Tala (comics)

Tala is a fictional supervillainess in the DC Comics universe. She first appeared as an adversary of the Phantom Stranger.

Tala is the mistress of her own part of Hell. Usually manipulating mortals into doing evil, she has also tried to unleash evil forces upon our world. Occasionally, she has allied herself with the Lords of Chaos or the evil sorcerer Tannarak, whom she has also been romantically involved with. Tala is an enemy of the Phantom Stranger, whom she has variously tried to destroy and seduce. She seems to have a gentler side, as witnessed in Tannarak's Nightclub 'Bewitched', where she has waited tables and chatted with Zatanna.

Publication history
Tala first appeared in Phantom Stranger vol. 2, #4 and was created by Neal Adams and Robert Kanigher.

Pre-Crisis
Tala is an evil mystical entity and leader of the Dark Circle. Her agenda often consists of tricking mortals into doing evil deeds, or unleashing the apocalypse onto the modern world. She frequently confronts the Phantom Stranger, usually along with Doctor Thirteen, by using her powers to enslave a mortal. She frequently professes an attraction to the Stranger, trying to seduce him.

Post-Crisis
Distinguished by its utilization of the series for actual supernatural phenomena and not debunking mysticism like its first incarnation, Tala is known as the nemesis of the Stranger. She is a demoness and a mistress of Hell, and her motives reflect such origins, as she is known for either trying to doom mortals' souls to ruin or aiming to unleash apocalyptic evil. She has claimed to find the Stranger attractive and is thus interested in him, but the comics have never followed through on these hints, nor are these claims known to be true.

In other media

 * Tala appears in Justice League Unlimited, voiced by Juliet Landau. This version is a member of Project Cadmus in the second season and Gorilla Grodd's Secret Society in the third, serving as a magic specialist in both groups. After Lex Luthor takes control of the Society and imprisons Grodd, Tala swears allegiance to the former and attempts to form a relationship with him until he grows increasingly obsessed with resurrecting Brainiac and regaining his power. Spurned, she releases Grodd to incite a mutiny, but Luthor kills him and forces Tala to power a machine to revive Brainiac. While she dies in the process, she resurrects Darkseid instead as a final act of revenge.
 * Tala appears in issue #37 of the Justice League Unlimited tie-in comic book series.
 * Tala appears in DC Universe Online as a vendor in the Hall of Doom's Magic Wing and the final boss of the "Hand of Fate" DLC.
 * Tala appears as a character summon in Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure.