Shim'Tar
Shim'Tar | |
---|---|
Publication information | |
Publisher | DC Comics |
First appearance | Wonder Woman #33 (vol. 2) (August 1989) |
Created by | George Pérez |
In-story information | |
Alter ego | I: Unknown; II: Queen Hippolyta; III: Akila; IV: Artemis. |
Team affiliations | Amazons |
Abilities | Trained in high levels of hand-to-hand combat; Expertise in a wide array of weapons. |
Shim'Tar is a fictional character owned by
Fictional character biography
Rather than a single person, "Shim'Tar" is an interchangeable title for the chief warrior of the
Original Shim'Tar
Wonder Woman's initial contact with the first Shim'tar occurred when her
The writer who conceived the Shim'Tar character (George Pérez) seems to have created the character as a Post-Crisis version, or alternate reality version, of an already existing Wonder Woman villain named Doctor Cyber. This is verified by her position in a poster he created called the Wonder Woman Through the Ages Poster. Shim'Tar is placed right above the Pre-Crisis version of Doctor Cyber, maintaining a variant character pattern that is visible between other Wonder Woman villains.[8]
Additionally, Shim'tar's upbringing and heritage as a champion within a city protected by a mystical barrier (a tornadic magical sandstorm), her mysterious connection to Hipoltya and Wonder Woman, due to her curly hair, skin colour (until then, Shim'tar was the only Bana mighdalian possessing white skin which resembles a reversal of Nu'bia's background that made her the black sister of Wonder Woman and the only Pre-Crisis amazon with black skin) and masked appearance, seem to be references to another character of Pre-Crisis continuity,
In Pre-Crisis continuity, Nu'Bia was kidnapped by Mars, taken to an island concealed within a mystical fog and brainwashed through the use of a magical ring given by the War God, a fact that is mirrored by the possession of Post Crisis Hipolyta by the magical metallic patina.
Queen Hippolyta
During the
Akila and Artemis
Eventually a young amazon named Akila assumed the role of the new Shim'Tar. As opposed to the previous Shim'Tars, the title had become adopted by the Bana-Mighdallian Amazons as the station of "protector" within their tribe. Akila proved to be an asset to both the Bana tribe as well as to Wonder Woman and her tribe of Amazons. Akila was specially chosen by Queen Hippolyta to act as the Bana tribe's representative. Hippolyta provided Akila the means to attend the University of Oxford in Man's World in order to further her education. During her schooling she had become an engineer and so, she redesigned her armor using a combination of technology and magic. When the gorilla Queen Abu-Gita and her hordes tried to invade Paradise Island, Akila helped Diana and Artemis defeat their attack.
Due to civil unrest between the two tribes residing on Themyscira, the Themyscirian Amazons and Amazons of Bana-Mighdall declared war upon each other. During this battle the still young Akila was unable to defend either tribe due to her inexperience and blatant uninterest in becoming a warrior. She was hurt during battle and agreed to hand over the title and armor of "Shim'Tar" to Artemis. Artemis acted as her tribe's Shim'Tar until Queen Hippolyta abolished the Amazon's Monarchy rule, after which Artemis set her position as Shim'Tar aside to become the Amazon nation's co-ruler beside the Amazon General
In the DC Rebirth, the title of the Shim'Tar reappears and is taken by a new version of Akila, wielder of the Bow of Ra and Artemis' best friend and her former lover.
References
- ISBN 978-0345501073.
- ^ Wonder Woman (vol. 2) #28
- ^ Wonder Woman (vol. 2) #29
- ^ Wonder Woman (vol. 2) #30
- ^ Wonder Woman (vol. 2) #33
- ^ Wonder Woman (vol. 2) #34
- ^ Wonder Woman (vol. 2) #35
- ^ http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CXo3IrWojMo/UC5b49D2Z-I/AAAAAAAAAvo/wtA4p-_o7Hw/s1600/wonder%2Bages%2Bblack%2Band%2Bwhite.bmp [bare URL image file]