The latest episode of The Flash introduced a new character and she is a very familiar face to DC Comics readers. However, the name Sue Dearbon might have some fans confused.
That is because Sue Dearbon is the maiden name of the woman who later became known as Sue Dibny, the wife of Ralph Dibny, the Elongated Man.
Here is what you need to know.
Sue Dearbon on The Flash
The new episode of The Flash sees Ralph Dibny (Hartley Sawyer) searching still for his missing client, Sue Dearbon (Natalie Dreyfuss), and he finally finds her.
This event takes a turn when Dearbon refuses to return home with Ralph and ends up taking him on a huge adventure.
Sue tells Ralph that she is on the run from her boyfriend, an arms dealer named John Loring (remember that name for later). She claims she has evidence that could put Loring away for a long time.
Ralph helps her, despite her saying she didn’t need any help.
This attitude sounds very familiar to fans of DC Comics.
However, Sue turned out to be lying to Ralph. While she has a good reason, this does not bode well for the two characters.
Sue Dibny in DC Comics / Identity Crisis
In DC Comics, Sue Dibny was a socialite who ended up marrying Ralph Dibny. She was always very supportive of him and was one of the few wives of Justice League members who were in on their secrets.
However, Sue Dibny’s life came to an abrupt end in one of DC Comics’ top critically acclaimed event series — Identity Crisis.
Unlike other “Crisis” events in DC Comics, this was not a world-changing event, although it did change the world of the Justice League personally.
Someone killed Sue Dibny and the story was a mystery about who killed her and why.
The story then revealed a dark part of the Justice League’s past. A villain known as Doctor Light had raped Sue.
In revenge and to prevent something like this from happening again, Zatanna of the Justice League used her powers to wipe out most of the villain’s intelligence, making him helpless to ever serve as a major villain again.
They then did the unthinkable.
Not every member of the Justice League supported this and they mindwiped Batman to keep him from remembering what happened.
It splintered the trust between the members of the Justice League from that point on.
Interestingly, it wasn’t Doctor Light that had anything to do with the murder of Sue Dibny.
Ray Palmer’s (The Atom) estranged wife Jean Loring (remember that name from earlier?) killed Sue by accident. Her entire reasoning was to try to convince Ray to return to her.
The most tragic thing? Sue Dibny was pregnant with Ralph’s baby and was going to reveal it to him on the day she died — their wedding anniversary.
It broke Ralph Dibny, who was never the same again.
The Flash airs on Tuesdays at 8/7c on The CW.