Tigress (comics)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For the Heroic Publishing character of the same name, see Tigress (Heroic comics); For other uses, see Tiger (disambiguation).

Tigress is the name of three different DC Comics supervillains.

The original Tigress was a Golden Age villainess who battled Zatara. The second Tigress was a member of the Young All-Stars, who later became a villainess named the Huntress. The third Tigress is the daughter of the second Tigress, and is a member of the Injustice Society.

Contents

[edit] Foe of Zatara

Tigress


The original Golden Age Tigress

Publisher DC Comics
First appearance Action Comics #1 (1938)
Created by Fred Guardineer
Characteristics
Alter ego Unknown

The first Golden Age Tigress was a thief/spy and foe of Zatara in the late 1930s. She debuted in Action Comics #1 (June 1938), and was created by Fred Guardineer.

She wore tiger-striped sweaters and ran gangs of thieves and murderers. Apparently, she had no powers.

[edit] List of appearances

  • Action Comics #1 - The Mystery of the Freight Train Robberies
  • Action Comics #3 - Death from the Air
  • Action Comics #6 - The Emerald of Cheops
  • Action Comics #7 - Zulu Diamond Mine
  • Action Comics #9 - The Mad Lama
  • Action Comics #10 - Treasure of Ghengis Khan
Tigress battles Zatara in Action Comics #1.
Tigress battles Zatara in Action Comics #1.
  • Action Comics #22 - The Mask

Synopsis: Recently returned from England, Zatara dines at the El Storko Club, where he notices the Tigress. He sees her poison the drink of Ed Burton, a banker. Zatara saves him. The Tigress meets with the Mask and discusses their plans to kill Ed. Zatara hunts after the Tigress to stop them.

  • Action Comics #23 - The Treasure Tower
  • Action Comics #30 - Mottled Death

Synopsis: Regan of police headquarters asks Zatara for help in a case where wealthy men are killed by the "mottled death." Zatara deduces that it was from the bite of an insect, a South American jungle jumbo. Shortly, he finds out that the Tigress is involved. He follows her and a magician named only The Master to South America.

  • Action Comics #35 - The Inheritance

Synopsis: A sharper cons young Bill out of his watch and ring, and Zatara helps him track the man down. They discover that the ring has some special value. At the pawnshop of Pawnshop Pete, they encounter the Tigress, who tells them that Pete wants to replace young Bill to secure a million dollar inheritance. Zatara leaves Bill with the Tigress, but she quickly double-crosses him. Now Zatara must deal with two fiends.

  • Action Comics #42 - The Man who Could Control Minds

Synopsis: Zatara spots the Tigress and Frosty Parke and decides to follow them. He catches them trying to rob a bank and quickly stops them, putting Frosty into the hospital. There, Frosty uses an experiment that allows him to control men's minds, and somehow the power is transferred into him. He escapes and meets with Tigress to continue their crime spree. Zatara discovers Frosty's new power and investigates.

[edit] Relationships

Who's Who Update '87 #1 states that she is the mother of Tigress /Huntress (Paula Brooks) and the grandmother of Tigress (Artemis Crock). See the Artemis entry in the comic.

Who's Who Update '87 #5 states that neither Paula Brooks or Artemis Crock are related to her.

[edit] Paula Brooks

Main article: Paula Brooks

The second Tigress is Paula Brooks. She was a member of the Young All-Stars and later became the villainous Huntress. She later married the Sportsmaster, and had a daughter, Artemis Crock, who carries on as the third Tigress.

[edit] Artemis Crock

Tigress


Artemis Crock as Tigress

Publisher DC Comics
First appearance Infinity Inc. #34 (Jan 1987)
Created by Roy Thomas
Todd McFarlane
Characteristics
Alter ego Artemis Crock
Affiliations Injustice Society
Notable aliases Artemis
Abilities Olympic level athlete, speed, and agility with skills as a hunter and tracker.

Artemis Crock is the daughter of the Golden Age villains Paula Brooks and Crusher Crock. She had taken up a career in crime, modeled after that of her parents, but only after some years did she take on the mantle of Tigress.

[edit] Legends

During the DC mini-series Legends, the people of America were turned against heroes, and law was made that no one could operate legally wearing a costume. This did not affect the villains much, as they were already breaking the law. For Artemis Crock it proved an opportune time to break her parents out of the Empire State Detention Center.

Tigress as Artemis with Injustice Unlimited (standing between Hazard and Solomon Grundy).
Tigress as Artemis with Injustice Unlimited (standing between Hazard and Solomon Grundy).

Calling herself only Artemis she joined the Wizard in his new Injustice Society – which he called Injustice Unlimited. They overcame the security at the International Trade Conference in Calgary, Canada, namely Infinity, Inc. and a contingent of the Global Guardians and forced the heroes to help in some mayhem. For Artemis, she took Nuklon and Rising Sun to New York and, with their help, freed the elder felons.

They all returned to Calgary to share in the stolen wealth but the plan went haywire when Hourman revived and freed himself, as well as when Solomon Grundy was brought in from the Arctic Circle. It was Solomon who incapacitated Artemis and her parents, but in the confusion they were able to escape. (Infinity, Inc. #35-37, 1987)

Only weeks later Artemis again joined with the Icicle and Hazard, as well as the new Harlequin, the Dummy and Solomon Grundy. The Dummy wanted to head a revived Injustice Unlimited and planned to murder the members of Inifinity Inc to make a name for themselves. Their first target - Skyman - was successfully killed by the Harelquin and then Artemis went after Jade. After believing her dead, Artemis returned to her cohorts. A plan was hatched to bring all the remaining Infinitors to Stellar Studios and kill them, a plan defeated only by the unwillingness of Hazard to cooperate, and the sudden reappearance of Jade and Brainwave Jr (both of whom had been thought dead). During the fight Artemis went one-on-one with Wildcat (Yolanda Montez) and lost. In the end Artemis was given over to law enforcement. (Infinity Inc 51-53, 1988)

Artemis later changed her codename to Tigress, and she would fight members of the Justice Society of America including Hawkman and Hawkgirl. She is on-again, off-again lovers with the second Icicle.

Recently, Icicle invited her back into the reformation of the Injustice Society. She helped him, Wizard, Solomon Grundy, Gentleman Ghost, Rag Doll and Thinker break into JSA headquarters and steal the Prometheus Key, a key that is used to open doors between reality and magic. This allowed Johnny Sorrow who had asked the Wizard to bring him back, to re-enter the earth.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Foe of Zatara

Artermis Crock