Villainy Inc.
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (July 2021) |
| Villainy Inc. | |
|---|---|
 Top: Jinx, Giganta, Trinity. Bottom: Cyborgirl, Doctor Poison, Queen Clea. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | Wonder Woman #28 (vol. 1) (March–April 1948) |
| Created by | William Moulton Marston Harry G. Peter |
| In-story information | |
| Member(s) | Queen Clea Cyborgirl Doctor Poison Giganta Jinx Trinity Blue Snowman Cheetah Eviless Hypnota Zara |
Villainy Inc. is a group of fictional villains who battle Wonder Woman. They originally appeared in the Golden Age and have reappeared as a modern-age team with a revamped line-up.
Fictional team history[]
Golden Age[]
Villainy Inc. debuted in Wonder Woman (Vol. 1) #28, in the last story written by series creator William Moulton Marston. The villains, who were individually sentenced to and later escaped from a prison on the Amazon penal colony Transformation Island, teamed up to take down their common enemies, who are led by the Saturnine slaver Eviless, who tricked the Amazons into believing she had lost her evil nature and stole Wonder Woman's lasso. Eviless faked her death and tried to release the prisoners on Transformation Island, most of whom refused but some agreed with Eviless and joined her. They captured Hippolyta using the lasso as Blue Snowman, Poison, and Hypnota lured Eviless into a trap. Hippolyta was then taken from the island. Later, the villains captured Hippolyta and took her away in a boat but Hippolyta drags the boat underwater and saves Eviless, who cannot swim. Clea tried to buy a submarine from Steve Trevor to return to Atlantis but Trevor recognized Clea and captured her. Giganta knocked out Trevor, and Clea and her aide decided to capture the and Wonder Woman to force him to give them a submarine. They imprison the Holliday Girls in Professor Zool's lab and Giganta attacks Wonder Woman but is overpowered. This partially worked and they forced Wonder Woman to steal a US Navy submarine for them but Clea and Giganta were recaptured before their sub could fully submerge. The escapees were returned to Transformation Island by Wonder Woman and the Amazons.
Post-Crisis[]
Following the retcons in Crisis on Infinite Earths, the group's history begins when they menace Hippolyta in the Golden Age. Cheetah, Zara, Doctor Poison and Hypnotic Woman (formerly Hypnota) were assembled by Queen Clea. The Atlantean monarch of the city Venturia enlists the others to defeat her rival city Aurania. They are repeatedly foiled by Hippolyta.[1] Later, Hippolyta's daughter Diana travels back in time and discovers them in battle. Clea is defeated by Diana, who disguises herself as Miss America, and Clea's daughter .[2]
In recent times, when all of Atlantis disappears from the Earth, Clea again sets out to assemble a new Villainy, Inc. and conquer a land to rule. Together they descend upon the other-dimensional land of Skartaris. Clea uses Cyborgirl to take control of the entire dimension. Clea's plan, however, is commandeered by Trinity, who is revealed to be a virus that was engineered by the founders of Skartaris. When the "Trinity Virus" is reintroduced into Skartaris' governing computer system, the and begins to regress and devolve to its origins. Wonder Woman stope the process from becoming permanent but some of Skartaris' inhabitants, including Clea, arere lost in the de-evolution.[3]
Members[]
Pre-Crisis[]
| Member | First appearance | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Blue Snowman | Sensation Comics #59 (November 1946) | Byrna Brilyant is a small town school-teacher and scientist who disguises herself as a man called "The Snowman" and uses "blue snow", a substance invented by her late father, that freezes everything it touches. She later takes the name Blue Snowman when she joins Villainy Inc. In the Post-Crisis universe, Blue Snowman was never part of the original Villainy Inc. |
| Cheetah | Wonder Woman #6 (October 1943) | Priscilla Rich is a socialite whose feelings of inferiority periodically cause her Cheetah persona to seize control of her personality. |
| Doctor Poison | Sensation Comics #2 (February 1942) | Princess Maru is a leader of a Nazi spy ring, whose ultimate goal is to wreak havoc on the US Army by contaminating the army's water supply with "reverso," a drug that "confuses the brain centers ... [making] soldiers do the exact opposite of what they are told".[citation needed] |
| Eviless | Wonder Woman #10 (Fall 1944) | A slave driver from Saturn who is sent to Transformation Island for rehabilitation after her initial encounter with Wonder Woman. Eviless later forms the first incarnation of Villainy Inc. in Wonder Woman #28, the last story by Wonder Woman creator William Moulton Marston, but never appears again in any continuity, though she may have inspired the Silver Age hero Saturn Girl and Saturn Queen.[citation needed] |
