Harbinger
Harbinger as depicted in Crisis on Infinite Earths #3 (June 1985). Art by George Pérez.
Publication information
PublisherDC Comics
First appearance(as Lyla Michaels) The New Teen Titans Annual #2 (July 1983)
(as the Harbinger) Crisis on Infinite Earths #1 (April 1985)
Created byMarv Wolfman
George Pérez
In-story information
Alter egoLyla Michaels
SpeciesMetahuman
Team affiliationsNew Guardians
Black Lantern Corps
Abilities
  • Self-duplication and reintegration
  • Energy materialization
  • Superhuman strength
  • Flight
  • Possessed an orb that recorded every bit of history in the multiverse and beyond while allowing for teleportation through space, time, dimensions, and realities

The Harbinger (Lyla Michaels) is a superheroine appearing in publications by DC Comics. Created by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez, she first appeared in her civilian form in The New Teen Titans Annual #2 (July 1983) before taking on the mantle of Harbinger in Crisis on Infinite Earths #1 (April 1985).

The character appeared as a recurring character in The CW television series Arrow and The Flash television series, portrayed by Audrey Marie Anderson.

Fictional character biography

An orphan whose ship sunk during a violent storm, Lyla Michaels was rescued from certain doom by the Monitor, a cosmic being locked in an eternal war against his anti-matter counterpart, the Anti-Monitor.[1] Raising Lyla as his assistant, the two monitored the multiverse's heroes and arranged for weapons and super-powered henchmen for various villains, to test heroes that the Monitor would recruit for his impending final battle against the Anti-Monitor.

When the Crisis on Infinite Earths began, Lyla assumed the "Harbinger" identity after entering a womb-like chamber which energized her and allowed her to create a series of doppelgangers in her new costume. These doppelgangers recruited a wide variety of heroes and villains to fight the Anti-Monitor's shadow demons and protect a series of vibration towers, designed to protect Earth 1 and Earth 2 from the wave of Anti-Matter destroying the DC Multiverse.[2]

However, while recruiting the hero Arion, a shadow demon merged with one of the Harbinger's duplicates, allowing the Anti-Monitor to control her once her various doubles merged into a single entity. Under the Anti-Monitor's control, Lyla killed the Monitor. The Monitor foresaw the Anti-Monitor's gambit and arranged to have his life force be the fuel to power up the vibration towers, saving Earths 1 and 2 from doom. The shock of what she did caused Lyla to revert to a version of her normal form, which then sacrificed all of her powers to save the last three alternate universes (home of the Freedom Fighters, the Charlton heroes, and the Marvel family) from annihilation.

When the five remaining universes merged, the Harbinger suddenly regained her power in the process of time and space merging to create a new single DC Universe. Afterwards, the Harbinger recorded the history of the Post-Crisis DC Universe into a computer satellite.[3] This led to the Millennium crossover, which had the satellite fall into the hands of the Manhunters, who used the data to confirm the identities of much of the Earth superhero population as part of a greater plan to infiltrate the superhero community. After the miniseries, the Harbinger joined the New Guardians. She reunited with fellow Monitor allies Pariah and Lady Quark during the War of the Gods crossover, after which she was offered membership with the Amazon tribe of Themyscira as the Amazons' official historian.[4]

When Kara Zor-El, the original Supergirl, was discovered to exist in the Post-Crisis DC Universe and arrived on Earth, she was given shelter and lodgings on the island of Themyscira.[5] The Harbinger befriended Supergirl and remembering how she sacrificed her life during the original Crisis, the Harbinger willingly died protecting Kara in a failed bid to prevent Darkseid from kidnapping her.[6]

Donna Troy/Dark Angel connection

During the events of the "Return of Donna Troy" miniseries, it was revealed that Donna Troy's arch-enemy (and temporal doppelganger) the Dark Angel served a similar role to the Harbinger during the original Crisis before severing ties with the Anti-Monitor. Furthermore, the Titans of Myth revealed that Donna was a temporal anomaly, thanks to the Crisis changing her and Wonder Woman's histories. The Titans, seeing potential in exploiting Donna's unconscious knowledge of the Pre-Crisis universe, rescued her as a child to manipulate her into becoming their own version of the Harbinger.

Following the events of the Infinite Crisis, Donna recorded a new version of the "History of the DC Universe" reflecting the changes in the timeline following Infinite Crisis. Meanwhile, a new incarnation of the Harbinger, a genetically altered being called the Forerunner was introduced that was tasked with killing anyone who crossed over between universes for the Monitors.[7]

The Harbinger was reanimated as a Black Lantern during the Blackest Night crossover. She uses her knowledge of history to provoke her targets by bringing up emotional memories, but is destroyed with the other Black Lanterns.[8]

In Multiversity #1, the AI of the Monitor watchstation known as the House of Heroes refers to itself as the Harbinger and bears a resemblance to the previous character.[9]

In other media

Television

Audrey Marie Anderson as Lyla Michaels/Harbinger in the Arrowverse crossover "Crisis on Infinite Earths".

Lyla Michaels / Harbinger appears in the Arrowverse series Arrow and The Flash, portrayed by Audrey Marie Anderson. This version is an A.R.G.U.S. agent and estranged wife of John Diggle.[10] Additionally, during the crossover "Crisis on Infinite Earths", she is revealed to have been working with the Monitor and takes on a role more akin to the original comics.[11]

Film

Harbinger appears in Superman/Batman: Apocalypse, voiced by Rachel Quaintance. This version lives on Themyscira, befriends Kara Zor-El while the latter is training there, and is later killed by Darkseid.

Harbinger appears in Justice League: Warworld, voiced by Kari Wahlgren and Justice League Crisis on Infinte Earths, Part One voiced by Meg Donnelly.

Video games

Harbinger appears in DC Universe Online.

Merchandise

In 2005, DC Direct released an action figure of the Harbinger as part of the line of Crisis action figures.

References

  1. ↑ Cowsill, Alan; Irvine, Alex; Korte, Steve; Manning, Matt; Wiacek, Win; Wilson, Sven (2016). The DC Comics Encyclopedia: The Definitive Guide to the Characters of the DC Universe. DK Publishing. p. 137. ISBN 978-1-4654-5357-0.
  2. ↑ Jimenez, Phil; Wells, John (2010). The Essential Wonder Woman Encyclopedia. Del Rey. pp. 178–179. ISBN 978-0345501073.
  3. ↑ History of the DC Universe #1-2 (1987)
  4. ↑ War of the Gods #4 (1991)
  5. ↑ Superman/Batman #9 (2004)
  6. ↑ Superman/Batman #10 (2004)
  7. ↑ Countdown to Adventure #1
  8. ↑ R.E.B.E.L.S. (vol. 2) #10 (2009)
  9. ↑ Multiversity #1
  10. ↑ Burlingame, Russ (October 2, 2019). "Crisis on Infinite Earths Exclusive: First Look at Audrey Marie Anderson as Harbinger". ComicBook.com. Archived from the original on October 2, 2019. Retrieved October 2, 2019.
  11. ↑ "Arrow: Will John Diggle Move to Superman & Lois?". Comicbook.com. January 28, 2020. Retrieved February 13, 2020.
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