I've picked up the last couple of issues of the Titans and have read all of Identity Crisis, but I need to get some up-to-date info on a few things...

In the early Silver Age appearances of Dr. Light, he was dependent on a gun or gizmo to manifest his light powers. I think I remember later that he had built machinery into his gloves so that he could perform the same operations without needing to operate any separate devices.

Question: Does the current Dr. Light still require the use of machinery in his costume or does he now have light-manipulation powers?

Question: How is it that Dr. Light was able to withstand the physical onslaught of the Titans in the most recent issue ... ( the Russian Starfire, Superboy, and Cyborg seemed to pound on him quite heavily. ) I'm assuming some photonic force field was in use, but has this ever been explained?

Question: I don't believe I'd ever seen the Titan known as Mirage before. Can anyone cite an appearance?

Question: What's Flamebird's background? ( I know of the Kandor heroes Nightwing and Flamebird and assume that somehow there's a connection to Dick Grayson's Nightwing. )

Question: I'm assuming that "Herald" was Mal/The Hornblower? If so ... I like the name much better. When did his name change to The Herald?

Question: Harlequin / Duela Dent : I remember seeing her before, but I had thought it was in Batman Family ... not the Titans.

Question: Whatever happened to the female Asian Dr. Light? ( Was she a hero or villain? )

Thanks!

Jim Lawless

I can't help you with the Doctor Light questions, although I think that his powers are still artificially generated. However, here's some info on the rest.

Question: I don't believe I'd ever seen the Titan known as Mirage before. Can anyone cite an appearance?
She was a member of a group called "Team Titans," a spinoff group from an alternate future. Her teammates blinked out of existence during Zero Hour, but she still existed because she was born in the "proper" timeline. She was part of the main team a couple of years after that, up until the NEW TITANS book was cancelled.

Question: What's Flamebird's background? ( I know of the Kandor heroes Nightwing and Flamebird and assume that somehow there's a connection to Dick Grayson's Nightwing. )
Flamebird is a post-Crisis retcon of the first "Bat-Girl," Betty Kane, who was Batwoman's niece back in some stories in the 50s and 60s. She appeared briefly in the 70s Titans book, and was retconned into Flamebird in SECRET ORIGINS Annual # 3, which was a post-Crisis revamp of the Titans' history.

Question: I'm assuming that "Herald" was Mal/The Hornblower? If so ... I like the name much better. When did his name change to The Herald?
The same SO Annual mentioned above retconned Mal Duncan into the Herald. This has now "always" been his superhero name.

Question: Harlequin / Duela Dent : I remember seeing her before, but I had thought it was in Batman Family ... not the Titans.
After her Batman Family appearances as "the Joker's Daughter," she appeared in the short-lived 70s Titans book, where she was renamed the Harlequin. In the new hsitory, she's apparently just some sort of nutcase who hung around with the Titans, but wasn't an official member. her true hsitory is unclear.

Question: Whatever happened to the female Asian Dr. Light? ( Was she a hero or villain? )
She was a hero and occassional member of the Justice League. I think she moved back to Japan.

Thanks for the info Kevin.

Jim Lawless

I was curious about this as well.