Who's This? A villain with a third eye.
The facts: The Emerald Empress first appears in Adventure Comics #352 (January 1967) along with the rest of the Fatal Five, a Jim Shooter/Curt Swan creation. The group would soon become one of the Legion's most persistent foes, and Emerald Empress would even sometimes go solo (see below) and create her own FF after the original had been disbanded. Her companion, the Emerald Eye of Ekron, has sometimes been presented as the entity that controlled her, and so allowed for other women to become the Emerald Empress. The original died in Legion of Super-Heroes (Baxter series) #58. In the 5YL era, the Eye finds another Empress in Legionnaires #2, and when LSH continuity reboots, it turns Violet into its vessel. After the Retroboot, the Eye minted yet another Empress in LSH vol.6 Annual #1 (2011). So long as the Eye of Ekron exists, there will be an Emerald Empress.
How you could have heard of her: Somehow, the original Emerald Empress was in Maxwell Lord's Suicide Squad in DC Rebirth. She has appeared in animation, most prominently in the LSH animated series. In Young Justice, the Eye gave its power to Ursa Zod.
Example story: Legion of Super-Heroes #303 (September 1983), "Those Emerald Eyes Are Shining..." by Paul Levtiz, Keith Giffen and Larry Mahlstedt
The Emerald Empress has taken command of Weber's World (an artificial planet from where the Federation administers the galaxy) and is steering it on a collision course with the United Planets' main fleet base. She's working with Ontiir of the Dark Circle and has five Legionnaire captives. I think that's all we need to know going into this issue. Oh, and she's a little slap-happy.
The Legionnaires break free, of course, and catch up to her in the planet's control center.
She really does take her title to heart and means to be Empress of the Universe, so a technothrone that sort of makes her the Body Politic has a nice poetic vibe here. But she has eyes everywhere, or should we say, Eye everywhere. As soon as the heroes burst in, the Eye of Ekron zaps Violet (well, Yera, but shhhh). Plugged into the system, she doesn't even have to rely on the Eye.
And so Sun Boy is down for the count. Ontiir takes care of Colossal Boy (oh, the indignity!), but where are Brainiac 5 and Supergirl? Well, the brains & brawn combo, power couple of the year 2983, have figured the Empress' plans out, and are in the deep bowels of Weber's World, pushing the planetoid off course.
Brainy tries to contain the Eye's forces while Kara goes after its mistress (or slave, depending on your view), but the Empress has a polished piece of kryptonite. She's ready for anything.
Anything but the littlest Legionnaire, that is! (And note the crucial clue about her being an impostor!!!) See, the thing about self-proclaimed empresses is their arrogance. They always think they're on top of things and underestimate their opponents.
And don't you just love that early-80s Keith Giffen art? Rest in peace and break all the furniture up there, Mr. Giffen.
Who's Next? The Switcheroo Witcheroo!
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