Real Name: Barry Bauman (see comments)
Identity/Class: Mutant? human
Occupation: Would-be galactic murderer
Group Membership: None
Affiliations:
Mr. Binkey (pet dog);
formerly enslaved Tom
Vocson;
Enemies: Adam Warlock, Groot, Halfworld inhabitants (including Dr. Dyvyne, Judson Jakes), Rocket Raccoon, Tom Vocson
Known Relatives: parents (unnamed)
Aliases: None
Base of Operations:
Halfworld Asylum;
formerly the Soul Gem;
formerly Wildwood Hospital in New England; the known Universe and
possibly beyond
Education: Extensively self-educated
First Appearance: (BTS) Warlock I#12 (April, 1976), (seen) Warlock I#13 (June, 1976)
Powers: Barry had vast psychic powers, enabling him to manipulate others, alter perceptions, animate matter to serve his whims, project his mind across galactic distances, and even warp entire stars into his own pocket dimension without disturbing the gravity of the involved star sytems. The last (and perhaps others as well) ability may have been actually his affecting the perceptions of those who observed these events. He caused Adam Warlock to believe he had grown so large that he dwarfed the entire planet Earth.
Height: 5' 9"
Weight: 145 lbs.
Eyes: Unrevealed
Hair: Brown
History:
Barry Bauman was born with a nerve disorder which left him with normal intelligence, but no sense of sight, hearing, smell, taste, or touch. Barry's father was chairman of the board of the hospital, so the received 24-hour care every day of his life. Without outside stimulation/disturbance, he learned to fully access his entire mind (as opposed to the 10% accessed by normal humans). This apparently granted him thousands of time more mental power than others. After exploring his own mind, he eventually scanned outside of his body and first encountered his nurse, Tom Vocson. This was when he learned that he was different from others. He learned to take mental control of Vocson, and experience life through his five senses. He used Vocson to race through endless volumes of all types of books to learn the basis of all human knowledge.
Bauman soon developed telekinesis and used it to affect objects around him, initially in the form of pranks, and later causing massive accidents and even earthquakes. Feeling that mankind could have cured his disorder with a little effort, and resentful over his condition, he sought revenge on all of humanity. Casting his mind out into space, he first thought to send a massive asteroid to crash into Earth, but then came upon an idea where he could watch humankind suffer and fear their extinction. He began to cast the stars within Earth's sight into a pocket dimension created by his mind. He planned to slowly wipe out all stars in sight, then abandon his corporal form and cast his mind out into space after destroying Earth's sun as well.
The man known as Adam Warlock, at that time in the Andromeda Galaxy, discovered the stars disappearing and investigated. Using his soul gem, he probed the mind of Barry and learned of his plot. Bauman then followed the probe back to Warlock, explained his origins and plans, and challenged him to stop him. Realizing he could instantly disintegrate Warlock, and seeking a challenge for himself, Barry, now calling himself the Star Thief, vowed to only use his abilities to manipulate physical objects against Warlock until he reached Earth.
Warlock survived his challenges and raced back to Earth, even apparently braving a black hole in the process. However, when he reached Earth, he now found himself dwarfing the entire planet. Star Thief explained this as being due to the different rates of expansion of the universe, but it was later learned to be a trick by him. At any rate, with Warlock now having reached Earth, Barry was free of his vow to limit his attacks and prepared to destroy him. However, Barry had become so intrigued with battling Warlock, that he had relaxed his control over his nurse, Tom Vocson. Vocson, fully aware of Barry's actions, stole a gun and put a bullet through Barry's head, instantly killing him. Barry was apparently siphoned into the Soul Gem.
(Annihilators#3/2 (fb)) - Although Bauman's body had died, his alpha-class psychic mind jumped from host to host. Eventually he was brought to the Halfworld Asylum, his admission supervised by Rocket Raccoon. Despite all therapy, Bauman disrupted the inmates, even taking over Psychology Head, Dr. Dyvyne. To stop Bauman, Raccoon turned the bio-organic Halfworld into a living prison, with Raccoon as the living key, so he left Halfworld. Meanwhile, Bauman took over the second-in-command, Judson Jakes, for a while and devised a plan that would bring Rocket Raccoon back to Halfworld so that he could escape. However, Bauman had managed to shunt his consciousness into the bio-facility of Halfworld.
