Shimmer (comics)

Shimmer
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	New Teen Titans #3 (January 1981)
Created by	Marv Wolfman George Pérez
In-story information
Alter ego	Selinda Flinders
Team affiliations	Fearsome Five Secret Society of Super Villains
Abilities	Ability to transmute any element or compound into any other

Shimmer (real name Selinda Flinders) is a fictional character, a supervillain in the DC Comics universe.

Publication history

Shimmer first appeared in New Teen Titans #3 and was created by George Pérez and Marv Wolfman.

Fictional character biography

Selinda and her brother Baran (a.k.a. the supervillain Mammoth) are superhuman natives of Australia. Teased by their classmates for being different, the frustrated children used their powers to fight their tormentors, only to be driven out of town by the angry and frightened parents. Selinda and Baran's parents send them off to the country of Markovia, where they are put in the care of scientist Dr. Helga Jace. While Dr. Jace tries to teach the young mutants a sense of morality, the two instead turn to a life of crime.

Shimmer is one of the founding members of the Fearsome Five, which she joins after answering an advert placed in the Underworld Star by Doctor Light. Shimmer and the Fearsome Five fought with the Teen Titans on numerous occasions; they also have battled Superman.^[1] Shimmer eventually renounces her criminal life and retires, along with Baran, to a Tibetan monastery. Later, her peaceful existence is ended when her former teammate Psimon tracks her down. Using his psychic powers, Psimon turns Shimmer's body to glass and shatters it.^[2]

Shimmer later returns to life.^[3] Doctor Sivana assembles a new version of the Fearsome Five, including Shimmer's brother Mammoth. Sivana is able to recruit Mammoth by promising to resurrect his sister. Sivana has Psimon reassemble the broken shards of Shimmer's glass body, then uses his superscience to restore her to life. In this new form, Shimmer adopts a revealing Goth-like black leather outfit in place of her original gold bodystocking.

Shimmer is mentioned as a possible, but not likely, source for kryptonite in Countdown to Infinite Crisis (2005).

Shimmer is one of the villains featured in Salvation Run.

She and Mammoth eventually join up with a new Fearsome Five roster that is hired by Calculator to kidnap Wonder Girl and distract the new team of Teen Titans while he abducts Kid Eternity. Shimmer and her teammates are eventually defeated, but in the process manage to cause the death of Kid Devil.^[4] Shimmer and the Fearsome Five apparently escape soon after their incarceration. They attempt to assassinate Donna Troy when she attends the opening of a resort in Miami. Troy easily defeats the villains, but Shimmer taunts her by refusing to reveal who hired them.^[5]

In The New 52 (a reboot of the DC Comics universe), Shimmer first appeared where she is a member of the Fearsome Five. The group later appears are members of the Secret Society, which are allied with the Crime Syndicate.^[6] She is send with the other members of the Fearsome Five, Jinx, Mammoth, Gizmo and Psimon, among Doctor Psycho and Hector Hammond to fight against Cyborg and the Metal Men. She is then defeated by Platinum.

Powers and abilities

Shimmer is a metahuman with ability to transmute any element or compound into any other. The change only lasts for a few minutes, and she can only affect materials within a radius of 3 ft (0.91 m).

In other media

Shimmer appears in the Young Justice episode "Drop Zone". She and Mammoth are portrayed as bodyguards working for Kobra. Shimmer demonstrated no superpowers, but was shown to be very proficient in martial arts. Robin disables her with a bola, but she is freed by Kobra. In "Terrors", Shimmer is among the supervillains being held at Belle Reve Penitentiary, where she participates in an unsuccessful escape attempt. In "Usual Suspects," Shimmer assists Mammoth, Cheshire, and Riddler in an ambush on the Team at a downed airplane. She is captured after Robin disables her with yet another bola. In "Beneath," Shimmer alongside Mammoth, Icicle Jr, Psimon, and Devastation were assigned by Queen Bee to guard a shipment of children that are to be sent to The Light's partner. She was knocked out by Miss Martian. Mammoth was later seen holding her body as Queen Bee arrives with the next shipment of children. In "Before the Dawn," it is revealed that she has developed the superpowers she has in the comics by means of metagene experimentation by the Reach when she was seen on their ship. She assists Black Beetle in her fight against the Team until she ends up knocked out. After the Team makes a retreat from the Reach's ship, Black Beetle carries Shimmer's unconscious body away. In "Intervention," Shimmer was seen in Bialya with Mammoth and Devastation. While Rocket maintains the force bubble around Blue Beetle, Zatanna uses a spell to get Devastation to collide with Mammoth and Shimmer enough to knock them out. When they come to, Queen Bee learns what happened and gives them her sympathy.

References