Phobia is a character appearing in

American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical originating in the United States, on average 32 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publication of ''Action Comics'' ...

s published by

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 ...

. She is usually depicted as an enemy of the

Teen Titans The Teen Titans are a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, frequently in eponymous monthly series. As the group's name indicates, the members are teenage superheroes, many of whom have acted as sidekicks to DC ...

Publication history

Phobia first appeared in ''

New Teen Titans The Teen Titans are a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, frequently in eponymous monthly series. As the group's name indicates, the members are teenage superheroes, many of whom have acted as sidekicks to DC ...

'' #14 and was created by

Marv Wolfman Marvin Arthur Wolfman (born May 13, 1946) is an American comic book and novelization writer. He worked on Marvel Comics's ''The Tomb of Dracula'', for which he and artist Gene Colan created the vampire-slayer Blade, and DC Comics's '' The New Te ...

and

George Pérez George Pérez (; June 9, 1954 – May 6, 2022) was an American comic book artist and writer, who worked primarily as a penciller. He came to prominence in the 1970s penciling ''Fantastic Four (comic book), Fantastic Four'' and ''The Avengers (co ...

Fictional character biography

Born a member of the British aristocracy with the power to make people experience their worst fears, Angela Hawkins III was a "bad seed" who rejected any help from her family. When the

Brain A brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. It is located in the head, usually close to the sensory organs for senses such as vision. It is the most complex organ in a v ...

came to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

to recruit her for the reformation of the

Brotherhood of Evil The Brotherhood of Evil is a group of DC Comics supervillains, archenemies of the original Doom Patrol and the Teen Titans and enemies of the Justice League. The Brotherhood of Evil appears in the third season of the HBO Max series ''Doom Patrol ...

, Angela readily agreed. She joined the New Brotherhood of Evil in the hopes of conquering her own fears by unleashing those of others. Sometimes, man-hating tendencies rise up in her. Angela suffers from a fear of being alone. Phobia and the Brotherhood have opposed the Teen Titans on numerous occasions. Phobia travels to

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. In the course of murderous crimes, Phobia coincidentally encounters the bestial super-hero

Tasmanian Devil The Tasmanian devil (''Sarcophilus harrisii'') (palawa kani: purinina) is a carnivorous marsupial of the family Dasyuridae. Until recently, it was only found on the island state of Tasmania, but it has been reintroduced to New South Wales in ...

. Sensing her killings, Tasmanian Devil and his New Zealand contact and confidante Raylene Mackenzie tail her. A fight ensues. Tasmanian Devil was initially immune to Phobia's powers, because his bestial nature was so near the surface. She dug deeper, however, uncovering his fear of his dominating and abusive mother. Tasmanian Devil relives a particular incident where his father was degraded and hit. Raylene attempts to help and was hit with her own fear—drowning. Despite this, they manage to work together, subduing Phobia with blows to the head. Tasmanian Devil becomes famous in New Zealand because of his efforts to protect Raylene. A later encounter with

Raven A raven is any of several larger-bodied bird species of the genus ''Corvus''. These species do not form a single taxonomic group within the genus. There is no consistent distinction between "crows" and "ravens", common names which are assigned t ...

forces Phobia confront the fears and insecurities that lay within herself, which stemmed from childhood issues with her father, Lord Hawkins. It appeared Phobia might reform and abandon her criminal ways following this encounter. During the ''

Crisis on Infinite Earths "Crisis on Infinite Earths" is a 1985 American comic book crossover storyline published by DC Comics. The series, written by Marv Wolfman and pencilled by George Pérez, was first serialized as a 12-issue limited series from April 1985 to March ...

'' storyline, Phobia was given the task of using her powers to mentally torture the bound and gagged members of the

Marvel Family The Marvel Family, also known as the Shazam Family (or "Shazamily"), are a group of superheroes who originally appeared in books published by Fawcett Comics and were later acquired by DC Comics. Created in 1942 by writer Otto Binder and artist Ma ...

. She was later defeated offpanel when the

Atom Every atom is composed of a nucleus and one or more electrons bound to the nucleus. The nucleus is made of one or more protons and a number of neutrons. Only the most common variety of hydrogen has no neutrons. Every solid, liquid, gas, and ...

removes the gag from

Billy Batson Captain Marvel, also known as Shazam, is a superhero appearing in American comic books originally published by Fawcett Comics and currently published by DC Comics. Artist C. C. Beck and writer Bill Parker created the character in 1939. Captai ...

's mouth, allowing him to transform. Phobia is one of the many super-villains who go on a rampage when the Joker infects them with a serum causing them to become more like him. She then spends time in the villain-friendly fictional country of Zandia. Phobia later resurfaced back with the Brotherhood, now calling themselves the Society of Sin. She also accepted an invitation to join the

Secret Society of Super Villains Secret Society of Super Villains (SSoSV) is a DC Comics title that debuted in May–June 1976. The series presented a group of DC's supervillains, mostly foes of the Justice League of America. The series was cancelled with issue #15 in July 1978, ...

Villains United ''Villains United'' is a six-issue 2005 comic book limited series, published by DC Comics, written by Gail Simone and illustrated by Dale Eaglesham and Wade Von Grawbadger, and later by Val Semeiks and Prentis Rollins. Publication history ''Villai ...

, though those who do not accept such invitations tend to wind up dead. Phobia was seen as a member of the

Injustice League The following is a list of fictional criminal and terrorist organizations that have been published by DC Comics and their imprints. 0-9 100 Originally based in Metropolis, the 100 kept a firm grip on the city's criminal underworld for years, ind ...

