Just finished IC #6... <spoilers>

[chrisco37]

Now it could just be the way Morales draws.

 

That's what I think. Take a look at the profiles he draws.

 

GA, Boomerang, Boomeran'g son, Dr. Light all have the exact same nose.

[deathlok]

Now it could just be the way Morales draws.

 

That's what I think. Take a look at the profiles he draws.

 

GA, Boomerang, Boomeran'g son, Dr. Light all have the exact same nose.

 

Aha!! That could be a clue.

[Kevin Boyd]

Yes, it does. But, why make it look like an attack by Dr. Light if the Atom was supposed to take the fall all along? More killer misdirection? I don't think so.

 

I think that the real killer intended for the burning to cover up the actual cause of death.

 

 

Dr. Light doesn't set people on fire. His blasts are more like laser blasts, nothing at alll like a flamethrower. The remaining "core" JLA-ers ASSUMED it was Light because he raped Sue Dibny in the past, he seemed like an obvious choice. You assume that the killer knew that Light was someone that needed to be framed because of the untold tale of the JLA... only 7 people (and Light) know that he was mindwiped. Most of them are dead or not talking... unless the killer is one of the 5 (Atom, GA, Hawkman, Black Canary, Zatanna). Even Jean would not know about the rape or the history between Dr. Light and Sue (unless the Atom told her, which seems unlikely).

[Kevin Boyd]

Do you think that they also erased Sue's memories of the rape? Elongated Man sure remembers, so they didn't do anything to him, which makes me think they didn't do anything to Sue either...

[deathlok]

Dr. Light doesn't set people on fire. His blasts are more like laser blasts, nothing at alll like a flamethrower.

 

True, but the flames came from a weapon. It wasn't a power like Human Torch. Remember the flames were used to conceal the murder evidence.

[Kevin Boyd]

My point is that Dr. Light doesn't kill people with flamethrowers. He would have killed her by using his powers. He was still a insufficiently_thoughtful_person at the time of Sue's death. (We don't see him until issue 2 when he arrives at the satellite running for his life).

 

So if you wanted to FRAME Dr. Light you would have done it by actually imitating his powers, not using a flame-thrower. Sue's body was burned to hide the real cause of death - pressure on her mid-medulla (likely microscopic assassination).

 

We've just been following the core group of JLAers who felt that Light had a motive to attack Sue.

[Illiterati-migration]

My point is that Dr. Light doesn't kill people with flamethrowers. He would have killed her by using his powers. He was still a insufficiently_thoughtful_person at the time of Sue's death. (We don't see him until issue 2 when he arrives at the satellite running for his life).

 

So if you wanted to FRAME Dr. Light you would have done it by actually imitating his powers, not using a flame-thrower.

 

We've just been following the core group of JLAers who felt that Light had a motive to attack Sue.

 

But wouldn't the fact that the JLA went after Dr. Light be PROOF that the frame-up worked, if only for a time?

[Kevin Boyd]

But wouldn't the fact that the JLA went after Dr. Light be PROOF that the frame-up worked, if only for a time?

 

No, it's after the fact assumption on our parts. The 8 heroes went after Dr. Light because he was the only villain that would have a personal reason to attack Sue, not because the murder looked like something he would do. Ralph wasn't thinking clearly and Dr. Light was the only person he could think of who might have done it, so he gathered the rest of the "League within the League" to go after him.

 

(I don't buy that he had a personal reason either since he didn't remember raping her or having his brain messed with until after Sue was killed.)

 

Everyone else went after the more likely candidates (villains with fire-based powers).

[chrisco37]

Dr. Light doesn't set people on fire. His blasts are more like laser blasts, nothing at alll like a flamethrower. The remaining "core" JLA-ers ASSUMED it was Light because he raped Sue Dibny in the past, he seemed like an obvious choice.

 

My mistake. But still, even more "proof" that the Atom wasn't the intended fall guy. The flamethrowed was supposed to cover up the true cause of death.

 

Assuming that, it's the Atom or someone that has immediate access to his technology.

