Blackfire

For other uses, see Blackfire (disambiguation).

Blackfire
Cover to New Teen Titans #23 (September 1982). Art by George Pérez.
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	New Teen Titans #22 (August 1982)
Created by	Marv Wolfman George Pérez
In-story information
Alter ego	Komand'r
Team affiliations	Citadel
Abilities	Superhuman strength, stamina, and durability Energy projection

Blackfire (Komand'r) is a supervillain that appears in the fictional DC Universe. She is the older sister of the Titans member Starfire and Omega Men member Ryand'r. The character first appears in New Teen Titans #22, and was created by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez.

Fictional character biography

Komand'r was born the eldest child of Tamaran's royal family. The first princess born in over a hundred years, she should have been courted and showered with honors. On the day she was born the Citadel Empire attacked and destroyed the western Tamaranean city of Kysarr and killed three thousand citizens in her name. Though she was in no way at fault for what had happened Komand'r was for all time inextricably linked with the terrible day. To make matters worse, Komand'r was crippled by a childhood illness that left her unable to absorb ultraviolet radiation to fly as most Tamaraneans did. Because of Komand'r's naturally grim disposition, a stark contrast to the royal family's generally contented outlook, the subjects of Tamaran hated her. As a result, though first in the line of succession, she was denied her birthright to be the next Princess of Tamaran to maintain respect and prestige of the royal family. Her privileges, honors, and her royal style and dignity were transferred to her younger sister, Princess Koriand'r (who would later become known as Starfire). Inwardly, Komand'r's rage grew and her resentment turned to hatred for her planet, her people, her family, and lastly her younger sister who, in Komand'r's eyes, made the fateful mistake of being born. Komand'r's rivalry continued and intensified when she and her siblings were sent, per Tamaran's warlike custom, for warrior training with the Warlords of Okaara. Komand'r's true feeling were exposed, when during a sparring exercise she attempted to kill her sister, the Princess Koriand'r. As a result, she was expelled by the Warlords. Humiliated by her own transgression Komand'r swore vengeance and joined the Citadel, quickly rising through their ranks to become a warrior fighting against the forces of her own planet and, ultimately, her own family.

Komand'r later betrayed her planet with detailed information about Tamaran's defenses to the Citadel. They conquered Tamaran with ease, and the surrender conditions included the enslavement of Koriand'r. Koriand'r was never permitted to return, since that would mean the Citadel would devastate the planet for abrogating the treaty. Komand'r was her sister's master and made the most of her younger sister's bondage with years of horrific servitude and torture. When Kory killed one of her rapists, Komand'r decided to execute her as punishment, but not before the sisters were attacked and captured by the Psions. Psions, largely a species of sadistic scientists, performed a deadly experiment on both of the sisters to see just how much energy their Tamaranian bodies could absorb before exploding from the overload. During the procedure, Komand'r's forces attacked the Psion ship to rescue her and while the Psions were distracted, Kory broke free with the starbolts, destructive blasts of solar energy, which were a result of the experimentation. Against her better judgment she decided to free Komand'r, who was still absorbing energy. However, far from grateful, Komand'r struck her sister down with the same (but more intensified), power and had her restrained for later execution. Kory escaped and stole a space ship to planet Earth, where she met a young group of heroes and helped form the new Teen Titans.

Komand'r appeared in the Rann-Thanagar War limited series, during which she killed Hawkwoman in her pursuit of a New Tamaran. She formed an uneasy alliance with the surviving players of the war in order to deal with more pressing concerns (Infinite Crisis). She was not seen during the Crisis series itself, but was featured in Outsiders (vol. 3) #31-32 (Infinite Crisis tie-in issues) and has recently appeared in Hawkgirl and JSA: Classified, attempting to kill Hawkman and Hawkgirl. The Hawks defeated Komand'r, after which Hawkman used Psion technology to strip the villain of her starbolt powers.

She later appeared in R.E.B.E.L.S. (vol. 2), with her powers already having been restored by the Psions. When Vril Dox moved the planet Rann into the location formally held by Tamaran in the Vega System, Blackfire arrived with her army in attempt to seize the planet for her own people. Dox was able to quickly stop the hostilities, however, and brokered a treaty allowing Blackfire and her people to settle on the uninhabited southern continent of Rann. During these events, Blackfire gained a newfound sense of respect for Dox, realizing his egocentric personality was very similar to her own. The two went on an unofficial date disguised as a diplomatic dinner and after Dox was captured by Starro the Conqueror, Blackfire joined forces with Adam Strange and other members of L.E.G.I.O.N. to rescue him. Blackfire then subsequently claimed Dox as her consort.

DC 2011 relaunch

With the September 2011 DC Comics relaunch, some people's origins and personalities have been changed to an unknown degree. While never referred to by name, it is said Starfire's sister sold her for the safety of their planet, if this was a malicious way to get rid of her sister or sincere peace offering for the safety of their planet is unknown. What is also unknown the current state of Tamaran or Komand'r

In other media

Television

Blackfire, as seen in the Teen Titans animated series.

Blackfire appears in the Teen Titans animated series voiced by Hynden Walch. In the series, she is depicted as a teenager, yet is shown to be a few years older than her sister Starfire. In contrast to the other Tamaraneans shown on the series, all whom have red hair and green eyes, Blackfire is shown to have black hair and blue-purple eyes. Blackfire possesses super-strength, as well as the ability to generate purple-colored starbolts. In a contrast with her comic book depiction, Blackfire also has the ability to fly. Her clothes in the series are quite similar to Starfire's as seen in the episode "Go!", but where Starfire's was purple, Blackfire's is black and where Starfire's shows skin, Blackfire's is covered by a metal plating of sorts.

Blackfire's debut came in the episode "Sisters", where Blackfire comes to earth to visit her sister. However, it is soon revealed that Blackfire is actually an infamous galactic criminal, and she has actually come to earth in an attempt to frame her sister for her crimes. Fortunately, her plan was thwarted by her sister Starfire in an epic fight between sisters, when it shows that Starfire has a much stronger power. Blackfire is soon arrested by Centauri police forces with the help of the Titans.

In the episode "Bethrothed", Blackfire is revealed to have escaped, and seized control of Tamaran. As ruler of Tamaran, she uses her authority to have Starfire married to a swamp alien in return for the Jewel of Charta, under the guise that Tamaran would be invaded if Starfire did not comply. The Titans soon disover that her sister's plan is a hoax, and then procedes to challenge Blackfire to a duel for the throne. The Jewel of Charta was shown to greatly enhance Blackfire's power (turning her Starbolts red at the time), until Starfire took the jewel from her sister by force and crushed it. Blackfire was defeated by Starfire, who then forced Blackfire into exile and turned over her newly-won position as Grand Ruler of Tamaran to her childhood caretaker, Galfore. Following this, Blackfire has not been seen since nor has she joined the Brotherhood of Evil.

Miscellaneous

• While Blackfire does not appear in Batman: The Brave and the Bold, she makes a cameo appearance in issue #9 of the tie-in comic book series to Batman: The Brave and the Bold as one of the villains defeated by Hawkgirl.

External links

• Blackfire at the Comic Book DB
• Titans Tower biography
• Blackfire at Spider-Bob.com
• Blackfire's description on the animated series
• Blackfire at the Internet Movie Database