Blackfire

Blackfire
Cover to New Teen Titans #23 (September 1982). Art by George Pérez.
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	New Teen Titans #22 (August 1982)
Created by	Marv Wolfman George Pérez
In-story information
Alter ego	Komand'r
Team affiliations	Citadel
Abilities	Ultraviolet energy projection FTL flight (TV series initially) Superhuman strength, stamina, endurance, durability, agility, reflexes Skilled hand-to-hand combatant Immunity to intense cold and radiation Linguistic assimilation Immunity to vacuum of space Prehensile tongue Longevity Master manipulator

Blackfire (Komand'r) is a fictional supervillain who appears in the DC Universe. She is the older sister of the Teen Titans member Starfire and Omega Men member Ryand'r.

Blackfire first appears in New Teen Titans #22 and was created by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez.

Komand'r was the firstborn child and eldest daughter of Tamaran's royal family. The first princess born in over one hundred years, she should have been courted and showered with honors. On the day she was born, the Citadel Empire attacked and destroyed the western Tamaranean city of Kysarr and killed three thousand citizens in her name. Though she was in no way at fault for what had happened, Komand'r was for all time inextricably linked with that terrible day. To make matters worse, Komand'r was crippled by a childhood illness that left her unable to absorb ultraviolet radiation to fly faster than light as most Tamaraneans did. Because of Komand'r's naturally grim disposition, a stark contrast to the royal family's generally contented outlook, the subjects of Tamaran hated her. As a result, though first in the line of succession, she was denied her birthright to be the next Princess of Tamaran to maintain the respect and prestige of the royal family. Her privileges, honors, and her royal style and dignity were transferred to her younger sister, Princess Koriand'r (who would later become known as Starfire). Inwardly, Komand'r's rage grew and her resentment turned to hatred for her planet, her people, her family, and lastly her younger sister who, in Komand'r's eyes, made the fateful mistake of being born. Komand'r's hatred continued and intensified when she and her sister were sent, per Tamaran's warlike custom, for warrior training with the Warlords of Okaara. Komand'r's true feeling were exposed when during a sparring exercise she attempted to kill her younger sister. As a result, she was expelled by the Warlords. Humiliated by her own transgression, Komand'r swore vengeance and joined the Citadel, quickly rising through their ranks to become a warrior-maiden fighting against the forces of her own world and, ultimately, her own family.

Komand'r later betrayed her home world with detailed information about Tamaran's planetary defenses to the Citadel. They conquered Tamaran with ease, and the surrender conditions included the enslavement of Koriand'r. Koriand'r was never permitted to return, since that would mean the Citadel would devastate the planet for abrogating the treaty. Komand'r was her sister's master and made the most of her younger sister's bondage with years of horrific servitude and torture. When Kori killed one of her rapists, Komand'r decided to execute her as punishment, but not before the sisters were attacked and captured by the Psions. Psions, largely a species of sadistic scientists, performed a deadly experiment on both of the sisters to see just how much ultraviolet energy their Tamaranian bodies could absorb before exploding from the overload. During the procedure, Komand'r's forces attacked the Psion ship to rescue her and while the Psions were distracted, Kori broke free with her newly developed starbolts, highly destructive blasts of bright green-colored ultraviolet energy, which were a result of the experimentation. Against her better judgment she decided to free Komand'r, who was still absorbing more and more starbolt energy. However, far from grateful, Komand'r had struck her younger sister down with the same (but much stronger and more powerful), starbolt energy and had her restrained for later execution. Kori escaped and stole a space ship to planet Earth, where she met a young group of heroes and helped form the new Teen Titans.