Thursday, September 28, 2006

Light at the end of the tunnel?

In which I make a few logical deductions about what we can look forward to.


For the first time since Kimiyo Hoshi was depowered and left for dead in Green Arrow #55 we have a sighting of Dr Light II that cannot be put down to a flashback or awkward resheduling of timelines. Unless Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman are all so out of touch with the current superhero situation that they are unaware of what happened to her, then it's safe to say that Kimiyo is alive and well, and back in action.

In fact the dialogue here suggests not only that they are aware of what became of her, but that subsequent events have occured that we haven't been been shown yet.

Consider; Superman doesn't want her in the Justice League because she is too scary. Retired heroine, single mother, doctor (or business executive according to some), last seen powereless and symbolically raped is too scary for Superman to invite to the Justice League.

You think he maybe knows something we don't?

Extrapolation: Kimiyo has done something scary. Kimiyo has her powers back.

Deduction: Kimiyo done something scary to evil rapist bastard Arthur Light, resolving the plot lines left dangling for the last year and establishing her as someone not to mess with.

Extrapolation 2: since this important plot development has not yet been seen or previously referred to in a One Year Later title it seems reasonable to look for it in 52.

Okay, it would be nice to see a Doctor Light miniseries, but if we are going to get anything that does this story justice then I'll be happy.

Conclusion: Yay!

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Isn't Wonder Woman the red caption boxes? It's perhaps more interesting that the neck breaker thinks Dr Light's membership would be "inappropriate"?

Marionette said...

You're right. It's easy to lose track of who is who with those boxes. And it's much more intruiging this way around.

Bats is for because she's scary and including her will "send a message" (that they condone something she has done, perhaps?) to "them" (the bad guys?). Wondy doesn't want to be associated with that message (= doesn't want the JLA to be seen to be condoning whatever it is that Kimiyo has done? Which, as you say, must be pretty bad coming from someone who will murder in cold blood if she thinks it necessary). Supes doesn't comment at all.

In fact the real joke here is that Wondy considers her too extreme but Batman doesn't. So she can't have killed the evil rapist bastard, but she's done something to him that makes Wonder Woman queasy

What has Kimiyo been up to?

Anonymous said...

You know I didn't look at it like that. ALl I thought was the message given off by her was that she shared the name/costume of a rapist...but now you've gotten me thinking otherwise...and now this gets me even more excited! And remember, Geoff has said on his board his has plans for her, I assume big ones!

I hope we get a Mini too! Maybe by Wolfman since he's doing a lot of stuff with DC that connects to characters he's had connections with

SallyP said...

All I can say is that the way that ti is written is rather confusing. However, I DO like your interpretation.

Anonymous said...

I think you're reading too much into this. The message the new League doesn't want to send is that they are heartless enough to have a new member that shares the same name as a villain who raped one of their member's wives. In their own HQ !

Marionette said...

So it's at a level of "Joe can't join our gang because we once had some issues with an entirely different person also called Joe"? Or is it "We can't let this person into the club because having her around would remind people of the man who raped her"?

Me, I prefer to have a more optimistic interpretation.

Anonymous said...

I completely agree with you...at least it gives us fans hope

Anonymous said...

Well if it's only the case of not wanting to have someone sharing the name of an evil rapist, then why wouldn't a name change be an easy way around that? Or why doesn't Wonder Woman say "We'll ask her to change her name?"

Simply to be vague?

Marionette's conclusion seems to be more appropriate since it's Batman who's for it. Who does Batman want to scare, after all?

Anonymous said...

Yeah. Batman *wants* to send this message. So it can't be "We're insensitive to rape victims".

Chris Arndt said...

I like the interpretation that she was a tad over-violent and that Superman's comments have nothing to do with ongoing storylines or lakc thereof.

I also think it does more harm than good to pay attention to Winnick's hackery. bad stories literally go away from continuity if ignored enough.

Marionette said...

I suppose it's possible that they might just plain ignore Winnick's story, especially given all the continuity problems it raises. But even with all its problems somehow I'd rather see a satisfying resolution to the story than just have it left unfinished and ignored.

Plus there's the whole DC policy on not having two characters with the same name that could be sorted once and for all by having Kimiyo take Arthur Light's power and remove a few body parts.

Not to mention that he is so overdue for a thorough and terminal asskicking. If Kimiyo can't do it then I just hope Kate Spencer runs into him.

Anonymous said...

Oh in the new updated Infinite Crisis Hard Cover...Kimiyo is seen on that two page spread (now done by George Perez) in the last two pages near the end of the storyline. I wish they showed this the first time around instead!

Anonymous said...

Sadly, I posted on Brad Melzters Message Board http://bradmeltzer.com/discus/messages/506/1126.html?1160169518 asking him about what was meant...and he admits it WAS just because she shared Arthur Light's name...no hidden meaning to it. But he does admit that does NOT mean her chances of being a JLA member again are forever ruined.