Starman (William Payton)

DC Comic Characters (378 items)
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Will Payton, a 1980s DC Comics superhero, was created by Roger Stern and Tom Lyle. Payton gained his powers of flight, super strength, and the ability to alter his appearance and fire bolts of energy from his hands after being struck by a bolt of energy from a satellite in space. He was in his early twenties and worked as a magazine copy editor. The satellite had been launched by the Hutchison Institute, and the powers had been intended for their team of super-agents the Power Elite. Despite his short career, he gained a good reputation among other heroes, even assisting Superman on some occasions, such as helping him recharge after an encounter with Parasite drained most of his solar energy, and posing as Superman when he was briefly depowered by Lex Luthor's use of Mister Mxyzptlk's Red Kryptonite (although he was forced to leave to recover after he was injured in a confrontation with evil genius Thaddeus Killgrave). He first appeared in Starman (vol. 1) #1 (October 1988) and seemingly died fighting the supervillain Eclipso.

The 1990s Starman series revealed that his fate was different from that previously believed. The mysterious bolt of energy that infused Payton with his cosmic abilities was revealed to be the essence of the alien Prince named Gavyn, who also used the name Starman. It is currently unclear whether the two men, Gavyn and Payton, fused into one being with shared memories, or if Payton was killed by the bolt that struck him and was replaced by the essence of Gavyn.