In the struggle of good versus evil, its mostly considered “man’s work”, so its always refreshing to have more women show up to kick some butt.

Enter the Black Orchid…who takes her prey by surprise.  Susan Linden usually works undercover as she is very gifted in the art of disguise by infiltrating criminal organizations, getting the evidence needed, busting the criminals, and leaving only a black orchid flower in her wake.  One of those surprise heroines with a cult following Black Orchid’s strange costume works.  She has the ability to fly, super strength, and invulnerability… though oddly her Kryptonite is herbicides.

Dolphin in her trademark Daisy Dukes…not much is known about Dolphin except that she is a mysterious dweller of the deep and apparently not Atlantean.  She acts very much like her namesake and has a bit of a problem with attention span, but her hearts in the right place.  Eventually she will take her place as a member of the Forgotten Heroes and be folded into Aquaman’s supporting cast.

Firehawk makes things hot for Firestorm…on a regular basis.  Originally duped into fighting Firestorm in her first appearance, Senator Reilly’s daughter Lorraine was kidnapped by figures in hopes to pressure the Senator to vote certain ways on legislation.  No harm was to come to Lorraine, but the villain Multiplex, one of Firestorm’s villains, decided to see if the same process that was used to create Firestorm would work again and Lorraine was a convenient testing subject.  Once Firestorm was able to break the control that Multiplex had on her, Lorraine became a force for good and went on assisting Firestorm and other heroes in her own career.

Merry, the Girl of 1,000 Gimmicks… is a Golden Ageish character and is the sister of the Star-Spangled Kid of the Justice Society.  The old red, white, and blue costume motif puts her right in line with the Kid and Stripesy.  She reminds me of a cross between Batgirl and Harlequin in that her gadgets are mostly distraction oriented and she isn’t a particularly skilled fighter, however she is gifted as an athlete and her brilliant gift of invention gives her many options as she battles crime.  She does play a big role in the sense of the legacies of the DCU as we will see soon.

Onyx, the martial artist who appeared as a supporting character in Detective Comics as I had begun reading comics.  Batman’s supporting cast is full of femme fatales.. Catwoman, Poison Ivy, Talia… or those helpless damsels who foolishly date Bruce Wayne… Julie Madison, Vicki Vale, and a multitude of others.  Onyx starts as a femme fatale but reforms and joins the side of the good guys.  Working alongside Green Arrow and Black Canary and then eventually Batman, Onyx is an extremely capable martial artist and is frequently called upon by Batman to assist on special duties that Batman cannot perform.  In exchange Onyx enjoys a lot of latitude from the Dark Knight and is able to work independently of the Batman’s supervision in Gotham, a rare treat.

Up Next.. We take a look at the children of the Justice Society in Infinity Incorporated!