Tala (DC)
Tala is a female comic character who features in DC Comics.
Contents |
Biography
Pre-Crisis
Tala
She later came to be release on the Earth during a dark ritual conducted in Haiti where Doctor Thirteen was attempting to expose the magical rite as a hoax. However, he came to unwittingly instead release Tala onto the world where she sought create chaos. She pursued the witnesses back to the United States, alighting upon their passenger plane and crossing spells with the Phantom Stranger in mid-air before withdrawing. In New York, four wayward youths rifled a grimy spellbook in an abandoned house, and Tala answered their incantations with a rush of demons and clawed horrors. This brought her into the conflict with the Phantom Stranger who came to momentarily stop her as he counter-cast her malefices, and banished her from the premises, leaving the mortal interlopers to discover the corpse of a woman bricked into the wall long ago. (The Phantom Stranger v2 #4) Tala set her sights on the gilded revels orbiting Earl Winthrop III, haunting his social gatherings and repeatedly trying to drag him—and any companion she could claim—down into the black waters that had once swallowed him. The Phantom Stranger intercepted her at each attempt; when Winthrop finally admitted to his beloved that he had already perished over the sea and slipped back to his fate, Tala lunged to seize the girl as a substitute prize, only for the Stranger to clash with her across the surf until she vanished with a shriek, her design foiled. (The Phantom Stranger v2 #5)
Tala later rose from storm and spray to assail a small craft bearing a group of youths toward the brooding cliffs of Vulcan Castle, whipping the waters and driving monstrous shapes against their hull. The Phantom Stranger confronted her above the waves, his wards and will forcing her retreat before the boat could be claimed, leaving only the echo of her laughter and the promise of another gambit on some darker night. (The Phantom Stranger v2 #7)
As the Dark Circle's plans were constantly thwarted by the Phantom Stranger, Tala decided to unleash the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse on Earth to bring death and destruction. Her evil plan, however, was thwarted once again by the Phantom Stranger, assisted by Tannarak, who sacrificed to save the Phantom and caused Tala to fall to her apparent demise. (The Phantom Stranger v2 #24)
Pete Ross blamed Superman for failing to rescue his son Jon from the alien Nyrvnians because the Legion of Super-Heroes told him it was Jon’s destiny to learn how to be a warrior and save Earth from a future space conflict. He contacted Tala, who placed a curse on Superman that would sap his strength and steal his soul, with the aid of fortune teller Madame Benita, who stole a lock of Superman’s hair from the Superman Museum. Tala’s curse could only affect a guilty conscience, and Superman felt guilty about his actions. Phantom Stranger travelled to Tala’s hellish abode to battle for the soul of Madame Benita. Tala, still calling Stranger her love, once again offered Stranger a place at her side, which he refused. Superman rescued Jon, freeing his guilty mind, and ending the curse, and Stranger took the soul of Benita away from Tala, telling her she’d never triumph. (DC Comics Presents v1 #25)
Post-Crisis
Following the Crisis on Infinite Earths, a new version of reality was created with a different history of events. Tala
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.
Overview
Personality and attributes
In appearance, Tala was a dark-haired sorceress with a pale, striking visage who favored a high-slit, form-fitting gown and bared limbs, often riding a great bat-winged beast or materializing amid coils of shadow; her bearing was regal and predatory, and her eyes promised either delight or doom to those who met her gaze. Such was her reputation that she came to be known as the Mistress of Evil. (The Phantom Stranger v2 #4)
Tala’s manner was capricious and cruel, by turns taunting and seductive; she toyed with mortal desires, needled Dr. Thirteen’s skepticism, and treated catastrophe as entertainment, yet her fixation on the Phantom Stranger made her attacks as much a game of temptation and challenge as a campaign of terror. (The Phantom Stranger v2 #4)
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 did seem to have a gentler side, as witnessed in Tannarak's Nightclub 'Bewitched', where she has waited tables and chatted with Zatanna.
She was noted for having an attraction to the Phantom Stranger who she tried to tempt to join her side. (The Phantom Stranger v2 #4)
Powers and abilities
Tala was a demonic enchantress who commanded lesser hellspawn, conjured and shaped darkness, and traversed air and sea with ease; she manifested from ritual invocations, assailed victims with summoned fiends, and withstood banishments that would have ended lesser entities, returning again to pursue her designs. As such, she was shown as being a talented and powerful spellcaster. Among her abilities was the power to change her shape where she could appear as any woman from history. (The Phantom Stranger v2 #4)
Tala was shown to be capable of manipulating darkness and cause it to blacken out the sky. (The Phantom Stranger v2 #4)
In addition to her mastery of sorcery, Tala seems to have some succubus-like skills with seduction, claiming that many men have fallen for her and her ability to give them bliss that only Chaos can bring.
Tala is a very powerful magic user. She can use magic to alter reality itself. Unlike many DC magical users, she does not need to say her spells out loud. She can cast spells with her thoughts alone. Only the most powerful magic users have the ability to do that.
Tala's uses of sorcery gives her access to a ton of other abilities.
Notes
- Tala was created by Robert Kanigher and Neal Adams where she made her first appearance in The Phantom Stranger v2 #4 (December, 1969).
In other media
Television
- In Justice League Unlimited, Tala appeared in the setting of the animated television series set in the DC Animated Universe where she was voiced by actress Juliet Landau. She, along with Amanda Waller organized the Suicide Squad-based team Task Force X. She makes numerous appearances in JLU seasons 4-5. In "Dead Reckoning", she was Gorilla Grodd's assistant in the Legion. When Luthor is brought into the Legion, she betrays Grodd and started a 'romance' with Lex Luthor. In the end when the Legion is divided she sides with Grodd, but is captured by Luthor. Ever since he joined the Legion, Luthor sought to bring Brainiac back and he used Tala to power the generator to bring back the computer virus. When Lex set the generator off, Tala was 'overloaded' with energy and most likely killed, though she managed to twist the end result of the process, returning a Brainiac-infused Darkseid who had previously perished with Brainiac.
Video games
- In DC Universe Online, Tala appeared in the setting of the MMORPG video game. In the setting, she was the mistress of her own part of hell. She was shown as being an R&D vendor in the Hall of Doom's Magic Wing.
Appearances
- The Phantom Strange v2: (1969)
- DC Comics Presents v1:
- Action Comics v1:
External Links
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