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The Erinyes (Alecto, Tisiphone and Megaera) granted 15-year-old Helena Kosmatos a portion of their power so that she could seek revenge on the Nazis who had killed many of those she loved in her Greek village. Escaping to the United States at 16, she used her powers as a member of the Young All-Stars. However, the Erinyes had not told her of the price of her power—when she became angered, she would be taken over by one of the monstrous Furies.

Early life

Helena Kosmatos was born in Greece in the summer of 1925. By 1941, the country had been occupied by the Nazis and Helena's father had been slain by Italian fascists. The fact that her brother Michael was collaborating with the Nazis was more than Helena could take and she confronted him in front of their mother. Horrified by the revelation, Mrs. Kosmatos suffered a fatal heart attack and Helena vowed that Michael would be punished. She ran to "the nearby Areopagus, or Hill of Ares" and unwittingly invoked the Furies of myth, which is how Helena became a vessel for "Tisiphone, the blood avenger, who punishes crimes of kinship." Clad in gold chain-mail, Helena became Fury and used her newfound powers to fight the Nazis. But it was Michael Kosmatos who truly saw Fury live up to her name when his sister was completely transformed into Tisiphone and murdered him.

Infinity, Inc.

Rescued by a news photographer named Johnny Chambers, the young refugee was brought to the U.S.[1] and taken in by her Uncle George and Aunt Rose in Miami. And in the year that passed, Helena began to believe that her horrible pact with the Furies had never really happened. But it had and, while visiting her "Uncle" John in New York City in late April of 1942, she discovered that he and his wife were actually Johnny Quick and Liberty Belle and transformed into Fury again when they were attacked by Axis America. There was no turning back after that. Emboldened by the other teen heroes who'd fought alongside her, Fury decided she wanted to join the All-Star Squadron. The Young All-Stars were declared probationary members of the core team and Fury embarked on a non-stop thrill-ride, one that included a romance with teammate Arnold "Iron" Munro.[2] But there were ominous moments, too. Tisiphone eventually took complete control of her host, necessitating her two sister Furies to drag her from Helena's body.[3]

The arrival of a time-traveling Queen Hippolyta as Wonder Woman in July of 1942 had a profound effect on the young Fury, who eventually convinced herself that the Grecian heroine was the actual reincarnation of her slain mother. Hippolyta, from all accounts, never seems to have grasped the depths of her protégée's maternal affection for her but she had an enormous amount of fondness and respect for Fury and they joined forces often throughout the entire decade.[4] Inevitably, Wonder Woman returned to her proper time period and Helena never got over it.

It's believed that Helena entered a "brief and disastrous marriage" to Iron Munro during World War II[5] but she would eventually have a far more significant relationship with a man whose identity remains, to this day, unknown. Helena's lover would ultimately be murdered in the late 1970s and, burning with a need for vengeance, she embarked on a quest to avenge him.[6] There was, however, a complication. Helena had given a birth to a daughter named after her beloved Hippolyta and she had to ensure the infant's well-being. She sought out Joan Dale Trevor, an FBI liaison to the Justice Society (and reserve member) who'd been close to Helena during the 1940s, and asked her to raise the child in her absence... with one stipulation. Young Lyta must not be told her true mother's identity.[7] Joan and Derek Trevor formally adopted the girl five years later when Helena failed to return.[8]

Retirement

After spending two decades stalking the man who killed her lover, Helena found him in England, destroyed his life and then killed him. "After my task was over," she'd later say. "the life went out of me." Helena settled into an English retirement home.[6]

Meanwhile, Lyta Trevor had grown to young adulthood, blessed with incredible super-strength that she assumed she'd inherited from Miss America. Her parents weren't in a position to dispute her. Attending college in California, Lyta became romantically involved with fellow JSA brat Hector Hall (son of Hawkman) and the two hatched a plot to become super-heroes themselves. Hec called himself Silver Scarab while Lyta put together a red and gold outfit and declared, "I'll call myself Fury -- you know, like in mythology." The Trevors were stunned- but kept their silence.[9][7]

Reempowerment

After Silver Scarab's apparent death and Lyta's madness over losing her child, Daniel, Helena Kosmatos was empowered by the Furies once more. She was embittered towards them as well for their role in her daughter's misfortune. She also grew jealous of Wonder Woman, and her status as Hippolyta's true daughter. Diana brought her to the island of Themyscira in the hope that the Amazons could somehow rehabilitate her.[10]

Any hopes of a peaceful existence on Paradise Island were quashed when Fury was controlled by Ariadne (posing as the Amazon sorceress Magala) and used to help fuel a civil war on Themyscira. Tisiphone, alas, was less inclined to being brainwashed than Fury was and mercilessly tore Ariadne's heart from her chest, handing it to Hippolyta as an offering.[11] It was, in a demented way, the last bit of satisfaction Fury would have in her relationship with Hippolyta, who was about to abolish Themyscira's monarchy. The former queen was fated to die soon afterwards in the catastrophic world war against Imperiex.[12]

Now in a state of deep despair, Helena endured a second blow when the power of the Furies was stolen from her body[13] by Barbara Minerva, who, in turn, hoped to steal back the power of the Cheetah now in the command of Sebastian Ballesteros. With Minerva presumed dead in the wake of the battle, the essence of Tisiphone flooded back into Fury's body.[14]

When Diana took Fury to Themyscira to be placed in Queen Hippolyta's care. Helena liked this arrangement very much and stayed on the island as an honorary Amazon. And though they are not physically related, Hippolyta began to refer to Helena as a daughter in order to help her sort out her fragile psyche. After Hippolyta's death during the Our Worlds At War saga, Helena went into mourning and much of her mental imbalance was gone as a result. Still a resident of Themyscira, she served the island's present rulers Artemis and Phillipus as a trusted aide.

Powers

As Fury, Helena Kosmatos has powers such as:

As Blood Avenger, Helena has powers such as:


Other Characteristics

  • Mental Disorder: Emotional stress would trigger her transformation to Blood Fury and she would lose control.


  • Helena Kosmatos was created as a replacement for the Golden Age Wonder Woman at least in the parenting of Hippolyta Trevor, the Infinity Inc. member who was the modern-day Fury. Though DC Comics seemed to toy with the idea that Helena would also replace Wonder Woman in the roster of the Justice Society,[16] they instead chose for a time to have Miss America of the Freedom Fighters be that replacement. However, at least one of the Golden Age Wonder Woman's adventures was re-scripted by Roy Thomas in Young All-Stars to feature Helena in her place.
  • Before her first full appearence in Secret Origins (Volume 2) #12, Helena appeared in Infinity Inc. #35 on a movie poster featuring the JSA, of which Helena is wrongly depicted as part of.

Related

Footnotes



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