Showing posts with label DC Universe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label DC Universe. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Queen Mera of Atlantis!
The DC Comics cosmic zombie vs. superhero megaseries BLACKEST NIGHT and its sequel BRIGHTEST DAY have thrust several B-list characters into the spotlight.
Chief among these characters is Queen Mera of Atlantis.
This stunning red-haired beauty has been a supporting player in the DC Universe for almost fifty years.
She is generally known as a footnote in the Aquaman mythos.
Though after the DC "reboot" in a few weeks there is a good chance that Mera will be an A-list character in her own right.
Let's take a look at the history of this unique character.
Mera first appeared in AQUAMAN Vol. 1, #11 (September 1963) as an undersea queen from another dimension. That teen in red and blue is Aqualad, Aquaman's original underwater sidekick.
Mera was deposed and exiled to Earth, where she met the king of Atlantis, Aquaman (Arthur Curry aka Orin).
The two were taken prisoner and after being rescued, Mera decided to stay on Earth with Aquaman, as the two began to fall in love.
Within several issues, the two were soon wed in gala ceremony attended by the Who's Who of the DC Universe.
Mera and Arthur enjoyed several adventures together over the months that followed.
She often overshadowed him on the cover.
Within months, Mera gave birth to Aquababy, Arthur Curry, Jr..
With junior around, there was now an Aquaman family.
Things seemed to go along swimmingly for a while.
The Aquafamily continued to face unusual rivals.
Presenting: The Fire-Haired Karla!!!
Above is an awesome cover, though this seems to start a trend where Mera is victimized and Aquaman must come to rescue her.
See what I mean?
And again.
Oh, here's the incredible shrinking Aquaman. Unfortunately his comic book series was soon canceled and Mera was in left in limbo for a few years.
Things took a turn for the grim when AQUAMAN's title was revived in the 1970s. Aquaman's nemesis Black Manta kidnapped the Aquababy (Aquaman vol. 1 ,#60) and the couple fought against all odds to rescue and save his life. They failed.
Mera appeared in a series of solo adventures in the back pages of her husband's title during this period.
Mera then suffered a breakdown, abandoning her husband and blaming him for the baby's death. Their marriage was dissolved and Aquaman soon left Atlantis, but Mera stayed behind.
After a while Aquaman tried to make peace with Mera, but she savagely attacked him. In a desperate attempt to defend himself, Aquaman accidentally impaled Mera, believing that he killed her.
She in fact survived and later rose from her coffin, eventually leaving Earth.
We later found out that she was captured and held in yet another dimension, having had another son named AJ!!!.
After this escape she faced some evil sorcerers who stole her powers, forcing her live up on the surface world for a while.
Mera was now part of Arthur's life and adventures once more.
She even had a brief affair with his son (from another relationship)!
Things seems to normalize for a while when Aqualad (now Tempest) married Dolphin, Aquaman's ex-lover.
Mera appeared alongside Aquaman, Tempest, Lori Lemaris, Power Girl and Arion the Immortal in a JUSTICE LEAGUE OF ATLANTIS one-shot.
After all this, AQUAMAN was cancelled yet again and Arthur was thought to be dead for a while.
After a few years, he resurfaced. He was actually in a time warp, and The Justice League managed to rescue him - and he was awarded his own title once more.
After the INFINITE CRISIS, Mera somehow regained her powers and led a army of Atlantian rebels - and teamed up with a new sword-wielding Aquaman. Her former husband, Arthur was soon transformed into a squid-faced freak and was eventually killed. Again.
In BLACKEST NIGHT storyline, at the request of Tempest (remember him?) Mera reluctantly allows Aquaman's Earthly remains to be returned to Atlantis.
However before they can do so, they are attacked by zombie Aquaman, Aquagirl (she died during CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS) and Tempest's wife Dolphin (she also died at some point) who have been brought back to life as cosmic zombies called Black Lanterns.
