Helena Bertinelli

Revision as of 09:52, 3 July 2021

Helena Bertinelli as Huntress in Batgirl and the Birds of Prey v1 #4.

Helena Bertinelli is a female comic character who features in DC Comics.

Biography

Origin

Becoming the Huntress in Huntress v1 #1.

Helena Bertinelli

Huntress

She went through the portal to the Crooked House in the Ghost Zone with the badly wounded Prometheus. Alone with the supervillain, she was in the process of attempting to kill him when Batman arrived to stop her. He rescued the pair but told Huntress that he revoked her position in the Justice League leading to her being fired from their ranks. (JLA v1 #39)

Helena was later invited by Batman to join the newest incarnation of the Justice League where she questioned his reasoning for adding her to the team. (JLA Secret Files and Origins v1 #2)

After Arsenal was badly wounded from gunshot wounds, he requested that Huntress take his place on the Outsiders despite Nightwing's reservations. (Outsiders v3 #8) She was on the team when they encountered Ishmael Gregor who had claimed the powers of Sabbac leading to Grace Choi being badly injured. Helena had an argument with Jefferson Pierce when he came to take his daughter Anissa Pierce off the team. (Outsiders v3 #9) When Roy Harper recovered, he returned to the Outsiders with Huntress deciding to quit the team as she said she only did it as a favour for Arsenal until he got better enough to return to active duty. (Outsiders v3 #12)

Birds of Prey

Post-Flashpoint

Spyral Agent Helena Bertinelli in Grayson Annual v1 #1.

Following the Flashpoint, a new version of history was created with a different timeline of events for the characters. Her great-great grandfather was Gino Bertinelli who alongside with the Cassamento family stepped in the 1860's to operate as the Mafia where they initially protected people from criminals but later turned into a criminal organization. In the 1930's, her grandfather Salvatore Bertinelli immigrated to America with his family where they settled in Gotham City. Around this time, the Bertinelli's and Cassamento's continued their partnership of offering protection to the people of Gotham. In time, the Bertinelli's became among the top five families of Gotham and later betrayed the Cassamento's that ended their friendship along with ending their allies business. Afterwards, her father Frank Bertinelli met and married a woman by the name of Maria with a few years later they had a son named Pino Bertinelli who was the older brother of Helena Bertinelli. Salvatore Bertinelli died around this time with Frank Bertinelli believing that the Cassamento's had been responsible for the death. (Batgirl and the Birds of Prey v1 #4) Her husband Frank fixated himself on the family business and began to neglect his wife. It was around this time that she entered into an affair with Canto Cassamento. Her mother knew that her father would not grant a divorce out of proud and hatched a plot with Cassamento to escape this life. She agreed in secret for Cassamento's gunmen to come into the home to kill Frank Bertinelli and take the children but the Cassamento's rivalry with the Bertinelli's was enacted where they sought to kill all except Maria Bertinelli. She was taken from the home and led to believe that that her children were killed where she tried to strike at Canto but he kept her hostage over the years. (Batgirl and the Birds of Prey v1 #6) Helena believed the hitmen were dispatched by Santo Cassamento and that they killed Helena's father, mother and older brother. Helena had managed to hide and thus survived where she was saved by the police after which her fathers mob allies took her out of Gotham City to protect her. She was sent to Sicily where she was looked after by her uncle and aunt. Her uncle Claudio then began to teach her in various skills such as archery and self defense where she began a life as a vigilante as she grew older. (Batgirl and the Birds of Prey v1 #4)

The criminal underworld knew her as being the heir to the Sicilian mob and thought she ran away where she disappeared for 5 years. (Grayson Annual v1 #1) She was presumed dead and her name came to be used as an alias by Helena Wayne of Earth-2 for a time. (Worlds' Finest v1 #1)

Overview

Personality and attributes

Lady Shiva once came to be impressed at Huntress's determination to fight her despite having no chance of winning leading to her giving Helena the name Iron Owl. (Birds of Prey v2 #6)

One account claimed that her granddaughter was Frank Bertinelli and that she was to take over the entire Sicilian mob. (Grayson Annual v1 #1) Her great grandfather Giuseppe Bertinelli had come from the town of Cimina in Sicily when he was 12 years old. As a member of the mafia, he was noted for having been a gifted hitman where he was regarded as a man of honor and valour. He was noted to have had many children through three of them died during a gang war with his one surviving son being Alfredo Bertinelli who took over as godfather of the crime family and was Helena's grandfather. (Batman/Huntress: Cry for Blood v1 #1)

Her family were said to had been in Gotham for over one hundred years. They were said to be as part of Old Gotham as the Wayne family or the other bluebloods. (Batman/Huntress: Cry for Blood v1 #1)

Powers and abilities

Notes

• The Huntress Helena Bertinelli was created by Joey Cavalieri and Joe Staton where she made her first appearance in The Huntress v1 #1 (April, 1989).
• The character was based on the Pre-Crisis Helena Wayne that was created by Paul Levitz, Joe Staton, Joe Orlando, and Bob Layton.
• In Back Issue! v1 #38 (2010), Staton noted that, "I think Paul [Levitz] realized that I felt my involvement with Helena had been abruptly cut short [by the events of Crisis on Infinite Earths], so I was always in line to be a part of any reworking of the character. I don’t recall how Joey Cavalieri came to be the writer on the Helena Bertinelli version, but I think we did some nice work on that run. Helena Bertinelli could never have the deep resonance of Helena Wayne, because she didn’t have the whole Batman/Catwoman backstory at her command, but Joey worked her into a different mythos, that of the mob, also dark, noirish".

Alternate Versions

In other media

Television

• In Justice League Unlimited, the Helena Bertinelli Huntress appeared in the animated television series set in the DC Animated Universe where she was voiced by actress Amy Acker.
• In Batman: The Brave and the Bold, the Helena Bertinelli Huntress appeared in the animated television series where she was voiced by actress Tara Strong.
• In Arrow, Helena Bertinelli appeared in the live-action televsion series set in the Arrowverse where she was portrayed by actress Jessica De Gouw.

Films

• In Birds of Prey, Helena Bertinelli as Huntress appeared in the setting of the live-action film where she was portrayed by actress Mary Elizabeth Winstead

Video games

• In DC Universe Online, the Helena Bertinelli Huntress appeared in the MMORPG where she was voiced by actress Claire Hamilton.
• In DC Legends, the Helena Bertinelli Huntress appeared as a playable character in the iOS video game.

Appearances

• The Huntress v1: (1989)
• JLA Secret Files and Origins v1:
• JLA v1:
• Batman/Huntress: Cry for Blood v1:
• Birds of Prey v2:
• Grayson v1:
• Grayson Annual v1:
• Birds of Prey:
• Detective Comics v1:

External Links

• DC Database Entry
• Comicvine Entry
• Wikipedia Entry

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