I love her current costume, and not merely because she's giving her ex Mento the heave-ho in it. Look, a fifty-foot tall woman probably might prefer not to wear a short skirt, right? Mind you, I'm not complaining...
In the original Doom Patrol stories, Rita Farr was an actress, who was exposed to strange gases and gained the ability to shrink and grow at will. She was the least freakish of her teammates (Robotman and Negative Man) but her identity was public, which may have made her feel more of an outcast than them. When the Doom Patrol sacrificed themselves to save a small town, Robotman and Negative Man would both return, while Rita was dead for many years, returning in Infinite Crisis and John Byrne's reboot.
In Doom Patrol #13, "I'm Still Rita," the secret of her resurrection is revealed: the Chief, Niles Caulder, grew (or regrew) her from a piece of her skull and protoplasm. Like the rest of her teammates, she now struggles with the notion of how much of herself is really her. I picked up that issue last week, and enjoyed the hell out of it.
Unfortunately, although I just added Doom Patrol to my pull list; the book is scheduled to end with issue #22. Worse, although she did get a figure in the Justice League Unlimited line, Rita hasn't yet joined Robotman and Negative Man in the DC Universe Classics. While I have to figure most fans would prefer to have a Collect-and-Connect version...man, I would be just as happy to have her regular-sized. While she can shrink, she doesn't seem to do that much anymore; and the DP has added old-school Teen Titan Bumblebee as a member. A plain Elasti-woman with a pack-in Bumblebee would be ideal for me.
Scans from Doom Patrol #13 and #6, "Negative Incentive" Written by Keith Giffen, art by Matthew Clark and Ron Randall, inks by John Livesay.
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