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Sue Dibny

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Sue Dibny
Sue Dibny.
Art by Carmine Infantino.
Publication information
PublisherDC Comics
First appearanceThe Flash #119 (March 1961)
Created byJohn Broome
(writer)
Carmine Infantino (artist)
In-story information
Alter egoSusan Dearbon Dibny
SpeciesHuman (formerly)
Ghost (currently)
Team affiliationsJustice League
Super Buddies
Black Lantern Corps
Justice League Europe
Justice League International
PartnershipsElongated Man
Supporting character ofFlash
Starman
AbilitiesAs a ghost:
  • Invisibility
  • Intangibility
  • Flight
  • Possession

Susan Dibny (née Dearbon) 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 highly controversial storyline was published (set in the post-Zero Hour continuity) in which she is murdered and revealed to have been raped by Doctor Light in the past.[1][2]

Sue Dearbon appeared in the Arrowverse television series The Flash, portrayed by Natalie Dreyfuss.

Fictional character biography

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Sue is the wife of hero Ralph Dibny, the Elongated Man.[3] 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. They met 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. Sue and Ralph married a short time later with Barry Allen serving as the best man. What followed was a life of adventures and super-heroics, as Sue stuck by Ralph's side as he traveled around the globe as part of the Justice League. This led 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 stuck together, even when the going got tough, eventually settling in Opal City.

Super Buddies

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Main article: 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, she spends most of the time at the Super Buddies headquarters arguing with team founder Maxwell Lord.

Death

[edit]

In Identity Crisis, Sue is killed by Jean Loring.[4] It is also revealed that Doctor Light previously raped Sue, leading Zatanna to lobotomize him during a failed attempt at rehabilitation.

In later appearances, Sue appears as a ghost and is temporarily resurrected as a Black Lantern during Blackest Night.[5][6][7][8][9][10] She is permanently resurrected following The New 52 continuity reboot.[11]

Powers and abilities

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While alive, Sue Dibny possessed no superhuman abilities. However, she showed herself to be a quick thinker, a decent detective (though not on her husband's level), and multi-lingual (native English, as well as French, Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese). Her appearances as a ghost have shown her with paranormal abilities.

Other versions

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  • In the 1997 Tangent Comics one-shot The Flash, Sue Dearborn appeared as a minor character working as a reporter for All Access interviewing Lia Nelson on her arrival at her film premiere.
  • In Superman: American Alien, Sue Dearborn encounters a nineteen-year-old Clark Kent while with Oliver Queen, mistakenly believing that he is Bruce Wayne. She introduces him to Vic Zsasz and his unnamed wife.

In other media

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Sue Dearbon appears in The Flash, portrayed by Natalie Dreyfuss.[12] She is initially alluded to in the fifth season finale[13] before Ralph Dibny works to find her in the sixth season. He eventually finds her in Central City, wherein she manipulates him into helping her seek revenge on the crime syndicate Black Hole for extorting her parents. Upon realizing this, Dibny convinces Dearbon to give up her vendetta, only for the latter to be framed by Eva McCulloch for the death of Black Hole's leader, Joseph Carver. In the seventh season, Dearbon and Dibny succeed in clearing her name before leaving to dismantle other Black Hole cells, though Dearbon would later return to help the Flash and his allies.

References

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  1. ^ "Women Out of Refrigerators". Sequential Tart: Tart to Heart. 8 (11). November 2005.
  2. ^ Lander, Randy. "Snap Judgments: Identity Crisis #2". TheFourthRail.com. Archived from the original on 2007-06-11.
  3. ^ Greenberger, Robert (2008). The Essential Batman Encyclopedia. Del Rey. pp. 112–113. ISBN 9780345501066.
  4. ^ Cowsill, Alan; Irvine, Alex; Manning, Matthew K.; McAvennie, Michael; Wallace, Daniel (2019). DC Comics Year By Year: A Visual Chronicle. DK Publishing. p. 297. ISBN 978-1-4654-8578-6.
  5. ^ Reign in Hell #1 (September 2008)
  6. ^ Blackest Night #0 (June 2009)
  7. ^ Blackest Night #1 (July 2009)
  8. ^ Blackest Night #2 (August 2009)
  9. ^ Blackest Night #3 (September 2009)
  10. ^ Blackest Night #8 (May 2010)
  11. ^ Secret Six (vol. 4) #1 (February 2015)
  12. ^ Mitovich, Matt Webb (November 15, 2019). "The Flash's Sue Dearborn Is Found: Natalie Dreyfuss Lands Recurring Role". TVLine.
  13. ^ Damore, Meagan (May 14, 2019). "The Flash S5 Finale Teases the Arrival of Iconic DC Character". CBR. Retrieved May 15, 2019.
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