If you've ever gotten mad when a household chore was left undone, knowing damn well it was you that was supposed to do it...it would probably be worse for Rose Forrest, of Rose and the Thorn! From 1972, Superman's Girlfriend, Lois Lane #128, "Edge of Madness" Written by Robert Kanigher, art by Don Heck; and Superman's Girlfriend, Lois Lane #117, "The Ghost with Two Faces!" Written by Robert Kanigher, pencils by Rich Buckler, inks by Dick Giordano.
We don't see her very often, but I usually like Rose and the Thorn stories, and I should keep an eye out for Gail Simone's 2004 limited series. After Rose Forrest's cop dad was murdered by crime syndicate the 100, her unconscious mind leads her to become vigilante the Thorn at night to seek vengeance. Rose is portrayed as sweet, innocent, and perhaps not especially observant: I'm not sure if I've seen any stories where she wonders why she's so tired when she wakes up, or wonders where any nocturnal injuries came from. Or maybe her subconscious lets her shrug it off.
In "The Ghost with Two Faces!" Rose rents a vacation house that's said to be haunted. ("For example, all of us say that.") She doesn't believe in ghosts, and it makes a great base for Thorn, who's seen by the locals multiple times and even photographed. Rose, who earlier received a Thorn costume in the mail, thinks that's kind of weird, in a way that you're pretty sure she's not going to follow up on at all.
I liked the Rose and Thorn backups more than the lead Lois Lane stories, although the covers are usually pretty good.
1 comment:
Good observations here, as how could she not wonder about all the weird things happening to her. If she wasn't a superhero vigilante, it all sounds like the plot to a horror movie about schizophrenia, which she obviously is or at the very least, suffers from extreme associative identity disorder.
As it is she should count her lucky stars the Brits and the Vertigo imprint never got their hands on her and really messed her up.
How Black Orchid but not Rose/Thorn ended up briefly touched by Vertigo I'll never know.
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