Tempest is killed by Tula (Aquagirl) and instantly transformed into a Black Lantern as well. Mera manages to escape with the Trident of Poseidon and flees to JLA headquarters where she begins a cosmic adventure alongside The Atom. During the battle, Mera is chosen as a deputy officer of the Red Lantern Corps!
In the process she gets a great new red costume and a whole slew of new powers. Following the events of BRIGHTEST DAY and FLASHPOINT, the DC Universe is "rebooted" and a new AQUAMAN series is slated to begin, with Mera as his co-star once again.
Normally, Mera can breathe underwater, possesses enhanced density and muscle mass, granting her enhanced speed and reflexes as seen in his Hostess Fruit Pie ad.
And here she is on a jigsaw puzzle! Aside from comics, Mera's appeared on Filmation's SUPERMAN/AQUAMAN HOUR in the late 1960s. In the 2000s she appeared in three episodes of the JUSTICE LEAGUE animated series. Recently she made a brief cameo as part of Atlantis's royal family on an episode of Cartoon Network's BATMAN: BRAVE &THE BOLD.
So there you have it, the almost 50-year history of Mera in one blog post. She's a real catch!
Chief among these characters is Queen Mera of Atlantis.
This stunning red-haired beauty has been a supporting player in the DC Universe for almost fifty years.
She is generally known as a footnote in the Aquaman mythos.
Though after the DC "reboot" in a few weeks there is a good chance that Mera will be an A-list character in her own right.
Let's take a look at the history of this unique character.
Mera first appeared in AQUAMAN Vol. 1, #11 (September 1963) as an undersea queen from another dimension. That teen in red and blue is Aqualad, Aquaman's original underwater sidekick.
Mera was deposed and exiled to Earth, where she met the king of Atlantis, Aquaman (Arthur Curry aka Orin).
The two were taken prisoner and after being rescued, Mera decided to stay on Earth with Aquaman, as the two began to fall in love.
Within several issues, the two were soon wed in gala ceremony attended by the Who's Who of the DC Universe.
Mera and Arthur enjoyed several adventures together over the months that followed.
She often overshadowed him on the cover.
Within months, Mera gave birth to Aquababy, Arthur Curry, Jr..
With junior around, there was now an Aquaman family.
Things seemed to go along swimmingly for a while.
The Aquafamily continued to face unusual rivals.
Presenting: The Fire-Haired Karla!!!
Above is an awesome cover, though this seems to start a trend where Mera is victimized and Aquaman must come to rescue her.
See what I mean?
And again.
Oh, here's the incredible shrinking Aquaman. Unfortunately his comic book series was soon canceled and Mera was in left in limbo for a few years.
Things took a turn for the grim when AQUAMAN's title was revived in the 1970s. Aquaman's nemesis Black Manta kidnapped the Aquababy (Aquaman vol. 1 ,#60) and the couple fought against all odds to rescue and save his life. They failed.
Mera appeared in a series of solo adventures in the back pages of her husband's title during this period.
Mera then suffered a breakdown, abandoning her husband and blaming him for the baby's death. Their marriage was dissolved and Aquaman soon left Atlantis, but Mera stayed behind.
After a while Aquaman tried to make peace with Mera, but she savagely attacked him. In a desperate attempt to defend himself, Aquaman accidentally impaled Mera, believing that he killed her.
She in fact survived and later rose from her coffin, eventually leaving Earth.
We later found out that she was captured and held in yet another dimension, having had another son named AJ!!!.
After this escape she faced some evil sorcerers who stole her powers, forcing her live up on the surface world for a while.
Mera was now part of Arthur's life and adventures once more.
She even had a brief affair with his son (from another relationship)!
Things seems to normalize for a while when Aqualad (now Tempest) married Dolphin, Aquaman's ex-lover.
Mera appeared alongside Aquaman, Tempest, Lori Lemaris, Power Girl and Arion the Immortal in a JUSTICE LEAGUE OF ATLANTIS one-shot.
After all this, AQUAMAN was cancelled yet again and Arthur was thought to be dead for a while.
