Lady Vic
Encyclopedia
Lady
Elaine Marsh-Morton, a.k.a. “Lady Vic” is a fictional character
in the DC Comics
universe. She is an English
noblewoman who works secretly as an assassin
, bounty hunter
, and mercenary
. She is employed on a semi-regular basis by Roland Desmond, a.k.a. Blockbuster, and appears most frequently as an antagonist of Nightwing (Dick Grayson
).
Her sobriquet “Lady Vic” is short for "Lady Victim," referring to any of her possible targets.
She completes an assignment for Blüdhaven
gang boss Antonio “Angel” Marin and returns to Blüdhaven to collect her fee, and is upset to find Marin missing. She tracks down Marin’s lawyer, and threatened to kill his young daughter if she wasn’t paid – a threat she definitely would have carried out, if Nightwing had not intervened. Dudley Soames
informs her that Marin had been replaced by Blockbuster, and offers to pay her fee, with a retainer to continue working for him.
Elaine is one of Blockbuster’s hirelings tasked with tracking down Oracle
. When Blockbuster was dying of heart failure, Elaine is entrusted with locating Gorilla City
in Africa
, and finding a replacement heart.
Lady Vic is sent to eliminate Tarantula
, Blockbuster's latest ally, when Tarantula had disobeyed his orders. Tarantula defeats Lady Vic, shooting her in the stomach.
and Cheshire
in an attempt to destroy the Secret Six
. Together with Double Dare
she faces Deadshot
in a park with his wife and child, who run away once the attackers appear. Unarmed, Deadshot is easily defeated by Double Dare, and is about to be executed by Lady Vic when his wife throws him a gun, allowing him to get the upper hand. Deadshot considers killing his would-be assassins but allows them to escape, not wanting to shoot them in front of his daughter.
When not on a job, she rests easy in the company of her hulking manservant, Bivens. Her drink of choice is Darjeeling tea
. More recently, she was seen among the new Injustice League
and is one of the villains featured in Salvation Run
. She also appears chases the Secret Six to obtain a valuable "Get out of Hell free" card.
Shortly after, Bane takes her on in his incarnation of the Six when the others leave. She is later shot in both knees by Deadshot and left to die in Skartaris
Elaine is a highly skilled martial artist and athlete, and equally skilled with firearms. She has a sentimental preference for a collection of antique weapons handed down by her ancestors, souvenirs of their colonial
exploits: a matched pair of Katara (कटार), a Japan
ese katana
, a Thuggee
strangling cloth, a Maasai javelin, and a Webley revolver
.
Of the mercenaries regularly employed by Blockbuster, Elaine is one of the most skilled, certainly more skilled than Brutale, Stallion, or Electrocutioner
, though not on the level of opponents such as Nightwing or Batman
. When Blockbuster decided to test Shrike’s abilities by pitting him against all of his regular assassins at once, Elaine lasted the longest, and was the only one to actually inflict a wound on him before being knocked out.
Lady Vic also has qualities of determination and ruthlessness that set her apart from the others. Possibly this is because she desperately needs the money she earns, for the sake of her family’s continued standing and honor. As mentioned above, she was more than willing to kill a young girl to get paid; during the Hunt for Oracle
storyline, when Black Canary escaped from a plane in which she was being held prisoner, Lady Vic astonished her by leaping into the sky after her, without a parachute.
universe, Lady Vic joined with the Amazons' Furies
.
Lady
The word lady is a polite term for a woman, specifically the female equivalent to, or spouse of, a lord or gentleman, and in many contexts a term for any adult woman...
Elaine Marsh-Morton, a.k.a. “Lady Vic” is a fictional character
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
in the DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
universe. She is an English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
noblewoman who works secretly as an assassin
Assassination
To carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be...
, bounty hunter
Bounty hunter
A bounty hunter captures fugitives for a monetary reward . Other names, mainly used in the United States, include bail enforcement agent and fugitive recovery agent.-Laws in the U.S.:...
, and mercenary
Mercenary
A mercenary, is a person who takes part in an armed conflict based on the promise of material compensation rather than having a direct interest in, or a legal obligation to, the conflict itself. A non-conscript professional member of a regular army is not considered to be a mercenary although he...
. She is employed on a semi-regular basis by Roland Desmond, a.k.a. Blockbuster, and appears most frequently as an antagonist of Nightwing (Dick Grayson
Dick Grayson
Dick Grayson is a fictional superhero that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger and illustrator Jerry Robinson, he first appeared in Detective Comics #38 in April 1940....
