Circe is a fictional character appearing in DC Comics publications and related media. Based upon the eponymous Greek mythological figure who imprisoned Odysseus in Homer's Odyssey, she is a wicked sorceress and major recurring adversary of the superhero Wonder Woman. She has been presented variously since first appearing in 1949's Wonder Woman #37, though her characterization has consistently retained a key set of features: immortality, stunning physical beauty, a powerful command over sorcery, a penchant for turning human beings into animals (like her mythological antecedent) and often, a delight in humiliation.
Though she first appeared as a Wonder Woman villain, Circe would spend the next 43 years as an antagonist for other DC Comics heroes, such as Rip Hunter, the Sea Devils, and particularly Superman and Supergirl, for whom she was a persistent foil (and sometimes ally) throughout the late 1950s and 1960s. In 1983, at the tail-end of the Bronze Age of Comics, Circe would be returned to her roots as a member of Wonder Woman's rogues gallery, and would rise to become one of the hero's most significant Modern Age foes, appearing frequently in Wonder Woman stories throughout DC Comics' post-Crisis, New 52 and Rebirth continuities.
Circe has been adapted into several Wonder Woman and DC Comics-related animated TV and video game projects, in which she has been voiced by Michelle Forbes, Laura Post, Rachel York, and Anya Chalotra.
Publication history Golden and Silver Age Circe first appeared with blonde hair and flowing red robes in 1949’s Wonder Woman #37, written by Robert Kanigher and illustrated by Harry G. Peter. Her first Silver Age appearance, with black hair and a yellow gown, saw her battle Rip Hunter in 1959’s Showcase #21, written by Jack Miller and illustrated by Mike Sekowsky. (On the cover of this issue, her hair was rendered as dark green and her gown white.) Three years later, Robert Kanigher, who had written the Wonder Woman story in which the Golden Age version of Circe first appeared, pitted her against the Sea Devils in Sea Devils #3, illustrated by Russ Heath. Here she was illustrated in a white gown and with green hair, just as she was on the cover of Showcase #21.
Also in 1962, Circe would begin to appear as a recurring character in Superman and Supergirl stories in Action Comics, Adventure Comics and Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane. In these appearances, which continued throughout the 1960’s, her hair was colored black and her gown pale pink, and she was depicted using a scepter to channel her magical powers. She was presented as a precarious ally of Superman and Supergirl, although one who occasionally lapsed into full villainy. She figured significantly in the origin and exploits of Comet the Super-Horse, a human-turned-animal character who was, somewhat alarmingly, presented as both a love-interest for Supergirl, as well as her pet and steed. Circe also expressed an unrequited romantic interest in Superman, which sometimes led her to rash and dangerous plots. She would reappear as an unambiguous villain, this time in a green gown, in 1972’s Justice League of America #102.
Bronze Age After appearing as an unidentified figure lurking in the shadows in 1983's Wonder Woman #302, Circe would return to battle Wonder Woman, getting a Bronze Age makeover along the way, in Wonder Woman #312-#313, written by Dan Mishkin and illustrated by Don Heck, followed by multiple appearances in Wonder Woman over the next two years. Heck’s rendering of Circe, colored by Nansi Hoolahan, composited several elements of her Golden and Silver Age designs, including the pink gown and scepter from her Superman and Supergirl appearances, and the flowing red robe from her 1949 debut. Now depicted with short-cropped auburn-red hair and allied with the treacherous Aztec god Tezcatlipoca, the Bronze Age Circe re-established the character as a weighty adversary for Wonder Woman, and would go on to reappear in 1985’s Who's Who in the DC Universe as well as Crisis on Infinite Earths, the 12-issue limited series that rebooted DC Comics’ continuity.
Modern Age Post-Crisis Circe would be re-imagined in June 1988,Wonder Woman (vol. 2) #17 by creative team George Pérez and Greg Potter as part of their reboot of the Wonder Woman mythos. This version, with red irises, dark violet hair, and attired in a sultry green gown, would become one of Wonder Woman's principal Post-Crisis foes. With the goddess of witchcraft Hecate as her patron, Circe featured significantly in a number of Wonder Woman-related storylines throughout the Modern Age, including as the principal antagonist in DC Comic’s 1991 company-wide crossover event War of the Gods. Her look would be updated by illustrator John Ross in 1994’s Wonder Woman (vol. 2) #88, lightening her hair to lavender, and outfitting her in a revealing green bodysuit. Ross’s redesign accompanied a brassier, wise-cracking characterization by Christopher Priest which would be largely retained by future Wonder Woman writers, including Phil Jimenez, Gail Simone, Allan Heinberg and Greg Rucka. The Ross/Priest version of Circe had staying power and, with some design detours, remained the character’s central formulation until DC Comics’ 2011 continuity-reboot The New 52.
