The Origin of Katana!

A while back a reader asked me about which female DC characters had the most interesting origins. One of my answers was Katana, Tatsu Yamashiro.  I’ve been planning to do a post about her origin and given today’s announcement I thought it was the perfect time.

Katana debuted in comics in the early 80s as part of Batman and the Outsiders. She was created by Mike Barr and Jim Aparo. In the books 11th and 12th issues, the gave the origin of the character. 

Here is the story of her origin from the 12th issue.

The story has Katma’s sword, which contains the soul of her late husband, stolen. She returns to Japan to retrieve it Here she tells her history to Batman and the other Outsiders who have followed her to Japan.

This was the most heartbreaking part of her origin for me. Not sure if this is still part of her backstory.

 .. to prepare for the day Takeo when Takeo would follow her.

When Katana joined the Birds of Prey during as part of the new 52 her origin has only been briefly touched upon. She still has the sword and says it contains her husband’s soul but now it is not longer a matter of fact and the other characters question whether it is true and Katana’s sanity.

I’m sure given that she will have her own title and a place in the JLA that we’ll see her full, new 52 origin soon.