S.T.A.R. Labs

This article is about the fictional organization in DC Comics. S.T.A.R. Labs is not related to S.T.A.R.S.

Scientific and Technological Advanced Research Labs, is a fictional research facility and comic book organization appearing in titles published by DC Comics. It first appeared in Superman #246 (December 1971) and was created by Cary Bates and Rich Buckler.

Publication history

S.T.A.R. Labs was introduced in Superman #246 (December 1971). In the Superman comics, Professor Hamilton formerly worked there, and Dr. Kitty Faulkner, also known as the superheroine Rampage, is currently employed there. The Metropolis location is featured in a battle and as a plot point in Armageddon 2001. In Teen Titans, Cyborg's parents, Silas and Eleanor Stone, and his former love interest, Dr. Sarah Charles, all worked for S.T.A.R. Labs. Past S.T.A.R. Labs employees are Murray Takamoto,^[1] Dr. Jenet Klyburn, and Dr. Albert Michaels (the first Atomic Skull). The 1993 comics miniseries S.T.A.R. Corps was about a group of superhumans who had inadvertently gained their powers in a S.T.A.R. Labs experiment. The labs are featured in the 1996 mini-series The Final Night. As eternal winter threatens the world, thanks to the Sun-Eater, S.T.A.R. Labs keeps their webpage updated with encouragement and various information related to the emergency. The San Francisco and Montana branches play an important role in the arc in Justice League of America #110–114 (2005). 52 Aftermath: The Four Horsemen #1 (October 2007) shows a S.T.A.R. Labs relief operation working, side by side with Waynetech, in the devastated remains of the country of Bialya. All the relief workers are slain by outside forces.

History

S.T.A.R. was founded by a scientist named Robert Meersman, who wanted a nationwide chain of research laboratories unconnected to the government or any business interests. He succeeded not only on a national scale, but an international one as well: S.T.A.R. Labs currently maintains facilities in Canada, Europe, Australia, and Japan as well as in the United States, with the total number of facilities numbering between twenty and thirty at last recorded count.

S.T.A.R. Labs is one of the companies providing sponsorship to the superhero team The Conglomerate. The other sponsors included American Steel, Dante Foods, Dupree Chemical, Ferris Aircraft, LexCorp, Ovel Oil, Pax Entertainment, Stagg Enterprises.^[2]

Locations

A partial list of some known locations of S.T.A.R. Labs facilities and their research focuses, where either is known, includes:

• Austin, Texas
• Central City, Missouri
• Chicago, Illinois: specializing in research and technology
• Detroit, Michigan: specialized in physics research. Closed down in 2004.
• Fawcett City: specializing in extraterrestrial research ^[3]
• Gotham City: specializing in weaponry
• Keystone City, Kansas
• Kyoto, Japan^[4]
• Los Angeles, California: specializing in genetics and disease control
• Melbourne, Australia
• Metropolis (Queensland Park Borough, near Metropolis Harbor): specializing in marine biology
• Metropolis (central branch, New Troy Island): catch-all facility
• Missoula County, Montana ^[5]
• New York City, New York: specializing in research and technology. Destroyed in explosion.^[6]
• Palo Alto, medical facility
• Phoenix, Arizona: specializing in meteorology and natural disasters
• Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, radioactive storage and testing centers
• Salt Lake City, Utah:^[7] specializing in physics
• San Diego, California: specializing in chemical research
• San Francisco, California: specializing in studying metahumans
• Seattle, Washington: specializing in studying psychology and psionics.
• Toronto, Canada ^[8]
• Tulsa, Oklahoma
• Wichita, Kansas, specializing in robotics