After a few years, he resurfaced. He was actually in a time warp, and The Justice League managed to rescue him - and he was awarded his own title once more.
After the INFINITE CRISIS, Mera somehow regained her powers and led a army of Atlantian rebels - and teamed up with a new sword-wielding Aquaman. Her former husband, Arthur was soon transformed into a squid-faced freak and was eventually killed. Again.
In BLACKEST NIGHT storyline, at the request of Tempest (remember him?) Mera reluctantly allows Aquaman's Earthly remains to be returned to Atlantis.
However before they can do so, they are attacked by zombie Aquaman, Aquagirl (she died during CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS) and Tempest's wife Dolphin (she also died at some point) who have been brought back to life as cosmic zombies called Black Lanterns.
Tempest is killed by Tula (Aquagirl) and instantly transformed into a Black Lantern as well. Mera manages to escape with the Trident of Poseidon and flees to JLA headquarters where she begins a cosmic adventure alongside The Atom. During the battle, Mera is chosen as a deputy officer of the Red Lantern Corps!
In the process she gets a great new red costume and a whole slew of new powers. Following the events of BRIGHTEST DAY and FLASHPOINT, the DC Universe is "rebooted" and a new AQUAMAN series is slated to begin, with Mera as his co-star once again.
Normally, Mera can breathe underwater, possesses enhanced density and muscle mass, granting her enhanced speed and reflexes as seen in his Hostess Fruit Pie ad.
And here she is on a jigsaw puzzle! Aside from comics, Mera's appeared on Filmation's SUPERMAN/AQUAMAN HOUR in the late 1960s. In the 2000s she appeared in three episodes of the JUSTICE LEAGUE animated series. Recently she made a brief cameo as part of Atlantis's royal family on an episode of Cartoon Network's BATMAN: BRAVE &THE BOLD.
So there you have it, the almost 50-year history of Mera in one blog post. She's a real catch!
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
A Brief History of Batwoman
A New BATWOMAN monthly comic book will debut in a few weeks as part of the DC Comics "New 52" reboot/relaunch. Let's take a quick look back at the history of this semi-obscure character.
The DC Comics character Batwoman has always been one of my favorites, mostly because she was basically a D-List superheroine. 
Batman writer/editor Denny O'Neil hinted for years that a new Batwoman was on her way in the late 1980s/early 90s - but that never happened. Most likely the character evolved into the third Batgirl (Cassandra Cain, no relation) who was introduced after Gordon became paralysed in The Killing Joke and transformed herself into Oracle in the pages of Suicide Squad, and later Birds of Prey. Now, many years later, Barbara Gordon will be returning to the role of Batgirl as part of the DC reboot/relaunch.
A brand new Kate Kane was finally introduced to the DCU in the 7th issue of a wonderful weekly maxi-series called 52 (July 2006), becoming the new Batwoman in issue #11 (also July 2006). Kate was now cast as former Gotham police officer Renee Montoya's ex-lover and heiress to one of the wealthiest families in Gotham City.
Batwoman and Renee (now the new Question) subsequently got involved with Intergang, the Crime Bible and all sorts of danger during 52, and two follow-up miniseries. 
This new, improved version of Batwoman debuted as the lead character in Detective Comics (with Renee's Question providing back-up support), coming full circle and bumping her up to the A-List at last. She also briefly joined a new version of the Justice League! It's a interesting footnote that Detective Comics, the title which DC Comics gets its name from costarred TWO lesbian superheroes. 
In a recent issue of BATMAN INC., Batwoman has an interesting encounter with the "ghost" of the first Batwoman.
A new BATWOMAN #0 appeared a few months back, with the monthly solo series delayed until the big September reboot/relaunch. With stunning art by J.H. Williams III, this is on my shortlist of the new titles I will be buying. You've come a long way, Batwoman.
The DC Comics character Batwoman has always been one of my favorites, mostly because she was basically a D-List superheroine. Kathy Kane was introduced in Detective Comics #233 (July 1956) and spent most of her short-lived crimefighting career trying to romantically woo the Dark Knight Detective.
