History
Starfinger
A noted physician, Doctor Lars Hanscom was horrified by the thought of aging and losing his faculties. When the Legionnaire Lightning Lad came under his care in the latter half of the 30th Century, he hypnotised the young hero into becoming a costumed criminal named Starfinger. Using the power at Lightning Lad’s disposal, Hanscom attempted to obtain rejuvium, a rare element that would restore his youth. He was foiled by the remaining Legion of Super-Heroes.
Hanscom wasn’t finished yet though; he adopted the persona of Starfinger himself, and on at least one occasion used complex technology to simulate the powers Lightning Lad had demonstrated in the Starfinger costume. Starfinger is by all accounts something of a coward, generally seeking to strike at the Legion through intermediaries. Lars Hansom would be the first of three individuals to take the title Starfinger.
Starfinger II
Char Burrane was the second Starfinger. He was attempting to flee the surface of the Mars when he came across a ring that could summon two super powered women from a micro world that existed within the ring, Starlight and Starbright. He began to create a criminal empire and to prove his might, killed the original Starfinger. He plagues the Legion on numerous occasions until they forced him to flee into the micro world that resided within his ring.
Starfinger III
Molock Hanscom (former leader of the Cosmic Spy League and brother of Lars) takes the name Starfinger and arranges the assassination of Char Burrane. Using intermediaries like his brother, he sends bounty hunters to kill him and capture the ring. He is successful in acquiring the ring, only to be killed by the Khunds. It is unknown if Char Burrane survived his assassination plot and had the Khunds kill Molock or if the Khunds attack was a separate incident.
Reboot: Earth -247
In the post-Zero Hour continuity, Starfinger was an identity used by a brainwashed Element Lad. He was sent to fight the Legion by Phantom Girl’s mother, Winema Wazzo, who blamed the Legionnaires for her daughter’s death. Element Lad was defeated and freed of the Starfinger suit and it was not seen again in that continuity.
Powers and Abilities
The first Starfinger had five star-tipped fingers on his right hand that each released a different power: a neutralizing ray, lightning projection, a repelling force, radiation projection, and a freezing ray. Using all five fingers together can create a distortion ray.
The second Starfinger wore a mysterious ring that enabled him to fire blasts of solar energy and somehow summon from within the ring two super-powered women named Starlight and Starbright.
The third Starfinger wore the same ring as Starfinger II and had the same abilities.
Other Versions
In Legion Superheroes Annual #5, the Legion was re-imagined in a world that closely resembled Oz. In that world two versions of Starfinger (one male and one female) played the parts of the wicked witches.
Other Media
A Starfinger who appeared to be Char Burrane appeared in the Legion of Superheroes animated continuity in both episode of the television series and in issues of the tie-in comic series.