Zara (comics)





























Zara, Priestess of the Crimson Flame
ZaraWW.jpg
Publication information
Publisher DC Comics
First appearance
Comics Cavalcade #5 (Winter 1943)
Created by William Moulton Marston
In-story information
Alter ego Zara
Abilities Pyrokinesis

Zara, Priestess of the Crimson Flame is a villain who battled the Golden Age Wonder Woman. She was also a member of the super-villain team Villainy Inc. She debuted in Comic Cavalcade #5 and was created by Dr. William Moulton Marston as an example of the follies of misandry and another embodiment of emotionally misaligned women whom Wonder Woman must reform.






Contents






  • 1 Fictional character biography


    • 1.1 Pre-Crisis


    • 1.2 Post-Crisis


    • 1.3 DC Rebirth




  • 2 Powers and abilities


  • 3 See also


  • 4 References


  • 5 External links





Fictional character biography



Pre-Crisis


The past of Zara was that she was an Arab girl and wore belly dancer attire. According to her tales, she was sold into slavery as a child, which created in her an intense hatred of men. Using a flair for pyrotechnics, she eventually created a new religion (The Cult of The Crimson Flame), which had swept the globe. Zara rigged various fire-based effects to dazzle her followers and keep them in thrall to her. After her initial defeat by Wonder Woman, the Cult went underground; and Zara was able to scare up at least one follower to do her bidding when she joined Villainy Inc.


The lovely red-haired woman is the high priestess of the mystic Cult of the Crimson Flame, a "new religion" that has begun "sweeping the world". Its symbol is an eerie "crimson flame" that appears out of nowhere at the behest of the high priestess, hanging suspended in midair and inscribing mysterious flaming messages to cow the members of the cult - the so-called "flame slaves" - into abject obedience. Dr. William Moulton Marston assigned the color crimson to represent the inducement emotion that Zara was activating when trying to influence people.







Anyone daring to oppose the cult falls mysteriously ill and dies soon afterward.


When Helen Armstrong, a U.S. Senator's daughter who has been intimately involved with the flame cult, disappears mysteriously, Wonder Woman, Steve Trevor, Etta Candy, and the Holliday Girls follow her to Arabia, site of the Crystal Temple of the Crimson Flame, the "international headquarters" of Zara and her sinister "flame forces." Ultimately, Wonder Woman and her companions defeat the flame cultists, rescue Helen Armstrong from their clutches, and capture Zara.







It was to wreak vengeance on Helen's father that Zara had had her abducted.


The much-feared "crimson flame," confesses Zara, was actually nothing more than "floating, burning, liquid hydrogen," while the voice seeming to speak from inside it was actually an illusion created with movie projector sound equipment.







[1]


Zara escapes from Transformation Island, which works to rehabilitate female criminals, along with seven other villainesses and joins them in forming Villainy Incorporated [2]



Post-Crisis


Post-Crisis, Zara has been depicted as an Arabian woman and her flame-powers were inborn rather than produced by gadgets (originally, she used a fire-gun). However, Hippolyta referred to her flames as 'scientific trickery.' [3]


Much later, Zara was mentioned as one of the inhabitants of Alan Scott's Emerald City on the dark side of the moon. She is mentioned as being a "fire girl" and an "old enemy of Wonder Woman." [4]



DC Rebirth


After the events of DC Rebirth, Zara's origin was altered. Though her past is currently unknown, she was at some point recruited by Veronica Cale to attack Washington D.C. As a pyrokinetic, Zara's fires were able to melt concrete, which prompted Wonder Woman to quickly defeat the villainess by smashing her into a wall. She's later taken into custody, though Wonder Woman commented that they planned on questioning Zara when she regained consciousness.[5]



Powers and abilities


Pre-Crisis, she used a fire-gun and rigged effects to appear to have a mastery over flames. Post-Crisis, her powers are internal, but may have been the result of scientific engineering rather than from natural sources (e.g., magic, meta-human, etc.).



See also


  • List of Wonder Woman enemies


References





  1. ^ Comics Cavalcade #5 (Winter 1943): "Mystery of the Crimson Flame"


  2. ^ Wonder Woman #28: "Villainy Incorporated!", "Trap of Crimson Flame", "In the Hands of the Merciless!"


  3. ^ Wonder Woman: Our Worlds at War #1


  4. ^ Justice Society of America #43 (November 2010)


  5. ^ Wonder Woman #41 (2018)




External links



  • The Unofficial Zara Biography

  • Jett, Brett. "Who Is Wonder Woman?--Bonus PDF"," (2009): 1–17.

  • Marston, William Moulton. Emotions Of Normal People. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co, Ltd. 1928. .mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/12px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#33aa33;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}
    ISBN 1406701165




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Information security

Image
This article is part of a series on Information security Related security categories Internet security Cyberwarfare Computer security Mobile security Network security Threats Computer crime Vulnerability Eavesdropping Malware Spyware Ransomware Trojans Viruses Worms Rootkits Bootkits Keyloggers Screen scrapers Exploits Backdoors Logic bombs Payloads Denial of service Defenses Computer access control Application security Antivirus software Secure coding Secure by default Secure by design Secure operating systems Authentication Multi-factor authentication Authorization Data-centric security Encryption Firewall Intrusion detection system Mobile secure gateway Runtime application self-protection (RASP) v t e Information security , sometimes shortened to InfoSec , is the practice of preventing unauthorized access, use, disclosure, disruption, modification, inspection, recording or destruction of information. Th...
Read more

Volkswagen Group MQB platform

Image
The Volkswagen Group MQB platform is the company's strategy for shared modular design construction of its transverse, front-engine, front-wheel-drive layout (optional front-engine, four-wheel-drive layout) automobiles. Volkswagen spent roughly $60bn [1] developing this new platform and the cars employing it. The platform underpins a wide range of cars from the supermini class to the mid size SUV class. MQB allows Volkswagen to assemble any of its cars based on this platform across all of its MQB ready factories. This allows the Volkswagen group flexibility to shift production as needed between its different factories. Beginning in 2012, Volkswagen Group marketed the strategy under the code name MQB , which stands for Modularer Querbaukasten , translating from German to "Modular Transversal Toolkit" or "Modular Transverse Matrix". [2] [3] MQB is one strategy within VW's overall MB (Modularer Baukasten or modular matrix) program which also includes th...
Read more

Daniel Guggenheim

Image
Daniel Guggenheim 1925 photo Born ( 1856-07-09 ) July 9, 1856 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Died September 28, 1930 (1930-09-28) (aged 74) Port Washington, New York Alma mater Peirce College Known for Battle for control of ASARCO Daniel Guggenheim Medal Spouse(s) Florence Shloss Children Meyer Robert Guggenheim Harry Guggenheim Gladys Eleanor Guggenheim Parent(s) Meyer Guggenheim Barbara Guggenheim Daniel Guggenheim, 1910 Daniel Guggenheim (July 9, 1856 – September 28, 1930) was an American mining magnate and philanthropist, and a son of Meyer and Barbara Guggenheim. Contents 1 Biography 2 Personal life 2.1 Aviation 2.2 Alaska 3 See also 4 References 5 Further reading 6 External links Biography Born and raised in Philadelphia, Daniel Guggenheim was sent to Switzerland as a young man to study the Swiss lace and embroidery business, and to serve as a buyer for his father's import firm. The...
Read more