As soon as vicious emasculating astrophysibitch Dr.
Kimoyo Hoshi makes her grand entrance brandishing a sharp-edged clipboard of doom, you know she's got the makings of a great villain:"Silence, you miserable toad."
Way to keep those boot-licking post-docs in line, Kim! Best thing is, she doesn't even waste an exclamation point on the verbal squashing, and this is in COIE, where people say, "Pass the salt -- now, before it's ... too late!" Clearly, lines like "silence, you miserable toad" fall off her teeth-baring lips as easily as "hey, guys" does off ours.
After getting light-based powers, she'd have been perfect as the new archenemy of the Golden Age Starman; she's even got the right nom de guerre. But no. She's just another living plot point for Wolfman, a mechanism for showing that Supergirl's death is inspiring.
Didn't stick, of course. She remained a bitter, reluctant hero, burdened by her powers and a perfect candidate for a Character Donation to Marvel. As a result, no one really liked her and, if you ask me, the JLA mindwiped the wrong Dr. Light. When the real Dr. Light finally showed up to close her like his Christmas Savings Account of power, readers were more relieved than outraged.
But the new outfit, her own version of the classic black & white Dr. Light uniform? So stylish, so elegant; slimming, too. Lose the silly Scarlet Witch tiara and she'd be a stunner walking the red carpet to the Eisners, holding on to Sunburst's arm.
Hey, I liked the tiara! I thought she was a good character design, and she was a much-needed minority face in the DCU, so it bugged the holy bejeezus out of me that nobody seemed much interested in writing about her. How long was she in the Justice League? Five minutes? If the DC writers thought she was boring or unpleasant, maybe they should have tried developing her character instead of just ignoring her. I was never heavily invested in her character, mind you -- heck, I barely know anything about her -- but she does seem like a wasted opportunity.
ReplyDeleteNo Crisis Haikusday?
ReplyDeleteWolfman does write in a very un-Haiku manner; finding them in here is tough. Still...
That's Harbinger...she's
Here to remind me how I
Helped kill Supergirl.
I called to her...she
Turned and the Anti-Monitor
Slew her. It's my fault.
After getting light-based powers, she'd have been perfect as the new archenemy of the Golden Age Starman; she's even got the right nom de guerre.
ReplyDeleteDon't know if you knew this, but there already was a Golden-Age Doctor Light. He was an enemy of...wait for it..Dr. Mid-Nite. He actually made three appearances in the 1940s, which is one more than Per Degaton, the Fiddler, the Mist, and even the Riddler and Scarecrow! Sadly, he never appeared in the Silver Age; by the time Gardner Fox got around to re-introducing the JSA there was already a Silver-Age Doctor Light.
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ReplyDeleteThe tiara's cool, the dangly earrings have got to go. I hate dangly earrings on a superhero (Like the new Donna Troy -- Yuck!). So impractical, and ugly.
ReplyDeleteI agree, she was sorely wasted in the Justice League. Didn't even wear her costume. Speaking of which, remember years later when she switched to a yellow and white version. It made her look like an egg. Power Girl's yellow/white costume was bad enough.
ReplyDeleteI have had experience in the world of academia. Hearing a scientist tell a post-doc "Silence, you miserable toad!" is not comic book exaggeration. Wolfman nailed that one.
ReplyDeleteHow was it possible not to waste her? I mean, look at her origin: she would likely have be become a supervillian had she not been inspired by Kara's heroism and sacrifice. But she, post-crisis, doesn't remember there ever having been a Supergirl. So she pretty much would have no idea why she's on the good guys team..
ReplyDeleteYou have to write a post about Arthur Light one of these days Scipio.
ReplyDelete