Livewire (real name Leslie Willis) is a supervillain in the DC Universe. She first appeared in Superman: The Animated Series, and later appeared in the Superman comic books in 2006.
Leslie Willis was once Metropolis' most controverisal shock jocks. No one was immune to her venomous words, not even Superman.
One evening during a severe thunderstorm, Willis was hosting a rock concert in honor of her anniversary working at the radio station in Cenntenial Park in downtown Metropolis. Ignoring the public safety concerns by Metropolis authorities, and the changeable skies, Willis demanded the show to go on.
It was about that time Superman showed up to help the police. Willis' fans showed support for her by throwing stuff at the Man of Steel, when suddenly, lightning struck the stage, setting it on fire. When Superman pushed Willis to safety, lightning struck both of them, transfering some of Superman's powers to Willis and changing her appearance.
When Willis woke up, she saw that her skin had turned ghostly white and her hair stood on end. She accused Superman for the injuries she had suffered from the accident she created. She was about to throw a clock-radio at the TV on which she had seen Superman talking to reporters about the accident when the radio suddenly turned on. It was not plugged into the wall, there were no batteries in it. She discovered she could manipulate electricity.
Willis then escaped from the hospital by turning herself into an electric current. Confronting Superman, she had rearranged the electrons of the hospital gown she was wearing into a black leotard with a lightning bolt down the front and black boots.
She had a short-lived aliance with Parasite and later had an alliance with Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy.
Leslie Willis is loosely based on shock jock Howard Stern, calling herself the "Queen of All Media." Lori Petty voiced Livewire in Superman: the Animated Series.
In the Justice League animated series, Livewire teamed up with the Superman Revenge Squad to get revenge on Superman. When some of it's members were defeated and Toyman's machine sent Superman into the future with them thinking that Superman is dead, Kalibak and Livewire later attacked the scene of the incident with Copperhead, Volcana, Star Sapphire, and Deadshot. When it came to Season 3 of Justice League Unlimited, Livewire later returned as a member of Gorilla Grodd's Legion of Doom.
Comics
In Action Comics #835, Gail Simone and John Byrne brought Livewire into the mainstream DC Universe, in the same tradition as Harley Quinn.
Much like the DCAU version of Livewire, before she gained her abilities, she was also a shock jock. Going by the DJ name Leslie, her show was dedicated to bashing upon Superman every night, claiming that Superman was only saving people in the name of grandstanding and showing off. She also shows a disdain for fellow broadcaster Billy Batson, aka Captain Marvel. Her career as a shock jock was cut short when the owner of the station, Miguel, decided to turn the station into a country station. Miguel was also quite pleased that she was fired because his wife was saved by Superman.
Unlike the DCAU version of Livewire, she was born with the gift of controlling electricity. Enraged at the loss of her job, she went to the top of the station where she was struck by lightning. However, she absorbed a large amount of energy from the lightning bolt, changing her appearance to a chalk-white skin with blue hair. With that change, she decided that she would now take her revenge out on Superman.
In Action Comics #842, Livewire gets kidnapped along with most of the other Metahumans on Earth. Her unique powers allow her, Superman and several other captives escape their containment fields. While most have their powers completely nullified, Livewire still has the ability to manipulate, and sense electromagnetic energy. But she doesn't have the ability to direct it as a weapon or absorb large quantities of it. She then helps Superman and the others by creating a two-way video phone link between the alien ship and JSA headquarters. Later in #843, Livewire shortcircuits several systems on the ship and forces it's owner to release them by threatening (at Superman's suggestion) to broadcast his databases galaxy-wide.
