Sue Dibny
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| Sue Dibny | |
 Art by Carmine Infantino |
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| Publication information | |
|---|---|
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | Flash #119 (March 1961) |
| Created by | John Broome (writer) Carmine Infantino (artist) |
| In story information | |
| Alter ego | Susan "Sue" Dearbon Dibny |
| Team affiliations | Justice League Super Buddies |
| Supporting character of | Elongated Man |
Susan "Sue" Dearbon Dibny is a fictional character from DC Comics associated with The Elongated Man. Created by John Broome and Carmine Infantino, the character first appeared in Flash vol. 1 #119 (March, 1961). In 2004, she became a flashpoint for discussions of women in comics when a storyline was published in which she is murdered and revealed to have been raped in the past. [1] [2]
Contents |
[edit] Fictional character biography
Sue is the wife of hero Ralph Dibny, The Elongated Man. She is a brunette socialite from Westchester County, New York, United States. She has at times worked for the Justice League as an administrator. Ralph and Sue share a very loving relationship, often being compared to Nick and Nora Charles. It all started when Ralph crashed her debutante ball, using the pretense of jewel thieves to catch a glimpse of the lovely Sue. What followed was a whirlwind romance, with Sue and Ralph married a short time later, with Barry Allen serving as the best man. What followed was a life of adventures and superheroics, as Sue stuck by Ralph's side as he traveled around the globe as part of the Justice League. This leads to the various dangers associated with the lifestyle, including her near death at the tentacles of an alien parasite and being kidnapped by a supervillain, Sonar I, to become his consort. Through it all, Sue and Ralph stick together, even when the going gets tough. Many readers considered their loving relationship a breath of fresh air in an era when comics were becoming darker. Recently, Sue and Ralph were involved in a battle for Opal City, home of many of the Starman characters. Ralph meets with Hamilton Drew, a legendary detective based in Opal City, and the Dibnys are instrumental in saving Opal City from an attack by various supervillains. After the affair, Sue and Ralph move into the city, content to spend their lives together as superhero detective and wife.
[edit] Super Buddies
Sue is a member of the Super Buddies team made up of former members of the Justice League. As she has no superpowers herself, she spends most of the time at the Super Buddies headquarters, arguing with team founder Max Lord.
[edit] Death
The 2004 DC murder mystery Identity Crisis begins with Sue's death at the hands of Jean Loring while she was expecting a child. Loring was endangering the families of superheroes in an attempt to reconcile with her husband Ray Palmer. Loring used the Atom's powers to travel inside Sue's brain, accidentally causing an aneurysm. Over the course of the series, it is revealed that in the past Sue was raped by Doctor Light. In an attempt to prevent him from harming members of other superheroes' families, Justice League member Zatanna attempted to magically rehabilitate Doctor Light, which accidentally resulted in the villain becoming less intelligent and very incompetent. Batman in fact wanted another punishment for Dr. Light but his mind was also mindwiped by Zatanna. Light is the prime suspect until Ray Palmer (the Atom) discovers his wife's involvement in Sue's death sending his wife Jean Loring to Arkham and disappearing from the JLA. During a Sinestro Corps War one-shot, Superman-Prime mentioned that his anger over what happened to Sue Dibny as one of his reasons for his actions during Infinite Crisis.
Sue's rape and death were controversial among comic book fans[citation needed]. Fans noted that the death is an example of Women in Refrigerators syndrome, in which violence towards women is used as a plot device to increase sales and controversy.
[edit] 52
During the 52 series, a Kryptonian cult (which has Wonder Girl as a member) attempts to revive Sue from the dead. They attract the attention of a now depowered Ralph Dibny by spray-painting the Kryptonian word for resurrection (the Superman symbol, inverted) on her tombstone. Ralph and a team of heroes infiltrate the resurrection ceremony. Convinced that the ceremony is a hoax, Ralph and the others attack the temple, which subsequently catches on fire. However, Ralph is convinced that the resurrection is not a hoax when a seemingly animated straw representation of Sue crawls towards Ralph uttering his name. Although this straw version of Sue Dibny is destroyed in the fire, Ralph survives and vows to complete Sue's resurrection. However, a later issue revealed that it was Felix Faust who animated the dummy with his powers, and Ralph was aware of Faust's deception but pretend to believe that it was really his wife in order to get close to the villain and his master, Neron.
In the final issue of 52, Sue reappeared alongside Ralph, both as ghosts, inside of a school where a paranormal event has occurred. Her final line is "Honey, your nose is twitching."
[edit] One Year Later
In Batman and the Outsiders #5, it is revealed (after appearing unknown in the previous two issues) that Ralph and Sue have gained or discovered the ability to possess human bodies, like the ability of Boston Brand, AKA Deadman. While it has not been explained, it may be connected to Ralph's interaction with Rama Kushna in 52.
