Control over vermin as well as the ability to turn into vapor at night.
Looker (Emily "Lia" Briggs) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character's first appearance was in 1985 in Batman & the Outsiders #25.
Looker made her first live appearance in the second season of the Arrowverse series Black Lightning reimagined as a metahuman played by actress Sofia Vassilieva. Vassilieva returned to portray Looker in the final season.
Publication history
Looker made her first appearance in Batman & the Outsiders #25 (September 1985) and was created by Mike W. Barr and Jim Aparo.[1]
Fictional character biography
Emily Briggs
Emily Briggs was a mousy bank teller who lived a quiet life with her husband in Gotham City. That all changed when she was kidnapped by people from the underground civilization known as Abyssia.[2]The Outsiders set out to rescue Emily. After a battle with the people of Abyssia, Emily's heritage was revealed to her, and as Halley's Comet passed by the Earth, she gained her super powers, which also had the effect of making her very attractive physically.
Joining the Outsiders
Looker's first costume on the cover of Outsiders #31.
After leaving Abyssia to its people, Emily returned with the Outsiders and an astonished husband. She soon took on the name "Lia" as well as a more confident, yet self-centered, personality.
Emily's first outing as Looker occurred after the Outsiders had been captured by the Masters of Disaster. After defeating the Masters of Disaster, she freed the Outsiders and was welcomed into their ranks.[3]
Her first tenure with the Outsiders showed how much the mousy Emily Briggs had changed, as she became obsessed with her beauty, something that usually created some tension between her and Katana. The tension was only heightened with the budding friendship between Looker and Halo, where the more free-spirited Looker was in sharp contrast with Halo's stricter legal guardian, Katana.
Looker shows a deep current of intelligence, when she defeats an intelligent virus inhabiting her then-friend Dr. Helga Jace. The sentient virus, believing that Looker was injecting Jace with a vaccine to which Jace was allergic, fled the body and died upon contact with the air. The vaccine was in fact, harmless glucose and Looker herself was already immune because she was not allergic. Unfortunately, Jace would later go on to willingly betray the Outsiders to the alien Manhunters.
Looker's role as somewhat of an outsider amongst Outsiders continued to worsen, especially when Windfall joined, a former Master of Disaster and peer of Halo, and the two were constantly involved in a rivalry of sorts. On top of that, Looker started a short affair with the team-leader Geo-Force during a time that they were stranded on an island but which continued when they returned. Eventually though, there came a mutual decision to call it quits, it being unfair not only to Gregg (Looker's husband) but also to Denise (Geo-Force's girlfriend).
Some time later, Looker received a call for help from Abyssia. Traveling to the underground city, Looker discovered that Abyssia had been taken over. Looker invoked a challenge on the despot, and in the course of the battle, she was stripped of her beauty and much of her power. Shortly afterwards, Geo-Force disbanded the Outsiders, and Lia returned to her previous life in Gotham City. Through unknown circumstances, Looker would regain her powers and be targeted by the Mud Pack, a group of various villains using the Clayface name, including a female Clayface whom Looker fought while a member of the Outsiders. Lady Clayface duplicated Looker's form and powers in order to attempt to drive Batman insane but Looker was able to undo the damage, in the process seeing into Bruce's mind and learning of his inner turmoil. She ultimately helped Batman defeat the group and parted ways again.[4]
Becoming a vampire
Looker's second costume, from Outsiders (vol. 2) #1.
When Geo-Force's homeland Markovia was overrun with vampires, Emily's powers returned, and Looker was back in action alongside the Outsiders. An attempt by Queen Ilona to kill Geo-Force leads to Looker running into their leader, Roderick. Instantly enamoured by her, Roderick transforms Lia into a vampire in the hopes of Lia becoming his bride. After the transformation into a vampire, Looker's existing powers were joined by some new abilities. Her metahuman physiology suppresses some of the traditional vampiric weaknesses such as vulnerability to sunlight.
The Outsiders are forced to become fugitives after Roderick frames Geo-Force for the murder of Queen Ilona. Looker helps the team face many adversaries, including the new Batman, the Eradicator, Halo's alien relatives and Islamic super-terrorists. Once the vampires were defeated and the Outsiders reputation is restored, the team "unofficially" disbands. They now work solely out of Markovia, now ruled by Geo-Force.
Served with divorce papers and now living under the vampiric curse, Lia has apparently broken all ties with her past life.
