| Halo | |
|---|---|
.png) Halo as depicted inBatman and the Outsiders #4 (September 1983), art by Jim Aparo. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | The Brave and the Bold #200 (July 1983) |
| Created by | Mike W. Barr (writer) Jim Aparo (artist) |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Gabrielle Doe |
| Species | Human/Aurakle (gestalt entity) |
| Team affiliations | Outsiders Strike Force Kobra Batman Incorporated Dead Heroes Club Justice League |
| Partnerships | |
| Notable aliases | Gabrielle Doe Marissa Baron Spectrum Violet Harper |
| Abilities | See list
|
Halo (Gabrielle Doe) is asuperheroine appearing incomic books published byDC Comics. She first appeared in aspecial insert inThe Brave and the Bold #200 (July 1983) and was created byMike W. Barr andJim Aparo.[1]
The character's origin involvesspirit possession, with an alien beingresurrected and possessing the body of a recently murdered woman. The alien resurrected the woman. Halo initially suffers fromamnesia, having no access to the memories of either the alien or the human host.
Halo has made limited appearances in other media, primarily in association with the Outsiders.Zehra Fazal voices Halo inYoung Justice, where she is depicted as aQuraci refugee namedGabrielle Daou who was possessed by aMother Box rather than an Aurakle.
Halo first appeared inThe Brave and the Bold #200 (July 1983), and was created by writerMike W. Barr and artistJim Aparo.[2]
Barr spoke on the genesis for the character, stating:[3]
"Feeling that an attractiveingénue as a team member never hurt sales with what in those days was presumed to be a largely male audience I reached back to my fan days, and more specifically Batman #134 recalling the cover story "The Rainbow Creature!", about a being whose different auras each had a different power. Combining these ideas gave us Halo".
Halo is a gestalt of a human woman named Violet Harper and an Aurakle, an ancient energy being resembling a sphere of iridescent light.[4] The Aurakle species emerged from theSource billions of years ago at the dawn of time. When sociopath Violet Harper was murdered bySyonide, an operative of the100 andTobias Whale, the Aurakle, who had been observing her out of curiosity, was sucked into Violet's body, resurrecting her. The shock of the death andresurrection induced a profoundloss of memory in the new combined entity. She was subsequently found and recruited byBatman to serve as a member of the Outsiders.[5][6] In one early incident, Halo gains access to the memories of the Aurakle and becomes emotional over the tendency of human beings to kill each other. Halo later has to deal with the consequences of her body's previous actions, which required the assistance of the Outsiders to resolve.
The young Halo is initially the legal ward of her friend and Outsiders teammateKatana. During her stint in the Outsiders, she gains a friend in new memberWindfall.[7]
After the Outsiders are framed for the murder ofMarkovia's queen, they are forced to flee the country.Technocrat's ex-wife, Marissa Barron, hires her old associate Ryer to attack the Outsiders. As the cyborg Sanction, Ryer kills Marissa and Halo. Halo's essence is sucked into Marissa's body, reanimating it. Halo later appears back in the body of its original host, Violet Harper, through unexplained means.
During theBlackest Night event, Halo, theCreeper, and Katana are confronted by Katana's family, who have been resurrected as members of theBlack Lantern Corps. Halo's light-based abilities prove to be effective against the Black Lanterns, who she destroys. In a later confrontation withTerra, Halo removes and destroys her ring whileGeo-Force petrifies Terra's body to prevent her from returning.[8][9][10]
Halo is later selected as a member of a new team of Outsiders, led byRed Robin and funded byBatman Incorporated.[11] Halo and her teammates infiltrate a satellite said to be run by the villainousLeviathan organization, but this is revealed to be a trap set by Lord Death Man andTalia al Ghul. The satellite is destroyed in a massive explosion, making it unclear whether Halo and the others survived.[12]
InThe New 52 reboot of DC's continuity, Halo and the Outsiders survive the explosion, but are assumed dead. They now take advantage of their legally-deceased status to perform covert missions for Batman.[13]
In the "DC Rebirth" relaunch, Halo is a comatose girl under the care ofHelga Jace.[14] The organizationKobra captures an Aurakle and plans to weaponize it, leaving the task to Jace. During theSuicide Squad's fight with Kobra's forces, Katana andEnchantress learn that King Kobra had Jace fuse Violet Harper with the Aurakle.[15] King Kobra, Katana, and Enchantress fight Violet, who is now a vessel for the Aurakle under the name of Halo.[16]
Halo has the ability to fly and to create auras of the seven colors of therainbow around herself, called halos, which have different effects:
An alternate universe variant of Halo appears inJLA: Another Nail.
Analternate universe version of Halo namedAurora appears inJustice League: Crisis on Two Earths as a member of theCrime Syndicate of America with powers similar to those of aGreen Lantern.[20]
Halo appears as a character summon inScribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure.[21]
Also just the nature of these newer characters—Forager, Halo, and Geo-Force—these are characters who are truly outsiders. On season one and season two, those were the protégés of the Justice League, inspired by the adult heroes, and then the younger heroes inspired by slightly older protégés.