Lashina

Lashina
Lashina as depicted in Harley Quinn #3 (February 2001). Art by Terry Dodson.
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	Mister Miracle #6 (January 1972)
Created by	Jack Kirby (writer & artist)
In-story information
Alter ego	Lashina
Species	New God
Place of origin	Apokolips
Team affiliations	Female Furies Suicide Squad
Notable aliases	Duchess
Abilities	Immortality Superhuman physical attributes Expert hand to hand combatant Electrically charged whips Longevity Superhuman endurance Immune to all earthly diseases and resistance to conventional injury

Lashina is a supervillain appearing in comics published by DC Comics. She is a New God from Apokolips and a member of the Female Furies who wields electrified whips.

Lashina has appeared in various media outside comics, primarily in association with the New Gods. Diane Michelle, Nika Futterman, and Meredith Salenger have voiced the character in animation.

Publication history

Lashina was created by Jack Kirby, and first appeared in Mister Miracle #6 (January 1972).^[1]

Fictional character biography

Lashina is raised a warrior in Granny Goodness's orphanage, and becomes the leader of the Female Furies when Big Barda leaves Apokolips. Though the Furies initially stay on Earth to aid Barda and her lover, Mister Miracle,^[2] they return to Apokolips to face punishment for betraying Darkseid.^[3]

During a mission to capture Glorious Godfrey, Bernadeth betrays and abandons Lashina.^[4] Subsequently, she joins the Suicide Squad as Duchess before returning to Apokolips, where Darkseid kills and subsequently resurrects her.^[3][5][6]

Sharing leadership with Bernadeth, Lashina often served as the field leader of the Furies, while Bernadeth led them off 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.

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. She and the rest of the Furies battle Shilo Norman in an attempt to stop him in his quest to free Aurakles, the first superhero.

Final Crisis

In Final Crisis, Lashina, once again in her 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.^[7]

When the Anti-Life Equation takes effect across the globe, several superheroines and villainesses gain 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.^[8]

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.^[9] 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.^[10]

DC Rebirth

After the events of the "Darkseid War" left Apokolips without a ruler, Lashina joined Granny Goodness and several other Furies who had remained loyal to Darkseid on the outskirts of the planet called the Deadlands. She later participated in the battle against Kalibak's forces, though she was eventually defeated by her teammate Lois Lane after the Furies turned on the human when she revealed her relationship with Superman. Lashina was imprisoned on Apokolips with Stompa, Mad Harriet, and Granny Goodness when Superman became ruler of the planet.^[11]

At some point later, Lashina and her comrades were freed from their imprisonment by Darkseid, who had been slowly regaining his power on Earth. Along with the other Female Furies, Lashina was assigned to seek out mystical artifacts that would further empower Darkseid.^[12] Steve Trevor and his team of soldiers called the Oddfellows prevented Lashina and the Furies from stealing the relics, and in the ensuing battle Lashina, along with Mad Harriet, was captured.^[13] Both Lashina and Mad Harriet refused to answer Wonder Woman's questions about Darkseid's plans which led to Wonder Woman freeing the two Furies and attempting to battle them for answers. The battle was interrupted by Darkseid, who had transported a chunk of the A.R.G.U.S. headquarters to his lair in the Amazon jungle.^[14] During the chaos, Lashina battled the soldiers of A.R.G.U.S. and later fled when Darkseid was apparently killed by Wonder Woman.^[15]

During the escalation of the war between Apokolips and New Genesis, Lashina attended the birth of Jacob, the son of Big Barda and Mister Miracle.^[16]

Granny Goodness soon took an interest in Harley Quinn, sending Lashina and Bernadeth to recruit the former criminal. While Lashina distracted Quinn, Bernadeth pricked her in the back with a knockout poison. The two then took Quinn to Apokolips where she officially became a Fury.^[17]

Powers and abilities

As a New God, Lashina possesses superhuman strength and durability and is nigh-immortal. Additionally, she is a skilled combatant and wields electrified whips.^[3]

Similar to other New Gods, Lashina is vulnerable to a substance called Radion. However, its effects are only potent in sustained amounts.

