page_title: Valentina (Philippine comics)
section_title: Early years
hierarchical_section_title: Valentina (Philippine comics) / Publication history / Early years
context_page_description: Valentina is a supervillain created by Mars Ravelo and Nestor Redondo who first appeared in the second episode of the Darna series published in the Philippine comics Pilipino Komiks. One of the most recognizable supervillainess characters in the Philippines, she is the archenemy of Darna. She was originally a bitter, deformed woman born from ordinary human parents with venomous snakes on her head that appears to be like hair. When she grew up, she killed her parents and was subsequently taken in by a serpent creature named Kobra. Valentina was soon referred to as "goddess of the snakes."
  Mango Comics acquired the rights of Darna and in 2003 released a miniseries featuring Darna and Valentina. In this version, Valentina is an alien from the planet Tiamat. She came from a race that resembles the Nāgas and Gorgons of the Greek mythology. She got an alter-ego named Amor who is a singer. When GMA Network signed a deal with Mango Comics for adopting their comics into the 2005 TV series Darna, most of the story from the Mango Comics were incorporated in the TV series including Valentina's backstory. One of the differences from the comics is that Valentina and Darna are cousins.
context_section_description: Valentina's debut in Philippine comics is in Pilipino Komiks #78 (1950), which is the second episode of the comics serial Darna by Mars Ravelo and Nestor Redondo that ran 28 episodes. She eventually became the archenemy of Darna. In creating Valentina, Ravelo drew inspiration from Medusa, a Gorgon in Greek mythology with living venomous snakes in place of hair. Valentina has venomous snakes on her hair but she does not turn people into stone upon looking in her eyes unlike Medusa.
  In her first appearance, Valentina was born from human parents named Miguel and Doray. Too many restrictions from her parents led Valentina to kill them with the help of her pet snake named Vibora and this is the beginning of her journey to the pathway of evil. Kobra, a creature with a python's body and hag's head, became Valentina's master. Valentina learns to control snakes to do her bidding that made her "goddess of the snakes." After Darna foiled her plan to turn the Earth into a world dominated by reptiles, Valentina commits suicide by jumping into a cliff where the bodies of her parents can be found.
caption: Medusa, a Gorgon in the Greek mythology, is an inspiration in creating the Valentina character.
exif: {}