Lady Lunar

Origin

NASA pilot Brice Rogers had been affected by radiation while orbiting the moon in the early years of the space agency, giving him the powers he used to commit crimes as the Moonman. Fortunately, the affliction was temporary and many years passed since Rogers lost all the powers. At sometime years later Rogers met Stacy Macklin, a NASA trainee, was living out her dream job. She was asked to speak at a fundraiser in Metropolis for a joint NASA-STAR Labs project aimed at establishing space colonies on the Moon. Macklin traveled with Roger's capsule and was exposed to comet radiation. She was struck by its energy when it was bathed in moonlight.

Batman and Superman interviewed Rogers in Gotham City, but he was unable to aid their research. Batman traced Roger's old moon capsule. Rogers states he has no idea who this female version of him might be. The next night, Lady Lunar shows up again, causing tidal waves, giving people "moon madness", and stealing an experimental bomb STAR Labs and the military were working on.

Batman traces connections to S.T.A.R. Labs, where it had been shipped from Houston as part of astronaut trainee Stacy Macklin's lecture on past lunar exploration. S.T.A.R. Labs director Dr. Jenet Klyburn had ordered the capsule removed from the exhibit at the last minute and moved to the labs. When Batman and Superman located the capsule, they found it once again aglow with the energies that had created the Moonman. They could only speculate that moving the capsule had somehow reactivated it. They also suspected that the doctor was Lady Lunar, however via involuntary transformation.

Creation

Lady Lunar was created for use in DC Comics by Jack C. Harris and Jose Delbo. The character's first appearance is in Wonder Woman #252 titled the Empress of the Silver Snake which was released in February, 1979. Lady Lunar's last actual appearance came in Crisis on Infinite Earths #9 that was released in December, 1985; however, she is mentioned briefly in Essential Wonder Woman Encyclopedia.

Major Story Arcs

The Discovery of Lady Lunar

While Batman went to Dr. Klyburn's house, Superman searched for Lady Lunar or the experimental bomb she had stolen from S.T.A.R. Labs. Batman found Dr. Klyburn, but it was a trap engineered by Lady Lunar to eliminate his interference. She knocked him out with her mesmerizing power. When he awoke, he and the doctor were bound by ropes. Dr. Klyburn told Batman that Lady Lunar had kidnapped her, then picked her brain and learned about the bomb. Lady Lunar planned to use it to destroy Metropolis, the first step to her goal of ridding the Earth of the filthy human parasites who had dared desecrate the Moon. She'd recognized Lady Lunar, despite her mask and costume. It was Stacy Macklin who had been taken over by the moon capsule's radiation.

Superman realized that by reflecting the Sun's rays onto nighttime Metropolis, he'd be able to break the moon's influence on Lady Lunar. It worked, and Batman took her into protective custody. Dr. Klyburn's tests revealed that the radiation's effects on Stacy were wearing off, just as they had with Rogers. Until then, they arranged to keep Stacy sedated whenever the Moon was out, to prevent her alternate personality from taking over again.

Crisis on Infinite Earths

Lady Lunar was seen during the events of Crisis on Infinite Earths She was briefly seen fighting Negative Woman in a single silent panel from Crisis on Infinite Earths #9. This version of Stacy Macklin (Earth-One), including all history and corresponding appearances, was erased from the timeline and ceased to exist along with every other character due to the multiverse collapsing. Lady Lunar's character appearances following the collapse of the Multiverse in the 1985-86 Crisis on Infinite Earths limited series have not been documented..

Powers and Abilities

Lady Lunar's powers include the ability to manipulate gravity. She is also an accomplished hypnotist.

Sometimes confused with "Mind Control", Hypnosis is a term used to describe the ability of some characters to force a victim into a trance-like state which can include a number of effects including sleep and/or suggestive states. Lady Lunar would apparently tap into the perceptions of large crowds and cause them to enter a trance which she called "lunar madness".

Some supposed hypnotic indicators and subjective changes can be achieved without relaxation or a lengthy induction by means of simple suggestion or waking hypnosis, a fact that increases the controversy and misunderstandings around hypnosis and the hypnotic state. Hypnosis functions primarily as a learned skill, but some characters may also possess this ability as a power.

Lady Lunar's other power of Gravity Manipulation grants her the ability to manipulate or otherwise control the gravity of objects, people or the source of gravity itself. It it unclear exactly how far this ability to control gravity could be projected or for how long maintained. This ability also allowed her to control her own body's radius which allows her to fly.

Other Media

Lady Lunar also appears in the DCAU Justice League Unlimited series, assisting General Grodd in fighting against a group of villains. Lady Lunar witnessed when Lex Luthor usurped Grodd's throne and when the Flash, in Luthor's body, addressed the Legion. Lady Lunar also took part in the civil war among the villainous organization, siding with Grodd's faction. However, when Killer Frost froze the villains who sided with Grodd, she was seen standing beside the Cheetah who is in Luthor's side so she was presumed to have switch sides. However, she did not make it inside Sinestro's bubble when the revived Darkseid blew up the spacecraft.