Darna

Darna (Tagalog pronunciation: [ˈdaɾnɐ]) is a superheroine appearing in Filipino comic books created by writer Mars Ravelo and artist Nestor Redondo. The character was introduced during the Golden Age of Comic Books, debuting in Pilipino Komiks #77 on May 13, 1950. Darna is a retooling of Ravelo's earlier character, Varga, who first appeared in 1947. With her continued presence in literature and art, Darna has been described as a Filipino cultural icon. Throughout the years, she has been adapted to a number of media platforms, such as film, television, plays and video games.

Darna's origin story from the Golden Age relates that she was an extraterrestrial warrior from the planet Marte sent to Earth to fight against common criminals and greater forces of darkness, most famously her archenemy, Valentina. She is manifested by her human alter-ego Narda through the magical stone and is often accompanied by her younger brother, Ding. Darna possesses the allure of Venus, the glory of Apollo, and strength of Samson. She usually wears a red bikini or shorts with a gold star in each brassiere cap; a red helmet with encrusted gold winged medallion; gold bracelets; a golden medallion belt with a loincloth in the middle; and gold-rimmed red boots.

Darna is described as "the female avenger archetype, strong but compassionate." Inspired by the qualities of Ravelo's mother who raised him single-handedly and created as the Philippine counterpart of Wonder Woman, as well as the female counterpart of Superman, she served as a symbol of hope and inspiration to the Filipino people following the aftermath of World War II.

Mars Ravelo created the first images of Darna before World War II, as the character's predecessor Varga. Ravelo's inspiration for Darna's heroic qualities came from a fascination with Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster's Superman. The winged medallion on Darna's helmet was inspired by the emblem of the Philippine airforce as Ravelo also dreamed of the opportunity to fly. The magic white stone concept is cultural iconography as Philippine folklore has many stories of brave young mortals whose courage and heart enable them to be worthy of magic amulets - the only thing in these stories that could even the odds against evil, supernatural forces. The character was also based on and influenced by Wonder Woman.

After the war, Ravelo realized that the Filipinos were in need of a superhero so he again shopped his superheroine concept to publishers until one of them, Bulaklak Komiks agreed to publish Ravelo's heroine that he now called "Varga" in 1947 (inspired by the Varga girls series of illustrations) and the strip took off. Varga made her debut in Bulaklak Magazine, Vol. 4, #17 on July 23, 1947, which Ravelo wrote and drew. In an interview, Ravelo revealed that he offered his creation first to Liwayway Magazine and other publications but was rejected. Had Liwayway Magazine not rejected the offer, Varga would have been the Philippines' first komiks superhero.

Contrary to popular belief, Darna was not named after the magical Ibong Adarna (Adarna bird), which appears in a Philippine epic of the same name. In Bulaklak Magazine, Narda was already established as Varga's mortal identity. "Darna" was simply an anagram of "Narda". The concept and image of the character was based on the illustrations of Superman appearing on comic books brought by soldiers from the United States to the Philippines. It was the story of a mortal girl named Narda (named after one of Ravelo's childhood playmates), her brother Ding and their grandmother, Lola Asay, who lived in the town of Masambong when a falling star revealed itself to be a magic amulet that turns Narda into the superheroine Varga.

The name Varga was under ownership of Bulaklak Komiks. Darna's first adventure was first serialized in the pages of Pilipino Komiks (Ace Publications, Inc.) #77 on May 13, 1950, where she was pitted against the sultry snake goddess, Valentina. Here, Narda, a young girl, swallows a stone, which has the word "Darna" on it, and transforms into Darna by shouting out the latter's name. Likewise, Darna turns back into Narda by shouting Narda's name. The stone, which was from the planet Marte, stays in her body. Her secret is known to her grandmother and her brother, Ding, who becomes her sidekick. Darna quickly gained popularity among Filipino comic book readers. The original Darna comics series, written by Ravelo and illustrated by Redondo, ran for 28 issues.

On May 31, 1951, Darna made a crossover from comics to cinema even before the comic book serial was finished. Royal Publications under Fernando Poe Sr. produced the first Darna film starring Rosa Del Rosario as Narda/Darna. It was the last film directed by Fernando Poe Sr. Since then, a number of actresses and actors have portrayed the superheroine on both cinema and television. Some made from 1973 onwards starred the future multi-awarded dramatic actress and politician Vilma Santos. In this incarnation, Darna's origin was changed. Narda herself became Darna, unlike the original in which she just "channeled" her. The stone came out of Narda's mouth every time she changes back and she had to swallow it every time she wanted to transform (a revision that became the standard for the following incarnations). Darna is not specified as coming from Marte and is mentioned simply as a "Warrior of Light". In this version, Narda was aged up from a child to her early teens, and only Ding was aware of her secret. This version of Darna became most people's idea of the character for about 3 decades. A catchphrase popularized by the films and said by Narda runs, "Ding, ang bato!" ("Ding, [give me] the stone!"). In 1977, the first Darna TV series was produced by Kitchie Benedicto and aired on RPN (KBS-9). Darna! The TV Series starred Lorna Tolentino as Darna/Narda. Darna also had her own cartoon series in 1986 aired on GMA Network.