Member of the Elementals
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The Salamander
Image from SuperFriends, #15 (Dec., 1978).
Ginger O'Shea is a Gotham City fashion designer and the owner of the Chez O'Shea Fashion Boutique.
Background Information[]
The Salamander
Image from SuperFriends, #15 (Dec., 1978).
Image from SuperFriends, #14 (Oct./Nov., 1978).
Image from SuperFriends, #14 (Oct./Nov., 1978).
In the parallel universe of Earth-1A, one night at a dinner party with Mr. Wayne, Ginger, Grant Arden, Crystal Marr, Jeannine Gale, and Sandor Fane and others were talking about Sandor's studies on Paracelsus,[1] and his preoccupation with Alchemy. He told them he had discovered a way of summoning the 'four spirits of the elements.'
After dinner, Bruce took off to protect the city and Sandor kidnapped Ginger, Jeannine, Crystal, and Grant to test his theory of inhabiting with the spirits of the elements. Ginger was inhabited by the Salamander, who had control over fire.
Sandor Fane, aka the Overlord tells the elementals about the SuperFriends and how they were evil. After hearing this, the elementals decide to put an end to the SuperFriends. The Overlord then gave them costumes to hide their hosts identities, and then stationed each one of them at a location for each member of the SuperFriends to face.
Ginger was stationed in Gotham and her target was Batman. Due to her ill-conceived costume, she was having trouble summoning fire; because it was not compatible with her body. She eventually figured out that she could breath fire. Batman became overwhelmed until the Wonder Twin Zan arrived and flooded the street in a wave, knocking Ginger out. Batman then removed her mask, and was shocked to see who it was.
Soon all the elementals are subdued by the SuperFriends who eventually decide to help them become heroes. Back a the Hall of Justice, Ginger creates a costume for each one of them that reacts with their powers.
The Overlord broadcasts that he would attack selected locations each residing with the four elements. She then went with Wonder Woman to Paradise Island where it was being bombarded by meteorites. Ginger then jumped out of Wonder Woman Invisible Jet. Once she landed she engulfed large amounts of fire to grow to large enough to catch them. Deciding to fly the meteors back to space changed her mind and instead thru them back into space. Upon completion, the pair returns to the Hall of Justice.[2]
Background Information on the Elemental Salamander[]
According to a theory advanced by Paracelsus, the Salamander was the elemental of fire, which has had substantial influence on the role of salamanders in the occult.[3]
According to the SuperFriends Comic Book, issue #14, the 'Elemental Spirts' have a 300 years life-cycle. Upon death, the Salamanders will turn into ash. In order for them to be set free, and gain true 'spirits', they must inhabit a human-form and must either marry or perform good deeds the rest of their life.
Powers and Abilities[]
Inhabited by the elemental Salamander, Ginger has:
- Pyrokinesis: The ability to create or to control fire with the mind
- Flight: She has the ability to fly
- Transformation: She also has the ability to transform into pure flame, and in that state she can expand, becoming a giant.
Appearances[]
- SuperFriends comic book series:
- Super Friends, #14 (November 1, 1978)
- Super Friends, #15 (December 1, 1978)
Notes[]
- A large body of legend, mythology, and symbolism has developed around this creature over the centuries. Many of these qualities are rooted in verifiable traits of the natural creature but often exaggerated to a significant degree, as was common in ancient works on natural history and philosophy.
- In Medieval European bestiaries, fanciful depictions of salamanders include "a satyr-like creature in a circular wooden tub" (eighth century), "a worm penetrating flames" (twelfth century), "a winged dog" (thirteenth century), and "a small bird in flames" (thirteenth century).
- Renaissance depictions are characteristically more realistic, adhering more closely to the Classical description.
- Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) wrote the following on the salamander: "This has no digestive organs, and gets no food but from the fire, in which it constantly renews its scaly skin. The salamander, which renews its scaly skin in the fire,—for virtue."[4]
External links[]
- See: The Salamander at The Medieval Bestiary (Animals in the Middle Ages)
- See: The Salamander at Dave's Mythical Creatures and Places
References[]
- ↑ See: Paracelsus at Wikipedia
- ↑ As revealed in Super Friends, Vol. 3 #14 and issue #15 (Nov. -- Dec. 1978).
- ↑ Theophrast von Hohenheim a.k.a. Paracelsus, Sämtliche Werke: Abt. 1, v. 14, sec. 7, Liber de nymphis, sylphis, pygmaeis et salamandris et de caeteris spiritibus. Karl Sudhoff and Wilh. Matthießen, eds. Munich:Oldenbourg, 1933.
- ↑ Book XX: Humorous Writings, The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci, edited by Jean Paul Richter, 1880. (unconfirmed)