Halo (DC Comics)
This article's lead section may be too short to adequately summarize the key points. (September 2022) |
Halo | |
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Partnerships | |
Notable aliases | Gabrielle Doe Marissa Baron Spectrum Violet Harper[1] |
Abilities | See list
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Halo is a
The character's origin involves spirit possession. An alien being took over the body of a recently murdered woman and resurrected her. Halo initially suffered from amnesia, having no access to the memories of either the alien or the human host.
Publication history
Halo first appeared in The Brave and the Bold #200 and was created by Mike W. Barr and Jim Aparo.[3]
Fictional character biography
Halo is a gestalt of a human woman named Violet Harper and an Aurakle, an ancient energy-being resembling a sphere of iridescent light.
The young Halo is initially the legal ward of her friend and Outsiders teammate
Death
Halo did die, in a manner of speaking, in a much later incident. After the team was framed for the murder of Markovia's queen, which was caused by Roderick and his vampire forces, they were forced to flee.
During an attempt by the Outsiders to create a new headquarters, other Aurakles would return to reclaim Halo. Halo would later strike up a relationship with Sebastian Faust, a fellow Outsider that not many on the team trusted. The entire team is eventually cleared of wrongdoing. Halo later returns to Markovia. There she assists in combating a portal to Hell that had opened as part of the Day of Judgment incident.
Further adventures
Halo later appears back in the body of its original host, Violet Harper, through unexplained means.
During the Infinite Crisis, supervillain prisons around the world are opened as their respective wardens are targeted and blackmailed. Halo is part of a makeshift team of heroes battling a breakout at the Alcatraz prison in San Francisco. She later joins the Battle of Metropolis, which takes place in issue #7, helping other heroes protect the city from an army of super-villains bent on its destruction.
Soon after the events of the crisis, she assists a team of astronauts in a space station searching for heroes missing in action. She detects traces of Zeta radiation, a sign of Adam Strange, one of the many missing.
She is part of another multi-hero battle, this time against the murderous Black Adam. This takes place on Chinese soil, during the limited series World War III.
She makes another brief appearance in Action Comics #843. She is part of dozens of super-powered beings fighting to free themselves from the prison ships of the "Auctioneer".
In Batman and the Outsiders Special (Feb. 2009), Halo is one of the heroes approached by Alfred to form a new team of Outsiders. She accepts in Outsiders vol. 4, #15 and reforms the team with original members Katana, Geo-Force, Black Lightning, and Metamorpho, along with new members
Blackest Night
During a recovery mission with the Outsiders, Halo, along with the Creeper and Katana, are confronted by Katana's recently resurrected family. Under the control of their Black Lantern rings, they attack Katana and Halo, with Creeper easily dispatched; he retreats into the woods to get help from their prisoner, Killer Croc. While Katana battles her husband, Halo is forced to fight Katana's children. Although her light-based powers prove ineffective at first, Violet unleashes more power than ever before to save her teammates, whose abilities have no long-term effect on the Lanterns. Finally, she manages to destroy the Black Lantern rings and goes to aid the rest of her team who are also under attack.[6]
Back in their headquarters, the rest of the Outsiders are faced with a recently risen
Batman Incorporated
Halo is later selected as a member of a new team of Outsiders, led by Red Robin and funded by Batman Incorporated.[9] Halo and her teammates infiltrate a satellite said to be run by the villainous Leviathan organization, but this is revealed to be a trap set by Lord Death Man and Talia al Ghul. The satellite is destroyed in a massive explosion, making it unclear whether Halo and the others survived.[10]
In The New 52 reboot of DC's continuity, Halo and the Outsiders survived the explosion but were assumed dead. They now work as part of the Dead Heroes Club, a group of heroes who take advantage of their legally-deceased status to perform covert missions for Batman.[11]
In a later series, Halo is once again shown as very naive, freshly rescued from an incident in Markovia. She is under the care of Katana. The government believes Halo simply to be a young girl, unaware of her alien origin and powers.[12]
Powers and abilities
Halo has the ability to fly and to create auras of the seven known
- Violet: Self-healing abilities and resurrection, and can produce empowering mental effects that can give her previous body's consciousness control of their shared body.
- Indigo: Tractor beam.
- Blue: Duplicate herself and objects into several holographic copies.
- Green: Produce halting stasis beams to stop and manipulate enemies.
- Yellow: Rays of yellow light from hands that can stun or blind enemies.
- Orange: Concussive blasts.
- Red: Create a strong energy shield, Levitation and produce destructive heat beams to melt or burn enemies.
- White: Emit a blinding white light that is strong enough to overcome shadows and dark energies.
The halos provide a measure of defense against similar effects directed against her. For instance, her green stasis halo protected her from being immobilized by the Cryonic Man's freezing gas, and her orange concussive halo can repel physical attacks.
Halo can alternate between her costume and civilian clothes instantly. This transition is accompanied by an aura of primarily black color with white blotches of light.
The negation of the color spectrum will negate Halo's powers; the DC universe has many villains with just such abilities.
In the 1990s, it was shown that should her human body be destroyed, the Aurakle can merge with another recently deceased human.
During the Blackest Night, Violet's powers proved highly effective, allowing her to destroy Black Lanterns and their rings, a feat usually reserved only for the wielders of the various Lantern Corps and the users of the Dove power.
Other versions
The
In other media
Television
- Halo appears in the teaser for the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode "Requiem for a Scarlet Speedster!" as a new member of the Outsiders.
- Halo appears in Zviad Baazovi secretly manipulates him into killing his uncle Baron Bedlam. In the fourth season, Young Justice: Phantoms, Halo considers converting to Islam as Daou's faith was important to her, starts identifying as non-binary, and begins to reconsider their feelings towards Markov and Row. As of the fourth season finale, Halo and Row have entered a relationship.
Film
An alternate universe version of Halo called Aurora appears in Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths as a minor member of the Crime Syndicate of America whose powers function similarly to a Green Lantern's.[15]
References
- ^ Batman Incorporated (vol. 2) #1
- OCLC 213309017.
- ISBN 978-1-4654-5357-0.
- ISBN 9780345501066.
- ^ Adventures of the Outsiders #34 (June 1986)
- ^ Outsiders vol. 4, #24 (November 2009)
- ^ Outsiders vol. 4, #25 (December 2009)
- ^ Outsiders vol. 4, #31 (July 2010)
- ^ Batman Inc. #6 (May 2011)
- ^ Batman Incorporated: Leviathan Strikes #1 (December 2011)
- ^ Batman Incorporated (vol. 2) #1 (May 2012)
- ^ Suicide Squad: Black Files #1 (2018)
- ^ "YOUNG JUSTICE: OUTSIDERS Creators Talk a Darker Season Full of Metahuman Trafficking". Nerdist. 26 July 2018.
- ^ "Zehra Fazal on Instagram: "What a ridiculously awesome day at Comic-Con. I can officially announce I've joined the cast of Young Justice Outsiders as the voice of…"". Instagram. Archived from the original on 2021-12-24.
- ^ "1st Look: Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths Clip". Newsarama. February 23, 2010. Retrieved 2010-06-17.