Planet DC JLA And Batgirl

In 2000, DC had a loose theme tying together their annuals, that of having their established heroes meet new international heroes.

8 annuals in total, here are the first two, JLA Annual #4 and Batgirl Annual #1, which introduced the Janissary in Turkey and Aruna in India.

JLA Annual #4 (August, 2000)

First up is the Janissary in a story by Brian K. Vaughan, Steve Scott and Hector Collazo (the later two who provided the cover)...young Doctor Selma Tolon, who would become the Janissary, using the power of Sultan Suleiman's scimitar to magically defend Turkey, the Janissary was put to the test when General Kazim summoned the evil Jinn, Iblis, to gain power.  Iblis had planned to take the Janissary's body, and to enable that unleashed flaming Jinns with zombie soldiers across Turkey, involving the JLA (Batman, Aquaman, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter and Green Lantern) to battle them.  The Janissary eventually defeated Iblis, and was offered membership in the JLA by Aquaman, but she declined.

In the second story (by the same creative team), readers get the origin of Janissary: Selma Tolon found the scimitar in an ancient dungeon while working for the Red Crescent (a local version of the Red Cross), pulling it from the sand, and using the magic might of that scimitar (as well as unreliable access to the Eternity Book of Merlin, which would allow her to cast spells, with unreliable results), Selma came to fight crime and menaces, yet upheld her doctor's oath to not take lives.

The Janissary would later appear in Wonder Woman #174 and #175, as well as in the Day of Vengeance and Infinite Crisis, as well as in Birds of Prey #100.

Batgirl Annual #1 (August, 2000)

Next is Aruna, in a story by Scott Peterson, Mike Deodato and John Stanisci (with cover by Matt Haley and Kevin Nowlan), ...where Batman and Batgirl get distracted from their own case in India to find missing movie star Ashok Ramanan.  On the set, they get let to stuntman/actress Aruna Shende (who seems to produce incredible creatures that no one knows how she makes and performs them).  The duo track her down, finding out Aruna is a shape shifter, and changes into whatever she needs for the movie.  They also find she is one of India's untouchables class, which they also find Ashok was, and though a rich movie star, he was looked down upon by his neighbors, one of who killed him.

The second story of the Annual by Scott Peterson, Pablo Raimondi and Walden Wong, delves into the origin of Aruna, where she grew up in the wilds of India, poor, but loved by her parents who knew of her shapechanging abilities (though Aruna knew not what she even looked like).  Her parents were taken away by the government, and she used her powers to get food, eventually settling in stunt work and make up, but still trying to find herself and her parents.

Aruna only recently reappeared in the DC Book of Pride.