Lashina

Lashina is a fictional character and Goddess warrior woman published by DC Comics. Created by Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in Mister Miracle vol. 1 #6 (January 1972).

Fictional character biography

Lashina is raised a warrior in Granny Goodness' orphanage, and takes over leadership of the Female Furies when Big Barda leaves Apokolips for Earth. Though the Furies go to Earth to aid Big Barda and her lover, Mister Miracle,^[1] they soon return to Apokolips to take their punishment for their betrayal of Darkseid. Lashina is then given leadership over the Female Furies by Darkseid, much to Bernadeth's annoyance.^[2]

During a mission to capture Glorious Godfrey, a New God that had been imprisoned on Earth, Lashina is betrayed by Bernadeth as the Female Furies are escaping through a boom tube. Caught in an explosion, Lashina is sent flying into the swamp surrounding Belle Reve Penitentiary.^[3] Surviving, she remains in the swamp until an opportunity to save an injured member of the Suicide Squad, a United States government agency that uses super-powered beings to fulfill black ops missions, presents itself.^[4] Using the opportunity to ingratiate herself with the team and claiming to be suffering from amnesia, Amanda Waller allows her to join. Quickly dubbed Duchess by the support staff due to her haughty demeanor,^[5] she becomes a critical part of the Squad and participates in almost every one of the team's missions during her time as a member. Eventually, she engineers a return to Apokolips and convinces many members of the Squad to come with her, while others she outright kidnaps. The plan ends in a battle against Apokolips forces once the group lands on the planet's surface. Multiple Squad members are killed, including Doctor Light.^[2] Lashina confronts and kills Bernadeth. Darkseid, angry that Lashina has brought humans to Apokolips, brings Bernadeth back to life and kills Lashina. The survivors of the Suicide Squad are allowed to return home.^[2]

Lashina is sent with the Furies on another mission to retrieve Mister Miracle, but he escapes.

Sharing leadership with Bernadeth, Lashina is often the field leader of the Furies, while Bernadeth leads them out of the battlefield. Lashina has since battled Young Justice, the Birds of Prey and Wonder Woman. She is also a long-time enemy of Superman and his compatriots Superboy and Supergirl. She was also seen as a prostitute in Granny Goodness' Earth-based brothel. This was when the majority of Apokolips' ruling forces were operating on Earth, though it is unrevealed as to why. In recent appearances she has been seen battling Firestorm, Orion and Hawkgirl.

Seven Soldiers

Lashina appears in Seven Soldiers: Mister Miracle, part of Grant Morrison's Seven Soldiers maxi-series event. Within the story, Lashina and the rest of the Furies are given human form by Darkseid, with Lashina taking on the appearance of a bald-headed dominatrix prostitute. She and the rest of the Furies battle Shilo Norman in an attempt to stop him in his quest to free Aurakles, the world's first superhero.

Final Crisis

During the events of Final Crisis, Lashina, once again in her bald-headed human form, is seen as one of the villains running the Dark Side Club, an illegal arena where spectators gamble on battles between brainwashed teen metahumans. When Rose Wilson and Miss Martian lead a rebellion against the Dark Side Club staff, Lashina attempts to flee along with the wealthy club patrons in the VIP section of the arena. They nearly escape the club, but are cut off by teen superhero Static, who proceeds to electrocute Lashina and the others into unconsciousness, turning them over to the authorities afterwards.^[6]

When the Anti-Life Equation takes effect across the globe, several superheroines and villainesses are taken under Darkseid's power and are transformed into the new Female Furies. Catwoman apparently becomes the new Lashina, wearing an outfit similar to hers. In the aftermath of the series, Lashina is presumably reborn on Earth-51, along with the rest of the Jack Kirby-created characters.^[7]

