Character Spotlight: Volcana

Sometimes canon immigrants only make cameo appearances and that's unfortunate, but it still counts! Volcana is one of these cases.

Volcana is a villain created for Superman: The Animated Series. She debuted in the episode "Where There's Smoke" (September 1998) as basically a grown up version of Charlie from Firestarter. She learned she had pyrokinetic powers as a teenager and her parents sent her to a school that turned out to be a front for a secret government organization that wanted to use people with powers. She escaped, but had to live on the streets and eventually turned to crime.

Superman used a lot of original villains during its run. Batman: The Animated Series did too, I suppose, but Superman stands out to me more for some reason. Maybe it's because many of them could have been replaced by already existing villains - why isn't Luminus Dr. Light, for instance? - or maybe it's because they weren't as memorable. Whatever the case, they never became popular and have rarely if ever been used outside of that show.

So it shocked me to learn that Volcana made a brief appearance in Superman 80-Page Giant #1 (2010). Interestingly, they reversed the colors of her dress and jacket.

Thanks to Thomas Parks for telling me about this one!