 

Even Jean would not know about the rape or the history between Dr. Light and Sue (unless the Atom told her, which seems unlikely).

 

Jean mentions that they were very close. I think Sue told Jean about the rape, giving her knowledge of it. Women talk.

 

Aren't they the only two spouse that were "public". That would give them an even stronger bond.

 

Also, why don't you think Atom wouldn't have told his wife? What if Jean wanted to go w/ him like Sue had gone with Ralph?

 

Jean: "I want to go!"

Ray: "No. It's too risky/dangerous."

Jean: "Why? You can protect me."

Ray: "No Jean. I can't take that risk!"

Jean: "What risk?"

Ray: "Jean, Sue Dibny was raped....."

 

Or something like that.

 

unless the killer is one of the 5 (Atom, GA, Hawkman, Black Canary, Zatanna).

 

Let's check out these possibilites:

 

Atom - Strongest suspect of the 5. Atom's (we think) technology was used to kill Sue. But, we've ruled him out, haven't we?

 

GA - Obviously not him. His time during the attack is counted for in the story.

 

Hawkman - Highly unlikely. He was the strongest advocate for the mind-wipe in the first place. Plus, no motive at all (that we have been able to discern).

 

Black Canary - Not big enough part of the story to merit any consideration. She seems to be "just there".

 

Zatanna - Highly unlikely as well. If she wanted Sue (or Jean) dead, why go thru all the trouble to set it up? Wouldn't it be easier to say "ied" to them? Does her magic work that way? Would her magic be able to be detected post-humously?

[Zonker]

I'm convinced it was Jean. The real Jean.

 

And, I'm even more convinced that the "eye coloring" is a mistake. I think the "Persons" magazine was colored incorrectly, and DC is using the same 'stat' (digitally) over and over.

 

Chris,

Here's the problem I have with that-- maybe they are stat-ing that same cover over and over, but why does Meltzer's -script keep calling out that same magazine cover? When I re-read the series, it became obvious that is a recurring motif. It clearly is designed to call our attention to Jean. The author is trying to drop a clue, I think.

 

Also: Meltzer can write prose mystery novels all day, likely for more money. Why do IC? First of all, no doubt it is for the fun of playing with the DC characters. But I'd suspect he's also getting a charge out of doing something in comics that he cannot do in prose: i.e. sprinkle visual clues to augment the words.

 

Try this theory de jour: There are two sides at war here, with Sue caught in the crossfire. So Jean (or "Jean") is an agent in some way of Side #1. Now, as of IC6, Dr. Light has enlisted in some manner Ray Palmer in Side #2. One of the sides has engineered Boomerang's demise, and is now probably mentoring Boomerang Jr. Perhaps the Calculator has engineered these two opposing sides: imagine the demand for his services if the villains are fighting among themselves in addition to taking on the good guys? Calculator says killing Boomerang would be bad for business, but really Boomerang was a loser and unlikely to be a significant revenue source. Offing the senior Captain Boomerang is simply a loss-leader for his growing enterprise.

 

[Kevin Boyd]

Jean mentions that they were very close. I think Sue told Jean about the rape, giving her knowledge of it. Women talk.

 

Aren't they the only two spouse that were "public". That would give them an even stronger bond.

 

Also, why don't you think Atom wouldn't have told his wife? What if Jean wanted to go w/ him like Sue had gone with Ralph?

 

I admit that it's completely possible that Jean found out.

 

But if Jean did kill Sue, she burned the body to cover her tracks, not to frame Dr. Light.

 

This gets down to the question why would Jean kill Sue? We still don't have a great motive. She was friends with Sue, why kill her? Revenge? Nope. Jealousy? Maybe, but she could change her relationship scenario without killing her friend.

 

This was deliberate, premeditated murder. Jean would have had to decide, one day, out of the blue. I'm going to kill Sue Dibny because _____________. Then she would have had to acquire a size changing device, a big trenchcoat and a flamethrower. Then she would have to figure out how to travel along the phone line from the Batcave (where she learned that Tim Drake was Robin, but how did she get to the Batcave? Maybe Ray had it on speed-dial) then wait for Alfred to call Sue Dibny so she could travel along the phone line to the Dibny house.

