Lumiere

Lumiere, the Starlight Girl

PL:11

Alternate Identity: Michele d'Avignon

Identity: Secret

Base of Operations: Paris, France

First Appearance: TALES OF THE UNKNOWN, Nov. 1961

Gender: Female

Age: 29

Group Affiliation: Justice International

Attribute

Strength 12 (+1), Dexterity 16 (+3), Constitution 14 (+2), Intelligence 10 (0), Wisdom 9 (-1), Charisma 20 (+5)

Toughness +11 (+2 Con, 9 Defensive Roll); Fortitude +5 (+2 Con, +3 Base); Reflex +7 (+3 Dex, +4 Base); Will +4 (-1 Wis, +5 Base)

Defense 21 (+11 Base)

Base Attack Bonus: +11

Initiative +3 (Dex)

Hero Points: 2

Powers

Device 9: Light Control 11 (Alternate Powers: Blast 11, Obscure 11, Dazzle 11), Flight 10, Hard to Lose, Starlight Pendant

Feats

Evasion 1, Attractive 1, Luck 1, Inspire 2, Defensive Roll 9

Skills

Taunt +21 (+5 Cha, 16 Ranks); Perform (Sing) +21 (+5 Cha, 16 Ranks); Perform (Dance) +21 (+5 Cha, 16 Ranks); Acrobatics +19 (+3 Dex, 16 Ranks); Diplomacy +17 (+5 Cha, 12 Ranks); Bluff +17 (+5 Cha, 12 Ranks); Innuendo +17 (+5 Cha, 12 Ranks); Language- English; Disguise +21 (+5 Cha, 16 Ranks); Notice +15 (-1 Wis, 16 Ranks); Sense Motive +15 (-1 Wis, 16 Ranks)

Background

A famed cabaret performer at Paris' Club Saphir, Michele d'Avignon had many admirers, and received many gifts. But one, from an anonymous sender, turned out to be the mystic Starlight Pendant, which gave Michele the ability to harness and use light as an elemental force. Fed up with the crime in Paris' Pigalle district, not far from the club, she decided to put her powers to good use, and have some fun in the process. She took the alias "Lumiere", and put together a costume from the club's racks.

Not long afterwards, Michele discovered her benefactor was a member of the Order of Light, a benevolent society of mystics serving the cause of the Shining Ones on the Positive Plane. To keep the pendant safe from dark forces, they decided to entrust it to a guardian with a "generous soul." Michele's role in this larger conflict led her to team up with mystic hero Morpheus, and their partnership became a romance, and eventually a marriage. In the meantime, as France's foremost hero, Lumiere became a founding member of the global superteam Justice International.

Personality

Michele d'Avignon is vivacious and outgoing, who feels at home among throngs of friends and admirers. Outwardly, she seems to be in the superhero game for the thrill of it, but at heart she desperately wants to make the world just a bit brighter. She has seen a lot of poverty and neglect growing up, and it's this concern for the problems of the everyday world that led the Order of Light, and by proxy the Shining Ones, to select her as the bearer of the pendant.

Appearance

Michelle is an attractive redhead of average height and build, with bright green eyes. Her costume has changed frequently through the years, but is always a functional-but-fashionable-for-the-time suit in blue with gold highlights, with a blue harlequin mask over her eyes.

Publishing History

Lumiere was created as a backup feature to Morpheus' adventures in TALES OF THE UNKNOWN, after EIC Joe Prelutsky decided that sales on the title weren't what they should be and the highly abstract surrealism of the Dimension Lord's stories might be putting off readers. Ordered to create a more "down to Earth" hero, David Denham conceived an idea based on the cosmology he was working on for Morpheus but taking place in a more conventional crimefighting venue. He based the character of Michele on his wife Marie, who had been a nightclub performer in Paris when they met. Michele's personality was, from all accounts, very close to that of Mrs. Denham, and artist Irving Ellison went so far as to base the character's appearance on hers.

Lumiere's street-level adventures proved quite popular, and her European provenance made her a natural for membership in Star Comics' first team book, JUSTICE INTERNATIONAL, debuting in March of 1963. In 1965, when Morpheus began to emerge as a popular character in his own right, Denham decided to merge the two features and have the characters team up. In keeping with Lumiere's real-world roots, Denham drew from his own relationship with his wife to develop a romantic subplot between the two heroes, culminating in their marriage in issue #210, Denham's last on the title. TALES OF THE UNKNOWN became MORPHEUS with issue #211, and Lumiere was spun off into her own self-titled book, written by Cameron Dean and drawn by Elizabeth Rogers. Returning to the character's Parisian crimefighting roots, the new title was a light and humorous adventure series, but with many nods to social issues and establishing Lumiere's impoverished past. The title was moderately successful, and went through a number of creative shifts before being cancelled in 1980, at the nadir of the Star Comics Bust. The title was revived in 1987 and has drifted in and out of print since, the current run being noted for its abundant humor.