Other versions

• Red Lash, a fusion of Lashina and Marvel Comics character Scarlet Witch, appears in Unlimited Access #4.^[18]
• An alternate universe variant of Lashina appears in Ame-Comi Girls. This version is a member of Big Barda's space pirate gang.^[19]
• Lashina appears in Sensation Comics Featuring Wonder Woman.^[20]

In other media

Television

• Lashina appears in Superman: The Animated Series, voiced by Diane Michelle.^[21] This version is the leader of the Female Furies, serving directly under Granny Goodness.
• Lashina makes a non-speaking cameo appearance in the Justice League Unlimited episode "Alive!".
• Lashina appears in Batman: The Brave and the Bold, voiced by Nika Futterman.^[21] This version is a servant of Mongal.
• Lashina makes a cameo appearance in the Smallville episode "Abandoned", portrayed by Jonel Earl.
• Lashina makes a non-speaking appearance in the Justice League Action episode "It'll Take a Miracle!".^[21]
• Lashina makes non-speaking cameo appearances in Young Justice.^[21]

Film

• Lashina appears in Superman/Batman: Apocalypse, voiced by an uncredited Tara Strong.
• An alternate universe incarnation of Lashina makes a cameo appearance in a flashback in Justice League: Gods and Monsters.^[21]
• Lashina appears in DC Super Hero Girls: Intergalactic Games, voiced by Jessica DiCicco.^[21]
• Lashina appears in Lego DC Super Hero Girls: Brain Drain, voiced by Meredith Salenger.^[21]
• Lashina, also known as Backlash, appears in Lego DC Super Hero Girls: Super-Villain High, voiced again by Meredith Salenger.^[21] This version works for Lena Luthor.

Video games

• Lashina appears in DC Universe Online, voiced by Jen Brown.
• Lashina appears as a character summon in Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure.^[22]
• Lashina appears as a support card in the mobile version of Injustice: Gods Among Us.
• Lashina appears as an unlockable playable character in Lego DC Super-Villains, voiced by Grey Griffin.

Merchandise

• Lashina received a 3.75" action figure in the DC Universe: Justice League line in 2005 as part of the "Attack From Apokolips" three-pack alongside Darkseid and Mantis.
• Lashina received a Lego figure in the DC Super Hero Girls: "Lashina's Tank" set.

Miscellaneous

Lashina appears in DC Super Hero Girls, voiced by Jessica DiCicco.

References

1. Cowsill, Alan; Irvine, Alex; Korte, Steve; Manning, Matt; Wiacek, Win; Wilson, Sven (2016). The DC Comics Encyclopedia: The Definitive Guide to the Characters of the DC Universe. DK Publishing. p. 176. ISBN 978-1-4654-5357-0.
2. Mister Miracle #14 (July 1973)
3. Wallace, Dan (2008), "Female Furies", in Dougall, Alastair (ed.), The DC Comics Encyclopedia, New York: Dorling Kindersley, p. 120, ISBN 978-0-7566-4119-1, OCLC 213309017
4. Ostrander, John (2015). Suicide Squad: Trial By Fire. Burbank, CA: DC Comics. pp. 113–114. ISBN 9781401258313.
5. Ostrander, John (2015). Suicide Squad: The Nightshade Odyssey. Burbank, CA: DC Comics. p. 19. ISBN 9781401258337.
6. Ostrander, John (2015). Suicide Squad: The Nightshade Odyssey. Burbank, CA: DC Comics. p. 35. ISBN 9781401258337.
7. Terror Titans #1-6 (2008-2009)
8. Final Crisis #3 (August 2008)
9. Justice League (vol. 2) #43
10. Justice League (vol. 2) #50 (2016)
11. Superman (vol. 2) #34-36 (2018)
12. Wonder Woman (vol. 5) #39 (2018)
13. Wonder Woman (vol. 5) #41 (2018)
14. Wonder Woman (vol. 5) #43 (2018)
15. Wonder Woman (vol. 5) #44 (2018)
16. Mister Miracle (vol. 4) #7 (2018)
17. Harley Quinn (vol. 3) #45 (2018)
18. Unlimited Access #4 (1998)
19. Ame-Comi Girls #7-8 (2013)
20. Sensation Comics Featuring Wonder Woman #16-18 (digital)
21. "Lashina Voices (Superman)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved May 20, 2024. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
22. Eisen, Andrew (October 2, 2013). "DC Characters and Objects - Scribblenauts Unmasked Guide". IGN. Retrieved October 16, 2024.