Retirement
Lia at some point after this may have cut her ties with her vampire coven; she also became more independent in her choice of actions. She eventually became one of the hosts of the television program The Scene, similar to The View. Her co-hosts included Vicki Vale, Tawny Young, and Linda Park. Two episodes were shown in which they interviewed Wonder Woman on her career, which were shown in that title comic. During taping, Lia would wear a scarf around her neck to hide the vampire bite wounds.[5]
Looker later shows up in the Infinite Crisis storyline.[6] She is part of the army of super-heroes gathered by Oracle to defend the city of Metropolis against the super-villain army of Alexander Luthor during the Battle of Metropolis. At the climax of the battle, the insane super-villain Superboy-Prime abandoned the fight to try to destroy the entire universe via destroying the planet Oa. Looker was one of many super-heroes with flight power who attempted to stop Superboy-Prime from leaving Earth. During the mid-air battle that ensued, Superboy-Prime destroyed the containment suit of radioactive super-hero Breach. Both Looker and fellow Outsider Technocrat were near Breach when the hero exploded. However, her telekinetic aura protected her from the explosion.
Looker later reappeared during the events of "World War III", to help fight Black Adam.[7] She was shown alongside Halo and Black Lightning, in the moments before the final battle with Adam.
Later Outsiders ties
Looker's New 52 look. Textless cover to National Comics: Looker #1. Art by Guillem March.
Looker resurfaced at the request of Batman to help him read the mind of an informant.[8] In this instance Looker is still depicted as a vampire, but it is implied she is no longer immune to sunlight or is at least weakened in its presence. While scanning the informant's mind she is shown to be able to scan his misplaced thought patterns which were shifted off planet, displaying a power range over quite some distance. Lia now lives alone in a large, elaborately decorated mansion in Gotham City filled with framed photos of herself taken during her previous modeling days.
Lia reappears later where it is revealed she has been publicly moonlighting in her modeling career while secretly killing members of a powerful vampire clan. The clan retaliates by hiring a vampire hunter to assassinate her.[9] The assassin is unsuccessful as Lia was able to destroy him before booking a flight to Markovia in order to help Geo-Force and her teammates. When she arrives in Markovia, she helps her former team fight an invading country.
She later joins up with the new team of Outsiders sanctioned by Batman Incorporated, but the entire team is supposedly killed in a satellite explosion orchestrated by Talia al Ghul.
The New 52
In September 2011, The New 52 rebooted DC's continuity. In this new timeline, Looker is introduced once again as an agent of Batman Incorporated alongside Halo and Metamorpho. It is revealed the Outsiders had survived the explosion but were assumed dead, and now do undercover jobs for Batman.[10]
An alternate continuity[11] version of Looker appears in National Comics: Looker. Discarding her previous origin, here Looker is introduced as an attractive supermodel who became a vampire after a one-night stand turns her. Unable to continue being a model because of her vampirism (since she can not be photographed), Emily Briggs opens her own modeling agency, LOOKER, and uses her vampire powers to protect models from the evil elements of the fashion industry. She wears a red costume as opposed to the classic costume she wears in the pages of Batman Incorporated.
Powers and abilities
Looker possesses the full spectrum of psionic abilities: telepathy, telekinesis, psychometry, enhanced metabolism, mind-control, psionic energy blasts, levitation, the creation of force shields, remote vision, and enhanced healing. Due to her vampiric nature, Looker can turn into vapor, but only at night. She also has the vampiric ability to mentally command vermin such as bugs. Her psionic powers suppress the vampire weakness to sunlight; however, she still requires blood as other vampires do. Changes in The New 52 continuity have left her as susceptible to sunlight as other vampires.
Her original costume was manufactured from a material unique to Abyssia; "one way fabric", which was invisible from one side. This allowed her to keep her costume handy but not visible. She would turn the clothing inside out to make it visible.
In other media
Television
A villainous incarnation of Looker appears in Black Lightning, portrayed by Sofia Vassilieva.[13] Introduced in the second season, this version is a white supremacist who can control people via a silver metallic substance. Settling in the rural area of South Freeland 30 years ago, she uses her ability to control the white population of South Freeland, or "Sange", while reducing the black population, or "Perdi", to a form of slavery.[14] After discovering what she has done, Black Lightning and Thunder defeat her and transfer her to A.S.A. custody. In the fourth season, Looker escapes from the A.S.A. during the Markovians' invasion of Freeland and allies herself with Tobias Whale. However, Painkiller eventually finds and defeats her before transferring her to the FBI's custody in exchange for confessing to her involvement in Whale's machinations.
A Scottish teenage incarnation of Lia Briggs appears in Young Justice, voiced by Grey Griffin. Introduced in the third season episode "Elder Wisdom", this version is initially held captive by the League of Shadows before being rescued by the Outsiders and becoming a resident at the Meta-Human Youth Center. As of the fourth season, Briggs has joined the Outsiders.
The Outsiders are a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. As their name suggests, the team consists of superheroes who do not fit the norms of the "mainstream" superhero community, i.e. the Justice League.
Clayface is an alias used by several supervillains appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Most incarnations of the character possess clay-like bodies and shapeshifting abilities, and all of them are adversaries of the superhero Batman. In 2009, Clayface was ranked as IGN's 73rd-greatest comic book villain of all time.
