Libra (DC)
Libra is a male comic supervillain who features in DC Comics.
Contents |
Biography
Origin
Justin Ballantine was a male human born in the modern age on Earth. As a boy, he came to lose his mother when he was 8 years old due to an alcoholic pharmacist mismeasuring medicine his mother needed. Soon after his father turned to alcoholism himself and brutally abused the young Justin on a regular basis. Justin would later use all the money he had to buy a telescope so that he could stargaze and imagine a better life among the stars. His father threatened to beat him with his telescope one night but he lost his balance and fell to his death, which led Justin to see the importance of balance in the universe. Later in his life, he came to be admitted to Opal University where his physics professor was Ted Knight. Based on Knight's idea that the stars were possessed of boundless energy, Ballantine built a special device designed to create a "cosmic balance", draining half an object's power and transferring it to the wielder of the device, with technology based upon stolen blueprints of the Gravity Rod. (Final Crisis: Secret Files v1 #1)
As Libra, he became the secret founder of the group of super-villains named the Injustice Gang. By the end of the first appearance, it was revealed that their entire operation was massive feint by their organizer, Libra, to test the limits of the Transmortifier; the testing showed it simply had none. A series of "Plan B" devices the villains had been given in case the JLA defeated them absorbed half of the heroes' powers and transferred them to Libra, who succeeded in draining half of the powers and abilities of the Pre-Crisis Flash, Superman and Batman of Earth-One. Satisfied with these results, he then turned his device upon the universe itself, hoping to become a god. While the Transmortifier worked perfectly, Libra's body could not control the massive power flow and was absorbed into the universe itself, effectively disintegrating him and spreading his essence across the cosmos. (Justice League of America v1 #111)
Final Crisis
After re-surfacing, he began to claim that he represented a New God who will give the bad men whatever they desire, provided only that they follow him. (DC Universe v1 #0)
He appeared to save the Human Flame from capture at the hands of Hawkgirl Kendra Saunders where he knocked her out and took the supervillain to safety. The villain was taken to the gathering of other supervillains that Libra had assembled in Central City where he offered them all their hearts starting with the Human Flame as he intended to offer him his revenge against the Martian Manhunter who had humiliated Miller eight years ago. (Justice League of America v2 #21)
Post-Flashpoint
Following the Flashpoint, a new version of reality was created with a different history of events. Justin Ballantine was said to have had a twin sister named Juliette Ballantine where they kept each other in balance since day one. (Deathstroke Inc. v1 #5)
After his death, his twin sister Juliette Ballantine took on the mantle of her brother and became the new Libra. In that time, she came to join the Society which began to operate publicly as an organization called the T.R.U.S.T.. (Deathstroke Inc. v1 #5)
Overview
Personality and attributes
It was said that he had a twin sister named Juliette Ballantine where the two were said to keep each other in balance. (Deathstroke Inc. v1 #5)
Powers and abilities
Those capable of focusing their will onto something else were able to resist the mind control performed by Libra. (Final Crisis: Rogues' Revenge v1 #3)
Notes
- Libra was created by Len Wein and Dick Dillin where he made his first appearance in Justice League of America v1 #111 (June, 1974).
- On Comic Book Resources, writer Grant Morrison said in an interview about the characters return:
- "The reason I chose them was because Libra came from my favorite ever run of 'Justice League of America' and he's never been used again. He was a character who had stolen all the powers of the Justice League, but then couldn't handle it and ascended to some kind of screaming godhood where he became a million transparent body parts spread across the sky. So I thought if I was doing a thing about the New Gods, he'd be an interesting guy to bring back because I needed a masked mystery man to start a new recruitment drive for the Secret Society of Supervillains (sic), because they become almost a terrorist sect. Under Libra's guidance, they start doing quite bad things, even to superheroes' wives and families, crossing the line. So there's that element to the story and I needed a masked guy, who people didn't really know that well. And I remembered Libra and the fact that he is connected to this ascending to godhood thing tied him in really quite nicely. What's really going on under the hood will be revealed later in the series."
In other media
Television
- In Batman: The Brave and the Bold, the character Equinox was seemingly inspired by Libra where he appeared in the setting of the animated television series and was voiced by actor Oded Fehr.
Appearances
- Justice League of America v1: (1974)
- Justice League of America v2:
- Final Crisis v1:
- Final Crisis: Secret Files v1:
- Deathstroke Inc. v1:
External Links
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