Enchantress (DC Comics)

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caption=Portion of the promotional art for "Shadowpact" #1 (July 2006) cover, by Bill Willingham.
comic_color=background:#8080ff
character_name=The Enchantress
publisher=DC Comics
debut="Strange Adventures" #187
(April 1966).
creators= Bob Haney (writer)
Howard Purcell (artist)
alliance_color=background:#cccccc
alter_ego=June Moone
alliances=Shadowpact Suicide Squad Sentinels of Magic Forgotten Villains
aliases=Soulsinger, Anita Soulfeeda
powers=Knowledge and ability to wield various types of magical spells.|

The Enchantress is a DC Comics character who has sometimes been a superhero and sometimes been a supervillain.

Fictional character biography

Origins

The Enchantress first appeared in "Strange Adventures" #187 (April 1966), in which an unknown magical being empowered June Moone to fight evil. {Her surname in comics has been spelled both "Moon" and "Moone", but it was originally "Moone".} Her appearance changed from blond-haired June to black-haired Enchantress. This would be the first story in a brief continuing series about the "Switcheroo-witcheroo". Her next stories in "Strange Adventures" would be in #191 and #200.

Her origin was in substance derivative of the Golden Age Captain Marvel published by Fawcett Comics; like him, she was summoned to a hidden chamber by a mystical being who gave her the power to become a super-powered being with a different physical appearance by saying a magic word.

Change of Role

Despite her original heroic charge she has appeared in stories as a villain instead of a hero, beginning with the next story arc she appeared in after the "Strange Adventures" series. This was a Supergirl strip in "Superman Family" #204-205 (1980/81) although after the "Crisis on Infinite Earths" storyline, the villainous Enchantress was retconned to have encountered Power Girl instead of Supergirl.

The Enchantress continued in the mode of a minor villainess in her next appearances: as a member of the Forgotten Villains ("DC Comics Presents" #77-78 (1985)); among the villain army in "Crisis on Infinite Earths" #12 (March 1986); and as a recruit for the Suicide Squad. [Cite comic
Writer = Ostrander, John
Penciller = Byrne, John
Inker = Kesel, Karl
Story = Send For... the Suicide Squad!
Title = Legends
Volume =
Issue = 3
Date = January, 1987
Publisher = DC Comics
Page = 4
Panel = 2
ID = ] During her tenure with the last, her origins and powers became tied to those of her then teammate Nightshade.

Her next major appearance in the DC Universe was during the "Day of Judgement" event (November 1999). In this story her personality had changed, making her less a villain, but still a far cry from being a hero. During the course of the story, the Enchantress portion of June Moone was murdered by Faust to re-ignite the fires of Hell. This left June in a passive, but not quite catatonic state.

June next showed up in "JLA: Black Baptism" (2001), with Faust removing her from a sanitarium. This series also introduced the character Anita Soulfeeda, a succubus working with a group of Mafia-styled demons to resurrect Hermes Trismegestus. In the final act, Anita is revealed to be the Enchantress portion of June’s soul. When they are reconnected, a new entity called Soulsinger is created. At the end of the story, the Soulsinger entity fades, leaving Enchantress behind, but once again cut off from her powers.

Shadowpact

Most recently, as part of the build-up to "Infinite Crisis", she and other members of the Sentinels of Magic joined the Shadowpact to combat a Spectre gone mad in "Day of Vengeance". The group forms out of a large gathering of mystics, who had hid in the other-dimensional Oblivion Bar. The Spectre had already killed hundreds of powerful mystics and was not stopping.

Enchantress helps the team by mystically tapping into the mind of Eclipso, who was goading the Spectre along. They gain much information from this tactic, though Enchantress has to stop in the middle and rest, not being able to keep up the tactic for long.

The team leaves the Oblivion Bar as it is an obvious target for the Spectre. They travel to the site of the deaths of the other mystics, there to form plans.

During this, she worries she might become overwhelmed by use of her powers and turn to the 'dark side'. She entrusts her ally Ragman with a mystical pistol designed to kill her. He turns down the gun but tells her that his suit can take care of her if she really turns evil. Ragman then misunderstands the situation and tries to kiss her, something she mocks him for later in front of their other allies.

Enchantress and the others were summoned again by the Phantom Stranger when the town of Riverock, Wyoming was entrapped in a large bubble of blood. She appears with a new costume, willing to help save the innocent people inside, endangered by a team of supervillains. Their goal was to sacrifice many of the townspeople in a very specific way in order to bring back the entity they followed. Thirty seven people perish before Enchantress and her allies manage to defeat the villains. During the fights it is noted each villain strongly resembles one of the members of the Shadowpact.

Due to unexpected side effects of the magic spells needed to defeat the villains, the outside world believed that the Shadowpact had been dead for about a year. Enchantress and the rest had been honored with a team statue set inside a park in Metropolis.

Powers and abilities

Enchantress is a very powerful sorceress. She appears to possess the ability to manipulate magical energy for any number of effects, from healing to teleportation. A unique aspect of her power is her sensitivity to magic. She was able to link to the essence of Eclipso in the Day of Vengeance storyline, using the connection to speak Eclipso's thoughts to the rest of the group. She was able to mystically track the Spectre by divining his magical trail. Enchantress is even able to remotely access another magic-user's power, as she did with Captain Marvel to aid him in his battle with the Spectre, and again with Strega of the Pentacle, ending her spell. In Shadowpact #22, Enchantress reveals that she always has a roll of duct tape on her person. After using it to tie up and gag a prisoner,she is asked by Nightmaster why she carries it, to which she confusedly replies, "What -- don't you?"

References

External links

* [http://www.dcuguide.com/who.php?name=enchantress Unofficial Guide to DC Comics entry]
* [http://www.angelfire.com/ar/hellUSA/Enchantress.html Profile]
* [http://www.toonopedia.com/enchantr.htm Enchantress page at Toonopedia]