Who's This? A sorceress from the Odyssey.
The facts: Since she's a mythological character, Circe is obviously in the public domain, and used to appear in DC Comics here and there, including a Golden Age Wonder Woman story (WW #37), but also Silver Age Superman Family stories (Supes even thinks she might be from Krypton), where she is responsible for the creation of Comet the Super-Horse, and some Weird War Stories. Basically, if you need an excuse to turn people into animals, you bring in Circe. But they're not THIS Circe, if we go by the first appearance given in the entry, Wonder Woman #302 (April 1983). It seems it took a LONG time for Circe to become a recurring foe for the Battling Amazon, which you'd think would be a natural - she's tied to Greek myth and is female. This version of Circe schemes behind the scenes for about a year before Diana gets to properly confront her, and after the Crisis, she becomes a major concern, competing for the role of Wonder Woman's nemesis with the new Cheetah, and causing the ill-received War of the Gods crossover event. She would remain in Diana's rogues gallery up to and through the New52 and Rebirth.
How you could have heard of her: Anyone familiar with Homer's Odyssey will remember Circe, and the post-Crisis version is still troubling Wonder Woman (or even Justice League Dark) on occasion. But the pre-Crisis Circe from the entry was a candle snuffed out soon after it was lit.
Example story: Wonder Woman #313-314 (March-April 1984) by Dan Mishkin and Don Heck
At this point in history, Circe lives on an island in the Caribbean, but despite the change of venue, is still turning men into animals. And it seems different beasts lurk inside different men, so it's fun for her to open her Kinder surprise and see what's what.
Those notions of bestiality make me shiver. Comics Code, ARE YOU SEEING THIS?! She only lusts after her animal men, her real love is her pet jaguar. Or so she tells him to assuage his jealousy. Diana Prince flies a mission to find the above Major Griggs, but her jet gets eaten by a pterodactyl, which forces her to turn into Wonder Woman and fly to the island from which the monster stemmed. She's immediately attacked by animals, animals who were until recently beast-men!
So that's where they come from. The prophecy she speaks of is that she it meant to be undone by Hippolyta's daughter, but going after Diana seems to me a good way to ensure the prophecy comes true. The animals keep coming - apes, rhinos, and this nightmare fuel:
Until Circe fuses Diana's bracelets together with a lightning strike and then sends Griggs/Ram-Man after her. After we come back from the cliffhanger (one month later as the publishing schedule flies), the Amazon manages to dodge the beast-men so they hit each other and breaks her bonds in time to knock Griggs senseless. But what happens when she goes after Circe's kitty?
It's magically impervious to the lasso! A couple pages of subplots and when we return, the beast-men have captured Wonder Woman. Huh? It's a ploy to prevent Circe from finishing Griggs off with snakes. Throwing the beasts around knocks a brazier down and - what did I say about self-fulfilling prophecies?
The special herbs that give her immortality catch on fire and are all lost, so it's indeed true that she's "undone". She'll just have to age normally like the rest of us. And is she going get help from her love?
Doesn't look like it. In fact, she's handed a dark mirror in which she sees herself as an old crone. If there's one thing you can count on, it's that Wonder Woman villainesses are a vain lot. The she falls into the mirror and disappears. Who WAS that crazy jaguar? Why, none other than Tazcatlipoca of the Aztec gods!
HE was directing Circe's actions and now Wonder Woman is at her mercy. But that's a story for a different Who's This--what's that, you say? Tezcatlipoca doesn't get a Who's Who entry? Oh well. Maybe it's for the best.
Who's Next? An empire that hates the Omega Men.
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