Slightly Misplaced Comic Book Heroes Case File #270: Fury

So, I had my next entry in mind as a follow-up to last week’s column when something came up.  I was chatting with Jimmy Impossible about our next DCAU entry, specifically a pair of Justice League episodes titled “Fury,” when something came up that surprised me.  The episodes are probably named for a C-list DC hero named Fury, and I mentioned she had a supporting role in Neil Gaiman’s classic Sandman run.  And then Jimmy let slip that he hasn’t yet read that run.

Jimmy has a long “To Read” list.

So, Jimmy, here’s one for you.

The original Fury was Hippolyta Trevor of Earth-2.  Earth-2 was, of course, the home of DC’s Golden Age heroes, and unlike their Earth-1 counterparts, those heroes were often permitted to marry their longtime sweethearts and even have children.  That meant the Earth-2 Wonder Woman got to marry Steve Trevor, and together they had a daughter named Hippolyta, named for Diana’s mother, and possessing the same sort of powers Diana had.

Now, like the Huntress, once the Crisis on Infinite Earths ended, Lyta Trevor needed a new origin once her original parents sort of ceased to exist.  In her case, she was now the daughter of a (just created) Golden Age Greek hero named Helena Kosmatos.  She had connections to Themyscira through Wonder Woman’s mother Hippolyta, and sure enough, had a daughter that grew up to become Hippolyta Trevor again.

Or, more accurately, Hippolyta Hall since she married Hector Hall, son of the Golden Age Hawkman and Hawkwoman.  That led to some…complications.  Hector died, see, and came back as the Bronze Age version of the Sandman, operating out of a dream realm with Lyta by his side.  She eventually found herself pregnant, but by then, something else happened:  Morpheus came back.

Yes, Morpheus, Dream of the Endless, began consolidating his power as the Lord of Stories in Gaiman’s series, and he had a message for Hector:  he wasn’t really alive anymore.  Heck, Morpheus finds another Sandman kinda amusing.  But Hector’s dream enemies were real and Morpheus came to claim them in a way that made Hector go back to being dead, Lyta go back to being awake and still pregnant, and eventually she gave birth to a baby named Daniel.  Daniel would, of course, later become Dream of the Endless in his own right. That comes more out of Lyta herself seeking to get her baby back and siccing a really powerful entity on Morpheus, but it is worth noting one thing here.

That would be the simple fact that, though DC Comics kept its mainstream superhero and Vertigo lines as separate as possible, Lyta was passed back and forth between the two imprints.

She did eventually return to the superhero realm, not long after Hector was reincarnated as the new Dr. Fate.  Reunited, the two joined the Justice Society until severe injuries to Hector forced Lyta to go to the one person she knew who could help both of them:  Daniel of the Endless.  As near as I can make out, that version of those characters haven’t been seen since.

Now, there have been other versions of the Fury.  I noted the one on Justice League, but the only use of the name was in the title.  The character was raised by Amazons and that was about all she had in common with the old character.

As for the New 52, there was a Fury character in the Earth-2 title, and she was the daughter of that Earth’s Wonder Woman, but she was raised on Apokalips and worked with the bad guys.

So, many Furies.  Has Jimmy read about any of them?  I don’t know.  He really needs to cut down a bit on his List.