| Paula Brooks | |
|---|---|
 Paula Brooks as the Tigress. Art by Michael Bair, Howard Simpson, and Brian Murray | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | As Huntress: Sensation Comics #68 (August 1947) As Tigress: Young All-Stars #6 (November 1987) |
| Created by | Huntress:Mort Meskin Tigress:Roy Thomas |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Paula Brooks |
| Species | Human |
| Team affiliations | Injustice Society Young All-Stars All-Star Squadron |
| Partnerships | Sportsmaster (husband) Artemis (youngest daughter) |
| Supporting character of | Artemis Crock |
| Notable aliases | Tigress,Huntress |
| Abilities |
|
Paula Brooks is a fictional comic book character published byDC Comics. She is one of many characters to use the namesTigress andHuntress. Paula Brooks is married toSportsmaster and the mother ofArtemis Crock.
Paula Brooks appeared as Tigress on theDC Universe streaming service showStargirl played byJoy Osmanski. The show also appeared onThe CW Network.
Brooks first appeared inSensation Comics #68 as the Huntress where she was created by artistMort Meskin and an uncredited writer. Later, it is retroactively revealed that she was a heroine named the Tigress before becoming a criminal where this alias was created byRoy Thomas.
Prior to theCrisis on Infinite Earths, she battlesHelena Wayne (who had become the new Huntress) and is defeated.[1]
During this time, anEarth-1 Huntress and Sportsmaster are revealed. They fightBatgirl andRobin inBatman Family and then challenge the Earth-1 superheroes to a baseball game between heroes and villains. When the heroes win, the Earth-1 Huntress and Sportsmaster reform and are not seen again.[2][3]
After theCrisis on Infinite Earths, the Earth-1 pair cease to exist and the Golden Age versions become the dominant version in the new unified universe.
She never uses the Tigress name or her real name (Paula Brooks) during her Pre-Crisis adventures.
In the pages ofYoung All-Stars she wasretroactively renamed theTigress. These stories took place prior to her villainous career as the Huntress.[4]
At this point, the youngPaula Brooks (approximately age 18-19) is a superheroine, and fights bothNazis and criminals alongsideIron Munro, the firstFury,Neptune Perkins,Tsunami andDan the Dyna-Mite. During these stories, Paula expresses a fan worship of Paul Kirk, theManhunter.[5] She frequently makes a play for Iron Munro as well. During a battle with the Nazi warriors known asAxis Amerika, Tigress is attacked and seemingly killed by the Valkyrie known as Gudra. She was revived (it is unclear if she really was actually dead) with a new attitude, which eventually leads to her becoming the villainous Huntress. In the late 1990sJSA Returns mini-series, Tigress has yet to fully embrace her villainous attitude and was still operating as a heroine and companion of Manhunter.
.png)
Upon donning a tiger-skin costume and becomingHuntress years later, Paula Brooks tracked downWildcat and trapped him in her private zoo as part of her plan to capture people who would throw people in prison. Wildcat became the first person she caught to break out.[6]
Huntress returned where she plotted to capture Ted Grant and replace him with a double so that she would bet on his opponent and get money when the double lost. When Huntress captured "Stretch" Skinner, she drew the attention of Wildcat. Huntress and Wildcat fought to a draw as Wildcat and Skinner escaped her ship. When Ted won, a disguised Huntress watched the match and later slipped away.[7]
Due to her reputation for fighting Wildcat, Huntress was invited to join theInjustice Society. In a competition to see who would lead the group, Huntress managed to stealPlymouth Rock and nearly defeatedAtom andFlash.[8]
Huntress and her men kidnapped Ted Grant and his opponent Mike Baily and held them for ransom. Ted broke out of his trap, became Wildcat, and brought Tigress to justice.[9]
In 1949, Huntress and Sportsmaster rejoined the Injustice Society where they captured the members of the Justice Society. Some of its former members like Wildcat united to rescue them and defeat the Injustice Society.[10]
They fightBlack Canary andStarman in the 1960s, as well as continuing to serve as members of the Injustice Society.[11]
Huntress and Sportsmaster later got engaged and had a daughter named Artemis who took part in the family business.[12] Artemis worked to free her parents from Empire State Detention Center only to be thrown into a wall bySolomon Grundy who was protectingJade.[13] When Wildcat was poisoned during the Justice Society's next fight with the Injustice Society, Huntress fought her own daughter.[14] As Wildcat is dying from the poison, the Justice Society works to come up with an antidote while fighting Tigress, Sportsmaster, and Thorn.[15]
Paula Brooks is later seen out of uniform inYoung Justice at anOlympics-type event where her daughter Artemis competes on behalf of Zandia, a country that harbors super-villains.[16]
In 2016, DC Comics implemented another relaunch of its books called "DC Rebirth", which restored its continuity to a form much as it was prior to "The New 52". When Hawkman and Hawkgirl recount their time with the Justice Society and the day that they fought the Injustice Society, Tigress was seen as a member of the Injustice Society. Wildcat was the one who faced off against Tigress and defeated her.[17]
Brooks has no powers or unusual technology, but she did utilize various types of wild beasts in committing her crimes. She is also a skilled hand-to-hand fighter whose nails were once sharpened liketalons.
She also used a small crossbow and a steady supply of crossbow bolts. She has also been known to use throwing nets and bolos to trap her prey.
Outside of regular DCU continuity,James Robinson and Paul Smith feature the Tigress the 1993The Golden Age. mini-series. In August 1948, Paula Brooks is granted amnesty for her crimes in return for her allegiance toTex Thompson's newly created anti-communism force.[18] After learning that Thompson is actually the ruthlessUltra-Humanite[19] Brooks joins other heroes on January 8, 1950 in opposing him and his allies. Traumatized by the deaths of her lover,Lance Gallant, and friends such asMiss America and the Sportsmaster in the ensuing conflict, Paula returns to crime. By 1955, she is reported to have "made the F.B.I.'s most wanted list".[20]
Paula Brooks / Tigress makes a cameo appearance in theDC Super Hero Girls episode "Welcome to Super Hero High".
Michael Eury and Gina Misiroglu characterized the original Huntress Paula Brooks as "a relatively obscure Golden Age villainess", whose title was borrowed for the character of Helena Wayne.[22]
Sophie Bonadè found that Paula Brooks, like a number of villainesses of the time, falls under the "Dating Catwoman" cliché of being in a romantic relation to the hero she fights.[23]
| Alter-ego | |
|---|---|
| Supporting characters | |
| Enemies | |
| Teams | |
| Publications | |
| In other media |
|