).
Her sobriquet “Lady Vic” is short for "Lady Victim," referring to any of her possible targets.
Fictional character biography
Lady Elaine is descended from a long line of British soldiers and mercenaries, and a genuine English aristocrat. The money she earns from her secret career helps prevent foreclosure on her impoverished family estate.She completes an assignment for Blüdhaven
Blüdhaven
Blüdhaven is a fictional city in the . Created by Chuck Dixon and Scott McDaniel in 1996, it was originally intended to serve as a backdrop for the Nightwing comics series.-Fictional geography:...
gang boss Antonio “Angel” Marin and returns to Blüdhaven to collect her fee, and is upset to find Marin missing. She tracks down Marin’s lawyer, and threatened to kill his young daughter if she wasn’t paid – a threat she definitely would have carried out, if Nightwing had not intervened. Dudley Soames
Torque (comics)
Torque is a supervillain in the DC Comics Universe, and an enemy of Nightwing. Created by writer Chuck Dixon and artist Scott McDaniel, he first appeared in Nightwing v2, #1 .-Fictional character biography:...
informs her that Marin had been replaced by Blockbuster, and offers to pay her fee, with a retainer to continue working for him.
Elaine is one of Blockbuster’s hirelings tasked with tracking down Oracle
Barbara Gordon
Barbara Gordon is a fictional character appearing in comic books published by DC Comics and in related media, created by Gardner Fox and Carmine Infantino...
. When Blockbuster was dying of heart failure, Elaine is entrusted with locating Gorilla City
Gorilla City
Gorilla City is a fictional city in the DC Comics Universe. The city, hidden in the jungles of Africa, is home to a race of super-intelligent gorillas, that gained their powers from a meteorite. The supervillain Gorilla Grodd is also from the city. Gorilla City first appears in The Flash vol...
in Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
, and finding a replacement heart.
Lady Vic is sent to eliminate Tarantula
Tarantula (DC Comics)
The Tarantula is the name of two fictional comic book characters owned by DC Comics that exist in that company's DC Universe.-John Law:The original Tarantula was a character prominent in the 1940s named John Law...
, Blockbuster's latest ally, when Tarantula had disobeyed his orders. Tarantula defeats Lady Vic, shooting her in the stomach.
One Year Later
Lady Vic is hired by Doctor PsychoDoctor Psycho
Doctor Psycho is a fictional character appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. A villainous telepathic dwarf, Doctor Psycho has traditionally been presented as an adversary for Wonder Woman...
and Cheshire
Cheshire (comics)
Cheshire is a DC Comics villain that first appeared in New Teen Titans Annual #2 .-Fictional character biography:Born to a French father and a Vietnamese mother, Jade Nguyen had an unhappy childhood and was sold into slavery...
in an attempt to destroy the Secret Six
Secret Six (comics)
The Secret Six is the name of three different fictional comic book teams in the , plus an alternate universe's fourth team. Each team has had six members, led by a mysterious figure named Mockingbird, whom the characters assume to be one of the other five members.-Original Secret Six:The Secret Six...
. Together with Double Dare
Double Dare (comics)
Double Dare is a villain team in the DC Comics Universe.-Character history:Double Dare consists of a pair of sisters, Aliki & Margot Marceau . They are thieves who are also the star acrobatic performers of the travelling Cirque Sensationnel, using their acrobatic skills to commit their crimes...
she faces Deadshot
Deadshot
Deadshot is a fictional character, a supervillain/assassin in the DC Universe and an enemy of Batman. He first appears in Batman #59 and was created by Bob Kane, David Vern Reed and Lew Schwartz....
in a park with his wife and child, who run away once the attackers appear. Unarmed, Deadshot is easily defeated by Double Dare, and is about to be executed by Lady Vic when his wife throws him a gun, allowing him to get the upper hand. Deadshot considers killing his would-be assassins but allows them to escape, not wanting to shoot them in front of his daughter.
When not on a job, she rests easy in the company of her hulking manservant, Bivens. Her drink of choice is Darjeeling tea
Darjeeling tea
Darjeeling tea is a black tea from the Darjeeling region in West Bengal, India. When properly brewed, it yields a thin-bodied, light-colored infusion with a floral aroma...
