Geoff Johns Breaks Down that Tribute to His Sister in Stargirl’s Premiere

DC’s Stargirl debuted last week on both DC Universe and The CW and even as the comics-inspired series introduced a whole new audience to Courtney Whitmore/Stargirl and her budding version of a new Justice Society of America, the new series offered fans a lot of Easter Eggs for fans to explore. Among them was a very personal one for series creator Geoff Johns in the form of a tribute to his late sister and Stargirl inspiration Courtney. Now, Johns breaks down that touching tribute, revealing the origin of that moment.

The tribute itself comes early in the first episode of the series. After Courtney Whitmore’s (Brec Bassinger) mom marries Pat Dugan (Luke Wilson), the new family packs up to move from California to Nebraska and while Courtney is packing viewers get a glimpse of her life thanks to the ephemera she has. It’s then, pinned to her bulletin board among the various photos of her life and experiences is a very special snapshot: a photograph of the late Courtney Johns with Bassinger’s Courtney Whitmore edited in. We had a chance to sit down with Johns and ask him about that moving tribute, and he revealed that it was actually the idea of the show’s prop master Doug Mastin.

“I didn’t actually include it. It was Doug Mastin, our prop master who is amazing, an amazing, amazing human being and talented, passionate guy,” Johns said. “And I just, we love working together. And he was so great, and we talked about … he was so driven by the idea that this was based off my sister and he was the one that had the idea, that put it together. He asked me if they could do it and I said absolutely. That’s a really nice gesture. And I’m really glad that he suggested that and it’s really nice to see. I mean, even for just my parents and all her friends, it’s nice. It’s cool to have it in there. It’s just, it’s just neat.”

For those unfamiliar, Courtney was Johns’ younger sister who was among the 230 people who lost their lives in the TWA Flight 800 crash on July 17, 1996. She was 18 at the time of her death and Johns created the Courtney Whitmore character in her memory and for Johns, it’s very much the good of his sister’s memory that he wants to put out into the world with Stargirl.

“There’s so many good things that the show can just help put in the pot,” he said. “We wanted to put something good back out into the world with Stargirl from the comics. And now, like my sister was taken out, and let’s kind of even out the karma as much as we can because it’ll never be perfect and try and put some of that good back out into the world.”

DC’s Stargirl airs Tuesdays at 8/7 on The CW. New episodes of the series debut Mondays on DC Universe.