ISHTAR I

BIOGRAPHY

PERSONAL DATA

Aliases: Istar, Innanna, Astarte, Belili, Mother of Heaven, Lady of Battle
Identity: Not publicly known, the public believes Ishtar to be a figment of myth
Occupation: Goddess of love, fertility and war
Marital Status: Widowed (at least twice)
Known Relatives: Tammuz (husband, deceased); at least one unnamed human husband (deceased); Sala Nisaba (descendant)
Base of Operation: The Suffragette City strip club, formerly Mesopotamia, formerly Northern Africa, formerly Mesopotamia
Group Affiliation(s): The Mesopotamian Gods
Gender: Female
Height: Unknown
Weight: Unknown
Eyes: Red (demon form), Brown (human form)
Hair: White (demon form), Brown (human form)
First Appearance: Madame Xanadu #1 (1981)

OVERVIEW

The life of Ishtar, the ancient Mesopotamian goddess of love and war, was a tragic one, with many losses and heartbreaks, but also a lifetime of compassion, heroics, battle and occasional villainy. In ancient Mesopotamia, she saved the world from the evil of Nergal and his minions, but was finally trapped in another dimension until she was opposed by Madame Xanadu in modern times. When she died, Ishtar was working as a stripper in the U.S. Among her many lovers were her husband Tammuz and Destruction of the Endless. Her descendant Sala Nisaba finally defeated Nergal the guise of a second Ishtar.

HISTORY

Ancient Mesopotamia’s Lady of Battle is known under many names and guises: Ishtar, Istar, Innanna, Astarte, Belili.

Few know that many of the gods of ancient Mesopotamia were actually aliens, renegades from Oa who enslaved the people of the Middle East, using their superior powers and technology. Generation after generation, mankind was subject to the Oans' cruelty and their whims. But not all Oans were rotten to the core. While Ishtar was known for her ruthlessness and ferociousness in battle, she was also kind and loving.

The object of her love was her husband Tammuz, god of fertility, but that did not stop her from pursuing other men, however. But when Ishtar turned her attentions towards the great hero-king Gilgamesh of Uruk, he spurned her. Furious, she flew into a rage and sent the Bull of Heaven to lay waste to his lands. Gilgamesh killed the bull, and Ishtar retaliated by killing Gilgemesh’s friend Enkidu. - Arak, Son of Thunder Vol. 2 #42 (March 1985)

After banishing Nergal and his pawns, Ishtar eventually settled in Northern Africa, married one of her human allies and begat many children. One of these descendants, Sala Nisaba, would in modern times fight back Nergal once again with Ishtar’s own weapons. - Green Lantern Annual Vol. 3 #9 (September 2000)

Ishtar’s popularity as a goddess surged over the next few centuries. To the Babylonians and the Assyrians, she was Ishtar or Istar, the goddess of love and fertility. To the Sumerians, she was Innanna, goddess of love, and Belili. To the Phoenicians and the Caananites, she was known as Astarte, goddess of sexual love and war. This lead to eccentric rituals of worship, such as the tradition of women serving as temple prostitutes in mourning of Tammuz, around 1,000 BC.

Ishtar’s next love was Destruction of the Endless, one of the strange yet incredibly powerful beings who personify abstract concepts. Destruction’s brother Dream disliked their love affair and considered Ishtar to be a bad influence on his brother, most likely blaming her for Destruction’s lack of enthusiasm for his duties. The affair eventually ended, probably around the birth of Christ.

At some point in history, Ishtar became trapped in another dimension, and her only means of escape was through the rituals described in the Book of Ishtar. The last guardian of the book in modern times was the witch Esther, who died after having it stolen by her niece Laura Grant. Fearing she would suffer the same fate as her aunt Esther, Laura brought the book to New York and the mystic Madame Xanadu. Laura was already under the book’s spell and hooked up romantically with loser Joseph Greene. Together, they studied the book and engineered a big love party with the intent of bringing back Ishtar and Tammuz to the realm of the living and reuniting them. This plan was twarted by Madame Xanadu before the pair were able to establish a foothold for conquering Earth. - Madame Xanadu #1 (1981)

Somehow, Ishtar (or an aspect of her) escaped her imprisonment and started working as an 'exotic dancer' – basically, a stripper. Ishtar had discovered that she could sustain herself on the meager power she could draw from the men who watched her dance. Even a little worship is better than nothing. Her last steady job was dancing at the strip club Suffragette City, where she also befriended the young drug addict Tiffany. When she received a visit from Dream and Delirium during their search for their lost brother Destruction, Ishtar finally realised that she had no worshippers in the modern world, that she had no purpose and that she was clinging to straws. It was time for her to retire to the dreams from which gods spring. Like in ancient times, when the dance of Ishtar was the last thing the sacred king would ever see, Ishtar took the stage in a last dance which killed everyone at the strip club, including herself. The only person to escape unharmed was Tiffany, who eventually was turned into a born-again Christian by the whole experience. - Sandman Vol. 2 #45 (January 1993)

POWERS AND WEAPONS

The full extent of Ishtar’s powers remain unknown, mainly because her power levels and feats in modern times have been much lower than in her glory days. Like many other gods, she seems to have an extremely long lifespan by drawing power from worship.

As a love goddess, Ishtar possessed the power to manipulate people’s emotions and minds. She was also a very good dancer, and it is said that in ancient times every great year, the sacred king would see her dance, and it would be the last thing he ever saw before he died a happy man and a sacrifice to Ishtar. Her dance seems to unleash terrible yet beautiful forces of destruction. Also known as the Lady of Battle, her dance may or may not have been used as a weapon. She was undoubtedly a great and fierce warrior.

While she generally appears as a beautiful young woman, she has also revealed herself to Madame Xanadu in a demonic appearance, suggesting that she has some sort of shapeshifting ability.

Battling Nergal, Ishtar used the enchanted Ringstaff, which was able to fire destructive energy bolts. (The Ringstaff is today used by her descendant, Sala) She also had her scientists and magicians forge a primitive Oan power ring for her ally Ninurta.

CHRONOLOGY

For a definitive list of appearances of Ishtar in chronological order click here