The Harbinger (Captain Lyla Michaels) is a superheroine appearing in publications by

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

. She had a supporting role in the ''

Crisis on Infinite Earths ''Crisis on Infinite Earths'' is a 1985 to 1986 American comic book fictional crossover, crossover series published by DC Comics. Written by Marv Wolfman and penciller, pencilled by George Pérez, it was first released as a 12-issue limited ser ...

'' storyline, where she gathered heroes to protect the

multiverse The multiverse is the hypothetical set of all universes. Together, these universes are presumed to comprise everything that exists: the entirety of space, time, matter, energy, information, and the physical laws and constants that describ ...

from the

Anti-Monitor The Anti-Monitor is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He served as the main antagonist of the 1985 DC Comics miniseries ''Crisis on Infinite Earths'' and later appears as an enemy to the Green Lantern Corps ...

. The character appeared as a recurring character in

The CW The CW Network, LLC (commonly referred to as The CW or simply CW) is an American commercial broadcast television network which is controlled by Nexstar Media Group through a 75% ownership interest. The network's name is derived from the firs ...

television series ''

Arrow An arrow is a fin-stabilized projectile launched by a bow. A typical arrow usually consists of a long, stiff, straight shaft with a weighty (and usually sharp and pointed) arrowhead attached to the front end, multiple fin-like stabilizers c ...

'' and ''

The Flash The Flash is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Harry Lampert, the original Flash first appeared in ''Flash Comics'' #1 (cover date, cover-dated Jan ...

'' television series, portrayed by Audrey Marie Anderson.

Publication history

Lyla Michaels was created by

Marv Wolfman Marvin Arthur Wolfman (born May 13, 1946) is an American comic book and novelization writer. He worked on Marvel Comics's ''The Tomb of Dracula'', for which he and artist Gene Colan created the vampire-slayer Blade (character), Blade, and DC Comi ...

and

George Pérez George Pérez (; June 9, 1954 – May 6, 2022) was an American comic book artist and writer, who worked primarily as a penciller. He came to prominence in the 1970s penciling ''Fantastic Four (comic book), Fantastic Four'' and ''The Avengers (c ...

, and first appeared in '' The New Teen Titans'' Annual #2 (July 1983). She first appeared as Harbinger in ''

'' #1 (April 1985).

Fictional character biography

Lyla Michaels is an orphan who is taken in by the

Monitor Monitor or monitor may refer to: Places * Monitor, Alberta * Monitor, Indiana, town in the United States * Monitor, Kentucky * Monitor, Oregon, unincorporated community in the United States * Monitor, Washington * Monitor, Logan County, Wes ...

and becomes his assistant. In ''

'', Michaels becomes Harbinger to battle the Anti-Monitor. Harbinger sacrifices her powers to save

Earth-X ''Earth X'' is a 1999 comic book limited series published by American company Marvel Comics. ''Earth X'' was written by Jim Krueger with art by John Paul Leon. Based on Alex Ross' notes, the series features a dystopian version of the Marvel Un ...

Earth-S The Multiverse (DC Comics), DC Multiverse is a fictional continuity construct used in numerous DC Comics publications. The Multiverse has undergone numerous changes since its introduction and has included various universes, listed below between t ...

, and

Earth-Four The DC Multiverse is a fictional continuity construct used in numerous DC Comics publications. The Multiverse has undergone numerous changes since its introduction and has included various universes, listed below between the original Multiverse a ...

before regaining them. After the multiverse is destroyed, Harbinger joins the

Amazons The Amazons (Ancient Greek: ', singular '; in Latin ', ') were a people in Greek mythology, portrayed in a number of ancient epic poems and legends, such as the Labours of Hercules, Labours of Heracles, the ''Argonautica'' and the ''Iliad''. ...

as their historian. Harbinger later sacrifices herself to protect

Supergirl Supergirl is the name of several fictional superheroines appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The original, current, and most well known Supergirl is Supergirl (Kara Zor-El), Kara Zor-El, the cousin of superhero Superman. Th ...