She was often doomed.
Paired with Bat-Mite.
Forced into being a surrogate mother to Robin.
Batman also saw her as the competition.
Kathy was later joined by her niece Betty in 1961 as the first Bat-Girl. Kathy and Betty were intended to be romantic interests of Batman and Robin, respectively - to fend off rumors that the caped crusaders were gay lovers.
Like Lois Lane, she sometimes developed super-powers when the story called for it.
And took part in some of the more bizarre Batman adventures.
She was often doomed.
Paired with Bat-Mite.
Forced into being a surrogate mother to Robin.
Batman also saw her as the competition.
Kathy was later joined by her niece Betty in 1961 as the first Bat-Girl. Kathy and Betty were intended to be romantic interests of Batman and Robin, respectively - to fend off rumors that the caped crusaders were gay lovers.Like Lois Lane, she sometimes developed super-powers when the story called for it.And took part in some of the more bizarre Batman adventures.She faced many unusual challenges.
Kathy was more or less replaced by Barbara Gordon's much more popular Batgirl during the height of the ABC TV series in last third of that decade.
Ms. Kane became the owner of a circus after retiring from crimefighting.
Years later, Batwoman made a ghostly cameo appearance in The Kingdom: Planet Krypton, in which she is one of many "lost" DC characters that haunt a superhero-themed restaurant.
Batwoman, as well as Bat-Girl, and other silly characters like Ace the Bat-Hound, and the fore-mentioned Bat-Mite pretty much disappeared from comics by the early 1960s.
Kathy was more or less replaced by Barbara Gordon's much more popular Batgirl during the height of the ABC TV series in last third of that decade.Kathy resurfaced briefly in the late 1970s as a member of The Batman Family.
Ms. Kane became the owner of a circus after retiring from crimefighting.Batwoman donned her costume for a few new adventures in the DC Universe–
including a team-up with Batgirl and The Freedom Fighters!
But Kathy's comeback was destined to be short-lived, and she was brutally killed by The Ras Al Ghul's League of Assassins in Detective Comics #485 (September 1979).
Her neice, Betty was renamed Bette after Crisis on Infinite Earths and later joined the Titans as Flamebird.
Years later, Batwoman made a ghostly cameo appearance in The Kingdom: Planet Krypton, in which she is one of many "lost" DC characters that haunt a superhero-themed restaurant.Other Elseworlds and alternative versions of Batwoman have appeared in recent years, only appearing once or twice. Another Batwoman appeared in the animated film BATMAN: MYSTERY OF THE BATWOMAN. Here Batwoman is actually three different women, one of them is named Cathy Duquesne (pronounced "du-kane").
Batman writer/editor Denny O'Neil hinted for years that a new Batwoman was on her way in the late 1980s/early 90s - but that never happened. Most likely the character evolved into the third Batgirl (Cassandra Cain, no relation) who was introduced after Gordon became paralysed in The Killing Joke and transformed herself into Oracle in the pages of Suicide Squad, and later Birds of Prey. Now, many years later, Barbara Gordon will be returning to the role of Batgirl as part of the DC reboot/relaunch. |
| Add caption |
Batwoman and Renee (now the new Question) subsequently got involved with Intergang, the Crime Bible and all sorts of danger during 52, and two follow-up miniseries. This new, improved version of Batwoman debuted as the lead character in Detective Comics (with Renee's Question providing back-up support), coming full circle and bumping her up to the A-List at last. She also briefly joined a new version of the Justice League! It's a interesting footnote that Detective Comics, the title which DC Comics gets its name from costarred TWO lesbian superheroes. 
In a recent issue of BATMAN INC., Batwoman has an interesting encounter with the "ghost" of the first Batwoman.A new BATWOMAN #0 appeared a few months back, with the monthly solo series delayed until the big September reboot/relaunch. With stunning art by J.H. Williams III, this is on my shortlist of the new titles I will be buying. You've come a long way, Batwoman.
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