Starshine
AKA: Two woman have been grafted into the Starshine armor: the Galadorian Landra, and the Earth-woman Brandy Clark.
First appearance: The original Starshine appeared in Rom 14, during a backup story that chronicled an early battle between the Dire Wraiths and the Galadorian Space Knights. Brandy was knocked for a loop by Rom in his very first issue, and accepted the Starshine armor in Rom 40.
Died in: Landra died in Rom 28, killed by an energy weapon wielded by a Dire Wraith that had taken the shape of Brandy Clark. Brandy ended up on a devastated Galador with a Rom restored to humanity, where they set about -- ahem! -- repopulating the planet.
Favorite quote: "I sometimes forget how my cyborg armor appears to others, for I still retain such a strong memory of my human self." (Rom 14; Landra, like Brandy after her, kept her human emotions despite being encased in a cyborg body.)
Team affiliation: The Space Knights were the best of the youth of Galador, grafted into cyborg armor when the threat of the anti-life Dire Wraiths from the Black Nebula proved too much for mere humans to battle. (Well, actually; the Space Knights were a proposed line of action figures that, like the Micronauts and the Transformers, became part of a comic-series promotion. But I digress...) The Space Knights were promised that their humanity would be restored after the threat ended; however, all human remains but that of Rom himself were destroyed, leaving a lot of out-of-work Space Knights roaming the galaxy looking for fights...
Powers: Starshine's unique abilities consisted of light-energy powers that, when fired from her "lighteyes," could smash an enemy ship to atoms or strip a Dire Wraith of its disguise in seconds. Her Space Knight armor protected her from the vacuum of space and allowed her independent flight even within a planet's atmosphere.
Favorite storyline: In Rom 19-20, Landra demonstrated her willingness to talk rather than battle, and requested leniency for Terminator, a fellow Space Knight gone random, even after being his chief accuser in his murder trial.
Least favorite storyline: Frankly, the Rom series itself always bugged me, seeing as its main enemies, the Dire Wraiths, were portrayed as genetically evil, a concept I had difficulty with. This aside, both Landra and Brandy were put through some rough times. Landra's characteristic compassion was suddenly terminated when she met Brandy, whom she prayed would fall in battle so that Rom would be all hers. Brandy herself suffered the loss of her parents and her fiancee, long-term supporting characters all, after assuming the mantle of Starshine to help protect them from the Dire Wraiths. In fact, in one of the more callous moments in comics, Brandy's entire town was wiped out -- the ultimate in supporting-cast pruning. (And you thought being pals with Peter Parker was hazardous to your health!)