The Magdalena is a

superheroine A superhero or superheroine is a fictional character who typically possesses Superpower (ability), ''superpowers'' or abilities beyond those of ordinary people, is frequently costumed concealing their identity, and fits the role of the hero, t ...

created by Joe Benitez,

David Wohl David Wohl is an American comic book writer and editor. He is best known as an editor at Marvel Comics and Top Cow Productions and, at the latter, writing '' The Darkness'' and ''Witchblade''. Career David Wohl began his creative career as a h ...

, and

Malachy Coney Malachy Coney is a comics writer and cartoonist from Belfast, Northern Ireland. He grew up in Ardoyne in the north of the city.''Fractured Visions'part oneanpart two video documentary, 2010 Biography Coney's first notable comics work was a two-e ...

for

Top Cow Productions Top Cow Productions is an American comics publisher, an imprint of Image Comics. It was founded by Marc Silvestri in 1992. The company is known for publishing titles such as '' Cyberforce'', '' The Darkness'', ''Sunstone, Wanted,'' and '' Witch ...

. The character is based on the Biblical character of

Mary Magdalene Mary Magdalene (sometimes called Mary of Magdala, or simply the Magdalene or the Madeleine) was a woman who, according to the four canonical gospels, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to crucifixion of Jesus, his cr ...

, and the theory of the bloodline resulting from Mary's marriage to

Jesus Christ Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

, from which according to the storyline, the Magdalena is descended. Each Magdalena wields the

Spear of Destiny A spear is a polearm consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head. The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with fire hardened spears, or it may be made of a more durable material fastened to t ...

(Holy Lance), the

spear A spear is a polearm consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head. The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with Fire hardening, fire hardened spears, or it may be made of a more durable materia ...

that pierced the side of Jesus.

Publication history

The Magdalena first appeared in '' The Darkness'' #15 (June 1998) and only appeared in two brief series. The Magdalena has been featured in ''The Darkness'', ''

Witchblade ''Witchblade'' is an American comic book Ongoing series, series published by Top Cow Productions, an imprint (trade name), imprint of Image Comics, which ran from November 1995 to October 2015. The series was created by Top Cow founder and owne ...

'', ''

Tomb Raider ''Tomb Raider'', known as ''Lara Croft: Tomb Raider'' from 2001 to 2008, is a media franchise that originated with an Action-adventure game, action-adventure video game series created by British video game developer Core Design. The franchise i ...

'', and ''

Vampirella Vampirella () is a vampire superheroine created by Forrest J Ackerman and comic book artist Trina Robbins in Warren Publishing's black-and-white horror comics magazine ''Vampirella'' #1 (Sept. 1969), a sister publication of '' Creepy'' and ''E ...

'', and in its own series of twelve issues from April 2010 to April 2011.

Fictional character biography

The Magdalena is the title of a series of women descended from

via his marriage to

. The Magdalena inherits great powers from the royal bloodline and acts as a warrior in the defence of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. The Roman Catholic Church has been the Magdalena's employer since the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

, raising her from childhood and training her until she is ready to carry out her role. The

Inquisition The Inquisition was a Catholic Inquisitorial system#History, judicial procedure where the Ecclesiastical court, ecclesiastical judges could initiate, investigate and try cases in their jurisdiction. Popularly it became the name for various med ...

, a secretive and powerful council of

cardinals Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

, oversees the Magdalena's activities and decides her missions.

Sister Rosalia

Sister Rosalia was a former Magdalena who died when she was 33 years old. She was raped as a teenager by a masked assailant. She became pregnant as a result of the assault and gave birth to a girl. The child was stolen from her and raised in an unidentified

convent A convent is an enclosed community of monks, nuns, friars or religious sisters. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The term is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...

. In her last mission, she was sent to investigate

vampirism A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead humanoid creatures that often visited loved ones and c ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. She was informed that vampirism is a

retrovirus A retrovirus is a type of virus that inserts a DNA copy of its RNA genome into the DNA of a host cell that it invades, thus changing the genome of that cell. After invading a host cell's cytoplasm, the virus uses its own reverse transcriptase e ...

that forces vampires to consume blood to restore their

hemoglobin Hemoglobin (haemoglobin, Hb or Hgb) is a protein containing iron that facilitates the transportation of oxygen in red blood cells. Almost all vertebrates contain hemoglobin, with the sole exception of the fish family Channichthyidae. Hemoglobin ...

. She decided that they were not evil and aided their escape. She was killed by the soldiers of the Inquisition, the Garduna, for trying to prevent them from slaughtering the vampires. It was hinted that Rosalia might have been infected with the virus and would rise three days after her death, mirroring the

Resurrection of Jesus The resurrection of Jesus () is Christianity, Christian belief that God in Christianity, God Resurrection, raised Jesus in Christianity, Jesus from the dead on the third day after Crucifixion of Jesus, his crucifixion, starting—or Preexis ...

