We’re now six episodes deep into Young Justice: Outsiders, and at episode four we finally got the name of this mysterious new metahuman from Markovia—Halo! (Cut to Outsiders fans screaming internally the world over.) In the comics, Halo takes on the name of Gabrielle Doe, whereas on the show, her name is Gabrielle Daou. So far, though, I am absolutely loving the evolution Halo has gone through in making the jump from the comic book page to the animated series. I thought for this week’s column we could look at Halo’s history in the comics and how it might come into play later in the series.

Halo first appeared, very blonde, in the pages of THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD #200, in July 1983, created by Mike W. Barr and Jim Aparo. You might recognize their names from my previous “Inside Outsiders” column. That’s because they created the Outsiders. (I think it’s safe to assume they might get mentioned again in future.) Fans of the Flash will also know Jim Aparo from the incredible creative contributions he made to the Fastest Man Alive’s mythology.

What’s the most interesting thing about Halo? Probably that she’s not even a real person. Or a complete person. She’s a gestalt—a being much like Doctor Frankenstein’s creature who is made up of parts from different women. Halo was made from an energy being known as the Aurakle and the body of a woman named Violet Harper.

You may not recognize the name Violet Harper if you aren’t familiar with ’80s-era DC comics, however you probably recognize the person behind Violet’s fateful end—Syonide.

Yes, that Syonide. The one who worked for Tobias Whale on The CW’s Black Lightning until she was killed earlier this season. Young Justice: Outsiders does not tie into the live action television shows, but the Masters of Disaster are being built in earnest over on Black Lightning and a live action version of the Outsiders seems to be on its way momentarily there as well.

In the original Outsiders stories, Halo’s powers are recognized by Batman, and he recruits her directly for the strike team he is building. This is echoed by Young Justice: Outsiders’ de facto leader Nightwing allowing Tigress to bring Halo with them, not only out of the country, but onto the team.

I have to take a detour and write about Dick Grayson for a moment. I want to commend Young Justice for continuing to have Batman as a powerful figure looming over the events of each episode, while at the same time, not losing sight of the heart of the show. Young Justice, like Teen Titans before it, is a team of legacy characters. They are the latest generation in a proud history of vigilantes and superheroes. They are struggling to come into their own. No character in all of written history personifies this better than Richard John Grayson. It’s been wonderful to watch him evolve into a new type of leader than we are used to seeing from Young Justice seasons one and two.

Back to the topic of Halo! She was recruited to the dark side, as it were, as a minor and left in the care of Katana. I must imagine Artemis, Roy and Lian have made better caretakers.

Halo would famously go on to die—because this is comic books and who hasn’t, at this point?—after being framed for the death of the Queen of Markovia. For my money, there’s a good chance we’re going to be seeing aspects of this storyline playing out over the course of Young Justice: Outsiders. It’s clearly an inspiration of the writing team’s. We meet the animated version of Gabrielle from nearly the moment the show arrives in Markovia, and she is evidently in close proximity to the royal family when all of the action goes down in the first three episodes.

Much, much later, Halo crops up alongside Red Robin (had to get my Tim Drake reference in here somewhere!) on the Outsiders team he leads under the umbrella of Batman, Incorporated. Could this be an indicator of a possible friendship in coming episodes? I’m hoping so. I’m also hoping for a Tim Drake and Cassie Sandsmark romance (did you see them holding hands in the premiere?!). I would love to know from all of you what you’re hoping to see coming up on Young Justice: Outsiders. Feel free to pop on over to Twitter to let me know as soon as you’re done reading this.

Thus far, I find Gabrielle a welcome addition to Young Justice: Outsiders. She opens up the door to seeing some exciting, more diverse new characters on the show, including some DC characters we may not be as familiar with as, say, the members of the Bat-Family. Will we see any next week? I don’t know. Join me for our next batch of episodes and our next “Inside Outsiders” column and we’ll find out together!


Young Justice: Outsiders airs exclusively on DC Universe. Subscribe now and catch new episodes every Friday!

Ashley V. Robinson writes about TV, movies and comics for DCComics.com and is a regular contributor to the Couch Club, our weekly television column. You can find her on Twitter at @AshleyVRobinson and on the Jawiin YouTube channel.