Paula Brooks
| Paula Brooks | |
|---|---|
| File:TigressBrooks.jpg Paula Brooks as the Golden Age Huntress/Tigress | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | as Huntress Sensation Comics # 68 (Aug 1947) as Tigress Young All-Stars # 6 (Nov 1987) |
| Created by | Huntress Mort Meskin Tigress Roy Thomas |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Paula Brooks |
| Team affiliations | Injustice Society Young All-Stars |
| Partnerships | Sportsmaster |
| Notable aliases | Tigress, Huntress |
| Abilities | Skilled hand-to-hand fighter with sharpened claws |
Paula Brooks is a fictional comic book character published by DC Comics. She is one of many characters to use the names Tigress and Huntress.
Publication history
Brooks first appeared in Sensation Comics #68 as the Huntress where she was created by Mort Meskin. Later, it is retroactively revealed that she was a heroine named the Tigress before becoming a criminal where this alias was created by Roy Thomas.
Fictional character biography
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Pre-Crisis
As a member of the Injustice Society named the Huntress that resides on Earth-Two, she fights the Justice Society of America. During this period she meets the original Sportsmaster, whom she later marries.
Prior to the Crisis on Infinite Earths, she battles Helena Wayne (who had become the new Huntress) and is defeated.[1] During this time, an Earth-1 Huntress and Sportsmaster are revealed. They fight Batgirl and Robin in "Batman Family" and then challenge the Earth-1 superheroes to a baseball game between heroes and villains.[2] When the heroes win, the Earth-1 Huntress and Sportsmaster reform and aren't seen again. After the Crisis on Infinite Earths, the Earth-1 pair cease to exist and the Golden Age versions become the dominant version in the new unified universe.
She never uses the Tigress name or her real name (Paula Brooks) during her Pre-Crisis adventures.
Post-Crisis
In the pages of Young All-Stars she was retroactively renamed the Tigress. These stories took place prior to her villainous career as the Huntress.[3]
At this point, the young Paula Brooks (approximately age 18-19) is a superheroine, and fights both Nazis and criminals alongside Iron Munro, the first Fury, Neptune Perkins, Tsunami, and Dan the Dyna-Mite. During these stories, Paula expresses a fan worship of Paul Kirk, the Manhunter.[4] She frequently makes a play for Iron Munro as well. During a battle with the Nazi warriors known as Axis Amerika, Tigress is attacked and seemingly killed by the Valkyrie known as Gudra. She comes back to life or was revived (it is unclear if she really was actually dead) with a new attitude, which eventually leads to her becoming the villainous Huntress. In the late 1990s JSA Returns mini-series, Tigress has yet to fully embrace her villainous attitude and was still operating as a heroine and companion of Manhunter.
At a later point, she permanently becomes a criminal, and eventually one of Wildcat's biggest foes. She also joins the Injustice Society, and renames herself the Huntress. She later marries Sportsmaster (Crusher Crock), one of the major foes of the Golden Age Green Lantern. They become known as Mr. and Mrs. Menace and fight Black Canary and Starman in the 1960s, as well as continuing to serve as members of the Injustice Society.
At some point, Huntress and Sportsmaster have a daughter named Artemis Crock.[5] Artemis grows up to become a super-villain much like her parents. As Artemis, she serves as a member of Injustice Unlimited, fighting Infinity, Inc. She later takes the name Tigress III and serves as part of the new Injustice Society.
The Paula Brooks Tigress/Huntress is later seen out of uniform in Young Justice at an Olympics-type event where her daughter Artemis competes on behalf of Zandia, a country that harbors super-villains.
Powers and abilities
Brooks has no powers or unusual technology, but she did utilize various types of wild beasts in committing her crimes. She is also a skilled hand-to-hand fighter whose nails were once sharpened like talons.
She also used a small vintage crossbow and a steady supply of crossbow bolts. She has also been known to use throwing nets and bolos to trap her prey.
Other versions
Elseworlds
Outside of regular DCU continuity, James Robinson and Paul Smith feature the Tigress the 1993 The Golden Age. mini-series. In August 1948, Paula Brooks is granted amnesty for her crimes in return for her allegiance to Tex Thompson's newly created anti-communism force.[6] After learning that Thompson is actually the ruthless Ultra-Humanite[7] Brooks joins other heroes on January 8, 1950 in opposing him and his allies. Traumatized by the deaths of her lover, Lance Gallant, and friends such as Miss America and the Sportsmaster in the ensuing conflict, Paula returns to crime. By 1955, she is reported to have "made the F.B.I.'s most wanted list".[8]
In other media
- Paula Brooks (as Tigress) appears in a small cameo in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode "Aquaman's Outrageous Adventure." She was seen taking a family vacation with her husband Sportsmaster and her daughter Artemis.
- A modified version of Paula Brooks appears in the Young Justice episode "Downtime" voiced by Kelly Hu. She is portrayed as a Vietnamese woman named Paula Nguyen using a wheelchair. She lives with her daughter, Artemis (who in this continuity is a teenaged super-heroine rather than the villainess Tigress), in a rundown apartment in Gotham City. She is aware of her daughter's vigilante activities, and states that she wishes for Artemis to go to Gotham Academy so that Artemis can have chance a better life than she did. Artemis was given opportunity to attend the prestigious school after being awarded a scholarship from the Wayne Foundation. A flashback in the episode "Home Front" reveals Paula was once in jail. It was revealed that Cheshire is also her daughter, Artemis' sister. In "Insecurity," it is revealed that she was once the villainess known as the Huntress and that Sportsmaster is Artemis' father.
See also
References
- ^ All-Star Comics #72-73
- ^ The Comic Treadmill: Dc Super-Stars 10 (1976) The Greatest Story Ever Told
- ^ Young All-Stars #6-31
- ^ Thomas, Roy, Dann Thomas (w), Murray, Brian, Malcom Jones III (a). "...You Have Nothing To Lose But Your Souls!" Young All-Stars, no. 9 (February, 1988). DC Comics.
- ^ Infinity Inc. (vol. 1) #34
- ^ The Golden Age #2
- ^ The Golden Age #3.
- ^ The Golden Age #4