. More recently, she was seen among the new Injustice League
Injustice League
The Injustice League is the name of two fictional teams of supervillains in the .-Original League :The original Injustice League was the brainchild of the interplanetary conqueror Agamemno. Bored of his dominion, he set out to conquer Earth and their champions, the Justice League...
and is one of the villains featured in Salvation Run
Salvation Run
Salvation Run is a seven-issue 2007-2008 DC Comics limited series which was designed to tie in to the company's major event series Final Crisis in 2008.-Premise:The premise of the series, which is based on a pitch by George R. R...
. She also appears chases the Secret Six to obtain a valuable "Get out of Hell free" card.
Shortly after, Bane takes her on in his incarnation of the Six when the others leave. She is later shot in both knees by Deadshot and left to die in Skartaris
Skartaris
Skartaris is a fictional Hollow Earth fantasy setting created by Mike Grell for the sword and sorcery comic book Warlord, published by DC Comics. Skartaris debuted in 1st Issue Special #8 , where the character Travis Morgan, a US Air Force pilot, discovers a passage into this world through the...
Powers and abilities
"Talks like Jane SeymourJane Seymour (actress)Jane Seymour, OBE is an English actress best known for her performances in the James Bond film Live and Let Die , East of Eden , Onassis: The Richest Man in the World , and the American television series Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman...
, fights like Bruce LeeBruce LeeBruce Lee was a Chinese American, Hong Kong actor, martial arts instructor, philosopher, film director, film producer, screenwriter, and founder of the Jeet Kune Do martial arts movement...
." - NightwingDick GraysonDick Grayson is a fictional superhero that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger and illustrator Jerry Robinson, he first appeared in Detective Comics #38 in April 1940....
Elaine is a highly skilled martial artist and athlete, and equally skilled with firearms. She has a sentimental preference for a collection of antique weapons handed down by her ancestors, souvenirs of their colonial
Colonialism
Colonialism is the establishment, maintenance, acquisition and expansion of colonies in one territory by people from another territory. It is a process whereby the metropole claims sovereignty over the colony and the social structure, government, and economics of the colony are changed by...
exploits: a matched pair of Katara (कटार), a Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese katana
Katana
A Japanese sword, or , is one of the traditional bladed weapons of Japan. There are several types of Japanese swords, according to size, field of application and method of manufacture.-Description:...
, a Thuggee
Thuggee
Thuggee is the term for a particular kind of murder and robbery of travellers in South Asia and particularly in India.They are sometimes called Phansigar i.e...
strangling cloth, a Maasai javelin, and a Webley revolver
Webley Revolver
The Webley Revolver was, in various marks, the standard issue service pistol for the armed forces of the United Kingdom, the British Empire, and the Commonwealths from 1887 until 1963.The Webley is a top-break revolver with automatic extraction...
.
Of the mercenaries regularly employed by Blockbuster, Elaine is one of the most skilled, certainly more skilled than Brutale, Stallion, or Electrocutioner
Electrocutioner
Electrocutioner is a fictional character in the DC Comics Universe. The current version first appeared in Detective Comics #644, , and was created by Chuck Dixon, Tom Lyle and Scott Hanna.-Unnamed Buchinsky:...
, though not on the level of opponents such as Nightwing or Batman
Batman
Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
. When Blockbuster decided to test Shrike’s abilities by pitting him against all of his regular assassins at once, Elaine lasted the longest, and was the only one to actually inflict a wound on him before being knocked out.
Lady Vic also has qualities of determination and ruthlessness that set her apart from the others. Possibly this is because she desperately needs the money she earns, for the sake of her family’s continued standing and honor. As mentioned above, she was more than willing to kill a young girl to get paid; during the Hunt for Oracle
Barbara Gordon
Barbara Gordon is a fictional character appearing in comic books published by DC Comics and in related media, created by Gardner Fox and Carmine Infantino...
storyline, when Black Canary escaped from a plane in which she was being held prisoner, Lady Vic astonished her by leaping into the sky after her, without a parachute.
Flashpoint
In the FlashpointFlashpoint (comics)
Flashpoint is an American comic book crossover story arc published by DC Comics. Consisting of an eponymous core limited series and a number of tie-in titles, the storyline premiered in May 2011...
universe, Lady Vic joined with the Amazons' Furies
Female Furies
The Female Furies are a group of fictional women warriors appearing in comics published by DC Comics. They first appeared in Mister Miracle #6 , and were created by Jack Kirby.-Team history:...
.