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| As a result of the New 52 in 2011, the entire line of DC characters was relaunched, incorporating properties belonging to the company's imprints: Wildstorm, Milestone, and Vertigo. As such, elements of this character's history have been altered in some way from the previous incarnation. For a complete list of all versions of this character, see our disambiguation page. |
Jennifer Knight is the Phantom Lady, a superhero who fights the Metropolis underground with her Black Light Bands.
History
Origin
Main article: Phantom Lady Vol 1
When she was a little girl, Jennifer Knight witnessed the murder of her parents on Christmas Eve. Her father had been one of the best reporters on the Daily Planet's crime beat, and was close to breaking the case against crime boss Robert Bender, until Bender found out. She swore to bring the Bender family down.[1]
When she was an adult, she tried to enact vengeance by infiltrating the inner circle of Cyrus and Eli Bender, the heirs to Robert Bender's crime legacy. However her cover was quickly discovered, forcing Jennifer to seek help from her friend, Dane Maxwell hoping to use his genius to hack into Cyrus Bender's cellphone. However Cyrus' henchmen tracked them down and apparently killed Dane inside his own machine.[1] Jennifer was later rescued by Dane, who had became miniaturized. He gave her a special suit and gloves enabling her to manipulate shadows and turn intangible. She then chose to become a vigilante, known as Phantom Lady.[2]
Taking Down the Benders
Main article: Phantom Lady Vol 1
Phantom Lady at the mercy of Funerella
After training with Dane, who was now using the alias Doll Man, for a few weeks Phantom Lady travelled to Metropolis. She then began taking down several Bender operations with Doll Man, this gathered the attention of Cyrus who hired the freelancer Funerella to take down the pair.[2] While taking care of a group of Cyrus' men, Phantom Lady and Doll Man are attacked by Funerella who raises people from the dead to attack them. After fighting of the zombies Funerella flees to a cruise liner where she transformed more people into zombies. Phantom Lady was able to slice Funerella's head in half during the conflict ending her reign of terror. However Funerella survived the attack as she was already dead, she proceeded to exit the water and escape the scene.[3]
After this Phantom Lady planted multiple bugs in Cyrus' office to gain proof of his criminal activities. She monitored a conversation between Cyrus and Funerella, in the footage Cyrus sliced up Funerella for her failure at assassinating her and Doll Man. Phantom Lady was about to deliver the information to the authorities but was intercepted by Cyrus. After a short struggle Phantom Lady trapped Cyrus' mind in the shadow dimension forever ending his reign of terror. Doll Man and Phantom Lady were then visited by Uncle Sam and The Ray, who recruited the pair into a government run superhero task force.[4]
Powers and Abilities
Abilities
Paraphernalia
Equipment
- Black Light Bands: A pair of gloves created by Doll Man that give Phantom Lady command over shadows and intangibility.[2]
- Intangibility: Phantom Lady can go completely intangible at will, when in this form she doesn't need to breathe.[2]
- Shadow Manipulation: Phantom Lady can control shadows to conceal herself and distract her targets.[1]
- "Shadow Slide": Phantom Lady can bring people into a shadow dimension, void of all emotion except sadness.[1]
- Dark Light Constructs: Phantom Lady can form constructs from blackness into items such as shields and razors.[1]
Notes
- Phantom Lady was created by Arthur F. Peddy, first appearing in Police Comics #1. However, in the Prime Earth continuity, Phantom Lady first appeared as part of the New 52 DC Universe in Phantom Lady #1 by Justin Gray, Jimmy Palmiotti, and Cat Staggs.
Recommended Reading
Related
- 6 Appearances of Jennifer Knight (Prime Earth)
- 5 Images featuring Jennifer Knight (Prime Earth)
- 3 Quotations by or about Jennifer Knight (Prime Earth)
- Character Gallery: Jennifer Knight (Prime Earth)
Footnotes
  This character is or was a member of the Freedom Fighters, a team of American super-heroes who fight threats to the nation and its ideals under the leadership of Uncle Sam. This template will automatically categorize articles that include it into the "Freedom Fighters members" category. |