Shimmer
29 years ago - Selinda Flinders & her twin Baran Flinders are born in Australia.
25 years ago - 4-year-old Selinda & her twin Baran Flinders are subjected to experimental radiation by Dr. Helga Jace for H.I.V.E.
10 years ago - 19-year-old Selinda & her twin Baran Flinders battle the Teen Titans with H.I.V.E. They join Doctor Light's Fearsome Five and battle the Titans again before they are imprisoned.
9 years ago - 20-year-old Selinda & her twin Baran Flinders are freed from prison by Psimon when he reforms the Fearsome Five. They battle Superman & the Teen Titans.
8 years ago - 21-year-old Selinda & her twin Baran Flinders retreat to the Australian outback after the fall of the Fearsome Five, working as low-level hijackers.
6 years ago - 23-year-old Selinda & her twin Baran Flinders compete in Veronica Sinclair's underground powered fighting tournament. When they severely injure Ted Grant, Dinah Lance & Sandra Wu shut down the entire operation.
3 years ago - 26-year-old Selinda & her twin Baran Flinders are recruited into the new Fearsome Five by Doctor Sivana. They are defeated by the Outsiders.
This was a weird timeline to create, because it's actually two timelines. Shimmer's entire role is as a member of the Fearsome Five, but even within that, she and her brother Mammoth effectively wind up as two sides of a dual character. There isn't a lot to say about them, they're kind of one-note villains, but often that's exactly what you need to put up against the heroes. Shummer is a great, well-executed character archetype with built-in ties to other baddies, and that makes her a great tool for telling stories.
Shimmer's Comic HistoryShimmer appeared for the first time, along with most of the Fearsome Five, in 1981's The New Teen Titans #3. With the exception of Doctor Light, none of the members of the team were really designed to break new groud character-wise. Everyone was essentially a particular archetype given form... a group of threats all bundled together to present a pretty capable challenge for the Titans to battle for an issue before they inevitably win and move on to more challenging enemies.
Shimmer, for her part, was obviously the team's prerequisite sexy lady, if that weird peek-a-boo costume design wasn't already a dead giveaway. You honestly have to admit that, as illogical and impractically revealing costumes go, this one is at least pretty innovative. This is the early 80's we're talking about. Fashion was weird. Eventually, Shimmer and Mammoth tried to retire and join a monastary, and in continuity she was turned to glass and killed by teammate Psimon in retaliation. She was revived years later when Dr. Sivana gathered the Fearsome Five and proved himself trustworthy by bringing Shimmer back to life, although she was now sporting a much gothier look. This is the character that carried forward into the new 52. |
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Our Shimmer StorySo what are we going to do with her? We're taking a page from the animated Teen Titans series to suggest that the members of the Fearsome Five were originally part of the H.I.V.E. This gives us a built-in connection to Helga Jace, who we can use as an explanation for Shimmer & Mammoth's powers.
Also, just in case you didn't notice... Shimmer doesn't die in our timeline. We're trying to avoid stories where characters come back from the dead unnecessarily, and we actually want to USE Shimmer, so we're going to be keeping her around. Beyond that, it's pretty easy to just follow along with the bulk of their comic appearances, because the twins are essentially working class villains who actually have enough power to present a real threat. The fact that they, in canon, actually tried to retire from the supervillain game is fun, although the idea of them joining a monastary feels pretty cliche. Instead, we thought it would be cool if they went back to Australia and became hijackers, just because that seems like something they would do. |