| Giganta | Wonder Woman #9 (Summer 1944) | A female gorilla who is artificially evolved into a human strongwoman by . In the Post-Crisis universe, Giganta was never part of the original Villainy Inc.[citation needed] |
| Hypnota | Wonder Woman #11 (Winter 1944) | A stage magician who conceals her gender using masculine dress and false facial hair. Hypnota is accidentally shot in the head during a rehearsal. Experimental surgery saves her life but also releases a "blue electric ray of dominance" from her "mid-brain," granting her the ability to mesmerize and control the minds of others by projecting "blue hypnotic rays" from her eyes and hands. Using this new power for crime, she enslaves her sister, the weak-willed Serva, and uses her as a pawn while selling hypnotized captives to the Saturn slave traders. In the Post-Crisis universe, she is known as Hypnotic Woman. |
| Queen Clea | Wonder Woman #8 (March 1944) | The cruel ruler of the Atlantean colony Venturia, a subsea realm situated beneath the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, until she is deposed by Wonder Woman. |
| Zara | Comics Cavalcade #5 (Winter 1943) | The self-proclaimed Priestess of the Crimson Flame. Her past is unknown but she claims to be "an Arab girl" and wears belly dancer attire. According to her tales, she is sold into slavery as a child, creating in her an intense hatred of mankind. Using a flair for pyrotechnics, she creates a new religion called the Cult of The Crimson Flame. Zara rigs up fire-based effects to dazzle her followers and keep them in her thrall. After her initial defeat by Wonder Woman, the Cult goes underground but Zara was able to scare at least one follower to do her bidding when she joins Villainy Inc. |
Post-Crisis[]
| Member | First appearance | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Cyborgirl | Wonder Woman #179 (May 2002) | LeTonya Charles is the niece of Dr. Sarah Charles, who requires emergency surgery after a reaction to the "super-steroid" Tar. Her cybernetic implants give her all the same abilities as Victor Stone (Cyborg) but she has none of his sense of responsibility. |
| Doctor Poison | Wonder Woman #151 (December 1999) | The granddaughter of the original Doctor Poison who continues her grandmother's grudge against Wonder Woman, though she holds her grandmother in contempt. |
| Giganta | Wonder Woman #126 (October 1997) | Doris Zuel is a scientist whose mind is transferred into the body of an ape and later into the body of a circus strongwoman. She has the ability to grow in size and s now a modern-age villain and did not exist in the Golden Age. |
| Jinx | Tales of the Teen Titans #56 (August 1985) | An elemental sorceress whose powers include the ability to command elements such as air, the manipulation of magical energy she can manifest as offensive force bolts and green flame, as well as the ability to dissolve matter and create earthquakes. |
| Queen Clea | Wonder Woman: Our Worlds At War (September 2001) | The cruel ruler of the Atlantean colony of Venturia, a subsea realm situated beneath the Atlantic Ocean, until she is deposed by Wonder Woman. In the Post-Crisis universe, she is the leader of the original Villainy Inc. instead of Eviless. She is also responsible for assembling the second Villainy Inc. |
| Trinity | New Titans Annual #6 (1990) | A woman with three faces which are Time, War, and Chaos, each of which possesses its own power. |
In other media[]
- Villainy Inc. makes their animated debut in the film Wonder Woman: Bloodlines. Led by Doctor Cyber and Doctor Poison, the team consists of Giganta, the Cheetah, and Silver Swan. This version of Villainy Inc. is a criminal organization that employs henchmen and uses enhancement drugs to strengthen themselves. They plan to revive the mythical Medusa to use as a weapon to invade Themyscira to steal advanced technology. The Gorgon turns on them, destroying Cyber and killing Poison before using the latter's enhancement drug to enlarge herself and go on a rampage to destroy the Amazons. Due to this, Silver Swan defects and helps Wonder Woman vanquish the monster. It is later revealed Veronica Cale is the mastermind behind Villainy Inc.'s actions.
See also[]
References[]
- Beatty, Scott (2009). Wonder Woman: The Ultimate Guide To The Amazon Princess. Dorling Kindersley Publishing. pp. 80–81. ISBN 0-7894-9616-X.
- Jett, Brett. "Who Is Wonder Woman?--Bonus PDF"," (2009): "The Villains: Major Allegories", pp 5–6.
- Marston, William Moulton. Emotions Of Normal People. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co, Ltd. 1928. ISBN 1406701165
External links[]
- Cosmic Teams Profile
- The Unofficial Villainy Inc. Biography, DCU Guide
- Wonder Woman Villains Rapsheets
- Comics characters introduced in 1948
- Characters created by H. G. Peter
- Characters created by William Moulton Marston
- DC Comics supervillain teams
- Wonder Woman characters
- DC Comics female supervillains