(Annihilators#3/2) - Bauman appeared in a red energy form before Rocket Raccoon, Groot and various Halfworld staff, and announced he would soon be free.
(Annihilators#4/2) - Star-Thief had Rocket Raccoon, Groot and others incarcerated in an immersion environment while Bauman's energy form entered the cerebral core of a spaceship being readied for launch, but Raccoon was able to escape with the aid of Groot. Recognizing the Thanos-level threat of the reborn Star-Thief, Raccoon enlisted the aid of Blackjack O'Hare and they managed to destroy Bauman's means of escape. After viewing historical tapes of Bauman's life, Rocket Raccoon dressed as Vocson's dog, Mr. Binkey, to distract Bauman so that Halfword's security system could be rebooted. The plan succeeded and Bauman was incarcerated in an happy enviroputic world that kept him sedated.
Comments: Created by Jim Starlin (writer/pencils) & Steve Leialoha (inks).
If Barry's mind could have survived the destruction of the entire planet, you'd think it could survive a form of physical death, including a bullet. Maybe Barry was wrong in his beliefs of his survival capabilities, or maybe he needed to be prepared to take that step.
It's hard not to argue physics, etc., even when you're in a world of fantasy such as comics. Since the people on Earth could see the star disappearing, it would seem most likely that Barry was altering perceptions. The light from stars that far away would take millions of years to reach earth, and similarly, if the light suddenly stopped, it would take that long for anyone to know the difference. If Barry was powerful enough to do everything he claimed to do, I guess there's no reason he couldn't have removed all of the light previously released from the stars as well. Oh well, moot point.
Lastly, we have seen Adam, Pip, and Gamora return from the Soul Gem, so there's no reason Barry couldn't make his escape as well.
Bauman took on another "n" in Annihilators #4 and became Baumann when he tackled Rocket Raccoon and Halfworld. Perhaps Barry manipulated reality so that no one would know his true nname ... or maybe nnot.
Star Thief has an entry in Marvel Legacy: The 1970's Handbook.
Clarifications:
Barry the Star Thief is not
to be confused with:
Tom Vocson was the nurse providing care to the invalid Barry Bauman, who instead learned to take mental control of Vocson, and experience life through his five senses. Bauman used Vocson to race through endless volumes of all types of books to acquire much knowledge. When battling Warlock, Bauman relaxed his control over Vocson. Now fully aware of Bauman's actions, Vocson stole a gun and put a bullet through Barry's head, instantly killing him. Vocson was rewarded for his actions by being charged with the murder of a helpless "vegetable." He probably went either to prison or a mental institution. The likeness of Vocson's dog, Mr. Binkey, was later used as a diversion by Rocket Racoon to stop Bauman escaping Halfworld Asylum.
--Warlock I#13 (13(fb), 13,14, Annihilators#4/2 (fb)
images:
(without ads)
Annihilators#4/2, p17, pan 1 (red energy form)
Other
appearances:
Warlock I#14 (August, 1976) - Jim Starlin (writer/pencils), Steve
Leialoha (inks), Marv Wolfman (editor)
Avengers Annual I#7 (1977) - Jim Starlin (writer/pencils), Joe
Rubinstein
(inks), Archie Goodwin (editor)
Marvel Two-In-One Annual#2 (1977) - Jim Starlin (writer/pencils), Joe
Rubinstein (inks), Archie Goodwin (editor)
Annihilators#3/2 - 4/2 (July-August, 2011) - Dan Abnett & Andy
Lanning (writers), Timothy Green II (artist), Bill Rosemann (editor)
First Posted: 09/09/2001 (?)
Last Updated: 08/01/2011
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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