Appearance Spotlight: Magpie

This is a pretty surprising one to me, but it's a good example of how an adaptation doesn't need to be successful to have canon immigrants.

Beware the Batman was a 2013 animated series, the first strictly Batman-related series since The Batman ended in 2008. (Batman: The Brave and the Bold aired from 2008 to 2011, but it was a team-up show and the spotlight usually wasn't on Batman himself.) It was a decent series, and its mission statement of only using villains who had never been on tv before was an admirable, but for whatever reason, it never caught on. I suspect that had a lot to do with the CG animation, which left Gotham looking barren due to the cost and time limits of production.

Regardless, one of the villains it used was Magpie, whose first appearance was in Man of Steel #3 (September 1986). Her shtick was trying to create perfect crimes by replacing what she stole with exact copies, but she's probably more well known for her...unique appearance.

In Beware the Batman, where she debuted in the episode "Secrets" (July 2013), she's more of a generic thief, and she has a much different appearance.

She didn't appear in DC's sort-of-rebooted continuity until Batman Eternal #15 (July 2014), and only then as the Arkham Asylum receptionist. But you can see she's sporting a haircut more similar to her animated appearance.

And when she later appears as Magpie - seen here on the cover of Batgirl #8 (February 2017) - you can see a look that's definitely based on her animated appearance.

Note that the first appearance of this costume was in Batman #14 (January 2017), which I unfortunately couldn't get an image from. Also note that the issue discussed her original look, so this is simply a new style for her and not a new version of the character (although I'd count it either way).

Character Spotlight: Wyrm

Last summer I spent 30 days addressing all the canon immigrants in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles world. You wouldn't think an independent comic that doesn't think too highly of most of its adaptations would have many immigrants, but it does - especially since the current IDW run is trying to distill every previous run into something new that all works together. And from what I've seen, they've been doing a pretty good job of it.

Of course, as the series is still running, it can still introduce new canon immigrants, and that brings me to Wyrm!

Wyrm is a mutant that originated as a group of worms that came across a broken canister of mutagen (the same canister as the Turtles? Who can say) and developed a hive mind and the ability to form into a body. He first appeared in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Universe #6 (January 2017), and you can't quite tell from the picture, but Wyrm is an updated version of this character from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures #10 (May 1990):

This Wyrm is a mutant leech who wants to drain the Turtles of their mutated blood. But it's not so strange that he looks different, because he also looked very different when he became an action figure in 1991:

Of course, the action figure's backstory is different too, as he started out as a garbage man who was mutated into a leech, or worm, or something. He doesn't really look like either one.

Anyway, the yellow one later revealed he could break into individual worms as well, so the IDW Wyrm is following from that. The hive mind is new, though.

Character Spotlight: Curaré (Prime Earth)

Batman Beyond is no stranger to this blog, as long time readers well know. And Batman Beyond has well been a source of headaches for this blog. But last July, I sorted out the brand's sordid history in DC comics and figured out there are three separate versions: the pre-New 52 future of New Earth, Earth-12 (and Earth-50), and the post-New 52 future of Prime Earth.

Curaré has had a character spotlight before, so I almost don't want to give her another one. But I don't know how else to proceed, and I lay the confusion at DC's feet.

You can get the rundown of her New Earth and Earth-12 selves at the link above, but the important thing to know is that she's an assassin who first appeared in the Batman Beyond episode, "A Touch of Curaré" (1999).

She hadn't appeared in the future of Prime Earth when I made my posts last July, but she finally showed up in Batman Beyond #6 (March 2017):

Her past comic appearances revealed that her Earth-12 version is the brother of Kai-Ro, aka Green Lantern Beyond. Only time will tell if that holds true for this version.

Character Spotlight: Dana Tan (Prime Earth, especially)

Batman Beyond is no stranger to this blog, as long time readers well know. And Batman Beyond has well been a source of headaches for this blog. But last July, I sorted out the brand's sordid history in DC comics and figured out there are three separate versions: the pre-New 52 future of New Earth, Earth-12 (and Earth-50), and the post-New 52 future of Prime Earth.

As a main character on Batman Beyond, Dana Tan is present in each of these...although that's only a recent development. Before I get to that recent development, I'll walk you through the versions that have already been documented on this blog.

The first one appeared all the way back in my Batman Beyond Super-Post, where I said this:

 Dana Tan

Dana Tan first appeared in the Batman Beyond episode "Rebirth" (1999) as Terry McGinnis's girlfriend.  Her first appearance in comics is Batman Beyond [miniseries] #3 (October 2010).


 She was from the future of New Earth. This next one is from Earth-12:

Dana Tan, Terry's girlfriend, first appeared in "Rebirth" (1999), and also first appears in Batman Beyond 2.0 #1 (August 2013).

And finally, there's the one from the future of Prime Earth. We hadn't met her yet when I made my posts last July, but she finally shows up in Batman Beyond Rebirth (September 2016). This version, who lives in a future ravaged by Brother Eye (among other things), broke up with Terry a while ago and was under the impression he had died. Now she not only knows that he's alive, but that he's Batman. And she's not happy about it.

Character Spotlight: Baby Groot

He is Groot.

Groot has been killed and regrown before, but in the past, it always happened as a proportionally smaller version of himself. (I believe this is from Guardians of the Galaxy #1 (May 2008), but I could be wrong. Definitely that run, anyway.)

In Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), and especially Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2 (2017), the new Groot, aka "Baby Groot", has child-like proportions and is considered a new character.

This is also the case in the new series, I Am Groot, out this month.