Scorch
5 years ago - Scorch, a lesser pit fiend, helps Dan Cassidy & Zatanna in their hellquest. When they disrupt the balance of power in hell, she is able to claim near perfect kinship with fire.
3 years ago - Scorch helps Etrigan usurp the throne of Trigon, earning her freedom from Hell. She is drawn to J'onn J'onzz, whose biological aversion to fire is reversed, drawing them together. Her hold on him is only severed by Zatanna before he loses control, sending her back to hell.
now - Scorch is freed from hell by Vandal Savage to join Tartarus. She is eager to reconnect with J'onn J'onzz, unconcerned that their connection could turn him into a violent monster.
This is a very obscure character from the early aughts that has her origin in a very weird story that most people have considered non-cannon for a while, and under most circumstances, we'd probably not bother trying to adapt her. She does have one particular story under her belt, however, that suggests that she could be a great foil for one of the hardest characters in DC to actually challenge, and do so in a totally unique way. We'll need to get a little creative to fit her into our timeline, but we think this one is worth it.
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Scorch's Comic HistoryScorch appeared for the first time as a relative background character in the Emperor Joker story arc that ran through the various Superman titles in 2000. In it Joker steals the reality-warping powers of Mr. Mxyzptlk and remakes the whole world, most notably a twisted version of Superman named Bizarro (This was actually Bizarro's new origin for a while.) Joker also created a twisted new Justice League, among whom was a constantly smoking demon-looking girl. We never really got a sense of what she did or who she was, we only knew that she had previously been a normal person, but had been turned into this character by the Joker.
The Emperor Joker storyline wasn't hugely popular but it did have a few lasting effects on continuity, most notably the continued existence of this version of Bizarro. In addition we later discover that Scorch is still around; she was still in her demonic form and had vast pyromantic powers, and just wanted to get back to her own reality which no longer existed. There was still an ongoing tragic element to the character in that she was essentially a victim of the Joker, afflicted with this twisted new personality and powers. Eventually she is described as 'A southern belle named Audrey Sparks' although there was nothing left of that personality. |
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Scorch only made a few limited appearances, but she had one major story arc that really defines her role in continuity. During Joe Kelly's run in JLA Martian Manhunter temporarily left the team to try to control his biological aversion to flame, and did so by approaching Scorch while she was in some sort of house arrest, offering to help her undo her psychological damage. This storyline played out for the better part of 2003, with the characters succeeding, falling in love, and even talking about marriage.
The twist came when we discovered that, in removing his species aversion to flame, they had unlocked blocks put into his DNA by the Guardians of the Universe thousands of years ago, allowing an evil entity called the Burning Martian to take control over J'onn's body, fight and defeat the entire League single-handedly, and almost to blow up an entire city in a nuclear detonation. Scorch, who had ligitimately turned a corner thanks to her relationship with J'onn, managed to absorb the entire nuclear explosion while the League saved the day. She was left in a coma, so while J'onn was ultimately saved, their relationship ended in tragedy. This was, essentially, the last time we ever saw Scorch. Joe Kelly introduced a lot of high-concept ideas during his JLA run, and he had basically fully claimed this character and defined her in a way that didn't seem to necessitate her ever returning. |
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Our Scorch StoryScorch represents a very unique opportunity in our timeline. She lets us create a very potent, dangerous threat to Martian Manhunter without needing to create an over-leveled powerhouse. She's not even exactly EVIL, in the strictest sense; but is instead an agent of pure chaos who is motivated by her attraction to J'onn, with no compunction about what the repercussions of them being together might be.
We're changing her story quite a bit, of course. We're completely ignoring her Emperor Joker origins, and instead just making her an outright demon. There's an uncomfortable element of perpetual victimhood in her comic origins, but by taking advantage of several stories in our timeline we can explain her managing to escape hell, where she can be a fully actualized individual acting under her own agency. In fact, her effect on J'onn can actually be read as undermining HIS agency, which means that even though she's fully motivated by her attraction to him, she's still the bad guy, and severing their connection is an act of restoring J'onn's control of himself. Which makes sense. Because she's a demon. |