The New 52

Lashina makes her first appearance alongside Granny Goodness in issue #8 of Infinity Man and the Forever People. During the Darkseid War, Lashina and Kanto traveled to Earth to hunt down the renegade amazon Myrina Black.^[8] Later, after Darkseid had been enslaved by his daughter Grail, Lashina and the other Female Furies accepted an offer from Big Barda to help defeat Grail as well as to protect Barda's husband, Mister Miracle. Lashina participated in the final battle against Grail and Darkseid, which resulted in the pair's defeat. Lashina then left for Apokolips with the rest of the Furies, including Barda.^[9]

Powers and abilities

Lashina is a great warrior with superhuman strength, durability and speed. She uses steel whips that she can charge with electricity.^[2]

Other versions

Amalgam

In the Marvel/DC amalgam series Unlimited Access, Lashina merges with Scarlet Witch and becomes a female villainess known as Red Lash.^[10]

Ame-Comi Girls

Lashina is a member of Big Barda's space pirates.^[11]

Sensation Comics Featuring Wonder Woman

Lashina appears in the story "Dig For Fire" in the anthology series Sensation Comics Featuring Wonder Woman. After discovering that Wonder Woman had traveled to Apokolips to save two of her amazon sisters, Lashina along with Stompa and Mad Harriet tracked her down. The Furies refused to speak peacefully to Wonder Woman, and in the ensuing battle, the heroine was shot in the neck by an explosive dart from Bernadeth and thrown into the fiery pits by Stompa. When the Furies reported back to Darkseid, he was displeased that they had killed her rather than executing her publicly. Wonder Woman, still alive, managed to save her sisters. The Furies once again battled the amazon, though the battle ended when Darkseid killed the two amazons and allowed Wonder Woman to return to Earth.^[12]

In other media

Television

• Lashina appeared on Superman: The Animated Series in several episodes, and was voiced by Diane Michelle. Her first appearance was in the two-parter "Little Girl Lost," where she, along with Stompa and Mad Harriet, were summoned by Granny Goodness to battle Supergirl. Lashina was the leader of the Furies, and had the final battle with Supergirl at the end of the episode. She also appeared later during the series finale two-parter, Legacy, where she apparently had a romantic relationship with the brainwashed Superman, but attacked him when he turned on them.
  • There was a planned script for Batman Beyond where Lashina and Superman's brief fling during the events of Legacy's ramifications were revealed. Lashina would have given birth to a son who deposed of Darkseid and became ruler of Apokolips, and also targeted Earth for invasion. Lashina secretly went to Earth and warned the Justice League about the invasion and teamed up with them to prevent it. During this time, Lashina would also reveal that he was Superman's son, causing the latter to feel guilt for not raising him. However, it was cut.
• Lashina also appeared in Justice League Unlimited in the first part of the series finale, Alive.
• Lashina appeared in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode "Duel of the Double Crossers," voiced by Nika Futterman. She, along with her teammate Stompa, was a member of Mongal's Furies. Her connections to Darkseid, Apokolips, and the New Gods were not mentioned during her appearance. She had a romantic interest in Jonah Hex, and flirted with him during battle. After Mongul and Mongal were defeated, Lashina rode off into the sunset with Jonah Hex.
• Lashina (played by Jonel Earl) is briefly seen in the episode "Abandoned" on the last season of Smallville. She tries to choke Tess Mercer to death until Clark Kent intervenes and stops her.
• Although Lashina is one of the few Furies that do not appear in the animated specials for DC Super Hero Girls, she is featured in a Lego playset for the series, suggesting she will appear in the animated series at a future point.

Film

• Lashina appears in Superman/Batman: Apocalypse, voiced by Tara Strong who was uncredited in the role.
• An alternate version of Lashina briefly appears in Justice League: Gods and Monsters, though she closely resembles her appearance from Superman: The Animated Series.

Video games

• Lashina appears in DC Universe Online.
• In Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure, Lashina is one of the thousands of characters that can be summoned by the player.
• Lashina appears as a support card in the mobile version of Injustice: Gods Among Us. She also appears in Darkseid's special move.

References