Earth-Three Pre-Crisis Superwoman, in Convergence: Crime Syndicate #1 (April 2015). Art by Phil Winslade (pencils and inks) and Lovern Kindzierski (colors).
In 1964, an evil counterpart of Wonder Woman from a parallel universe named "Superwoman" was introduced. This Superwoman was a member of the Crime Syndicate of America, a villainous counterpart of the Justice League of America from the parallel world of "Earth-Three" (vs. the Justice League's world of "Earth-One"). Superwoman, like Wonder Woman, was an Amazon, and possessed similar powers of super-strength and flight. Unlike most/all other versions, her golden lasso could change shape into any form she desired, including a giant winged serpent. The Crime Syndicate first came to Earth-1 to battle the Justice League when, after near capture, they felt they needed a real challenge to their powers.
Superwoman is defeated by Wonder Woman on Earth-1 when each deploy their lassos with Wonder Woman's proving itself the superior of the two. However each Crime Syndicate member has a fail-safe that transports themselves and the victorious Justice League member to Earth-3. Another battle ensues and this time Wonder Woman falls victim to Superwoman's lasso. The Crime Syndicate puts the Justice League into a trance on Earth-1 while they prepare to battle the Justice Society of America on Earth-2, an Earth that will provide a neutral location for a final battle.[2]
Superwoman is again defeated by the host Earth's heroine, this time Black Canary who is able to use Superwoman's strength against her and encircles her with her own lasso. Another fail-safe transports them to Earth-3 where Black Canary and the rest of the Justice Society are imprisoned. Superwoman and Wonder Woman have a final showdown on Earth-2 where neither has a home Earth advantage. Superwoman yanks Wonder Woman's lasso from her and proceeds to hurl both ropes at her rival, ensuring Wonder Woman will not be able to make a move against her, but is surprised when the ropes sail high, realizing it takes more super-strength to control both lassos. Wonder Woman, having anticipated this, “let” her lasso be taken and then relies on her super-swiftness to put Superwoman out of commission before she can recover from her surprise. The Crime Syndicate, having all been defeated, are imprisoned between Earth-1 and Earth-2 by Green Lantern in a green bubble.[3]
The Crime Syndicate were freed by the time travelling villain Per Degaton after he was caught up in a time-storm, discovered their bubble, and freed them. They tried to get him, but he revealed he had made sure he and his Time Machine would vibrate at a different speed to them, meaning they could not touch him. They helped him change history and conquer Earth-2 by stealing nuclear missiles from the Cuban Missile Crisis of Earth Prime, and when the Syndicate betrays him they are sent to 1982 of Earth-1, as he had made sure this would happen when they touched him. They materialized on the JLA's satellite headquarters and defeated the heroes. The JSA were imprisoned in their prison, but the combined powers of Starman and Doctor Fate got them out. They helped him again when the JLA tried to restore history, though were planning to betray him. When Degaton was defeated this timeline was erased and the Syndicate was re-imprisoned.
In the Pre-Crisis DCU any Amazon seen without her nonremovable indestructible bracelets was in fact driven mad. Superwoman was never seen with bracelets and this was part of her look to show she was, in fact, an evil aging Amazon (she also had a streak of grey hair).
On the original Pre-Crisis Earth-Three, Superwoman and Lois Lane are two separate people, with Lois working as a reporter for the Daily Star just like Earth-Two and even having a short-lived romance with Captain Comet when he came to her universe while chasing the Secret Society of Super-Villains across multiple realities.
The Pre-Crisis version of Superwoman was killed, along with the rest of the CSA, when they were trying to save Earth-Three from being destroyed by the Anti-Monitor's antimatter wave.[4]
During the Convergence storyline, Superwoman was on death row after an accidental death happened to the Earth-Three version of Bruno Mannheim during the attack on Earth-Three's Metropolis. Due to the Rogue Hunter's interference, the Crime Syndicate failed to rescue Superwoman from death row as the electric chair was activated.[5] She however later got better and fought her Justice League 1,000,000 counterpart.
