Star (Ripley Ryan)

Ripley Ryan is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Kelly Thompson and Carmen Carnero, the character first appeared in Captain Marvel vol. 10 #1 (January 2019). Ripley Ryan was originally an adversary of the superhero Carol Danvers / Captain Marvel. She was depicted as a supervillain who took on the mantle of Star. She later became an antihero under the same codename.

Concept and creation
Marvel Comics Editor Sarah Brunstad stated, "The plan to reveal Ripley Ryan as Star has been cooking since before the first Captain Marvel script was on paper. The whole Captain Marvel team has had such a great time developing her and waiting for her big moment, and I’m ecstatic that Carmen is staying with the character to do the covers for this miniseries. Kelly wrote some great dialogue in issue #11 that get to the core motivations behind her attack on Carol. She’s an extremely relatable character who’s been twisted by the trauma she experienced from Nuclear Man in the first arc, and now she’s driven by fear, by the need to be never be a victim again."

Publication history
Ripley Ryan debuted in Captain Marvel vol. 10 #1 (January 2019), created by Kelly Thompson and Carmen Carnero. She later appeared in the 2020 Star series, her first solo comic book series, by Kelly Thompson. She appeared in the 2021 Black Cat series. She appeared in the 2021 King in Black: Thunderbolts series. She appeared in the 2021 Amazing Spider-Man Annual series.

Fictional character biography
Ripley Ryan grew up in a home where she was abused by her mother. She was also bullied a lot growing up.

She became a reporter for Ms. magazine years later after. She encountered Carol Danvers when they were attacked by Nuclear Man. He kidnapped Ryan and took her to Roosevelt Island. Danvers pursued them with help from Echo, Hazmat, and Spider-Woman. Ryan helped Danvers and her allies defeat Nuclear Man.

Ripley Ryan later found out about Doctor Minerva's efforts to engineer humans so that they would become a hybrid of humans and Kree. She volunteered to partake in these experiments. The experiment was a success, and Ryan became a Kree hybrid. However, she gained no superpowers from the experiment. With help from Doctor Minerva, she utilized the stolen powers from Captain Marvel at the time when she had unleashed a "Kraken" into New York City. When Captain Marvel defeated the "Kraken," she got infected, with her powers being siphoned into Ryan. She became known as the superhero Star who helped to fight an armada of "Kraken."

Her popularity rose while Captain Marvel's plummeted. Star later found out about Doctor Minerva's plans to recruit Danvers into fighting the possible extinction of the Krees and nearly killed Doctor Minerva. Ryan left with a message, stating, "You're not as smart as you think you are."

Captain Marvel brought Doctor Minerva to Stark Unlimited HQ to get her some medical treatment following the attack. After learning some information from Doctor Minerva, Captain Marvel went to confront Star in Times Square. She got weaker owing to the Power Siphoners as she fought Star. Captain Marvel ripped the device off her chest, which severed the connection, and caused both of them to fall to the ground. Star revealed to Captain Marvel that she released the virus into New York City so that she can draw on the powers of all the New Yorkers. Captain Marvel defeated Star by ripping the Power Siphoner off of Star's chest. While it seemed that she was remanded to the Raft, it turned out that Star had somehow merged with the Reality Gem and escaped.

Ripley Ryan later visited the Bar with No Name and got into a fight with Titania. However, she was defeated owing to her inexperience with the Reality Gem, and was thrown out. Star was later knocked out by Loki. While in a warehouse, Loki attempted to remove the Reality Gem from Star to no avail, as he states that other people have come for the Infinity Gems. When she asks him who would come for them, Loki listed a lot of names. She thanked Loki for the information and attempted to destroy him.

Star later tries to enlist Jessica Jones to help her, only to be turned down due to recalling what she did to Captain Marvel. Both of them fought, until Scarlet Witch broke up the fight and stated to Star that she is destroying reality.