The New 52 and DC Rebirth The New 52 Circe was introduced in 2011’s Men of War (vol. 2) #2, as a stoic nude temptress with blood-red hair and chalk-white skin, written by Ivan Brandon and illustrated by Tom Derenick. Going forward, Circe’s visual depiction would vary somewhat throughout the New 52, and into the subsequent DC Rebirth continuity reboot. Derenick’s white-skinned Circe was refined for 2016’s Trinity monthly series, adding actual clothes – a black corset and red skirt – and red braids. However, this depiction proved to be a deceptive glamour, as the post-Rebirth Circe apparently revealed her true countenance in 2016’s Wonder Woman (vol. 5) #20 in a story written by Greg Rucka and illustrated by Bilquis Evely. In a surprising visual turn for the character, Rucka and Evely style Circe in contemporary clothes with a lesbian chic aesthetic. The short-cropped auburn-red hair of the character’s Bronze Age design returns, accompanied by a wardrobe of fitted blazers, sharp open-collared shirts and black jeans. Rucka also restores Circe’s irreverent, wise-cracking sense of humor, and obliquely suggests that the character may not be heterosexual.
Fictional character biography Pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths In the original DC Comics continuity (prior to the Crisis on Infinite Earths), Circe is a centuries-old enchantress who is kept young by an elixir called vitae. It is made from a special combination of plants and herbs. While living on the island Aeaea, Circe gains magical powers. Being a lover of animals and despising men, Circe spends centuries luring male sailors and travelers into her clutches, then turning them into the animals that best match their personalities. Eventually, the Amazonian queen Hippolyta punishes Circe by banishing her to Sorca, "an island planet in space, where she could do no harm".
Upon her return to Earth, Circe tries to destroy Wonder Woman, having heard from an oracle in ancient times that the daughter of Hippolyta will be her undoing. Unlike many of Wonder Woman's other Golden Age foes, Circe does not repent when her plot fails, and a legendary enmity is born.Wonder Woman #37Circe at the Grand Comics Database
In Captain Marvel Adventures #66, set on Earth-S, it is revealed the evil immortal Oggar gave Circe immortality 3,000 years ago when she was a beautiful Graecian princess, hoping she would marry him. However, because he refuses to also grant her eternal youth for spurning his love, Circe slowly ages into a hideous old woman. Bitter and angry, she learns sorcery to restore her youth and also to lash out at men by transforming them into mindless beasts. Captain Marvel and Oggar battle on her island, and she turns Billy into a goat before turning him back. She finally helps Captain Marvel defeat Oggar by turning him into a boar. He jumps into a bluff and apparently dies, meaning she finally dies happily as his spell wears off.
A woman claiming to be a descendant of the original Circe later appears and gives Superman an evolution serum, which temporarily and partially transforms him into a lion after he does not agree to marry her. She leaves the planet by the time Superman returns to her island. Realizing the serum contains kryptonite, Superman theorizes the original Circe may have been from Krypton.Action Comics #243
In ancient times, Circe is responsible for changing Biron the centaur into a horse and later gives him super-powers as Comet the Super-Horse. She is depicted as more heroic during her appearances with Comet and Supergirl.Action Comics #293, 311, 323, 331 She also has encounters with Lois Lane and Lana Lang, and battles Rip Hunter, who meets her during his time travels.Superman's Girlfriend Lois Lane #13, 39, 40Showcase #21 Catwoman once used Circe's wand to turn Superman into a cat, but he is turned back by an Egyptian mummified magic cat's paw used by Lana Lang.
Later, Saturn Woman (a version of Saturn Girl from an alternate timeline) poses as Circe as part of Superman's plan to defeat the Superman Revenge Squad.Superman #165
During World War II, Circe transforms a British soldier who misses being in the cavalry into a centaur, then, upon his death, into a horse. At another point in World War II, she turned Nazis into swine and consumed them.Both stories are in Weird War Tales #65.
The character reappears, unnamed, in Wonder Woman #302 (April 1983) and is identified as Circe in issue #305 (July 1983) Circe reappeared with a mission to kill Wonder Woman to prevent an oracular prophecy of Circe's death at Wonder Woman's hands from coming true. After she failed to kill the Amazon with a series of attacks by man-animal hybrids, she took up with the Aztec god Tezcatlipoca, who set in motion a chain of events that led Wonder Woman to the jungles of Tropidor. Circe called on the god to send lightning down to kill Wonder Woman, who deflected the lightning bolts away from her and incinerated the herbs that made Circe immortal, thus fulfilling the prophecy. Circe then disappeared, swallowed up by Tezcatlipoca's magic obsidian mirror; the god punished her with an illusion of herself being turned into a hideous old crone.
Circe begins to age normally and is last seen aiding a group of sorcerers who are trying to defeat the Anti-Monitor.Wonder Woman #302, 305, 312-314Crisis on Infinite Earths #9, 12
Post-Crisis on Infinite Earths Following Crisis on Infinite Earths, Wonder Woman and Superman are rebooted. All of Circe's prior continuity is erased and she is reintroduced with a revamped history.
Greek mythology background Circe is the daughter of the Titans Hyperion and Perseis. Circe is a powerful witch and former princess of Colchis. A beautiful, violet-haired, red-eyed sorceress, she is known for turning people into animals (which are called bestiamorphs), as well as for powers of mind control. Circe has been a devoted follower of the goddess Hecate for thousands of years. She has lived on the island of Aeaea where she became a powerful being in both magic and in influence over portions of man's world. During his adventure to her island, Circe fell in love with Odysseus and bore him three sons: Agrius, Latinus, and Telegonus.