In Post-Crisis continuity, as established in the 2000 graphic novel JLA: Earth 2 by Grant Morrison, Superwoman (and the rest of the Crime Syndicate) comes from a parallel world similar to Earth, but located in an antimatter universe (also home to the planet Qward).[1]
Superwoman continues to make occasional appearances as a member of the Crime Syndicate, most recently appearing in storylines in the Justice League and Superman comics. Unlike her pre-Crisis counterpart, her magic lasso does not change shape but releases the inhibitions of anyone tied to it (just as Wonder Woman's compels victims to tell the truth). Bizarrely she also possesses heat vision, as Superman and Ultraman do, although there is no explanation for this.
Taking the alias Lois Lane, Superwoman is an Amazon by birth, and has risen through the ranks to become the chief editor of the Daily Planet in what she calls "Patriarch's World". This disguise resembles Wonder Woman's secret identity of Diana Prince. At the Planet, Superwoman is shown to upset her colleagues; the antimatter-Cat Grant refers to Superwoman as "Queen Bitch",[6] and negatively alludes to her "friendship" with the antimatter Jimmy Olsen. In her later appearances, it is stated that prior to taking on Lois Lane's identity, Superwoman was born on Damnation Island, presumably the Antimatter counterpart to Themyscira (or "Paradise Island"). It is mentioned that she had murdered all of her fellow Amazons, and upon meeting Donna Troy, she becomes ecstatic over the prospect of being able to murder another one of her kind for the first time in years.[7] The Antimatter Universe's version of Superwoman is the first version of the character to combine Diana of Themyscira and Lois Lane.
Jimmy Olsen is the only civilian who knows of Superwoman's secret identity. A compliant sexual deviant, he does what she tells him in exchange for the favor of watching when she changes her outfit and receiving pieces of it for his "disguise kit". He is so besotted that he ignores her gibes and insults, even when she tauntingly refers to him as, "Superwoman's Snitch, Jimmy Olsen", and prints it in the Planet.
Also in the Earth 2 story, her lover Ultraman hates Superwoman's frigidity towards him. Meanwhile, she is carrying on a torrid affair with Owlman, and they sneak trysts whenever they feel Ultraman is not watching. However, from his floating fortress (the antimatter counterpart to the Fortress of Solitude), Ultraman does not hesitate to fire warning bursts of heat vision towards them whenever he catches them together.[1]
52 and Countdown incarnation
In 52 Week 52, a recreation of Earth-3 was shown as a part of the new Multiverse. In the depiction were characters that are altered versions of the original Justice Society of America, including Wonder Woman. The character is not identified in 52,[8] but later in Countdown to Final Crisis, which identifies her as Superwoman of the "Crime Society of America", on an alternative world which is a reversed version of Earth-2. Based on comments by Grant Morrison, this alternate universe is not the pre-Crisis Earth-Three, making this a new character unrelated to previous versions.[9] Grant Morrison also suggests that the Earth-3 and Antimatter Superwomen both exist post-52. Like the antimatter iteration of the character, she is indeed both a Lois Lane and Wonder Woman counterpart, despite possessing Kryptonian abilities such as heat vision. In Countdown, she is recruited into the Monarch's army but has her eyes gouged out by Red Robin (Jason Todd) of New Earth, who may or may not have been carrying Kryptonite.
Following DC's 2011 reboot event, "The New 52", characters from Earth-3 are again revised. Beginning in 2013 comics, Superwoman, once again the alternate version of both Lois Lane and Wonder Woman, is one of the members of the Crime Syndicate to arrive from Earth-3 at the conclusion of the "Trinity War" event.[10] During the Forever Evil storyline, Superwoman and Owlman raid Arkham Asylum where they end up capturing Nightwing. During the Crime Syndicate's broadcast, Superwoman reveals Nightwing's identity on the broadcast.[11] While Grid looks over the biographies of the other Syndicate members, he finds that while data on the other members are there, Superwoman's were deleted, leaving her true past and identity still a total mystery. She is also pregnant, and engaging in affairs with both Owlman and Ultraman.[12] It was finally revealed that Superwoman is in a relationship with the crazed Alexander Luthor of Earth-3, who uses the power of the lightning and goes by the name Mazahs. She betrays Ultraman, revealing she and Luthor are carrying a child who is prophesied to bring an end to the world. After Mazahs is killed by the Luthor of the main universe, Superwoman is placed in captivity. Immune to Wonder Woman's lasso of truth, Wonder Woman attempts traditional interrogation of her counterpart about the entity that destroyed their world, but Superwoman does not reveal any information. Just then, she ends up announcing "The baby. It kicked".[13]
During the Darkseid War storyline, Superwoman is freed from A.R.G.U.S. custody by the Justice League in order to help the Justice League deal with the Anti-Monitor.[14] During the battle with the New Gods, Superwoman starts to give birth. Right after she gave birth to her son, on order from Owlman, Superwoman used her child to absorb the Omega Sanction from Lex Luthor. While boasting of her child's strength, Superwoman was disintegrated by Grail who took the baby. The baby was subsequently used by Grail as a host to resurrect her father, Darkseid, who had been slain by the Anti-Monitor.[15]
Infinite Frontier incarnation
Following the reboot of the multiverse after Dark Nights: Death Metal, a new Earth-3 and Superwoman are created. Unlike most incarnations, this Superwoman is an alternate version of Donna Troy. She is the second daughter of Queen Hippolyta of Themyscira, also known as Demon's Island; her older sister Diana was apparently killed by their mother for weakness. Donna was trained from birth to be merciless in combat and anticipate any strategy her enemy may use.
