Kirby's Klarion
Klarion is a young practitioner of the dark arts from "Witch World", an otherworldly dimension where everyone has some degree of aptitude in magic. A child prodigy, Klarion is constrained and limited by the adults in his life who consider him too immature for the natural talents he possesses. Frustrated, Klarion uses a ritual to permanently cross over to Earth with his cat familiar Teekl so he may practice magic freely. He attracts the attention of the demon Etrigan, who attempts to send him back to Witch World several times and becomes his rival.[2]
David's Klarion
Klarion appears in the 2000 event Young Justice: Sins of Youth, in which he is involved in a plot by the Agenda to turn the public against the metahuman community, targeting juvenile super-heroes as the weakest link in the chain. He increases distrust and confusion at a rally for young heroes by casting a spell that swaps the ages of the teenage and adult heroes in attendance.
Peter David's version of Klarion also appears in July–June 2000's Young Justice #20- "Time Out" and #21 "Young, Just Us Too". In these issues, he expresses loneliness after turning various villains into children during the "Sins of Youth" storyline and wishes for a playmate of his own age before eventually befriending Ariella Kent, the Supergirl of the 853rd century.
Morrison's Klarion
In 2005, a new version of Klarion starred in his own mini-series as one of the seven main characters in Grant Morrison's Seven Soldiers. Morrison described this character as a return to the original Kirby version with some updates, including the return of Klarion's original overall look and the removal of changes made to the character's personality by David.[4] Klarion's backstory is retconned to have him instead be an inhabitant of "Limbotown", an underground community beneath New York City whose citizens are descended from Puritan witches and the Sheeda-King Mr. Melmoth. Klarion attempts to leave Limbotown and stops Melmoth from pillaging it.[5]
Countdown
In Countdown to Final Crisis, Klarion encounters Mary Marvel, who has been given Black Adam's powers and is struggling to control them. As Mary is unaware of Klarion's chaotic nature, he is able to trick her into transferring to him some of her new power, claiming that he can teach her to control it. Despite his magic being greatly augmented, Mary is able to defeat the Witch Boy.
In Brightest Day, Klarion is possessed by Alan Scott's Starheart power and driven insane. After wreaking havoc throughout an urban area, he is tracked down and defeated by Jade and Donna Troy.[6]
Superman/Batman Sorcerer Kings
Klarion plays a major role in the events of the Sorcerer Kings three-issue storyline in Superman/Batman. He appears on the final page of issue #82, and in issue #83 he leads the current-timeline Batman, Doctor Occult and Detective Chimp to the "witches' road". In addition, Klarion's future self appears as a member of the Justice League on a magic-controlled Earth.[7]
Batgirl (vol. 3)
Klarion's last appearance before The New 52 was in Chalk (heart) Outline, a Valentine's Day themed story in Batgirl volume 3, #18. Klarion and Stephanie Brown as Batgirl must stop Teekl's rampage, which involves a trip to Limbotown.
New 52 onwards
Following the New 52 reboot towards DC's mainstream continuity, Klarion was reintroduced in a self-titled solo series in 2014. Now high-schooled aged (between 14 and 16 years old), the teen warlock attempts to escape an abusive upbringing in the hidden dimension of Limbotown, and winds up stranded in New York City. He joins a group of fellow runaways living in a museum under the care of an older sorceress, Piper. She agrees to help mentor Klarion in magic so he can defeat a tech-wizard.[8]
In DC Rebirth, Klarion would also later join the Night Force alongside (Raven, Traci Thirteen, Zach Zatara) under Baron Winters to battle supernatural threats, including the magic-hunting Shadow-Riders.[9] Eventually, he becomes corrupted by his vast powers and joins Circe's Injustice League Dark, battling the Justice League Dark as Circe attempts to gather the remaining pieces of Hecate's magic and using her newfound magical power to shift the hierarchy of the mystical cosmology in her favor. Partnered with Solomon Grundy, Klarion bewitches
