This week’s issue of Batman featured (we’re assuming) the same mysterious blonde woman introduced in DC Universe: Rebirth #1 — you remember, right? The one who was checked into a mental hospital with a Legion of Super-Heroes flight ring in her possession? — and now DC has confirmed that it was in fact Saturn Girl.
Videos by ComicBook.com
Most fans had suspected that an anonymous blonde woman with a Legion of Super-Heroes flight ring would likely turn out to be Imra Ardeen, the Titan-born telepath from a thousand years in the future…but of course, nothing is set in stone until it’s appeared on the printed page — or in this case committed to in various places online by the head of the company.
In Batman #9, Batman, Commissioner Gordon, and Jeremiah Arkham descend into Arkham Asylum to assemble Batman’s own personal Suicide Squad for a mission to Santa Prisca, we catch sight of several patients including Calendar Man, the Tweeds…and a young woman labeled only as “Doe,” who tries to send a message to the passing group…
“We get to go to Arkham Asylum, and we get to know where Saturn Girl’s been since the DC Universe: Rebirth special,” DC publisher Dan DiDio told DC All Access in the video above. “I think that’s fun and I think it shows the connectivity of the DC Universe. What you’re starting to see is characters showing up in books where they shouldn’t normally appear, but what I think that does is shows the connective tissue of what’s going on in the world. Also, there’s a lot of twists and turns naturally that we’ve got planned for her over the course of the the next year, but this is a good start for her.”
A founding member of the Legion — a teenage superteam from the future that features dozens of notable members and works to keep peace in a world increasingly integrated with extra-terrestrial immigrants — Imra first appeared in 1958’s Adventure Comics #247, and was created by Otto Binder and Al Plastino.
“Saturn Girl is the heart and soul of the Legion of Super-Heroes. When everybody’s saying, ‘Legion doesn’t work anymore. There’s too much xenophobia. You can’t change people.’ Saturn Girl says, ‘Yes, you can,’” said DC Chief Creative Officer Geoff Johns of the character. “Then suddenly, you realize she can read people’s minds. She knows everyone’s deepest darkest secrets. If she has faith, then at the base level, human beings and aliens and everybody can reach that goal, can reach achievement and have that goodness inside them. I believe her. I’m with her. And that’s why Saturn Girl is so important to the Legion. She’s at the epicention of truth for the entire universe for me.”
Prior to Rebirth, Saturn Girl was most recently seen in Justice League United #10, where she and numerous other Legion of Super-Heroes members guest starred in a story called “The Infinitus Saga.”
Johns, of course, is the one who wrote the DC Universe: Rebirth one-shot that brought the myserious Legion member to the present-day DCU.
No word on when the character of Saturn Girl will show up next — or whether the world’s greatest detective noticed a giant clue being provided just inches from his face.
