Artemis of Bana-Mighdall (New Earth)

Artemis was born an Amazon as a member of the Egyptian tribe of Bana-Mighdall. Eventually Princess Diana of Themyscira, or Wonder Woman, found their city while searching for the villan Cheetah, who had stolen her golden Lasso of Truth. As the Bana-Mighdallian language had changed so much over time to incorporate middle eastern dialect, Diana had a hard time communicating with the newly-found Amazons. Eventually a battle took place between her and the Bana-Mighdallian's chief warrior or Shim'Tar. Soon an enraged Olympian god Hermes, who was in love with Diana, took vengeance on the desert Amazons for attacking his beloved, and the city of Bana-Mighdall was destroyed. Homeless, the remaining Amazons eventually took up with the witch Circe who was a nemesis of Wonder Woman. It was agreed that in exchange for their servitude Circe would grant them immortality and a new home to call their own. It was decided that since the Themyscirian princess was the initial cause of their city being destroyed, they would take over her Amazon city instead. Though only 14 years of age at this time, Artemis spoke before the Queen and Council to protest the planned attack as she felt that Amazons must not war against each other. Her cries were ignored and the attack was undertaken.

Artemis as Wonder Woman, with Diana

During the attack on Themyscira the witch Circe showed her true colors and teleported the island into a dimension of demons in order for both tribes to be destroyed. The two tribes put aside their rivalry temporarily and fought the demons in order to ensure the Amazon survival. Though only a few months passed in the real world, the time the Amazons spent in the demon dimension lasted 10 years. Discovering that Circe had made her island home disappear, Wonder Woman forced her to return it to its rightful place. Once this was done Wonder Woman learned about the invasion and the demon war. She eventually met Artemis who was now in her mid-20s. The two got off to a rocky start but Diana could see that Artemis' heart was true.

Wonder Woman

Due to being in the demon dimension, Queen Hippolyta began to see visions of the future. One of those visions included Wonder Woman dying. Keeping this to herself, she called for a new Contest for the title of Wonder Woman. Initially excluding the new Amazons, Queen Hippolyta submitted to a vote on the whole to include them at Diana's behest. Through some mystical managing on Hippolyta's part, Artemis eventually won the Contest and became the new Wonder Woman. As gifts to aid her in her new mission, Artemis was given several mystical objects. The Gauntlet of Atlas which increased its wearer's strength by 10 times, The Sandals of Hermes which gave the gift of speed and flight, and the golden Lasso of Truth which forced anyone tied by it to speak only truth. Although Artemis tried diligently to separate herself from her predecessor, this proved to be rather hard to do. Her approach to various situations was often seen as more violent than beneficial. Because of this, and due to Man's World's respect of Diana, Artemis often would receive the cold shoulder from those she tried to help, extending even to her brief time in the Justice League. A comment was once made that Batman refused to allow Artemis to even sit in "Diana's" chair during JLA meetings. She later met a representative from a public relations company who agreed to help Artemis with her public likability. What Artemis wasn't aware of was that the company had staged several false battles for her that ultimately helped downtrodden groups such as immigrant workers and abused women. Once she uncovered this truth she set about to prove herself by single-handedly taking down Boston's biggest mob families. Unfortunately Artemis' arrogance eventually gained the better of her, and she died in a battle with the White Magician. Thus, Queen Hippolyta's vision of Wonder Woman dying came true.

Requiem

Artemis as Requiem

For some reason, after her death Artemis' soul ended up in Tartarus and there she became a figurative bride to one of the ruling Princes of Hell named Dalkriig-Hath. Eventually Artemis was able to kill Dalkriig-Hath and regain access to the world of the living. Wanting to separate herself from her former title as Wonder Woman, Artemis used her skills learned in Tartarus to her advantage and joined a group of demon hunting heroes called the Hellenders. While there she was assigned the codename Javelin, which she quickly rejected for the name Requiem. Artemis developed a romantic interest in fellow Hellender Sure-Shot, a master of arsenal and projection weapons. This interest was dropped though when she discovered that Sure-Shot's perceived self-assurredness was brought on by psychotropic drugs which were meant to keep various Hellender members fearless while battling the likes of demons and ghouls. She also befriended a woman by the name of Henrietta Jessup, who went by the codename Sojourner. Though Sojourner didn't have any warrior skills to speak of, Artemis stood by her friend and tutored her as a novice Amazon. This teacher/mentor relationship was later expanded as Wonder Woman asked Artemis to take on a new pupil, that of Cassandra Sandsmark who had become the new Wonder Girl. Taking Cassandra as a full-time student, Artemis became a reserve member of the Hellenders leaving Sojourner to take her place as a full-time member. Later still, Artemis' teacher/mentor resume would expand to even include the combat training of Supergirl. It was during the initial meeting of Supergirl that Artemis would gain her revenge against Batman for his hostile attitude towards her when she attempted to join the JLA. Artemis bested Batman in hand-to-hand combat but was eventually subdued with a tranquilizer dart.

