Denise Zarick

**Denise Zarick** was a minor character in The CW and DC Universe series *Stargirl*.

Denise was the doting mother of Joey Zarick and the widow of William Zarick.

## Biography

Denise has been living in Blue Valley for many years alongside her husband, councilman William Zarick.

## Series

Denise is first introduced as she and her husband are frantically woken up by Joey, claiming he heard something downstairs. His father dismisses it as the cat, telling his family this is Blue Valley but heads to investigate nonetheless. Nonetheless, he grabs his wand and has a heated conversation with Brainwave before he leaves. Hearing her husband, speaking with someone, Denise appears at the top of the stairs and asks him. William insists it was no one, and it's his business. She goes back to the bedroom.

She later attends the open house with her family, where she bumps into the town's west resident, Pat Dugan, and remarks that he's new. He tells her the town seems nice and she cryptically tells him people do seem to think so. Getting distracted, she bids him goodbye and leaves.

Denise witnesses a tender moment when her husband teaches their son a pointer in his magic trick, and she gives him his a magician's hat as he leaves, bidding him goodbye for what would be his final time going to school. Later the night, a concerned Denise finishes a call and sees her husband, who's gotten the news what happened to Joey. Seeing his devastated face, the two break down in a heart-wrenching hug as she falls into his arms, but William pushes her away and races upstairs, ignoring his wife's grieving protests. He opens the secret safe behind the portrait and grabs his wand, and rushes out the door, despite his wife's begging cries. Denise is seen lastly sitting on the stairs presumably weeks later, emotionally stunned as she listens to the radio announcing the funeral of her husband and son.

Days later, Pat finds Denise Zarick waiting for him at his garage. She explains that she got too lonely in her house and had to go drive, but her car stopped unexpectedly. Pat says he'll take a look for her, remarking old trucks need love and affection. He gives her condolences to her, and Denise suddenly says she needs to go take a walk. She thanks Pat and leaves.

The next day, Denise comes to bid him farewell as she's leaving for good. She thanks him for being so understanding, and gives him a last warning to not trust this town. She knows her husband didn't die of a heart attack, as he was healthy and recently been to the doctor. Pat acts confused, but Denise begins to ramble about her son and how much he wanted to be like his father, staring at his magician's hat in the box. She fears she said too much and gets in the car, driving away as Pat pleads for her to stop.

Pat would later find her beat-up car as well as her family's belongings and cat in a junkyard, leading him to wonder her fate.

The next day, Pat looks at a newspaper that is remembering the lives of Joey and William Zarick. He mentions to Courtney that he fears the Injustice Society is responsible for the deaths of all the Zarick's.

## Personality

Denise is a typical resident of Blue Valley - friendly and welcoming to new faces as well as a caring, loyal figure to her husband and a loving mother to her son. Curious with recent events and her husband's odd behavior, she gives an ominous vibe that she catches more than she lets on.

Following Denise's son and husband's sudden deaths, she was distraught and inconsolable, eventually reaching a state of emotional numbness, and a frightful paranoia knowing of the fishy circumstances behind her husband's death that caused her to run. Even in her last moments, Denise would prove to be quite trusting in almost giving out critical information to a man that she barely met, if it meant coming clean of what she knew and if it could protect him and keep him on alert on what goes on in their town.

## Physical Appearance

Denise has curled shoulder-length blonde hair, tanned skin, and hazel eyes. She is usually seen in light-colored clothing.

## Notes and Trivia

* To what extent Denise knew of her husband's past and present ties to the Injustice Society of America and his own part in their criminal offenses is unknown, though her cryptic interactions with Pat Dugan heavily implied she knew not just what her husband and her son were capable of, but of what truly lies behind Blue Valley's small-town facade. She knew enough to know her husband didn't die of a heart attack, and, like her husband would have wanted, attempted to escape the town in a rush. Given Pat's discovery of her car in the junkyard he frequented, it's likely she became the last loose string of the ISA's final cleanup on The Wizard.

## References

1. ↑ "*S.T.R.I.P.E.*"
2. ↑ "*Icicle*"
3. ↑ "*Wildcat*"
4. ↑ "*Hourman and Dr. Mid-Nite*"