The Starjammers are a small band of space pirates who travel through the Shi'ar Galaxy, plundering Shi'ar starships in order to strike out against the Shi'ar Empire. The leader of the Starjammers is former United States Air Force test pilot Major Christopher Summers, who now calls himself Corsair. He was one of the original four Starjammers, long with Ch'od, Hepzibah, and Raza, each a member of a different alien race native to the Shi'ar Galaxy. Ch'od is a Saurid of the planet Timor of the Varanus System, which is an amphibious humanoid race. Hepzibah is a member of the Mephitisoid race, who were once the Shi'ar principal rivals for control of their galaxy. Today the Mephitisoids are kept virtually under Shi'ar martial law. Since Corsair, who later became Hepzibah's lover, could not pronounce her name (which is expressed by Mephitisoids through a combination of pheromone odors), he dubbed her "Hepzibah" after a beautiful female slink in a comic strip. Raza heritage has yet to be revealed, as have the circumstances under which he was transformed into a cyborg.

The four later joined the "Sikorsky," an insect like being who serves as their physician, and by the superhuman Earth woman Carol Danvers, also known as Binary. The Starjammers travel aboard the Starjammers, whose operations are overseen by the sentient computer Waldo (named by Corsair after a character in a science fiction story by Robert A. Heinlein).

Over twenty years ago Major Summers was flying himself, his wife Katherine Anne, and their young sons Scott and Alex in a private plane down the Western American coast their plane was attacked by a starship from the Shi'ar Empire on an exploratory mission. Scott and Alex parachuted to safety, but Major Summers and his wife were teleported aboard the Shi'ar starship and taken to the Shi'ar Imperial Throneworld. There Major Summers was separated from his wife and imprisoned. He broke free and discovered the corrupt Shi'ar emperor D'Ken attempting to rape Katherine Anne. D'ken responded to this interruption by murdering Katherine Anne before Summers' eyes, and then ordering Summers sent to the slave pits, where criminals and political prisoners were held.

It was in the slave pits that Summers first met Ch'od, Hepzibah, and Raza, who were also prisoners there. Together the four escaped and stole a starship. They called their ship the Starjammer (they have had at least two starships by that name) and themselves the Starjammers, and began engaging in space piracy, thus taking vengeance on the Shi'ar by plundering their starships, but taking care not to harm innocent passengers in the process. The Starjammers therefore were regarded as outlaws by the Shi'ar Empire. Summers was the leader of the Starjammers. He adopted the name "Corsair" for himself and "Starjammers" for his group because of his love for tales of swashbuckling adventures.

The Starjammers met the X-Men when the two groups joined forces on a world in the Shi'ar Galaxy to battle the Shi'ar Imperial Guard, who were then serving the mad D'ken. D'ken was deposed and succeeded as Shi'ar ruler by his sister Lilandra Neramani. Since the Starjammers had aided her against D'ken, Lilandra put an unofficial end to the Shi'ar Empire's opposition to the Starjammers. The Starjammers subsequently aided Lilandra and the X-Men against the alien Brood and the treacherous Shi'ar Lord Samedar, both of whom were allied with Lilandra's sister Deathbird.

However, Deathbird finally staged a coup d'etat and seized the Shi'ar throne. Lilandra then traveled with the Starjammers, seeking an opportunity to regain her throne. Lilandra and Corsair went to Earth through teleportation via a Shi'ar "Stargate" device to save the life of her lover Professor Charles Xavier, who lay on the point of death. Lilandra, Corsair and Xavier were teleported back to the Shi'ar Galaxy by the Stargate, and Xavier was fully healed aboard the Starjammer. However, the Starjammer's ultra-light drive for swift travel between galaxies was heavily damaged by enemy attack, and Shi'ar Stargates were not too heavily guarded for the Starjammers to utilize. Unable to return to Earth, Xavier joined the Starjammers and Lilandra in their travels.

First Appearance: X-Men #104