"I have you." - The Sandra Woosan aka Lady Shiva Appreciation Thread!

[darkseidpwns]

Still, I don't think it's fair to pigeonhole her as a Batman character, any more than it would be to say Black Canary is a Green Arrow character. I think there's enough ambiguity here to include this thread here.

No problem bro, I just say this because it's likely to get more traffic there than here.

[gwangung]

I think her strongest portrayals is when her plans are not straight forward; there's a mystery to her, but it all makes sense in the end. Similarly, her morality is not straight ahead good or bad, but adheres to a code of her own devising.

This plays somewhat into Orientalist stereotypes, but I get the feeling that it's done deliberately, cultivating a stereotype for her own purposes.

(And I rather prefer that she be given no overt origin...just bits and pieces that may or may not fit together).

[Gorblax]

I think we got a pretty great take on her origin in the Puckett Batgirl. But the fact that not all of what we heard there may be true is a good one.

[j9ac9k]

Hey, I mostly know her from the Question, and that's how I see her. Insanely skilled martial-artist. From the O'Neil book, it seemed that Richard had achieved Yoda-levels of mastery, to the point where he didn't even need to throw a punch to destroy someone and Shiva was second to that. And she only inflicted damage because she kinda liked it. She was a genuinely unpredictable and morally grey character. The few times I read her in the Bat-books she seemed less than that and it was disappointing to see her as a straight-up villain. She came across better in the "Birds of Prey" issues that I read.

Btw, has she ever had a proper throwdown against Deathstroke? I'd be curious to know how that turned out.

[gwangung]

I think we got a pretty great take on her origin in the Puckett Batgirl. But the fact that not all of what we heard there may be true is a good one.

This is all my spin, but I think as character of mystery, ala Wolverine in the early days and maybe Cable, having a specific origin strips the mystique from her. Her character becomes known, and it's the extreme ambiguity, and very gray character that makes her appealing. A straight up villain kinda reduces her...it's that wild uncertainty of not knowing what she's going to do is what's appealing.

[Nite-Wing]

Lady Shiva has been associated closely with the Batman Family, but actually originated as a Richard Dragon character — and she's been as integral to the history of The Question, and even Green Arrow, as Batman. She really has a much wider scope than just Batman.

I'd say she more closely connected to Batman because of her being Cass' mom
She's a member of the league of assassins
She's also kinda sorta one of Batman's rogues

[Aahz]

Which version of Shivas history do you prefer, the original one from (primarily) the Richard Dragon and Question Comics, or the later retcon to shoehorn Cass and David Cain in?

[Gorblax]

Which version of Shivas history do you prefer, the original one from (primarily) the Richard Dragon and Question Comics, or the later retcon to shoehorn Cass and David Cain in?

I like to imagine the truth is somewhere in between. You could easily say that it was David Cain who killed her sister, and Richard was subsequently framed for it - as opposed to some forgotten no-namer.

[Aahz]

I like to imagine the truth is somewhere in between. You could easily say that it was David Cain who killed her sister, and Richard was subsequently framed for it - as opposed to some forgotten no-namer.

But it makes big difference in the chronology, if you go by the Richarad Dragon version, the death of Carolyn is far more recent than it has to be than it has to be so that Shiva can have a 16-18 year old daugther (Shiva has to be much older to make that work).

Personally I prefer the pre Cass version for the Richard Dragon Characters, since the the later retcon creates imo big continuity problems with the previous appearences of the characters (like Bronze Tigers appearance in the Suicide Squad) and the second Richard Dragon series was imo not that great.

[Gorblax]

But it makes big difference in the chronology, if you go by the Richarad Dragon version, the death of Carolyn is far more recent than it has to be than it has to be so that Shiva can have a 16-18 year old daugther (Shiva has to be much older to make that work).

Personally I prefer the pre Cass version for the Richard Dragon Characters, since the the later retcon creates imo big continuity problems with the previous appearences of the characters (like Bronze Tigers appearance in the Suicide Squad) and the second Richard Dragon series was imo not that great.

Does it, though? I imagine the Richard Dragon series took place quite a while in the past.

[MajorHoy]

from Who's Who Update '87 Vol. 3 (October 1987)

[Devaishwarya]

I am re-watching Beware the Batman now and I am IN LOVE with Lady Shiva.

[The Whovian]

It's been a while since Shiva has appeared in a comic.

[MajorHoy]

It's been a while since Shiva has appeared in a comic.

According to the GCD, she was in an issue of Deathstroke that came out in late 2014 and, more recently, Detective Comics #954 last year (though I have no idea of how much she actually appeared in either case).

[The Whovian]

According to the GCD, she was in an issue of Deathstroke that came out in late 2014 and, more recently, Detective Comics #954 last year (though I have no idea of how much she actually appeared in either case).

Yeah. That issue of Detective was brief. I really want to see her in a long storyarc