Mala (Amazon)
Mala | |
---|---|
Harry G. Peter | |
In-story information | |
Team affiliations | Amazon nation |
Abilities | Themyscirian level super-strength, super-speed, and Amazon training |
Mala is the name of two fictional characters who first appeared in the DC Comics' universe as two members of Wonder Woman's fellow Amazons.
Fictional character biography
Golden/Silver age
Mala was one of the most important Amazons in the Golden Age adventures of Wonder Woman.[1] Mala was with Diana when they discovered Steve Trevor floating in the sea, and they worked together to bring him to shore. Mala was also the last Amazon standing alongside a masked Diana during the contest to determine who would venture into Man's World as the Amazon champion.[2]
Mala became the head of the Reform Island program for rehabilitating criminals and the criminally insane. She was typically depicted as blonde and wearing a polka dotted dress.
Mala possessed her own plane, the Swan Plane, which was superfast though not as fast as Wonder Woman's invisible plane nor telepathically controlled. Mala was also one of the few Amazons to venture into Man's World, though by accident, when her plane was hijacked by Mimi Mendez.[3]
Mala was skilled enough in the Amazons' advanced science to be trusted by Wonder Woman to work alongside
Mala was largely forgotten in the Silver Age, although she reappeared in several dream sequences exploring what-if scenarios.[5] In one, Diana was forced to assume the throne of Paradise Island immediately prior to the Contest, and Mala won to become Wonder Woman.
Modern age
Due to the 1985
Mala of Bana-Mighdall
Another Amazon named Mala was introduced as a member of the
DC Rebirth
After the events of DC Rebirth, Mala was not initially seen among the Amazons on Themyscira. However, Diana later mentioned Mala to the former criminal Mayfly, telling her stories of when they would play games on Themyscira.[10]
Other versions
Wonder Woman: Earth One
Mala appears in Wonder Woman: Earth One in a similar manner to her original counterpart, though this time presented as Princess Diana's lover and the Wonder Woman before her.[11]
Injustice: Gods Among Us
Mala appears in the comic series based on the Injustice 2 video game.[12]
Abilities
Mala of Themyscira
Mala has 3,000 years of combat experience providing her expertise in both hand-to-hand combat as well as with hand held weapons. As a Themyscirian Amazon she also possesses immortality that allows her to live indefinitely in a youthful form, but does leave her open to potential injury and death depending on her actions.[13] Mala, as a Themyscirian, also possesses enhanced strength and intelligence. As shown by fellow members of her tribe, she has the capability to break apart steel and concrete with her bare hands,[14] jump over 12 feet from a standing position,[15] has a high durability factor,[16] enhanced healing,[17] and the ability to absorb and process a vast amount of knowledge in a short period of time.[18]
Mala, like all Themyscirian Amazons, possesses the ability to relieve her body of physical injury and toxins by becoming one with the Earth's soil and then reforming her body whole again.[17] During writer John Byrne's time on the comic it was stated that this is a very sacred ritual to the Themyscirians, only to be used in the most dire of circumstances.[19]
Mala of Bana-Mighdall
As with other members of her tribe, Mala has average to above average human level strength, stamina and reflexes. As she was able to survive battling the likes of demons, Mala's durability level is higher than average for someone her age. Despite being an old woman, Mala has ageless immortality that allows her to remain the same age for all time, but leaves her open to possibly dying as it does not provide invulnerability. As a Bana, Mala would be trained in hand-to-hand battle as well as the use and manufacturing of weapons.
In other media
Television
- A character based on Mala, Magda, appears in the Wonder Woman (1975) two-part episode "The Feminum Mystique", portrayed by Pamela Susan Shoop.
Film
- Mala appears in Justice League: The New Frontier, voiced by Vanessa Marshall.
Video games
- Mala appears in DC Universe Online.
Novels
- Mala appears in the Wonder Woman (2009) tie-in novel, written by S. D. Perry and Britta Dennison.
See also
Footnotes
- ISBN 978-0345501073.
- ^ All-Star Comics #8; Wonder Woman #1
- ^ Sensation Comics #29
- ^ Sensation Comics #24
- ^ Wonder Woman #300
- ^ Wonder Woman (vol. 2) Annual #3
- ^ a b Wonder Woman (vol. 2) #0 (October 1994)
- ^ Wonder Woman (vol. 2) #92
- ^ Wonder Woman (vol. 2) #91
- ^ Wonder Woman #51 (2018)
- ^ Wonder Woman: Earth One
- ^ Injustice 2 #29 (2017)
- ^ Wonder Woman (vol. 2) #1
- ^ Wonder Woman (vol. 2) #59
- ^ Wonder Woman (vol. 2) #57
- ^ Wonder Woman: Our Worlds at War #1
- ^ a b Wonder Woman (vol. 2) #30 (May 1989)
- ^ Wonder Woman (vol. 2) #3
- ^ Wonder Woman (vol. 2) #120