The underworld demon Belyllioth, who served as master over some of the Myrmidon demons, later contacted Artemis to inform her of an unrest in Tartarus. With the death of the demon Dalkriig-Hath, the remaining twelve princes of hell were battling for dominion over the dead demon's realm. As Dalkriig-Hath's widow, Artemis was by rights next in line to rule his region of Hades. Artemis ended the demonic war by presenting herself before the twelve demon rulers to officially be granted her former husband's station. After the blessing ceremony was given Artemis revealed that the blessing was actually given to Belyllioth, who was magically disguised in Artemis' form. Angered by her deception, the twelve princes of hell vowed vengeance against Artemis upon her return to Hades. Fortunately for Artemis, her devoted friend Belyllioth (now officially one of the thirteen rulers of Tartarus) has sworn her allegiance and protection to the Amazon for eternity.

Shim'Tar

After some time Artemis returned to Themyscira to aid her Amazon sisters in the uneasy living conditions they continued to work in due to lingering animosities between the two tribes. Civil war incited by the Amazon sorceress Magala eventually broke out between the two groups of Amazons, leaving Artemis to take up the title of her tribe's chief warrior, or Shim'Tar. She did this in the hopes of ending the war and to guide both tribes to peaceful negotiations. As Shim'Tar Artemis battled Queen Hippolyta, who was acting as the newest Wonder Woman. During their battle Artemis reminded Hippolyta that the Themyscirian queen wasn't given the armor of Wonder Woman out of honor, but rather as a punishment for causing the death of not only Artemis but of her daughter Diana as well. Ultimately coming to her senses, Hippolyta finally forgave the Amazons of Bana-Mighdall for their previous transgressions and joined her daughter Diana on the battlefield. Together Queen Hippolyta and Princess Diana renounced their crowns, leaving the island without a structured government in the hopes of ending the needless slaughter brought on by the war. They were successful and Artemis and the Themyscirian General Phillipus were later voted to be co-rulers of the island.

Themyscira's disappearance

Due to the OMAC attack on Themyscira (as well as the many previous attacks to the island since Diana had become Wonder Woman), it was decided by Artemis and Phillipus that the entire island of Themyscira and all of its inhabitants (sans Diana) would be transported to a hidden dimension via the Olympian and Bana-Mighdallian Goddesses. Artemis and the remaining Amazons live in this dimension in peace for a year's time.

For reasons known only to the goddess Athena, the witch Circe was allowed to enter the Amazons protected dimension and revive Queen Hippolyta from death. Circe informed the Amazons that Diana was being illegally detained by the U.S. government and tortured until she gave them the secrets of the Purple Ray. Because of this the Amazons agreed to give Hippolyta her royal title back and followed her instructions to invade Washington, D.C. which brought about the events of Amazons Attack. Artemis and Phillipus were assigned to oversee the battle but soon lost faith in Hippolyta when they discovered some of her actions against Man's World proved to be less honorable.

Powers and Abilities

Powers

Immortality, some knowledge of low level sorceries.

Abilities

Trained in high levels of hand-to-hand combat, expertise in a wide array of weapons.

Strength level

Peak human conditioning

Paraphernalia

Equipment: None known.

Notes

No special notes.

Trivia

Although Artemis is an Amazon of Bana-Mighdall since birth, her given name is a mystery as the Bana-Mighdallians forsook the Olympian gods millennia ago. One theory fans have come up with is that Artemis' birth mother may have died during childbirth.^{[citation needed]} Naming the surviving child Artemis could be an ironic call to the goddess Artemis for yet again failing the Amazons, as one of the goddess' many responsibilities includes being the goddess of mid-wives and childbirth.^{[original research?]}
During John Byrne's time on the Wonder Woman comic, he insinuated that Artemis previously had an affair with the New God Kanto.^{[citation needed]} This falls out of established history as in the Requiem mini-series Artemis admits to being a virgin. Also, prior to Artemis' return from the demon dimension at the age of 24, the only other time Artemis would have had to even have met Kanto would have been between infancy to 14 years of age.
During Greg Rucka's tenure on the Wonder Woman comic he stated on his personal comic book message board that the DC editors approached him with the idea of getting rid of the goddess Artemis during his run as audiences may be confused with the two characters of the same name.^{[citation needed]} Greg followed through with the suggestion despite the fact that the two characters have existed in the same title with little confusion for 10 years prior.
After Artemis' death as Wonder Woman, her soul was sent to a form of Hell as shown in the Requiem mini-series. A crucifix topped tombstone is also depicted as marking Artemis' grave in Boston. This is probably an error or oversight, as Artemis' belief system is that of the ancient Egyptians and various other middle-eastern religions. As such her soul would not go to a christian version of hell and a crucifix would not be on her headstone. Also, her place of burial would more likely be on Themyscira with her people and not an outworld city among strangers.^{[original research?]}

Links and References

Artemis of Bana Mighdall at Wikipedia.org

References

DC Comics Encyclopedia

Footnotes