Shining Knight (Sir Justin)
Shining Knight (Sir Justin) is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He was created by Creig Flessel and first appeared in Adventure Comics #66 (September 1941).[1] He appeared regularly until issue #125, and off and on until issue #166.[2]
| Shining Knight | |
|---|---|
 Shining Knight and Winged Victory, from the cover of All-Star Squadron #62 (October 1986). Art by Mike Harris and Tony DeZuniga. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | Adventure Comics # 66 (September 1941) |
| Created by | Creig Flessel (writer/artist) |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Sir Justin |
| Team affiliations | Knights of the Round Table Justice Society of America Seven Soldiers of Victory All-Star Squadron Justice League |
| Partnerships | Vigilante |
| Notable aliases | Justin Arthur |
| Abilities |
|
The character appeared on the first season of the DC Universe streaming service show Stargirl played by Mark Ashworth. The show also appears on The CW Network.
Fictional character biography
Sir Justin, the newest member of the Knights of the Round Table in King Arthur's Court, was one of the many knights who had witnessed the death of Queen Guinevere's cousin, Sir Fallon. Fallon revealed his attacker to be the ogre Blunderbore in his last breath. Justin then vowed that he would avenge Fallon's death and search for Blunderbore in the northland. On his journey there, he met and freed the wizard Merlin, who was trapped in a tree previously by a witch. To thank Justin, Merlin transformed Justin's old, rusty armor into a golden, comfortable, and shining armor that was invulnerable and made his sword and shield invulnerable as well. Justin's sword was so powerful it could cut through anything. Merlin also gave his horse, Victory (Welsh: Buddugoliaeth), giant bird-like wings that allowed him to fly (earning the new name of Winged Victory [Buddugoliaeth Asgellog]), and made him invulnerable.[3]
When he met Blunderbore at the top of the icy mountains in the northland, the two battled with Justin eventually winning and killing Blunderbore. However, right before he died, Blunderbore caused an avalanche that quickly buried Justin and Winged Victory, however neither of them died, but instead were frozen in suspended animation. By the year 1941, Justin and Victory were finally discovered and released out of suspended animation by a museum curator. Realizing he must now live in the modern world, he decided to fight crime with his skills as a knight and soon took the civilian alias of Justin Arthur. He eventually met heroes like Crimson Avenger and Vigilante and, after meeting other heroes, they formed the Seven Soldiers of Victory. Later, Justin was invited to join the All-Star Squadron.[4] When the JSA and the Squadron were captured by the time travelling villain Per Degaton, who was planning to change the events of Pearl Harbor to conquer the World, he was able to free himself using his sword, which assisted in the defeat of Degaton, though when Degaton went back to 1947 these events were forgotten. Later, Justin returned to Britain where he served as the personal bodyguard to Sir Winston Churchill during World War II, where his first act was bringing down an attacking Nazi Bomber. Also, during his career as a superhero, he met a boy who looked up to him and vowed to be his sidekick, taking the name Squire.
Justin also had a relationship with the second Firebrand, who was apparently killed by the Dragon King. In the last battle with his teammates in The Seven Soldiers of Victory, they fought a powerful energy creature called Nebula Man. When they finally defeated him, the energies released in the explosion of Nebula Man had caused each member of the Soldiers to be dispersed and lost in time. Justin was thrown back to Asia during Genghis Khan's reign, losing his memory and wound up serving the Mongol leader, but he, along with the other members of the Soldiers were eventually rescued by the Justice League and Justice Society.
After this, Justin was amnesiac for quite some time and worked as a janitor at Blue Valley High School until his memories returned. He rejoined the remainder of the Seven Soldiers and got his revenge on the Dragon King. During this appearance, Justin employed new high-tech armor which was voice-activated to expand and collapse.[5]
During the events of Identity Crisis, Shining Knight assists Captain Marvel, Vixen and Firestorm during their battle with Shadow Thief. Shadow Thief steals Sir Justin's sword and uses it to stab Firestorm through the chest, resulting in the young hero's death. Shining Knight was anguished by Firestorm's death.[6]
Shining Knight briefly appears in Justice League: Cry For Justice, where he is shown as one of the heroes recruited by Jay Garrick to help combat Prometheus.[7]
Powers and abilities
The Shining Knight is a master of the arts of combat of Arthurian times. Wearing his enchanted bulletproof armor and wielding his enchanted sword, the Shining Knight can cut through almost anything and can resist magical attack.
His steed Winged Victory can fly.
Other versions
The Shining Knight and Winged Victory made a brief appearance in Elseworlds' JLA: Another Nail when all time periods meld together.[8]
In other media
Shining Knight appeared in Justice League Unlimited, voiced by Chris Cox. He appeared in numerous episodes with non-speaking cameo appearances before landing two full, speaking roles in the episodes "Task Force X" and "Patriot Act". He was often paired with his close friend Vigilante. Shining Knight's steed Winged Victory also appeared in the series. Shining Knight's most notable appearance in the series was in "Patriot Act". There he faced off against General Wade Eiling, who had turned himself into a super soldier to eliminate metahumans that he thought were dangerous. Justin is notably the only person who actually wounds Eiling, due to his sword's properties. Eiling had taken down Justin's teammates and he stood no chance against him. However, despite numerous warnings from Eiling, Justin refused to stand down and was almost killed until a group of bystanders protected him. Eiling reminded them of his opinion that metahumans were the enemy until the bystanders reminded him that Justin and the rest of the heroes he defeated were non-powered and that he was the only metahuman there. Realizing his mistake, Eiling left vowing to return if the Justice League goes rogue.
Mark Ashworth portrays Shining Knight on Stargirl.[9][10] Justin initially appears as a janitor at Blue Valley High School and in search of his horse Victory. In the episode "Shiv Pt. 1", Justin uses his enchanted sword to save the show's titular character from Cindy Burman. In his self-titled episode, he receives recurring visions and seeks out Pat Dugan, Rick Tyler, and Beth Chapel for help. After hallucinating them as Dragon King and his drones, Pat talks him down and reveals to his allies Justin's true identity as Shining Knight, a member of the Seven Soldiers of Victory. In the two-part season one finale, "Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E.", Justin assists the Justice Society of America in stopping the Injustice Society before leaving to find other surviving members of his team.
References
- Markstein, Don. "The Shining Knight". Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
- Benton, Mike (1992). Superhero Comics of the Golden Age: The Illustrated History. Dallas: Taylor Publishing Company. p. 146. ISBN 0-87833-808-X. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
- Nevins, Jess (2013). Encyclopedia of Golden Age Superheroes. High Rock Press. p. 241. ISBN 978-1-61318-023-5.
- Thomas, Roy (2006). The All-Star Companion: Vol 2. TwoMorrows Publishing. p. 96. ISBN 978-1893905375.
- Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. #0-12. DC Comics.
- Identity Crisis #5. DC Comics.
- Justice League: Cry for Justice #4. DC Comics.
- JLA: Another Nail #2
- Zalban, Alex (May 19, 2020). "'DC's Stargirl' Boss Geoff Johns Explains What Changed From The Original "Pilot"". Decider. Archived from the original on May 23, 2020. Retrieved May 23, 2020.
- Damore, Meagan (June 30, 2020). "Stargirl Basically Confirmed Justin the Janitor's Secret Identity". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on July 1, 2020. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
External links
- Shining Knight (Sir Justin) at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)
- The Shining Knight at Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on October 25, 2011.
- Earth-2 Shining Knight Index
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