Sunday, October 13, 2013

Bethany Snow

There's yet another character introduced in CITY OF HEROES, first episode of the second season of ARROW, even if it's just a cameo: when the gang of THE HOODS watches the tv news, the anchorwoman announcing OLIVER QUEEN's return in town is an old acquaintance of the comicbook readers, even if she's just a secondary antagonist: BETHANY SNOW, portrayed by an uncredited actress. It is unknown if we'll get to see her again in the series, but since she's linked to the CHURCH OF BLOOD, and SEBASTIAN BLOOD is set to appear in the next episodes (he was also mentioned in this one), it's likely that she'll appear again, even if briefly. Anyway, let's see together who she is in the comics.



Bethany Snow's past has never been revealed, nor deepened, but it's likely that it's not anything noteworthy. She was probably born in a normal family, she lived a normal life, she studied and graduated, and she became a journalist. She was hired as a newswoman by WUBC NEWS, and she started working on the field, commenting the news and creating a base for her influence on the public opinion. Probably, it's only after starting working for WUBC that she met the channel's (secret) owner, Sebastian Blood, an immortal supervillain going under the name BROTHER BLOOD. Blood had become the head of a secret cult, the Church of Blood, a sect worshipping the demon TRIGON (the same Earth-conquering monster who's the father of the heroic RAVEN). In a way or the other, Snow became a member of the sect, and one of the most precious ones. When the TEEN TITANS started battling Brother Blood, she presented the news in a way that it seemed the teenager heroes had attacked the philantropist Sebastian Blood unprovoked. Snow's influence on the public opinion led to the Teen Titans' arrest, since she manipulated the information making them look like dangerous madmen who attacked the Church of Blood with no reason, thus violently disrespecting the American citizens' freedom of worship.




Needless to say, things worsened for the Titans when Blood, more than satisfied with Snow's operations, granted her with a personal talkshow, SNOW STORM. Bethany started a violent and mean campaign of false information, mediatic traps, tricks, setups and so on that put ROBIN and his team on their knees: they arrived to the point of being unable to battle one of their most dangerous foes, since the public opinion believed them to be the bad guys, and him to be the victim, all thanks to the efforts of a single woman, a journalist and a talk show host that they had tragically underestimated. Bethany Snow continued with her campaign, until her worst nightmare became true, although unexpectedly: Brother Blood relied too much on his power, and thanks to the common effort of Raven, SUPERBOY, BEAST BOY and Robin, the villain was defeated, and exiled into the HELL dimension. As a result, the Church of Blood was destroyed, and its members exposed. The moment it became clear that WUBC news was on Blood's payroll, the channel was dismantled, and its workers were exposed as members of the Church. Bethany Snow was discredited as a corrupted and slanting journalist, Snow Storm was cancelled, and she lost her grip over her public. Nevertheless, she managed to keep her job, still working as a newswoman (always with a deep grudge against the Teen Titans). Following the umpteenth DC Universe reboot, THE NEW 52, Bethany Snow has been reimagined in a somewhat different way. The new Snow is still a journalist, but this time she's an anchorwoman for CHANNEL 52 with no apparent connection to Brother Blood or his Church. She comments the actions of the various superheroes and supervillains, sometimes breaking the fourth wall, as soon as they're re-introduced in the new Universe.



Bethany Snow is a brilliant and mean woman, deeply and blindly loyal to her master, the HIGH PRIEST of the Church of Blood, the ninth incarnation of Sebastian Blood. She uses her undeniable skills to manipulate normal people's perception of reality, presenting facts in a way to always justify Blood, discrediting his enemies, including superheroes. Intelligent and unscrupulous, Bethany Snow is a threat to be made a point of.
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