Lifted from the pages of Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson's controversial titular comic book series, The Boys is a series that examines superhero culture through a realistic lens, and amid the tawdry revelations one character acts as a lightning rod of truth; Rebecca Anne "Annie" January, known to the world as Starlight. A junior member of The Seven, the elite superhero team funded by Vought, she represents truth, justice, and compassion in a cesspool of shallow morals, manipulation, and degradation. In an ever-darkening world, she is the light.
Portrayed by Erin Moriarty in the hit Amazon Prime series, her character arc -from naive fledgling superhero to double agent against Vought- has earned her legions of fans. Not to mention her amazing powers of photokinesis, and her relationship with Hughie Campbell, one of the only authentic aspects of her carefully marketed and manicured life. To show their love, fans have taken to illustrating all the different sides of Starlight's complex character in a myriad of artistic styles.
Yevhen Nesterovych
One of the most endearing aspects of Starlight's character is her enduring capacity to believe in the goodness of others, and her willingness to fight for compassion, kindness, and justice to prevail. It gives her character integrity and is one of the many reasons she struggles in Vought's merciless corporate structure, where such traits are only used for marketing and manipulation.
Yevhen Nesterovych has immortalized Starlight with this piece in her classic outfit, not the incredibly revealing outfit Vought makes her wear for public appearances. Fans will note her vitality, playfulness, and confidence, as her ensemble reflects her being her self; a superhero, not a brand ambassador.
Vamkire Trannel
When Starlight wanted to, she could harness abilities that threatened to usurp even Homelander, but because she didn't tap into them all the time the leader of The Seven didn't concern himself very much with its junior member.
Vamkire C. Trannel captures Starlight at the height of her powers with his art, sparks of electricity shooting from her hands, the glow of energy bathing her blood-splattered body in a threatening aura. Rarely has Starlight been seen in such an intimidating light.
Em Ryn
As Starlight became more and more disenchanted with Vought and her role in The Seven, her plucky disposition began to dissipate, replaced by an irascible, melancholic person who didn't often see the point of trying to be a real superhero.
Em Ryn perfectly captures the frustrated, disappointed side of Starlight, shown in the flimsy outfit that Vought made her wear for public engagements. It wasn't until she joined The Boys that she could just be Annie, a girl who dreamed of growing up and saving people.
Maxy Artwork
As innocent as Starlight can look, her flaxen locks, cherubic cheeks, and doe-eyes belie a fierce temper. Once she got acquainted with the shady practices of Vought, she could only keep her ire inside for so long, and eventually, she let her anger loose on anyone who tried to stop her from revealing the truth (especially about Compound V).
Maxy Artwork has done an admirable job highlighting the duality of Starlight's character in this piece, as both a small-town girl with big dreams of being a superhero and a superhero capable of incredible destruction when she chooses to unleash her powers.
PH Freitas
A lot of the emotional core of both the The Boys live-action series and comic series surrounds the loss of innocence, especially where meeting heroes is concerned. Starlight's loss of innocence, both after she meets her heroes, and realizes the ugly truth of what being a hero entails, is a painful reminder of what happens when much-revered personal heroes are placed on pedestals.
PH Freitas chooses to focus on the breadth of Starlight's character development in his fan art, from bright-eyed and naive initiate to altruistic junior member of The Seven, to rage-filled vigilante.
MatheusGomesArt
When Starlight finds out that being a superhero comes coupled with marketing schemes, brand building, and disingenuous publicity promos, she's disappointed. When she finds out The Seven are nothing more than a bunch of fame-hungry megalomaniacs, she's heartbroken. Through her pain, she commits to being true to herself and her ethos.
MatheusGomesArt has drawn Starlight as a bonafide superhero in the vein of Wonder Woman or Superman with this dynamic piece, powerful yet compassionate, strong yet pure of heart. She looks like a hero of the Silver Age of comics, ready to fight crime and save the world.
Fernando Muzzio
Seeing Starlight tap into the dark side of her abilities is an awesome sight to behold, especially since she does it so rarely. When Starlight gets pushed to the brink, she can be not unlike Homelander in her furious retribution.
Artist Fernando Muzzio has chosen to showcase Starlight at her angriest for this rendering, placing himself safely in her arms in a way that mimics the many times she's saved Hughie from harm over the course of The Boys.
Marleywtoons
The Boys is a series that chooses to pull back the cowl on superhero life and reveal the authentic reality of what it would be like living with beings with god-like abilities. Each episode acts as a thorough morality play, with characters who reflect the spectrum of humanity.
It's perhaps appropriate then that Marley Ward has depicted Starlight not unlike a character from The Incredibles here, an animated movie that also took a glaring look at the unique problems that would arise from having superhumans living among us.
Mergo25
With her incredible powers of photokinesis and photogensis, Starlight is one of the most formidable members of The Seven when she wants to be, though her abilities tend to only surface when she's incredibly angry, resulting in electric surges on par with Stormfront.
Redditor and freelance comic artist mergo25 has used their distinct style to make a bombastic display of Starlight's talents in this piece, with the clean lines of her face and torso in stark contrast to the effulgence of the energy beams shooting from the palms of her hands.
George Quadros
Starlight thought the hardest part of her job would be protecting people from supervillains and saving lives from natural disasters, but as it turned out, it would be remaining true to herself amidst a constant, never-ending barrage of corporate propaganda.
Sometimes she's had enough, and in this bit of fan art by George Quadros, she's seen causing a cyclone of destruction, dressed in what harkens back to Garth Ennis's original outfit for Starlight in The Boys comic book series.