Sister Mariella

Mariella, the adult daughter of Rosalia, was sent to kill Jackie Estacado with the Spear of Destiny, but unbeknownst to her she still wasn't fully trained and wasn't able to differentiate between right and wrong. After the Sisters of the Order of Magdalene performed the ritual which gave Mariella the ability to divine a person's sins, she and her Sisters were overpowered and defeated by Jackie, who made an example of them by crucifying them in the church. After recovering from her crucifixion and the fight with Jackie, Mariella learned where the Spear of Destiny was and prepared to retrieve it. While doing so, she encountered the Angelus and Appolonia Francetti in the

Amazon rainforest The Amazon rainforest, also called the Amazon jungle or Amazonia, is a Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, moist broadleaf tropical rainforest in the Amazon biome that covers most of the Amazon basin of South America. This basin ...

and was again left to die after Appolonia used a portion of the Darkness' power to subdue her.

Patience

The third and current Magdalena is known as Patience, created by writer

Brian Holguin Brian Holguin () is an American comic book writer. Work Holguin is known for his work on ''Aria'' and Todd McFarlane's ''Spawn''. He also wrote '' Spawn: Godslayer'', a dark fantasy re-imagining of Spawn. Partial bibliography ''Aria'' (1999) * ...

. Patience was in her

novitiate The novitiate, also called the noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a Christian ''novice'' (or ''prospective'') monastic, apostolic, or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking vows in order to discern whether ...

but she left her convent suddenly, forcing the Inquisition to send an agent, Kristof, to track her down when her time came to assume the role of the Magdalena. Kristof found Patience living on the streets with a homeless girl named Rowan Barry. Kristof became Patience's mentor and gave her basic training. Patience was initially hesitant but later accepted her destiny when Rowan was abducted by agents of an evil force. The events lead to a disagreement with Kristof and the Inquisition, prompting her to declare herself independent of their control. She remains allied with them only when their goals do not conflict with her ethics. Patience appeared again when

Sara Pezzini Sara Magdalene Pezzini is a fictional superheroine starring in the ''Witchblade'' series. Sara also appeared in a Turner Network Television live-action feature film and TV series of the same name and she was portrayed by Yancy Butler. She is an ...

, an officer of the

New York City Police Department The City of New York Police Department, also referred to as New York City Police Department (NYPD), is the primary law enforcement agency within New York City. Established on May 23, 1845, the NYPD is the largest, and one of the oldest, munic ...

and wielder of the

, was attacked by a bloodthirsty

demon A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in folklore, mythology, religion, occultism, and literature; these beliefs are reflected in Media (communication), media including f ...

posing as a young woman. Patience helped her to drive away the demon.

Benedetta Maria Ferro

Benedetta was a Magdalena of Spanish descent who tried to stop Jackie Estacado's ancestor, Miguel Estacado, from obtaining a treasure meant for the Pope. During her battle with Estacado, she was fatally wounded before plunging the Spear of Destiny into the hull of Estacado's ship. Before her death, Miguel took the spear, intending to return it to the Holy See, and left her to die, a decision he later regretted.

Powers and abilities

Each Magdalena has the innate ability to see into the human heart and show people the error of their ways in order to give them the chance to redeem their sins. Additionally, each Magdalena wields the

, the

that pierced the side of Christ, as a weapon against demons and evil magic.

Planned movie

A movie was planned by Top Cow in 2008. In July 2009,

Ryûhei Kitamura is a Japanese film director, producer, and screenwriter. Kitamura relocated to Sydney, Australia at age 17 and attended a school for visual arts for two years. In 1997, Kitamura directed and produced the short film ''Down to Hell'', which receiv ...

was attached to direct with Holly Brix writing.

Jenna Dewan Jenna Lee Dewan (; born December 3, 1980) is an American actress and dancer. She started her career as a backup dancer for Janet Jackson, and later worked with artists including Christina Aguilera, Pink, and Missy Elliott. She is known for her r ...

and

Luke Goss Luke Damon Goss (born 29 September 1968) is an English actor, and drummer of the 1980s band Bros. He has appeared in numerous films including '' Blade II'' (2002) as Jared Nomak, '' One Night with the King'' (2006) as King Xerxes, '' Hellboy ...

were set to star. The project never came to fruition.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Magdalena Comic martial artists Comics characters introduced in 1998 Depictions of Jesus in comics Cultural depictions of Mary Magdalene Fiction about the Inquisition Fictional characters who can manipulate light Fictional Christian nuns Fictional polearm and spearfighters Fictional swordfighters in comics Groups of fictional characters Holy Lance Image Comics characters with accelerated healing Image Comics female superheroes Top Cow titles Witchblade characters