The Female Furies

The Female Furies

(pop culture)You don't turn your back on the Female Furies. When first seen in Mister Miracle vol. 1 #6 (1972), these women warriors—the personal guard of Darkseid—storm to Earth to fetch their former leader Big Barda and return her to Apokolips, her loathsome homeworld she so wisely escaped. Barda, however, has no intentions of going back. Trained by the dame of depravity, Granny Goodness, each of the Female Furies has a sinister specialty. Lashina is a dominatrix who whips victims with steel bands (she briefly resided on Earth, taking the name Duchess and joining the Suicide Squad); the whirling dervish Mad Harriet packs a painful punch with her spiky fists; the queen-sized Stompa is a foot-stamping stormtropper whose combat boots produce earthquakes; and Bernadeth, twisted sister of Darkseid's two-faced aide Desaad, hacks away with a “fahren-knife” that burns as well as cuts flesh. Leadership squabbles between Bernadeth and Lashina have sometimes weakened their solidarity, but when the Furies attack in tandem they are an imposing force, kicking, slicing, and pummeling their unfortunate opponents (including Hawk and Dove, Supergirl, and Wonder Woman) from all directions in a flurry of motion, unrelentingly savoring the pain they inflict. Other Female Furies have been added to the group since writer/artist Jack Kirby unleashed them into the pages of DC Comics in 1972: the archer Artemis (not to be confused with the character from Wonder Woman), the vampiric Bloody Mary, the fleet-footed Speed Queen, the superstrong Knockout (who, like Barda and Lashina, relocated to Earth, often fighting Superboy), the karate-chopping Gillotina, and the Alice in Wonderland–like Malice Vundabar, whose “pet” is a toothy, devilishly smiling shadow creature named Chessure. The 1998 “Little Girl Lost” episode of the animated series Superman (1996–2000) brought the original Female Furies to television to battle the Man of Steel and Supergirl, with Edward Asner among the voice cast, portraying the Furies' “loving” mentor Granny Goodness.