Welcome to Comic Book Legends Revealed! This is the seven hundred and sixty-fifth installment where we examine three comic book legends and learn whether they are true or false.
Click here for the first legend in this installment. Click here for the second legend in this installment.
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COMIC LEGEND:
Marvel would not allow Jim Valentino to rename Starhawk as Shadowhawk.
STATUS:
True
I just went over most of this in the previous legend in this installment, but we'll do a quick recap...
In 1990, Jim Valentino debuted a new ongoing series for the Guardians of the Galaxy (their first title under their own name, as their previous series was in the pages of Marvel Presents)...
One of the most powerful members of the team was Starhawk, who shared a body with his former wife, Aleta...
In Guardians of the Galaxy #3, Aleta and Starhawk were split into two distinct beings...
But in Guardians of the Galaxy #16, Starhawk re-absorbed Aleta into himself without her permission...
Five issues later, the new, merged entity returned...
The new Starhawk had a new look...
And Aleta could now speak through the merged being...
But at that same time, there was a whole OTHER personality involved and it was a wild card...
In the previous legend, I explained how Jim Valentino debunked a rumor that he wanted to kill off Starhawk, but Marvel wouldn't let him.
However, there WAS something involved in this storyline where Marvel told "no" to Valentino.
The first time they told him "no" on a plot point was when he was turned down the use of Wolverine in the book (which I covered in an old Comic Book Legends Revealed here) and the other one was when he wanted to commemorate Starhawk's change by re-naming the character, who was now a darker character, Shadowhawk.
Valentino explained to me, "Tom DeFalco, then Marvel's editor-in-chief said no, but he liked the name and suggested I create a new character with it. I did."
When Valentino helped co-found Image Comics, his contribution was a hero known as Shadowhawk!
Amusingly, Valentino also included a bit in Guardians of the Galaxy #24 where the Guardians debate how Starhawk SHOULD have a new name...
Thanks again to Jim Valentino! My apologies for not getting this legend up sooner. Thanks to Bill Colosimo for reminding me that I had this awesome information from Jim and I hadn't run it yet!
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In the latest Movie Legends Revealed - How did a Doc Savage movie get made as an entirely different movie?
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Feel free to suggest ideas for future legends to me at either cronb01@aol.com or brianc@cbr.com!