Welcome to another edition of Demanded Characters. This week we continue our look at the women of the DCU. This week’s subject is the resident model of the group, who is an animal deep down. Vixen is an African born woman who can hold her own against Gorilla Grodd or Superman.
Last week we saw the debate rage on about the Black Canary. It looks like the modern look of Dinah Lance won out 2 to 1 against the classic version.
Vixen is not the typical hero that we have come to know. Mari Jiwe McCabe grew up in Africa in a small village. Her parents were not rich, she does not have blonde hair and blue eyes, and she is a hero that came out of the need of comics to identify with other cultures and ethnic groups. Mari was a small girl when her parents told her the ancient African myths. What we know as myths in our world were actually fact in hers.
The story of Anansi the trickster spider is very well known to the African culture, it tells of a spider that tricks people in to getting what he needs or wants. In the DCU a warrior named Tantu asked Anansi the trickster to make him a totem to control the powers of the animal kingdom. The totem was passed down through the generations until it was given to Mari.
Mari’s life in the small African village was filled with hardships, from the murder of her mother at an early age, to the murder of her father later on in life. You would think that Mari would have fallen apart like most of us, but she was able to become stronger. The deaths of her mother led her to embrace life and look up to her father, a priest. Poachers killed her mother, leaving hate in Mari’s heart for that profession, and she would later use her powers to take down a group of poachers. Her father’s death was also violent and personal. Her uncle, a general in the army, killed his own brother while trying to take the power of the family totem for himself. His plan backfired and created an enemy, in his niece. Mari would take the totem and flee to find her own life away from Africa. Following his death, Mari decided to leave her village and learn how to use her new found powers. She came to New York. There Mari found her place as a beautiful fashion model. She proved to be hotter than Halle Barry and smarter than Tyra Banks: she was supermodel by day and superhero by night. And though she enjoyed modeling, her heart was drawn to do good by using the totem to summon the powers of various animals to fight crime.
Mari eventually joined the JLA in Detroit and became one of the heavy hitters in the DCU. Once again Mari proved that she is not the typical hero. After leaving the League and going back to modeling, her crew was killed on a shoot, which led her to find and kill the murderer. For her penance she decided to join the Suicide Squad. Mari walked a fine line with the Squad until finally coming back and rejoining the JLA.
The most interesting twist in this hero’s life is happening right now. She has lost her ability to control the powers of the animal kingdom, and gained the ability to control meta-human powers. She is now able to draw powers ranging from Superman’s, to the Green Lantern’s ring. This is an interesting twist to an interesting character. 
Mari’s look has gone to being goofy and plain to modern and sexy. Mattel has proven with the new Wonder Woman that they can do something both iconic and beautiful. So what version of Vixen would you like to see?
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