Vixen

Biography

Vixen is a superheroine appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Gerry Conway and Bob Oksner, she first appeared in Action Comics #521 (July 1981), in a Superman story, working alongside the superhero to catch a poacher. An African superhero, she is considered one of the earliest created black superheroes in comics. Hailing from the fictional African nation of Zambesi, Mari Jiwe (Mari McCabe after she emigrated to America) is the wielder of the Tantu Totem, a totem passed down in her family that allows her to take the attributes of any animal on Earth. Her role as a fashion model and a superheroine has made her operate in different cities, the main ones being Metropolis and New York. Having varied backgrounds over her publication history as a descendant of the warrior Tantu while connected to Anansi, the African trickster god who has been her family's patron for generations, the character serves as a fashion model, businesswoman, animal rights activist, and public superheroine affiliated with the Justice League, its derivative groups (Justice League Detroit and Justice League International), Birds of Prey, and Suicide Squad, at times taking a leadership position. The character has been adapted in various DC Comics–related media, including the DCAU Justice League Unlimited and Injustice 2 as an alternate "skin" of Cheetah with her own lines while sharing a move-set. Two versions of the character appeared in The CW's Arrowverse. The Mari McCabe version debuted in the CW Seed animated series Vixen, voiced by Megalyn Echikunwoke, who also reprised her role in an episode of the live-action Arrowverse series, Arrow. Legends of Tomorrow introduced a World War II–era Vixen and Mari's grandmother, Amaya Jiwe, portrayed by Maisie Richardson-Sellers.

== Creation == In an interview, Conway discussed his reasoning for the character's creation:

...what I was trying to address was what I perceived to be a lack of strong female leads in DC's comics at the time. Or, let me put it this way: there was an opportunity, as DC was looking for additional books. Surveying the titles that they have, it seemed to me there were some obvious openings for characters that had been underrepresented. One of them had been lead female super-heroes. They had Wonder Woman. To a lesser degree they had Supergirl, Power Girl (who I also created), and Wonder Girl. There were a lot of girls, but not a lot of full-formed adult female super-heroes operating at DC, so I wanted to create one I also wanted to create a character who was a minority, and the idea of a female Black super-heroine hadn't been played up to any great extent at that point. I think Storm (of the X-Men) was around, but I don't think there were very many other representations of that type of character in the field... She was kind of based on what we called supermodels at the time. It was a very strange social phenomenon that was starting to occur back then. You had these women who were obviously objects of the male gaze, but they were also extremely empowered. They took charge of their own image, their own business, and identity. I wanted to show that. This was the 70s, so I hope female readers today will give us a bit of a pass on this. There were not that many active role models regarding careers for women at that time where you could reasonably say: this woman would have the resources to maintain a career as a super-heroine. What were the jobs available to women in the mid- to late-70s? Clerical work. Teaching jobs. There were very few potential jobs that would provide the potential resources and money that a character like Vixen would need to carry on a super-hero career. That's a horribly sexist reality we were dealing with. Plus, she's a minority, and that adds another whole layer of disadvantage that she has to overcome. So, it was a bit of wish fulfillment (for that character, not necessarily for me as the writer), and a bit of practicality to reflect something that was real in our society, i.e. the advent of these take-charge, supermodel/businesswomen.

== Publication history ==

Vixen was intended to be the first African female DC superhero to star in her own series, but the first issue of her series was cancelled in the DC Implosion in 1978, never to be released. The story was subsequently printed in Cancelled Comic Cavalcade. Since her debut in Action Comics, she has primarily appeared in team books, most notably various incarnations of the Justice League and Suicide Squad. In October 2008, G. Willow Wilson began a five-issue limited series, Vixen: Return of the Lion.

== Fictional character biography ==

=== Background and early life === Centuries ago in Africa, the ancient warrior Tantu approached the Kwaku Anansi during an era where animals and men alike could commune and requested a totem that could channel the powers of the animal kingdom but could only be used for good. Gifting him the "Tantu Totem" (named after the warrior), Tantu became an African legend, noted as its first legendary heroes and his descendants would inherit the totem for generations, eventually settling in the Jiwe family. Born and raised up in a small African village in Zambesi as the daughter of Reverend Richard Jiwe and Jeanne-Mari Jiwe, she learns the legend of the Tantu Totem from her father, who raised her as a single father following her mother's death at the hands of poachers and a man named Aku Kwei. Her father is soon killed by his half-brother and Mari's uncle, General Mustapha Maksai, while seeking to claim the Tantu Totem for his dark purposes and Mari fled to America subsequently as an orphan. Living in New York, Mari eventually becomes a successful and renown fashion model and international celebrity under the name "Mari McCabe".

=== Becoming Vixen === Mari eventually back to Africa to reclaim the Tantu Totem and defeats General Maksai, eventually becoming the hero known as Vixen. Her earliest solo crime fighting adventures including fighting poachers in India and against the techno-psycho criminal, Admiral Cerebrus. Shortly into her crime fighting career, Aquaman disbanded the original Justice League of America and began a new iteration based in Detroit (informally known as Justice League Detroit) and she was accepted as for a full-time membership after applying. During Vixen's time with the team, the totem was taken from her by General Maksai, who still sought its power. The totem would only grant its full power to those who would use it to protect the innocent, and it caused Maksai to be transformed into a raging beast. Maksai died in battle with Vixen. When the team faced the killer android Amazo, Vixen and several of her teammates were beaten into unconsciousness and then left bound and gagged in a walled-off pit but Vixen saved herself and her teammates using her powers to shatter her bonds and dig to freedom. The team' was short-lived, however, as Steel and Vibe, were killed, leading to Martian Manhunter disbanding the team.