. She temporarily returns as a

Black Lantern The Black Lantern Corps is a fictional organization of wikt:corporeal, corporeal revenants (resembling intelligent zombies or jiangshi) appearing in comic books published by DC Comics, related to the emotional spectrum. The group is composed of d ...

in ''

Blackest Night "Blackest Night" is a 2009–10 American comic book Fictional crossover, crossover storyline published by DC Comics, consisting of an eponymous central miniseries, written by Geoff Johns and penciled by Ivan Reis, along with a number of tie-in i ...

''. Following Harbinger's death, an

artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is the capability of computer, computational systems to perform tasks typically associated with human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and decision-making. It is a field of re ...

resembling her appears in ''

The Multiversity ''The Multiversity'' is a two-issue Limited series (comics), limited series combined with seven interrelated one-shot (comics), one-shots set in the Multiverse (DC Comics), DC Multiverse in The New 52, a collection of universes seen in publicatio ...

''.

In other media

Television

Lyla Michaels appears in the

Arrowverse The Arrowverse is an American Superhero fiction, superhero media franchise and shared universe that is centered on various interconnected television series based on DC Comics superhero characters, primarily airing on The CW as well as web series ...

series ''

'' and ''

'', portrayed by Audrey Marie Anderson. This version is an agent, later the director, of A.R.G.U.S. and John Diggle's estranged wife who secretly works for Mar Novu.

Film

* Lyla Michaels / Harbinger appears in '' Superman/Batman: Apocalypse'', voiced by Rachel Quaintance. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information. This version is a resident of Themyscira and a friend of Supergirl before being killed by

Darkseid Darkseid () is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer-artist Jack Kirby, the character first made a cameo appearance in ''Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen'' #134 (December 1970), before being fully in ...

. * An original incarnation of Harbinger, Kara Zor-El, appears in the

Tomorrowverse The DC Animated Movie Universe (DCAMU) is an American media franchise and shared universe of animated films distributed between 2013 and 2024 by Warner Bros. Animation and DC Entertainment. Based on characters from the DC Universe (DC Comics) ...

films '' Justice League: Warworld'' and '' Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths'', voiced by

Kari Wahlgren Kari Wahlgren (born July 13, 1977) is an American voice actress who has provided English-language roles for animated movies, TV series, and video games. She got her start in anime voice-overs as List of FLCL characters#Haruko Haruhara, Haruko H ...

in the former and

Meg Donnelly Meg Elizabeth Donnelly (born July 25, 2000) is an American actress. She played Taylor Otto in the American Broadcasting Company, ABC sitcom ''American Housewife'' (2016–2021), Addison Wells in the Disney Channel film series Zombies (franchise), ...

in the latter.

Video games

* The AI incarnation of Harbinger appears in ''

DC Universe Online ''DC Universe Online'' (''DCUO'') is a free-to-play massively multiplayer online game set in the fictional universe of DC Comics. Developed by Dimensional Ink Games and co-published by Daybreak Game Company and WB Games, the game was initiall ...

''. * Lyla Michaels / Harbinger appears as a character summon in '' Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure''.

Merchandise

Lyla Michaels / Harbinger received an action figure in

DC Direct DC Direct is a division of Warner Bros. Discovery that sells collectibles based on DC Comics characters (Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, etc.). Prior to 1998, merchandise sold by DC Comics was branded with the DC Comics logo rather than with t ...

's ''Crisis'' line in 2005.

References

{{reflist Characters created by George Pérez Characters created by Marv Wolfman Comics characters introduced in 1983 DC Comics characters who can move at superhuman speeds DC Comics characters who can teleport DC Comics characters with superhuman durability or invulnerability DC Comics characters with superhuman strength DC Comics deities DC Comics female superheroes DC Comics metahumans DC Comics orphans Fictional characters who can duplicate themselves Fictional characters who can manipulate time Fictional characters with energy-manipulation abilities Fictional historians