In other media

Television

• S.T.A.R. Labs is shown in the Superman episode "The Hunter."
• In 1990 series The Flash, Dr. Christina "Tina" McGee (Amanda Pays), the scientist who helps Barry Allen (John Wesley Shipp) deal with the super-speed that makes him The Flash, works for S.T.A.R. Labs in Central City.
• In Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, S.T.A.R. Labs was often mentioned as a source of scientific information. It gained more prominence with the introduction of S.T.A.R. scientist Dr. Bernard Klein as a recurring character from the third season onwards. Dallas City Hall doubles as S.T.A.R. Labs' building exterior for long shots during the series.
• S.T.A.R. Labs was mentioned in an episode of Batman: The Animated Series.
• In Superman: The Animated Series, S.T.A.R. Labs and scientist Professor Hamilton made regular appearances as a source of information and equipment for Superman. In addition to housing Kryptonite rocks under lock and key, S.T.A.R. custodian Rudy Jones was transformed into the monstrous Parasite during an attempt to steal hazardous materials. The episode "Two's a Crowd" featured a scientist named Earl Garver who stole isotopes which he made into a bomb until he was stopped by Superman.
• S.T.A.R. Labs made appearances in Justice League Unlimited.
• S.T.A.R. Labs was also mentioned in the Teen Titans cartoon, as the makers of the "Maximum 7", a microchip Cyborg uses to upgrade himself in the episode "Overdrive".
• S.T.A.R. Labs is also featured in the animated series Krypto the Superdog; it has an unintentional hand in creating Stretch-O-Mutt.
• In Smallville, Winslow Schott is a scientific inventor of S.T.A.R. Labs who was hired by Oliver Queen to work for Queen Industries. It is later revealed that S.T.A.R. Labs was founded by Virgil Swann.
• A van that has "S.T.A.R. LABS" written on it can be seen at the end of the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode "Invasion of the Secret Santas." Masked men from S.T.A.R. Labs are loading the remains of Red Tornado into it to be repaired. In "The Color of Revenge," a S.T.A.R. Labs facility in Bludhaven is later attacked by Crazy Quilt when he comes to steal the Stimulated Emission Light Amplifier. A group of bound and gagged S.T.A.R. scientists briefly appear, but have no lines.
• A S.T.A.R. Labs facility appears in the Young Justice episode "Infiltrator". The facility is raided and destroyed by the Swarm, a cloud of dangerous nanites used by the League of Shadows. In "Misplaced," Klarion the Witch Boy, Wotan, Blackbriar Thorn, Felix Faust and Wizard's spell that split the Earth into the kids dimension and the adults dimension enabled a diversion for Riddler and Sportsmaster to steal an organism (which resembles a part of Starro) from S.T.A.R. Labs. It is brought before Brain during his meeting with the other members of The Light (Project Cadmus' Board of Directors) as Brain tells Klarion the Witch Boy that they plan to bring it "into the Light." The only know members of S.T.A.R. Labs in this continuity are Adam Strange and Eduardo Dorado, Sr.
• S.T.A.R. Labs is mentioned multiple times in season two episodes of Arrow. Across multiple episodes, television newsreaders and visible newspapers discuss safety concerns over a S.T.A.R. Labs particle accelerator in Central City. In the episode "Three Ghosts," the accelerator melts down catastrophically. Across town, this prompts a strange lab accident for police scientist Barry Allen(Grant Gustin), who is also struck by lightning when the phenomenon occurs. Later, in "The Man Under the Hood," S.T.A.R. scientists Caitlin Snow (Danielle Panabaker) and Cisco Ramon (Carlos Valdes) are recruited by Felicity Smoak (Emily Bett Rickards) to synthesise a cure to Mirakuru drug using a blood sample. The villain Deathstroke (Manu Bennett) also attacks S.T.A.R. Labs in the same episode on the hunt for some equipment.
• In the 2014 series The Flash, S.T.A.R. Labs is a major story driver and setting. Continuing the story from season two of Arrow, Barry Allen (Gustin) is supported by S.T.A.R. labs scientists Cisco and Caitlin (Valdes and Panabaker) and Harrison Wells (Tom Cavanagh) as he assumes the superhero identity of The Flash following the freak accident which resulted in him being struck by lightning. The same incident has also affected various other beings around Central City, resulting in a rash of metahuman activity. It was recently revealed that Harrison Wells was replaced by Eobard Thawne shortly after Thawne became trapped in the past as part of his own efforts to return to his own time, Thawne using his future knowledge to design the S.T.A.R. Labs particle accelerator six years ahead of schedule so that he could create the Flash and other superhumans with the goal of allowing him to return home.

Film

• S.T.A.R. Labs makes an appearance Justice League: Doom. After Superman is shot by a Kryptonite bullet, The Flash is sent to a S.T.A.R. Labs facility in Kyoto, Japan, where they are making a Kryptonite scalpel (this being the only tool that could allow doctors to operate and remove the bullet.) The scalpel ends up being unnecessary, as Batman has Cyborg use his blaster filtered through a piece of Kryptonite crystal to serve as a cutting laser, and Martian Manhunter uses his shape-shifting abilities to remove the bullet.
• In Man of Steel, S.T.A.R. Labs has several cameo appearances through the film.^[9]
• S.T.A.R. Labs first makes an appearance in Justice League: War when Victor Stone goes there after a football game to confront his father as to his absence during the game, Captain Marvel later returns several Parademons to Star Labs through the whole in the roof shortly after the creation of Cyborg, It is shown again at the end of the movie while it is under-repair.
• S.T.A.R. Labs makes several appearances in Justice League: Throne of Atlantis Where it is being used as a headquarters for the Justice League albeit with the group's original name The Super Seven much to Steve Trevor's annoyance, This is later corrected at the end of the movie with the name Justice League above the HQ Doors.

Video games

• S.T.A.R. Labs is featured in the video game Justice League Heroes. Superman and Batman travel to S.T.A.R. Labs to fight Brainiac and his robotic minions. After Brainiac is defeated, Superman and Batman discover it is only a clone of Brainiac.
• S.T.A.R. Labs is featured in DC Universe Online. In the hero campaign, the players can gain the trust of S.T.A.R. Lab's personnel by completing certain missions, collecting specific bounties, and gain access to equipment from S.T.A.R. Labs Vendors. An old S.T.A.R. Labs building can be seen in Downtown Metropolis, where villainous players are enlisted to help Gorilla Grodd reclaim his technology confiscated by S.T.A.R. Labs troops and defeat both the original Flash and the current Flash. There is also a S.T.A.R. Labs building in the Otisburg section of Gotham City. S.T.A.R. Labs' soldiers consist of S.T.A.R. Labs Heavy Troopers, S.T.A.R. Labs Security Guards, and S.T.A.R. Labs Shock Troopers.
• Injustice: Gods Among Us has a stage titled Insurgency, which is inspired by S.T.A.R. Labs' facilities and is used by Batman. A section of the game called "S.T.A.R. Labs Missions" is present.

See also

• LexCorp
• S.T.A.R. Corps
• Wayne Enterprises

References

External links

• STAR Labs on DC Database, an external wiki, a DC Comics wiki
• Titans Tower on S.T.A.R. Labs