Katana is a superheroine appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. First appearing in 1983, Katana is a samurai warrior whose skill with a sword allows her to fight for justice as a superheroine. Her tragic backstory includes the death of her husband, Maseo, whose soul becomes trapped in her blade, the Soultaker. Katana has been part of various DC Comics superhero teams, including the Justice League and Birds of Prey, but is most commonly associated with the Outsiders, a team of heroes hand-picked by Batman to act as his personal black ops team, handling riskier missions. Of the character's first appearances, one critic has noted, "The idea that a superhero would wield a sword which caught the souls of the wielder’s victims was not very superhero-y. But Katana was from the start a rough and tumble character happy to use throwing stars as weapons ."
Geo-Force is a fictional superhero character appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. Markov is the younger Prince Twin of Markovia and the elder brother of Terra. One of the founding members of the superhero group the Outsiders, he was created by Mike W. Barr and Jim Aparo, and first appeared in a special insert in The Brave and the Bold #200.
Terra is the name used by three fictional superheroines published by DC Comics. The first Terra, Tara Markov, is an antiheroine eventually revealed to actually be a supervillainess working as a double agent. She was created by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez, and debuted in New Teen Titans #26.
Grace Choi is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Judd Winick and artist Tom Raney, first appearing in Outsiders #1 in the Modern Age of Comic Books. Choi is introduced as a young Asian American woman using her powers of superhuman strength, healing, and enhanced durability to make a living as a nightclub bouncer, who is reluctantly recruited by her superhero acquaintance Roy Harper to join his new crew of heroes, the Outsiders.
Halo is a superheroine appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. She first appeared in a special insert in The Brave and the Bold #200 and was created by Mike W. Barr and Jim Aparo.
Black Lightning is a superhero appearing in American comic book published by DC Comics. The character, created by writer Tony Isabella with artist Trevor Von Eeden, first appeared in Black Lightning #1, during the Bronze Age of Comic Books. Although his precise origin story has varied over the years, he is generally depicted as a metahuman superhero who uses the ability to generate and control electricity to defend his community – and the world – as Black Lightning. Although not the first black superhero to feature in DC Comics stories, Black Lightning was DC's first African-American superhero to headline his own series.
Thunder is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Judd Winick and artist Tom Raney in the Modern Age of Comic Books. She is first mentioned in Green Arrow #26 and first appears a month later in Outsiders #1. Born Anissa Pierce, she is a metahuman and daughter of superhero Black Lightning, able to increase her physical density and durability and create massive shockwaves.
The Psycho-Pirate is the name of two supervillains appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics.
The 100, The 10, and The 1,000 are fictional organized crime groups appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The 100 debuted in Superman's Girl Friend Lois Lane #105 and were created by Robert Kanigher and Ross Andru. The 1,000 debuted in Booster Gold #2 and were created by Dan Jurgens. The 10 debuted in Superman #665 and were created by Kurt Busiek and Rick Leonardi.
Baron Bedlam is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in Batman and the Outsiders #1.
Superboy-Prime, also known as Superman-Prime or simply Prime, is a DC Comics superhero turned supervillain and an alternate version of Superman. The character first appeared in DC Comics Presents #87 and was created by Elliot S. Maggin and Curt Swan.
Atomic Knight is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC comics, and was briefly a member of the Outsiders team. He is sometimes depicted as one of a group of Atomic Knights, which first appeared in Strange Adventures #117 and ran quarterly in that monthly comic up through #160.
The Masters of Disaster are a team of supervillains appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. They are presented as a group of mercenaries who prefer to work for money. They are shown as metahumans with superhuman abilities. Each group member controls a superhuman ability related in some way to a force of nature: earth, wind, fire, and water.
Technocrat is a superhero in the DC Comics and a former member of the Outsiders. His first appearance was in Outsiders Alpha #1, written by Mike W. Barr and drawn by Paul Pelletier.
Bruce Wayne: The Road Home is a month-long event comic published by DC Comics in December 2010. The event was intended as a conclusion to Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne limited series and as a bridge to the ongoing story of the Batman family.
Dr. Helga Jace is a fictional character in the DC Comics Universe. She is a supporting character of the Outsiders and was the scientist responsible for giving Princess Tara/Terra and her elder brother Prince Brion/Geo-Force their earth-controlling powers.
References
↑ Cowsill, Alan; Irvine, Alex; Korte, Steve; Manning, Matt; Wiacek, Win; Wilson, Sven (2016). The DC Comics Encyclopedia: The Definitive Guide to the Characters of the DC Universe. DK Publishing. p.182. ISBN978-1-4654-5357-0.
↑ Greenberger, Robert (2008). The Essential Batman Encyclopedia. Del Rey. pp.234–235. ISBN9780345501066.
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