During the "King in Black" storyline, Mayor Wilson Fisk forms his incarnation of the Thunderbolts to escort Star, the current keeper of one of the Infinity Gems, into battle to kill Knull. To proceed, they will first need to make contact with a man Kingpin believes can help turn the tide against the Symbiote God. Star and Mister Fear are able to defeat a Symbiote Dragon. Star and the Thunderbolts make their way to Ravencroft Institute, where the man that would help in defeating Knull turns out to be Norman Osborn.

Powers and abilities
Ripley Ryan acquired a range of superpowers after merging with the Reality Stone. She gained the ability to alter reality itself as a result. She possesses superhuman attributes, such as superhuman strength, speed, durability, and senses. Ripley Ryan cam project energy beams. She is able to teleport to other places. She can create solid energy constructs. Ripley Ryan also has the power of flight.

Critical response
Tessa Smith of Screen Rant described Ripley Ryan as "Marvel's hottest new heroine." Rich Johnston of Bleeding Cool called Ripley Ryan a "hot-new comic book star." Matthew Aguilar of ComicBook.com said, "The character became popular rather quickly." Previews World found Ripley Ryan to be a "breakout character" as well as an "exciting addition to Marvel Comics’ legendary lineup of super heroes." Megan Nicole O'Brien of Comic Book Resources ranked Ripley Ryan 6th in their "Captain Marvel 2: 10 Characters That Should be in the Sequel" list

Marvel Comics Editor Sarah Brunstad asserted, "The whole Captain Marvel team loved the character from the beginning, but the fan and retailer response to her has been overwhelming."

Impact
In 2019, the introduction of Ripley Ryan as Star in Captain Marvel #8 was credited as one of the main reasons the comic book sold out. Some readers bought multiple copies and sold them for multiples of cover price on eBay. The third print variant of Captain Marvel #8 featuring Star had a Fair Market Value (FMV) for a 9.8 graded copy selling for $150 and was valued higher than any of the first print issues. Jude Terror of Bleeding Cool subsequently named Ripley Ryan "one of eBay's favorite new characters."

Issue 1
According to Diamond Comic Distributors, Star #1 was the 10th best selling comic book in January 2020.

Samantha Puc of ComicsBeat wrote, "Star #1 is a good jumping-on point that introduces you to a new Marvel villain of dubious morals and establishes her place in the Universe at large. For my money, this debut issue is a BUY," while Hussein Wasiti asserted, "I had no opinion on Star until I read this issue, which is odd considering how excited I am for the rest of this miniseries. I had some issues with the art but other than that, I had a great time. I’m giving this a BUY." Jenna Anderson of ComicBook.com gave Star #1 a grade of 5 out of 5, stating, "After making a pretty prominent and controversial impact on the events of Captain Marvel, Ripley Ryan gets her own solo mini-series. As she—and readers—explore the circumstances of her powers, we're treated to a murderer's row of interesting and entertaining cameos. You might not agree with every decision Ripley makes, but seeing her go on this journey—and play a bigger role in the Marvel universe in the process—is incredibly complex and entertaining."

Issue 2
According to Diamond Comic Distributors, Star #2 was the 39th best selling comic book in February 2020.

M.J. Kaufmann of GeekMom gave Star #2 a grade of 4 out of 5, asserting, "So far, this series is holding a spot on my pull list. It got there initially on the strength of my love for Thompson’s work with characters like Jessica Jones, Captain Marvel as well as her work on Mr & Mrs. X. It’s staying there on a potent combination of the strength of the plot, engaging characterization, and well executed artwork. I’m looking forward to the next issue." Jenna Anderson of ComicBook.com gave Star #2 a grade of 4 out of 5, saying, "Ripley's first solo adventure continues in this issue, and it takes her—and the readers—deeper and deeper down a proverbial rabbit hole. Expect cameos, backstory, and some delightful art from Javier Pina and Filipe Andrade. Even if you haven't gotten into Star 's story yet, this issue has enough genuinely good things to make it worth checking out."