Stardust (Marvel Comics)

Stardust (Lambda-Zero) is a character appearing in the comic books published by Marvel Comics and existing in that company's Marvel Universe. Stardust is one of the many Heralds of Galactus. Unlike most of Galactus's Heralds, Stardust seeks to kill all who attempt to escape the planets that Galactus feeds upon, an action that Galactus neither requires nor forbids.

Stardust
Stardust as depicted in Annihilation: Silver Surfer #4 (September 2006). Art by Andrea Di Vito.
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Stormbreaker: The Saga of Beta Ray Bill #1 (March 2005)
Created by	Michael Avon Oeming, Daniel Berman (writers), Andrea Di Vito (artist)
In-story information
Alter ego	Lambda-Zero
Species	Ethereal
Team affiliations	Heralds of Galactus United Front
Supporting character of	Silver Surfer
Abilities	Power Cosmic Superhuman strength, stamina, reflexes, and durability Energy absorption and alteration Exceed the speed of light Can create black hole and inter-dimensional portals Immortality

This Stardust should not be confused with the other Marvel character known as Stardust, a former enemy of Rom the Space Knight.^[1]

Fictional character biography

Stardust is introduced in the comics series Stormbreaker: The Saga of Beta Ray Bill. The first planet Stardust fed to Galactus was New Korbin, after she slaughtered most of the planet's inhabitants.^[2]

Stardust has a series of confrontations with Beta Ray Bill, who is attempting to rescue the remaining Korbinites. Stardust opens a portal to a dimension filled with evil beings, hoping to trap Bill there. Bill manages to escape, but a being named Asteroth escapes as well and begins destroying entire worlds. Stardust and Bill join forces, with Stardust opening a black hole to trap Asteroth in. Asteroth resists, but is ultimately trapped in the black hole, with Stardust being sucked in as well.^[3]

Annihilation

Stardust is sent by Galactus to ask the Silver Surfer to meet with Galactus. Stardust is under orders to help the other remaining former heralds Red Shift and Firelord as they combat the Annihilation wave fleet. It is later revealed that Stardust is an Ethereal, a race of beings of pure energy. Stardust is confronted by the fifty-three remaining Ethereal, who were nearly eliminated by the Annihilation Wave and accuse Stardust of treason for leaving them. In the ensuing battle, Stardust "kills" the remaining Ethereal in self-defense and absorbs their energy. Stardust is named Galactus's second herald, as Galactus's now increased hunger requires more worlds to devour.^[4]

Powers and abilities

Stardust is a Herald of Galactus imbued with the Power Cosmic and as such possesses high levels of superhuman strength, durability,^[5] reflexes, and stamina to confront and match powerhouses such as Beta Ray Bill as well as the other standard abilities of a Herald, such as creating a black hole^[6] or opening inter-dimensional portals.^[3] Stardust is an Ethereal, a race of beings of pure energy. Being imbued with the Power Cosmic makes Stardust immortal, allowing her to reconstitute herself if destroyed.^[4][3]

In other media

• Stardust appears in The Super Hero Squad Show, voiced by Cheryl Hines.^[7][8]
• Stardust makes a non-speaking appearance in The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes episode "Avengers Assemble".^[8] This version is a water elemental.