In 1945, a man named Steve Trevor came to Devil's Island, seeking Amazons to act as soldiers in a war that his side was losing. Donna fell in love with him but refused to leave her home, so Steve took her hostage and demanded that Hippolyta provide warriors for his cause or he would kill Donna. Much to his shock, Hippolyta simply told Donna to save herself, which she did, stabbing Steve in the stomach. Hippolyta explained that this was Donna's final lesson, words and emotion could be potent weapons which she would need to master. The Amazons had anticipated the rise of metahumans in Man's World and Donna was sent out to infiltrate and gain control over them. She plans to one day return home at the head of an army of metahumans, kill her mother and take the throne.[16]
Donna became the ambassador to the United States of America from Themyscira and she exerts considerable influence over the American government by sexually dominating President Oliver Queen.[17]
When the Starro Collective invades Earth, Owlman develops a strategy to kill the "queen" Starro by sending Emerald Knight into its brain, as the energy from his power battery is extremely painful to it. Emerald Knight fails and the queen responds with a powerful psychic attack on the attacking metahumans, turning their emotional vulnerabilities against them. Superwoman is able to resist the attack and single-handedly kills the queen as it begs for mercy.[16]
Superwoman appears in Lego DC Super-Villains, voiced again by Gina Torres.[19] She and the Crime Syndicate pose as the Justice Syndicate after the Justice League go missing.
Fury is the codename shared by three DC Comics superheroes, two of whom are mother and daughter, both of whom are directly connected with the Furies of mythology, and the third who is an altogether different character.
The Crime Syndicate are teams of supervillains from one of DC Comics' parallel universes where they are the evil counterparts of the Justice League. The original team was specifically known as the Crime Syndicate of America and is sometimes abbreviated as CSA. This first superpowered Crime Syndicate team appeared in Justice League of America #29 in August 1964. The primary successive incarnation, known as the Crime Syndicate of Amerika, first appeared in the 2000 JLA: Earth 2 graphic novel.
The Cheetah is a fictional character appearing in DC Comics publications and related media, commonly as a major recurring adversary of the superhero Wonder Woman. Like her nemesis, she was created by William Moulton Marston & H. G. Peter, debuting in the autumn of 1943 in Wonder Woman #6. With her distinctive sleek, spotted appearance, she is recognized as "one of Wonder Woman's most iconic enemies" and has been a persistent foe throughout every era of the hero's comic book adventures.
Johnny Quick is the name of several fictional characters who are supervillains appearing in stories published by DC Comics. All are evil or corrupted alternate-universe counterparts of the Flash. Johnny Quick first appeared in Justice League of America #29 alongside the rest of the Crime Syndicate of America.
Ultraman is the name of several supervillains appearing in stories published by DC Comics. The characters are all evil or corrupted alternate-universe counterparts of Superman. Ultraman first appeared in Justice League of America #29.
Superwoman is the name of several fictional characters from DC Comics. Most of them are, like Supergirl, women with powers similar to those of Superman, like flight, invulnerability, and enhanced strength.
Owlman is a fictional character appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. A supervillainous alternate-universe counterpart of Bruce Wayne / Batman, he is depicted as the adult version of Wayne's deceased older brother, who in most iterations dies as a child, before Bruce is born. In The New 52, the primary continuity Owlman, originally depicted as the asylum-bound Boomerang Killer, is retroactively revealed to be still alive, stolen from his parents as a child, and working in the service of the Court of Owls under the name Lincoln March.
