cat-like female alien.
