MORELLA

Real Name: Unrevealed

Class: Human technology-user

Occupation: Supervillain

Group Affiliation: S.P.I.D.E.R.

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: French Riviera

First Appearance: Catwoman II #48 (August, 1997)

Powers: Morella was a criminal mastermind with worldwide underworld connections. She wore claws tipped with venom.

History: (Catwoman II #48, 49) - Morella formed Society for Political Instability and Diverted Economic Resources or S.P.I.D.E.R. and established eight branches dealing in different criminal endeavors. She was backed by her top henchmen Spider and Widow, and an army of criminals. Morella hoped to cause enough strife to shut down the worlds governments and take over the world. Zee presented Catwoman with a real challenge, infiltrating S.P.I.D.E.R. in the Riviera and absconding with their riches. Using her scuba-suit she broke into S.P.I.D.E.R.'s undersea lair, but Morella had been observing her through hidden video cameras, and offered her a job. She was agog at seeing all the riches they had, and decided to play along while thinking about how to steal the most valuables from them. She stole a Toltec crystal skull from them, but then determined to have it for herself. Clutterbuck delivered her a device to jam S.P.I.D.E.R. 's surveillance tech. Morella was going to use the crystal skull for psychological warfare, disrupting the politics of South America so she could raid it. Catwoman got her hands on the skull, but was confronted by Morella's henchmen Widow and Spider. Catwoman was cornered, and Morella tried to feed her to sharks, so Catwoman was forced to flee without the skull, and escaped the lair in a speedboat. She knew they'd never suspect her breaking back in, so that's what she did, and contacted Zee, telling him to send the coast guard by midnight. She gathered a huge sack of loot, including the crystal skull, and activated the lair's self-destruct sequence. Morella battled her, and slashed at her with poison-tipped claws, but Catwoman turned the weapon on its user. As the clock ticked down S.P.I.D.E.R. evacuated, amd Catwoman used her scuba-suit to swim away with her loot unnoticed. Morella was more concerned with finding an anti-venom than going to jail.

Comments: Created by Doug Moench & Jim Balent.