It was only a matter of time before we'd get around to this quirky quartet. Yes quartet, for each Rose was two "women" in one body. On Earth-Two, Rose Canton was a troubled woman battling a multiple personality disorder which fully manifested itself while she was on the island of Tashmi, studying under botony under Doctor Benton Hollis. Having the delusion of being sisters, with blonde Rose sent to study her namesake in nature while her red haired sister studying the thorn. In reality, Rose was to have studied both but was pricked by a particular time of thorn which caused her mental break and developed within her a superfast thorn resistance physique as well as controlling her powerful Thornstalk. After attacking her employer, she embarked on a crime wave of Keystone City until she met up with the Flash, Jay Garrick. Jay was able to beat her three times, even when she unleashed her specialized thorn darts and controlled her gigantic thorn-stock. Eventually sent to Paradise Island by Flash's buddy Green Lantern so that Wonder Woman's people could reform her, she returned a cured woman under the alias of Alyx Florin. In the interim during her stay there, she developed feelings for Lantern, and have determining his secret identity she seduced him into romance until they married. On their wedding evening, she once more was controlled by the Thorn, causing Rose to conceal her infant children nine months later in an orphanage. While not as brutal as her counterpart, the Earth-One Rose Forrest saw tragedy as she lost her father Sergeant Phil Forrest in the line of duty while he was tracking the criminal gang the 100. Her repressed anger caused her to develop a dual personality, and thanks to inheriting her father's home and attached costume shop, she located a costume and trick gadgets which she claimed as her own under the new persona of the Thorn. Unlike her cosmic sister, she was on the side of justice and helped clean up the streets of Metropolis while alongside Lois Lane and Superman, even facing down Poison Ivy on a couple occasions.
Thorn debuted in October 1970 as a crusading crime fighter in Metropolis, and operated there until April 1973 when she... and her "sister" Rose... left town mysteriously. Her arch-foes the 100 may have been defeated. Then, she vanished, seemingly cured of her affliction. Or was she?In 1978, the Thorn of Earth-Two reemerged herself in Keystone City, having succeeded in controlling Rose Forrest as well. While battling with the Justice Society alongside her Thorn henchmen and hired married masked marauders Sportsmaster and the Huntress, she was defeated and captured. A year later in 1979, Earth-One's Thorn reappeared in Metropolis. On this occasion, it was revealed that Rose's psychiatrist had given her a necklace that had caused the Thorn identity to submerge, and this same necklace somehow effected Superman himself. After this case, Thorn disappeared once more.
_________________________________
Thorn returned once more in 1982 to twice assist Batman versus neo-Nazi forces, who was mystified by her identity which he thought somehow connected to Rose in a deeper manner. In 1985, Rose Forrest was found on the island of Tashmi by her two long lost twin children, also known as Jade and Obsidian. This led to a couple of encounters with the Thorn and her Thornstalk, leading to her death when Rose gave her life to protect her family and ex-husband Green Lantern from the Thorn's wrath.Indeed, these two Roses and Thorns are an interesting case study in how the Multiverse works to make things that are at their core similar drastically different. Not every righteous person has a heroic twin, and decisions made in life can cause diametric directions to ensue in one's life. Would the toxin that infected Canton have turned Forrest evil and powerful? Would seeing her father murdered by criminals have motivated Forrest to turn to the good side? And who would win in a battle, the savy botonist golden age Thorn or the tech-savy silver age Thorn? Regardless, both women in the end were heroines, as each Rose was the moral compasses that reigned in the Thorn in their side.
No comments:
Post a Comment