. Phobia appeared in two story arcs in '' Manhunter'' (Mark Andreyko), first as one of the supervillains recruited by

Calculator An electronic calculator is typically a portable electronic device used to perform calculations, ranging from basic arithmetic to complex mathematics. The first solid-state electronic calculator was created in the early 1960s. Pocket-sized ...

to take out the Shadow-Thief. In this storyline, she accidentally bumped into Kate Spencer and awakened Kate's fear of causing the death of her son, Ramsey (who, at this point in time, was still recovering from injuries that were inflicted on him by Kate's staff). The Manhunter had psi-shielding in her costume, however, and was able to overpower Phobia in a battle in the LA District Courthouse. In her second appearance, Phobia was assisting Kate Spencer's father in some illegal medical procedure. Manhunter tracked down her father and encountered Phobia on the first floor of the house the two were occupying. After a pitched battle, Kate defeats her again. Phobia is part of a group effort that successfully destroys the fictional city of

Bludhaven This page list the locations in the DC Universe, the shared universe setting of DC Comics. Sites * the Arrowcave – The former base of operations of the Green Arrow and Speedy. * Avernus Cemetery – A burial ground located in Central City for ...

, killing millions. She is one of the villains featured in ''

Salvation Run ''Salvation Run'' is a seven-issue 2007-2008 DC Comics limited series which was designed to tie into the company's major event series ''Final Crisis'' in 2008. Premise The premise of the series, which is based on a pitch by George R. R. Martin, ...

''. Phobia is one of the villains sent to retrieve the Get Out of Hell free card from the

Secret Six The so-called Secret Six, or the Secret Committee of Six, were a group of men who secretly funded the 1859 raid on Harper's Ferry by abolitionist John Brown. Sometimes described as "wealthy," this was true of only two. The other four were in pos ...

. Following the ''

Final Crisis "Final Crisis" is a crossover storyline that appeared in comic books published by DC Comics in 2008, primarily the seven-issue miniseries of the same name written by Grant Morrison. Originally DC announced the project as being illustrated solely b ...

'', Phobia was seen as a member of

Cheetah The cheetah (''Acinonyx jubatus'') is a large cat native to Africa and central Iran. It is the fastest land animal, estimated to be capable of running at with the fastest reliably recorded speeds being , and as such has evolved specialized ...

. She is later attacked by Wonder Woman's foe

Genocide Genocide is the intentional destruction of a people—usually defined as an ethnic, national, racial, or religious group—in whole or in part. Raphael Lemkin coined the term in 1944, combining the Greek word (, "race, people") with the Latin ...

. Phobia is seen attacking the remaining members of the Titans following the aftermath of '' Justice League: Cry for Justice''. She infiltrates the Titans compound in New York City, first using her abilities to force

Cyborg A cyborg ()—a portmanteau of ''cybernetic'' and ''organism''—is a being with both organic and biomechatronic body parts. The term was coined in 1960 by Manfred Clynes and Nathan S. Kline.

to relive the massacre of his

Titans East Titans East is the name of several DC Comics superhero teams. The teams appear in the ''Teen Titans'' comic books and Teen Titans (TV series), animated series. The comic book incarnation of Titans East first appeared in ''Teen Titans'' (vol. 3) #1 ...

squad, and then defeating Starfire by exploiting her fear of being alone. She is ultimately defeated after Cyborg is able to overcome his illusion, which causes Phobia to break her concentration and allow Starfire to knock her unconscious. Just prior to turning her over to the authorities, Starfire speculates that Phobia had attacked the heroes for sport upon hearing of the team's fractured state. In September 2011,

The New 52 The New 52 is the 2011 revamp and relaunch by DC Comics of its entire line of ongoing monthly superhero comic books. Following the conclusion of the " Flashpoint" crossover storyline, DC canceled all its existing titles and debuted 52 new serie ...

rebooted DC's continuity. In this new timeline, Phobia first appears in the ''Blue Beetle'' #1. As a member of the Brotherhood of Evil, she is seen looking for the scarab alongside

Plasmus Plasmus () is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He is depicted as an enemy of the Teen Titans. Publication history Plasmus first appeared in ''The New Teen Titans'' #14 and was created by Marv Wolfman ...

and

Warp Warp, warped or warping may refer to: Arts and entertainment Books and comics * WaRP Graphics, an alternative comics publisher * ''Warp'' (First Comics), comic book series published by First Comics based on the play ''Warp!'' * Warp (comics), a ...

while competing with La Dama's agents.''Blue Beetle'' Vol. 8 #1 (September 2011). DC Comics.

Powers and abilities

Phobia's natural born psychic powers allow her complete and total mastery over the fear centers of the human mind. She is able to probe into the psyches of her victims, discovering the things they most fear and then manifesting those fears in their minds with illusions.

In other media

* Phobia makes non-speaking appearances in ''

'' as part of the

. She joins them in their plot to eliminate young heroes around the world, only to be flash-frozen by the

. * Phobia appears in issue #55 of ''

Teen Titans Go! ''Teen Titans Go!'' is an American animated television series developed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic for Cartoon Network. It premiered on April 23, 2013 and is based on the DC Comics Teen Titans, fictional superhero team. The series was ...

'' as a member of the Brotherhood of Evil.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Phobia (Comics) Comics characters introduced in 1981 Characters created by George Pérez Characters created by Marv Wolfman DC Comics female supervillains DC Comics metahumans DC Comics characters who have mental powers Fictional illusionists Fictional British people