Tala is a

fictional Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying individuals, events, or places Place may refer to: Geography * Place (United States Census Bureau), defined as any concentration of population ** Census-designated place, ...

supervillain A supervillain or supercriminal is a variant of the villainous stock character that is commonly found in American comic books, usually possessing superhuman abilities. A supervillain is the antithesis of a superhero. Supervillains are oft ...

ess in the

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

universe The universe is all of space and time and their contents, including planets, stars, galaxies, and all other forms of matter and energy. The Big Bang theory is the prevailing cosmological description of the development of the universe. Acc ...

. She first appeared as an adversary of the

Phantom Stranger The Phantom Stranger is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, of unspecified paranormal origins, who battles mysterious and occult forces, sometimes under their Vertigo imprint. The character first appeared in an ...

, but is also known for her appearances on ''

Justice League Unlimited ''Justice League Unlimited'' (''JLU'') is a 2004–2006 American superhero animated television series that was produced by Warner Bros. Animation and aired on Cartoon Network. Featuring a wide array of superheroes from the DC Comics universe, and ...

''. Tala is the mistress of her own part of Hell. 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 is an enemy of the Phantom Stranger, whom she has variously tried to destroy and seduce. She seems to have a gentler side, as witnessed in Tannarak's Nightclub 'Bewitched', where she has waited tables and chatted with

Zatanna Zatanna Zatara () is a superheroine appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by Gardner Fox and Murphy Anderson, and first appeared in '' Hawkman'' #4 (November 1964). Zatanna is a stage magician with a ...

Publication history

Tala first appeared in ''

'' vol. 2, #4 and was created by

Neal Adams Neal Adams (June 15, 1941 – April 28, 2022) was an American comic book artist. He was the co-founder of the graphic design studio Continuity Associates, and was a creators-rights advocate who helped secure a pension and recognition for Supe ...

and

Robert Kanigher Robert "Bob" Kanigher (; June 18, 1915 – May 7, 2002)Social Security Death Index, social security #116-07-5117. was an American comic book writer and editor whose career spanned five decades. He was involved with the Wonder Woman franchise for ...

Fictional character biography

Pre-Crisis

Tala, the Queen of Evil, is an evil mystical entity and the mistress of the

Dark Circle The Dark Circle is a criminal organization that appears in comic books from DC Comics, primarily part of the Legion of Super-Heroes comic books. They first appeared in 1968, created by Jim Shooter as a criminal organization founded by five membe ...

. Her agenda often consists of tricking mortals into doing evil deeds, or unleashing the apocalypse onto the modern world. She frequently confronts

the Phantom Stranger The Phantom Stranger is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, of unspecified paranormal origins, who battles mysterious and occult forces, sometimes under their Vertigo imprint. The character first appeared in ...

, usually along with

Doctor Thirteen Dr. Terrance Thirteen (sometimes Terrence), known simply as Doctor Thirteen, Dr. 13 and The Ghost-Breaker, is a fictional character in comic books set in the DC Universe. The character's first published appearance is in ''Star Spangled Comics'' # ...

, by using her powers to enslave a mortal. She frequently professes an attraction to the Stranger, trying to seduce him.

Post-Crisis

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.

In other media

* Tala appeared in ''

'', voiced by

Juliet Landau Juliet Rose Landau is an American actress, director, producer, and ballerina best known for her role as Drusilla on ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' and its spinoff show ''Angel'', the latter appearance earning her a Saturn Award nomination. She ...

. This version is a member of

Project Cadmus Project Cadmus is a fictional genetic engineering project in the DC Comics Universe. Its notable creations included the Golden Guardian (a clone of the original Guardian), Auron, Superboy (Kon-El) (a clone from Superman's DNA), and Dubbilex (a D ...

in season two and

Gorilla Grodd Gorilla Grodd is a supervillain character appearing in American comic books and other media published by DC Comics, primarily as an enemy of The Flash. The character was created by John Broome and Carmine Infantino, and first appeared in ''Th ...

Secret Society A secret society is a club or an organization whose activities, events, inner functioning, or membership are concealed. The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence. The term usually excludes covert groups, such as intelligence a ...

in season three. While working for the former as a magic-based project leader, she is manipulated by

Felix Faust Felix Faust is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in ''Justice League of America #10'' (1962), created by Gardner Fox and Mike Sekowsky. He is depicted as an mystic sorcerer obse ...

into trapping herself in a mirror before eventually escaping with Grodd's help and joining his Society as their chief mystic off-screen. After

Lex Luthor Alexander Joseph "Lex" Luthor () is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. Lex Luthor originally appeared in ''Action Comics'' #23 (cover dated: Apr ...

takes control of the Society and imprisons Grodd, Tala swears allegiance to the former and attempts to form a relationship with him until he grows increasingly obsessed with resurrecting

Brainiac Brainiac is a colloquial adjective used to describe exceptionally intelligent people. It may also refer to: Culture Fictional entities * Brainiac (character), a fictional supervillain in DC Comics, and an enemy of Superman * Brainiac (story arc), ...

and regaining his former godhood. Spurned, she releases Grodd to incite a mutiny, but Luthor kills him and forces Tala to power a machine he designed to resurrect Brainiac through his essence. While she dies in the process, she resurrects

Darkseid Darkseid () is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer-artist Jack Kirby to serve as the primary antagonist of his "Fourth World (comics), Fourth World" metaseries, and was firs ...

instead as a final act of revenge. ** Tala appears in issue #37 of the ''Justice League Unlimited'' tie-in comic book series. * Tala appears in ''

DC Universe Online ''DC Universe Online'' (''DCUO'') is a free-to-play action combat massively multiplayer online game set in the fictional universe of DC Comics. Developed by Dimensional Ink Games and co-published by Daybreak Game Company and WB Games, the game w ...

''. This version is a vendor in the Hall of Doom's Magic Wing and the final boss of the "Hand of Fate" DLC.

References

External links

* * {{Dcauw, Tala Comics characters introduced in 1969 DC Comics female supervillains DC Comics fantasy characters DC Comics characters who use magic Fictional murderers Characters created by Robert Kanigher Characters created by Neal Adams