[AlexH]

Has anyone established a hard motive for why Sue was killed???

[AlexH]

Has anyone established a concrete motive for why Sue was killed???

[chrisco37]

Meltzer can write prose mystery novels all day, likely for more money. Why do IC? First of all, no doubt it is for the fun of playing with the DC characters. But I'd suspect he's also getting a charge out of doing something in comics that he cannot do in prose: i.e. sprinkle visual clues to augment the words.

 

I agree with you on why he might enjoy the medium.

 

Perhaps the Calculator has engineered these two opposing sides: imagine the demand for his services if the villains are fighting among themselves in addition to taking on the good guys?

 

A war started by Calculator to fatten his pockets. Sounds good, but he says he didn't know who took out the contract on Drake's life. Perhaps he's lying? I don;t think so, as he's demonstrated that any info he has is available for the right price.

[Kevin Boyd]

No... and no.

 

It's rather frustrating actually, Sue was just killed and we don't know why. At least we know for sure how she was killed.

 

Everyone in the story assumes she was killed because she was the spouse of a hero without a secret identity, and that Jean was attacked for the same reason.

[chrisco37]

This gets down to the question why would Jean kill Sue?

 

This is the missing piece of the puzzle and will be the big reveal in #7.

 

Then she would have had to acquire a size changing device, a big trenchcoat and a flamethrower.

 

Atom says (right before he hands Jean the crossbow), "Good thing I left all this stuff here. He had a crossbow. Might he not have a flamethrower too?

 

And a trenchcoat anyone can buy right off a rack.

 

Then she would have to figure out how to travel along the phone line from the Batcave (where she learned that Tim Drake was Robin, but how did she get to the Batcave? Maybe Ray had it on speed-dial)

 

She knows Bruce is Batman, right? Knowing this, she could have found out who Robin is any number of times - hang out at "Wayne Manor" microscopically or something. She wouldn't even have to get into the Batcave to find this out, would she?

 

then wait for Alfred to call Sue Dibny so she could travel along the phone line to the Dibny house.

 

Same thing. How do we know she came in thru the phone at Sue's house? She could have been sitting on Sue's shoulder when Sue got home.

 

We have no account of Jean's whereabouts before or during the attack on Sue. The first time Jean appears in the story is "1 hour from now" (meaning one hour after Sue's attack).

 

It's Jean or "Jean" or Ray. We know as much from Batman's revelation at the end of #6. He knows who it is. He's the key to solving the mystery (despite what DC has said about his role). That much is obvious. He's played more and more of a part as the story goes on.

[Kevin Boyd]

She knows Bruce is Batman, right? Knowing this, she could have found out who Robin is any number of times - hang out at "Wayne Manor" microscopically or something. She wouldn't even have to get into the Batcave to find this out, would she?

 

I find it hard to believe that she knew Batman's id. The JLA were pretty careful about who they told their identities to, and they did it knowing that they were not to disclose that information to anyone, including spouses and family. They trusted each other with their secrets completely.

[chrisco37]

She knows Bruce is Batman, right? Knowing this, she could have found out who Robin is any number of times - hang out at "Wayne Manor" microscopically or something. She wouldn't even have to get into the Batcave to find this out, would she?

 

I find it hard to believe that she knew Batman's id. The JLA were pretty careful about who they told their identities to, and they did it knowing that they were not to disclose that information to anyone, including spouses and family. They trusted each other with their secrets completely.

 

I wasn't sure of that or not. Still, she obviously has Ray in her pocket. It's possible he could have revealed it to her. (I'm grasping ).

[Kevin Boyd]

I wasn't sure of that or not. Still, she obviously has Ray in her pocket.

 

That's not difficult when he's small!

[chrisco37]

I wasn't sure of that or not. Still, she obviously has Ray in her pocket.

 

That's not difficult when he's small!

 

! I almost wrote "pun intended".