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Real Name:

Helena Janice Bertinelli

Versions of the JLA:

Justice League America, The JLA

Known Aliases:

None

Nicknames:

None

Occupation:

Teacher at Gotham Heights High School

Other Group Affiliations:

None

First Appearance:

(SILVER AGE): All-Star Comics #69

Base of Operations:

Gotham City

Age:

Mid-twenties

5' 10"

125 lbs.

Blue

Black

Known Relatives:

Guido Bertinelli (Father) - Deceased, Carmela Bertinelli (Mother) - Deceased, and Freddy Caldone (Cousin) - Deceased

Known Allies:

Batman, Nightwing, Black Canary II, Azrael, The Oracle, Robin III, and The Spoiler

Known Enemies:

Catwoman, Omerta The Silencer, and Mandragora

Powers and Abilities:

The Huntress is an excellent gymnast and master hand-to-hand combatant skilled in a number of martial arts. As well she is a master of disguise and an excellent marksman no matter how strange the weapon may be. Her weapons include a variety of edged weapons, including a crossbow, throwing knives and darts. On her current costume she has a wrist-launcher attached to her right arm that fires small CO2-propelled bolts.

At present, Oracle does not know Helena Bertinelli personally. She is, however, an acquaintance of the Huntress. And perhaps it is only a matter of time before Barbara Gordon figures out that her occasional ally is actually the sole surviving member of a mob family murdered by rival factions of the city's Mafioso.

In her youth, La Cosa Nostra robbed Helena of her parents and brother, forcing her to seek refuge among Sicilian relations. Trained to fight by her cousin, Helena later returned to Gotham, determined to hunt down the men who ordered and carried out her family's destruction. Her retribution involved dismantling the organization to which she was once bound by blood.

As the Huntress, Helena armed herself with crossbow and knife, stalking Gotham's organized crime figures with a violent intent. The city's Dark Knight defender, Batman, has tried time and again to temper her methods, even nominating her for membership in the Justice League of America, though he later had her membership revoked. But, through it all, the Huntress has remained unwilling to compromise her convictions.

Most recently, Helena found herself a pawn of Checkmate, an ultra-secret law-enforcement agency which offered the Huntress its "Queen" position in exchange for information on the Dark Knight. With Batman's help, Helena accepted Checkmate's offer without betraying him. There is little doubt that the Huntress plans to extricate herself from Checkmate's control.

Time will tell if Oracle has the means, or the desire, to make the Huntress another of her trusted Birds of Prey.

Notes:

• The only surviving member of the Bertinelli family, the Huntress exists, in her mind, to do nothing but destroy the mafia, the same organization she was born to, the same group ultimately responsible for the murders of all her relations.

• Unlike other junior members of the JLA, Batman has taken special interest in the training of the Huntress, no doubt due to the fact that both have made Gotham City the focus of their Guardianship.

• Helena has temporarily donned the costume of Batgirl, as her third identity, to strike fear during Batman's absence in Gotham City, "No Man's Land."

• While The Huntress doesn't like the idea of Batman keeping an eye on her, she nonetheless finds herself enjoying her membership and learning from the team despite herself.

• Her Unerring aim with her crossbow kept the JLA's awesome arsenal at full strength following the departure of Green Arrow. Huntress was expelled in the midst of the Mageddon crisis for threatening lethal force against the villain Prometheus.

• Isolated and manipulated by Batman during the course of No Man's Land, Huntress took four bullets from the Joker's gun. Now recovered from those injuries, she feels more alone in her fight against the Mafia than ever. Pursuing her vendetta with ever more savage fury, the Batman once again keeps a wary eye on her actions, waiting for her to cross the line.

• Since the the rebuilding of Gotham City, another has watched her as well - a man known as The Question.