DC writer Kami Garcia, the co-creator of the popular Starfire's origin as "tricky." The whole premise of the popular YA graphic novel series by Garcia and Gabriel Picolo is to have the Titans just be normal teens, with the goal of making them as relatable as possible for the teen readers of the series.

In an interview with Liam McGuire of make all the Titans as much like "normal teens" as possible. Because of this, Starfire's alien origin is shaken up and spun out in a whole new way in the new book Teen Titans: Starfire by Garcia and Picolo. In this story, Starfire's origin is very different.

Garcia doesn't address Kori's alien nature in the book, and even her physical appearance is depicted by Picolo as more human-like, as Kori doesn't have her usual orange skin. Garcia has left Kori's past vague on purpose, which allows her the possibility to revisit Starfire's origin sometime down the road. Kori still has her larger-than-life powers, but like the other Titans, she's a regular human teen with inexplicable powers.

Starfire's New Teen Titans Origin Is Challenging, But Makes Sense for the Story

The Beloved Character Is Adapted for a New YA Audience

In DC Comics' prime Earth, Starfire is an alien princess named Koriand'r from the planet Tamaran. When the planet is invaded by evil alien conquerors called the Citadel, they kill Starfire's entire family besides her sister Blackfire. The Citadel forces Blackfire to banish Starfire in an effort to make a point and prevent Tamaran fighting back. Starfire was experimented on by the Citadel, which accidentally granted her great powers. She was forced to work on a slave ship, but instigated a rebellion and escaped to Earth, where she eventually became a member of the Teen Titans.

Starfire's origin is altered quite a bit from the comics, but Garcia made it that way for a reason.

Along with her usual powers, another thing that Garcia absolutely wanted to keep about Starfire in the YA Series was her complicated relationship with her sister, Blackfire. Just like Starfire, Blackfire was made to seem more human in the YA series, including her name change from Komand'r to Kira. Kori and Kira have a sisterly dynamic, where Kori believes they're really close, but while Kira loves her sister, she is ultimately only focused on herself. Kira loves Starfire, but as the story goes on, she makes questionable decisions as a sister, which is where their dynamic begins to resemble that of their DCU counterparts.

This Version of Starfire Is Made to Be Far More Relatable

Starfire Is No Longer an Out-of-This-World Alien Princess

Beyond the changes to her physical appearance in the graphic novel, Starfire has an invisible disability called EDS (Ehlers–Danlos syndrome) which is a connective tissue disorder that causes her ts to swell if she walks too much. "I'm always trying to find ways to have our characters represent more of who is out there in the world as far as teens," Garcia stated in her Comic Frontier interview. Starfire's disability doesn't define her, and it doesn't affect her powers, and is not in anyway the main focus of the book, but it gives teens the opportunity to see themselves in a hero like Starfire.

Starfire's origin is altered quite a bit from the comics, but Garcia made it that way for a reason: to be as relatable to teens as possible. There are many parallels between this book and Garcia's other Teen Titans books and characters. Dick Grayson and Damian Wayne's sibling dynamic is similar to Kori and Kira's, and Cyborg, who is introduced in this book, has visible disabilities. Not only do these changes allow Starfire to connect to the teen audience, but also to the other characters in this Teen Titans story.

Teen Titans: Starfire is available now from DC Comics.

Source: Comic Frontier