This week: Mercy Graves!
Mercy Graves first appeared in Superman: The Animated Series (Episode: "A Little Piece of Home", 1996) as Lex Luthor's valet/bodyguard. She appeared in the series often as she was basically the only person Lex trusted. In Justice League (2000), she becomes CEO of LexCorp while he's in prison. Their relationship sours over the course of the show and they eventually part ways, but she is seen working for him again in Justice League Unlimited.
Her first comics appearance ever was tie-in series Superman Adventures #1 (September 1996)...
...but her first in-continuity appearance wasn't for a few more years. Surprisingly, she didn't debut in a Superman book, but instead in Detective Comics #735 (June 1999) during the "No Man's Land" crossover event.
She was first identified by name in a character profile in Batman No Man's Land Secret Files and Origins #1 (October 1999), but in-story, it was Detective Comics #740 (November 1999). She also - as far as I know - wears her chauffeur's uniform for the first time in this story.
In the decade between her first appearance and the New 52, Mercy was allowed to grow beyond her animated origins, mainly by giving her new origins. In President Luthor Secret Files and Origins #1 (January 2001), she and fellow Luthor bodyguard Hope were implied by Circe to be Amazons. Prometheus confirmed this in Justice League: Cry for Justice #6 (January 2010).
Before I get into her New 52 version, let's talk about her adaptation appearances a bit. The most notable is probably Smallville's Tess Mercer, who's technically an original character, but who's actually a combination of Mercy Graves, Eve Teschmacher, and - spoiler alert - Lena Luthor.
She's also appeared in Young Justice, DC Universe Online, and Superman: Doomsday. More interesting is the version of her that appears in The Batman episode "The Batman/Superman Story" (2007), as they decided to make her Asian.
Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) followed suit, although I'm pretty sure they didn't take inspiration from The Batman. This version seems to be more of an assistant than a bodyguard.
In the New 52, Mercy is likewise Asian and definitely Lex's assistant. She first appeared in Justice League #31 (June 2014) and most certainly inspired the film version.
Now, was this version inspired by The Batman? I can't say, but I can't rule it out.
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