Donna Troy is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. She is the original Wonder Girl and later temporarily adopts another identity, Troia. Created by Bob Haney and Bruno Premiani, she first appeared in The Brave and the Bold #60. Donna has been commonly featured in stories involving the Teen Titans, which she originally joined during their second adventure and is since depicted as a founding member of the team.
JLA: Earth 2 is a graphic novel written by Grant Morrison with art by Frank Quitely, published in 2000 by American company DC Comics.
Themyscira is a fictional unitary sovereign city-state and archipelagic island nation appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Previously known as Paradise Island and the Amazon Isles, it first appeared in All Star Comics #8.
Secret Society of Super Villains (SSoSV) is a DC Comics title that debuted in May–June 1976. The series presented a group of DC's supervillains, mostly foes of the Justice League of America. The series was cancelled with issue #15 in July 1978, as part of the DC Implosion, a period when DC suddenly cancelled dozens of comics.
Power Ring is the name of several supervillains and one superheroine appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. The supervillains are alternate-reality counterparts of Green Lanterns Hal Jordan, Kyle Rayner, and John Stewart, respectively. Originally residing on Earth-Three, which was subsequently destroyed during the 12-issue Crisis on Infinite Earths limited series, Power Ring, along with the other Syndicate members, end up being recreated in the Anti-Matter Universe's Earth.
Queen Hippolyta is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC comics, based on the Amazon queen Hippolyta from Greek mythology. Introduced in 1941 during the Golden Age of Comic Books, she is the misandrist queen of the Amazons of Themyscira, the mother of Wonder Woman, and in some continuities, the adopted mother of Donna Troy.
Earth-Three, or simply Earth-3 or Earth 3, is a “partially-reversed” Earth, where supervillainous counterparts of the mainstream DC superheroes reside. It first appeared in Justice League of America #29, and the concept has been rebooted several times.
The Lasso of Truth is a weapon wielded by DC Comics superhero Wonder Woman, Princess Diana of Themyscira. It is also known as the Lariat of Truth, the Magic Lasso, the Lasso of Hestia or the Golden Perfect. It was created by William Moulton Marston, inventor of the lie detector, as an allegory for feminine charm, but it later became more popular as a device to extract truth from people.
Artemis of Bana-Mighdall is a fictional Amazon superheroine and antihero, a comic book character published by DC Comics. The character was created by William Messner-Loebs and Mike Deodato, and debuted in Wonder Woman #90 as a rival to Princess Diana of Themyscira. Artemis had briefly succeeded Diana as the new Wonder Woman, but was later killed while assuming the role, fulfilling a prophecy of Wonder Woman dying. After her death, Artemis was sent to the Underworld, but eventually returned to the world of the living.
Alexander Luthor Jr. is a fictional character appearing in comic books published by DC Comics.
Circe is a fictional character appearing in DC Comics publications and related media. Based upon the eponymous Greek mythological figure who imprisoned Odysseus in Homer's Odyssey, she is a wicked sorceress and major recurring adversary of the superhero Wonder Woman. She has been presented variously since first appearing in 1949’s Wonder Woman #37, though her characterization has consistently retained a key set of features: immortality, stunning physical beauty, a powerful command over sorcery, a penchant for turning human beings into animals and often, a delight in humiliation.
Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths is a 2010 American animated superhero film directed by Lauren Montgomery and Sam Liu and written by Dwayne McDuffie. It is based on the abandoned direct-to-video feature Justice League: Worlds Collide, which was intended as a bridge between the DC Animated Universe series Justice League and Justice League Unlimited, and reworked to act as a standalone story.
"Justice League: The Darkseid War" is a 2015–2016 superhero comic book crossover storyline published by DC Comics, consisting of a central, eponymous miniseries by writer Geoff Johns and artists Gary Frank and Jason Fabok, and numerous tie-in books by various other creative teams. It is the final storyline to feature the Justice League in the 2011 New 52 continuity, before DC transitioned to the continuity of DC Rebirth. The plot involves the fulfilment of a prophecy in which the Justice League are embroiled in a war between Darkseid and the Anti-Monitor, and learns that someone else has engineered these events all for their own purposes. The storyline received critical acclaim for the engaging plot, the action, and art of Jason Fabok.
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