Delores Winters
Delores Winters is a DC Comics character, originally named Dolores Winters. Until recently her main role in DC Universe history has been as a body occupied by the Ultra-Humanite in the 1940s,[1] but she has made more significant appearances in current continuity.[2]
| Delores Winters | |
|---|---|
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | Action Comics #20 (January 1940) (as Dolores Winters) JSA Classified #19 (January 2007) (as Delores Winters/ Endless Winter) |
| Created by | Jerry Siegel Joe Shuster |
| In-story information | |
| Notable aliases | Endless Winter |
| Abilities | Limited control of moisture and temperature via the cellular structure of her skin |
History
In the early 1940s Delores was a rare beauty − a rising star on the silver screen who might have been legend with just a few more well-chosen parts. She had had a sexual indiscretion while simply an aspiring actress but did not choose an abortion, instead, she had given birth to a healthy daughter and had given her up, she then commenced her career in earnest. Her last Hollywood project was the 12-part serial produced by Stellar Pictures, Monkey Trouble, where she co-starred with Garrett Fairfield. She was kidnapped by the Ultra-Humanite for the purpose of a body swap. Brain surgery was undertaken and the villain's brain was placed into the cranium of the actress. The Ultra-Humanite did not give the real Delores Winters a second thought, he simply cast her aside and continued with his own maniacal designs which included gathering together powerful talismans, capturing the Justice Society of America, and ruling the world; of the last goal, at least, he was unsuccessful. Pre-Crisis the Ultra-Humanite claimed to be retiring, but took a group of celebrities on the ship Sea Serpent hostage, asking for a ransom of $5,000,000. However Superman rescued them, though Ultra escaped.
All who knew of Miss Winters' abduction believed her dead. The truth, however, was that the mad scientist who assisted the megalomaniacal genius had other plans for the actress. He had seen all of the actress' movies and thought of himself as a fan, and so he preserved her brain as only he knew how, and sought out a new body for her. He found one in a recent suicide at Our Lady of Snows' General Hospital. The reaction of the "saved" Miss Winters was far from grateful. She asked for death or for a prettier body. Whether Dolores Winters had always been vain is not recorded, perhaps the cause of her callous disregard for her new body and that of others was simply the result of the shock of having her brain, and her essence, taken forcibly out of her own body and placed into that of a stranger. Regardless, she regained her life with a great sense of loss - of her identity, of the life she felt she deserved - and with the aid of Doctor Marten, she began a series of surgeries aimed at taking the ugly body of the suicide and transforming it into something beautiful.
Delores Winters became intimate with reconstructive surgery and though it was painful she was a woman with a driven obsession. Yet all bodies age, even reconstructed ones. Sometime in the 1950s or 1960s Miss Winters had Doctor Marten locate and abduct her daughter, now a young and beautiful woman. Delores had her brain transplanted, and it was her daughter this time who was cast aside and left to die.
She continued to have cosmetic surgeries as she lived her life of ease and wealth. Some time during the 2000s, however, she decided to repair her aging skin by having a full transplant - and as a donor she chose the heroine Icemaiden. She paid Warp to kidnap Icemaiden and then had Doctor Marten conduct the surgery. In the end Delores Winters had new alabaster skin while the heroine had been flayed alive. Icemaiden did not die, however, and eventually was placed, comatose, into a hydration womb within a facility of S.T.A.R. Labs.
By the 2000s Delores Winters was owner and operator of a spa/clinic that specialized in cosmetic surgeries, she was also calling herself Endless Winter. Covertly she worked with Roulette, another businesswoman who just happened to specialize in fight club gambling - with the fighters being heroes forced into knock-down, drag-out, kill-or-be-killed matches. The losers of these brutal fights would be given over to Winters and her doctors, their body parts would be sold to and implanted into clients who bought into the lure of youth, vitality, and that little extra rush of power that comes from being a metahuman.
Her clinic was infiltrated by Dr. Mid-Nite who was then captured. He escaped, however, and went after Winters. In the ensuing fight the clinic and spa was damaged while Delores Winters lost control of her own metahuman skin. She began causing snow and ice to form and blow within the confines of the clinic and even began freezing over her own body. In the battle with Dr. Mid-Nite her right arm from the elbow down was snapped off, but she escapes into the night.
Some time later, Delores travels to Gotham City and attacks Batwoman. After she is defeated, Delores suddenly collapses and dies from an unknown cause. Her corpse is taken by the Justice League and it is revealed that she had been forced by Prometheus to attack Batwoman in order to distract her from his true goal. Despite the injury suffered at Mid-Nite's hands, Delores still appears having both her arms intact.
Powers
Delores Winters has recently had a complete skin graft from the heroine Icemaiden (herself a product of scientific genetic tinkering). This skin has the ability to manipulate moisture and temperature so as to create ice and cold. Miss Winters has had no training in the use of these powers and she cannot control them to any degree. It also appears she has had no great training in defensive or offensive tactics, and her only other well-known trait is that of being a businesswoman and entrepreneur. Though not technically a power, she has in her employ the physician she calls Marten (brain surgeon and former assistant of the Ultra-Humanite) and she has undergone, at least twice, a brain transfer. This medical procedure has allowed Miss Winters, born sometime before the 1940s, to remain in physically young bodies.
Legends of the DC Universe
An actress named Delores Winters appeared as the girlfriend of Lex Luthor in post-Crisis continuity. Superman fights a new U.L.T.R.A. Humanite; a scientist who can transfer his consciousness into other bodies and seeks revenge on Luthor. Luthor attempts to kill Winters, believing (wrongly) she has been possessed by the Humanite, but she is saved by Superman.[3]
References
- Fleisher, Michael L. (2007). The Original Encyclopedia of Comic Book Heroes, Volume Three: Superman. DC Comics. pp. 476–480. ISBN 978-1-4012-1389-3.
- 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. 474. ISBN 978-1-4654-5357-0.
- Legends of the DC Universe #1-3 (Jan-Apr 1998)