Queen of Fables

Queen of Fables is a fictional supervillain who has battled the Justice League, Wonder Woman and Superman. Based on the character of the Evil Queen from "Snow White", the Queen of Fables is the living embodiment of all evil in folklore. She first appeared in JLA #47 (November 2000), and was created by Gail Simone, Mark Waid and Bryan Hitch.[1]

Queen of Fables
The Queen of Fables by artist Bernard Chang
Publication information
PublisherDC Comics
First appearanceJLA #47, (November 2000)
Created byGail Simone (writer)
Bryan Hitch (artist)
Mark Waid (writer)
In-story information
Alter egoTsaritsa
SpeciesHomo magi
AbilitiesMagic
Immortality

Fictional character biography

The Queen of Fables was originally a sorceress from another dimension until she was exiled to Earth.[2] She reigned until princess Snow White defied her and she was trapped in the Book of Fables. Snow White used the book to turn fact into fiction and undo all the Queen's terrible acts.

Countless generations later the Queen was unwittingly released from her prison. She transformed Manhattan into an enchanted forest full of fantastic creatures extracted from folk tales. Just after being released she attempted to locate Snow White, mistaking a television for a magic mirror, and ordered it to show her -"The Fairest In The Land." Coincidentally, the TV was currently showing the news, reporting the Justice League's latest battle, and at that moment showing Wonder Woman. Believing the Amazon Princess to be her daughter, she confronts her, forcing her into a deep sleep in an enchanted forest. Aquaman awakens Wonder Woman with his kiss (as he was once a Prince, and is now the King of Atlantis, it counts as a kiss from a Prince), and Batman discovers the book that the Queen had been trapped in. Eventually, the Justice League managed to stop her, by making her realize that she was no longer immortal and eternally beautiful in the real world, and lock her up once more (by trapping her within a book on the United States Tax Code, where she could find nothing imaginative to use as a weapon), undoing her spell again.[3]

Eventually the Queen of Fables awakens and is none too happy. Since being defeated by the Justice League, who placed her in the U.S. Tax Code manual, she has somehow escaped and now has her sights set on her own Prince Charming, Superman. After transporting Superman to a Kryptonian glass forest, he is able to win his freedom and defeat the Queen (although the effort leaves him weak).[4] She is last seen standing over a young sleeping girl, saying "Sleep well, dear one. Keep me alive. Dream of me. Dream of me."[5]

She returns again after assuming the identity of Laney Kirswel, the film executive in charge of an unauthorized Wonder Woman biography, made mostly of unapproved and slandering materials. She is again able to act in the human world, where she puts Wonder Woman through hellish scenarios, taken from the movie, meant to represent distorted happenings in her life. Diana coaxes her into taking the form of a huge dragon, who she notes is reminiscent of Maleficent, and blinds her with two battle axes, forcing her to flee.[6]

Powers and abilities

The Queen of Fables is an extremely powerful sorceress and was able to transform Manhattan into an enchanted forest. She can perform virtually any feat and usually has fairy tale creatures such as dragons, ogres and goblins at her command. The Queen of Fables has the ability to conjure various fictional monsters from other stories to use against the Justice League. She is immortal and cannot be killed while she resides within her storybook.

In other media

Television
  • According to Gail Simone had she scripted another episode for Justice League Unlimited, the Queen of Fables would have been the main antagonist.[7]
  • Queen of Fables made her first on-screen appearance in the DC Universe animated series Harley Quinn, voiced by Wanda Sykes. Introduced in "So, You Need a Crew?", the Queen of Fables attempted to break the glass ceiling for female supervillains by taking over Gotham by spreading an enchanted forest and conjuring an army of storybook characters during the 1980s. However, she was defeated by the Justice League and trapped in a U.S. Master Tax Guide Book by Zatanna, leaving her annoyed about not being thrown in Arkham Asylum "like any male villain". After becoming a talking book, she got a job as a tax consultant. In "The Line", she is freed from the tax code by a court order that deemed it to be a cruel and unusual punishment, though she is ironically sentenced to serve the rest of her term at Arkham. Harley breaks her out in transit and the Queen temporarily joins her crew before her extreme and violent methods lead to her being ousted. After the crew steals a weather control device to ransom the city, the Queen threatens them into giving it to her, only to be interrupted by Jason Praxis, a surviving member of a family she had slaughtered in the same episode who acquired electrical powers and sought revenge on the Queen. Though Jason fried her storybook and rendered her powerless, Harley uses a force field device she and her crew previously stole to protect the Queen and subdue Praxis before getting the former to leave. Killing Praxis on her way out however, the Queen tells Harley that only villains willing to cross any line can succeed and that she will regret letting her leave alive. In the episode "Devil's Snare", the Queen of Fables gained a new storybook and traps the Justice League in it before sending Harley and her crew up a beanstalk to be killed by a giant cyclops, revealing she has formed an alliance with the Joker. After getting down with Kite Man's help, Harley defeats the Queen of Fables, beheading her in the process. In the episode "A Fight Worth Fighting For", the Book of Fables that the Queen trapped the Justice League in fell into the possession of a nurse named Bethany after Joker was rendered sane and gave it to her. Once a restored Joker retrieved it for Harley, Batman has Zatanna free the Justice League from the Book of Fables.

Video games

Miscellaneous
  • Queen of Fables appears in Batman: The Brave and the Bold issue 5. She ends up abducting children (whose tears keep her young and beautiful) and runs afoul of Batman and Captain Marvel. She transforms Captain Marvel into a dragon minion, but Batman is able to steal her storybook and trick the dragon into destroying it with fire breath. Without the storybook, the Queen of Fables melts into a puddle and her spells are undone.
  • Queen of Fables appears in DC Super Friends issue 21 "Happily Never After". The Queen of Fables' storybook appears in the Watchtower and sucks the Super Friends inside it when they curiously open it. Inside the fairy tale realm, the Queen of Fables reveals herself and invites the Super Friends to become her subjects, calling them modern legends. When they decline, she scatters them throughout her realm, where they run into various characters from stories, some benevolent and some hostile. The Super Friends overcome these challenges, often managing to give the characters happier endings, and regroup. The Queen, entertained by this, again demands they become her subjects. When they refuse and demand to be sent home, she threatens them with various monsters like the Rainbow Serpent and Fenrir. The Super Friends, realizing they can influence the stories with their imagination, manage to make the monsters become peaceful. The Queen points out that she has the ultimate power and can revert any changes they make, but Green Lantern breaks her power by saying: "And they lived happily ever after. The End". Freed from the storybook, the Super Friends lock it away in their trophy room.

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. 240. ISBN 978-1-4654-5357-0.
  2. Greenberger, Robert; Pasko, Martin (2010). The Essential Superman Encyclopedia. Del Rey. p. 327. ISBN 978-0-345-50108-0.
  3. JLA #47-49. DC Comics.
  4. Action Comics #835. DC Comics.
  5. Action Comics #833-834. DC Comics.
  6. Wonder Woman #24-25 (2008). DC Comics.
  7. "Double Date". jl.toonzone.net. Archived from the original on 2011-05-19. Retrieved 2012-03-18.
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