As a concept, Starbrand is probably not as well known as some other major Marvel cosmic ideas. Like gems or stones something. But it's a fairly major source of power from a significant part of Marvel Comics history. Starbrand debuted in 1986 as a foundational part of the experimental New Universe.
The New Universe lasted only a few years. Though that experiment failed, Starbrand survives into the current Marvel Universe (as the best ideas of alternate ones tend to do). Let's take a look at some things you may not know about Starbrand.
10 A New Universe
It was 1986 and Editor-in-Chief Jim Shooter wanted to do something major to celebrate Marvel's 25th Anniversary. His first idea was to create a new line of comics featuring classic characters but in a new, unrestricted continuity (sound familiar?). That idea didn't take, but the notion to create an entirely new universe from scratch did.
Shooter assembled a team of writers and artists to come up with an entire line of new comics. The basic idea was to craft an interconnected universe based more on science than magic, and Starbrand was chosen to be a key component of the launch.
9 Will Power
Shooter settled on Starbrand to be the franchise player for New Universe. Originally his name was going to be the much more on the nose Will Power, a suggestion from Archie Goodwin.
Shooter chose Starbrand and conceived the rest of the details about the character, a young man named Kenneth Connell, who inherits the Starbrand from an old man (literally the Old Man). Connell is an average guy, a mechanic living in Pittsburgh (Shooter's hometown, which we'll come back to) who becomes the first superhero in this new universe.
8 White Event
While Kenneth Connell received his powers as a gift (of sorts, it's complicated as we'll see) from the Old Man, the rest of the New Universe received theirs through a singular circumstance: the White Event.
A brilliant white flash seen all over the world for a few moments, it transformed many into superhumans. The White Event it turns out was the Old Man trying to scrape the Starbrand off the bottom of his proverbial shoe by sticking it on a random asteroid. Didn't work so hot.
7 Unlimited Power
The key feature of the Starbrand's power is that it's unlimited. No ceiling exists on its potential, with the sole exception of the imagination of the person entrusted with it. In the brief initial run of the New Universe, we saw only a small range of its capability as Connell warily tested out his power.
He could fly, was super strong and could fire energy blasts. In that way, he was like a lot of other cosmically powered Marvel heroes. Without any human imagination or limits, the power is infinite as was witnessed in the White Event and the creation of superhumans.
6 Jim Shooter
Jim Shooter was the guy who killed Jean Grey (or at least was the guy who let it happen). He oversaw Frank Miller Daredevil and Walt Simonson Thor. He's got opinions. The New Universe was his baby. But it didn't work and it wasn't that big a shock when Marvel fired him early in the run of Starbrand.
Though Shooter didn't succeed with the New Universe and the imprint was shuttered, he did take some of his ideas and concepts about a scientific universe and cosmic heroes to Valiant Comics.
5 The Pitt
To shake things up for the failing line, the new creators in charge of the New Universe (namely John Byrne) decided to go big. They destroyed the city of Pittsburgh in the Black Event, leaving it a gigantic irradiated crater inhabited by deformed monsters.
This tragedy resulted directly from Connell's inexperience and hubris with his new powers. It was also, maybe, a dig at Shooter. Not everyone was happy with him at Marvel, and once he was gone, the first thing they did was destroy his hometown.
4 Quasar
Not too long after The Pitt incident, the New Universe fizzled out completely. Starbrand was canceled with issue #19 and the whole concept laid to rest. But no idea ever goes unused too long at Marvel, and just a few years later in 1993, the concept was revisited in the pages of Quasar #49.
The Wendell Vaughn version of the cosmic hero ends up trapped in the New Universe and uses the Starbrand to get back home. Once he's back on Earth-616, the power remains with him.
3 Newuniversal
In 2006, Marvel celebrated the anniversary of celebrating an anniversary. Writer Warren Ellis developed newuniversal, a reboot of the original New Universe using many of the same characters and ideas, but updated for a modern audience more amenable to alternate takes like the popular Ultimate line.
Starbrand and Kenneth Connell are again at the center of the concept though this time he shares his power in the form of glyphs with three other major New Universe heroes, including Justice, Cipher and Nightmask. Unfortunately, this iteration of the franchise didn't stick either.
2 1,000,000 BC
Avengers 1,000,000 BC is about as gonzo as it gets. Earth's Mightiest Heroes assemble in the distant past (fudging some of the details, because dinosaurs, but who cares, because dinosaurs!) and fight a Celestial intent on destroying the world.
Many of Marvel's most powerful heroes like Thor and Jean Grey find analogs here, and so does Starbrand. In this reality, a rather Hulk-ish prehistoric man named Vrnn inherits the Starbrand from a dead T-Rex (YES) who dies fighting aliens.
1 A New Dawn
The story of the Starbrand and - perhaps the New Universe - is far from over. Recently, the Starbrand has found another host. The Avengers, Gladiator and a host of others raced across the galaxy to the Starbrand, which was destroying planets, only to find it in the possession of a pregnant human woman.
She gives birth to a baby with the brand imprinted on its hand. This new custodian of one of the - if not the greatest - cosmic powers in the Marvel Universe is now a child. And children have little to no limits on their imagination. It's going to be a really terrible two years.