Tala (comics)

Tala is a fictional supervillainess in the DC Comics universe. She first appeared as an adversary of the Phantom Stranger, but she is also known for her appearances on Justice League Unlimited.

Tala
Publication information
PublisherDC Comics
First appearancePhantom Stranger vol. 2 #4 (November–December 1969)
Created byNeal Adams
Robert Kanigher
In-story information
Alter egoTala
AbilitiesVast undefined magical powers

Tala is the mistress of her own part of Hell. Usually manipulating mortals into doing evil, she has also tried to unleash evil forces upon our world. Occasionally, she has allied herself with the Lords of Chaos or the evil sorcerer Tannarak, whom she has also been romantically involved with. Tala is an enemy of the Phantom Stranger, whom she has variously tried to destroy and seduce. She seems to have a gentler side, as witnessed in Tannarak's Nightclub 'Bewitched', where she has waited tables and chatted with Zatanna.

Publication history

Tala first appeared in Phantom Stranger vol. 2 #4 and was created by Neal Adams and Robert Kanigher.

Fictional character biography

Pre-Crisis

Tala, the Queen of Evil, is an evil mystical entity and the mistress of the Dark Circle.[1] Her agenda often consists of tricking mortals into doing evil deeds, or unleashing the apocalypse onto the modern world. She frequently confronts the Phantom Stranger, usually along with Doctor Thirteen by using her powers to enslave a mortal. She frequently professes an attraction to the Stranger, trying to seduce him.

Post-Crisis

Distinguished by its utilization of the series for actual supernatural phenomena and not debunking mysticism like its first incarnation, Tala is known as the nemesis of the Stranger. She is a demoness and a mistress of Hell, and her motives reflect such origins, as she is known for either trying to doom mortals' souls to ruin or aiming to unleash apocalyptic evils upon the world. She has claimed to find the Stranger attractive and is thus interested in him, but the comics have never followed through on these hints, nor are these claims known to be true.

In other media

Television

Tala appeared on Justice League Unlimited voiced by Juliet Landau. She appears as one of the key members of Project Cadmus. Her role in the government black ops group is never specifically detailed, although it would be best determined that she is responsible for mystical and magical projects like trying to reverse engineer the Annihilator (Hephaestus' living suit of armor that was forged for Ares). While she is portrayed as a project leader, sitting at the big table, she gets trapped in a mirror by the trickery of Felix Faust and is not seen for the rest of the season. She is, at this point, not the immortal evil from the comics, but a skilled magician whose magical imprisonment at Faust's hands shows that she has limits to her powers. It is strongly implied that Faust was her teacher and they were once lovers. Tala reappears in the final season, this time as a member of the Secret Society created by Gorilla Grodd. In the episode "Dead Reckoning", it is explained that she escaped the mirror with the help of Grodd. She has taken over Giganta's position as Grodd's female companion following her arrest and also serves as the Secret Society's master of magic and mysticism. As Lex Luthor took control of the Secret Society from Grodd, Tala quickly changed positions, swearing allegiance to Luthor and becoming his new groupie (with implications of a more intimate relationship in "The Great Brain Robbery"). In that same episode, she shows interest in the Flash (whose mind had been switched with Luthor's during a mishap with Doctor Fate), whom she implies is a much more attentive partner than Luthor, and expresses disappointment when the switch is revealed and Luthor is returned to his body. In these recent appearances, the seductive qualities that her comic version shows have come into her characterization. In the penultimate episode of the series, Tala gets fed up with Luthor, as he becomes more concerned with restoring Brainiac and regaining his former godhood than her. She releases Grodd and helps him mount an insurrection against Luthor. Lex manages to defeat Grodd. Thanks to a very expensive magic amulet he purchased in case Tala attacked him with her magic, Lex takes Tala prisoner. She tries to woo her way back into Luthor's good graces, but he reveals that he has other plans for her. He attaches her to a machine designed to mystically draw Brainiac's essence from the debris of his asteroid base, which was destroyed in the Justice League episode "Twilight", and had intended to do so well before she staged the insurrection. The use of the machine kills Tala, alluded to by her horrifying scream and confirmed in an interview with the show's creative team. However, rather than resurrect Brainiac as Luthor intended, Tala's last act, as noted in the DVD commentary to be her final act of revenge upon Luthor, is to resurrect Darkseid instead (Darkseid had been left to die in the same explosion which claimed the asteroid).

Video games

Tala appears in DC Universe Online. She appears as an R&D vendor in the Hall of Doom's Magic Wing. In addition, she is the final boss of the "Black Dawn" operation in DLC 5 "Hand of Fate".[2][3] In the new Halloween seasonal event The Witching Hour, Tala asks for the help of villains. She explains that someone stole her powers and are using them to unleash hell in Gotham, which was originally Tala's plan. After sending the Masked Apparitions back to Hell, the villain must go to the Midnight Masquerade and fight alongside Tala against Klarion the Witch Boy (the one who stole Tala's powers). During the fight, Klarion uses the powers of the many magic heroes and villains he stole including Tala's own powers.[4]

Miscellaneous

In the Justice League Unlimited comic book series (issue 37), Tala's spirit returns and drives Spectre out of control before Batman, Hawkgirl, Deadman, and Jim Corrigan (the Spectre's human host) stop his rampage. Fortunately, Doctor Fate imprisons her within a crystal ball and stops her plans. These events are not necessarily canon to the animated series, though is intended to be as the issue was written by Matt Wayne (who wrote Tala's last appearance in "Alive"). The story to the issue was planned as an episode.[5]

gollark: Also, they would still look aargh.
gollark: Yes, but steamport didn't.
gollark: The types.... aagh... and just ugh, declaring the type twice.
gollark: No it's not.
gollark: That's horrifying.

References
  1. The Phantom Stranger v2 #4 (1969)
  2. "Hand Of Fate!". facebook.com. 2012-08-30. Retrieved 2012-09-01.
  3. "DCUO - Operation: A Black Dawn - DCUO PC Test Server - Odyssey". youtube.com. 2012-09-01. Retrieved 2012-09-01.
  4. "Dc Universe Online Episode 19: The Witching Hour". youtube.com. 2012-10-17. Retrieved 2012-10-19.
  5. "The World's Finest - Justice League Unlimited". Worldsfinestonline.com. 2007-03-17. Retrieved 2011-01-30.
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