| Shrinking Violet | |
|---|---|
 Salu Digby as Violet, as depicted inLegion of Super-Heroes Secret Files and Origins (vol. 4) #1 (January 1998). Art by Philip Moy, Ray Kryssing, and Tom McCraw. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | Action Comics #276 (May 1961) |
| Created by | Jerry Siegel Jim Mooney |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Salu Digby |
| Species | Imskian |
| Place of origin | Imsk |
| Team affiliations | Legion of Super-Heroes |
| Notable aliases | Atom Girl Virus LeViathan Veye Violet |
| Abilities |
|
Salu Digby, also known asShrinking Violet,Violet, andAtom Girl, is asuperhero appearing inDC Comics, primarily as a member of theLegion of Super-Heroes in the 30th and 31st centuries.[1] She is from the planet Imsk and has the power to shrink to tiny size, as do all Imsk natives.
Shrinking Violet first appeared inAction Comics #276, and was created by writerJerry Siegel and artistJim Mooney.[2]
In the original pre-Zero Hour: Crisis in Time! continuity, she is the thirteenth person to join the Legion of Super-Heroes.[3] At the same tryout,Supergirl andBrainiac 5 join the Legion. Shrinking Violet joins the Legion later, as do her fellow applicantsSun Boy andBouncing Boy. Despite her shyness, Shrinking Violet, known as Vi to her teammates, serves as an exemplary Legionnaire. She becomes romantically involved with Duplicate Boy of theHeroes of Lallor.
Years later, Violet is kidnapped by Imsk radicals and replaced in the Legion byYera Allon, a Durlan who uses her shapeshifting abilities to assume Violet's identity. Legion deputy leaderElement Lad andScience Police liaisonShvaughn Erin become suspicious of the fake Violet when Yera suddenly falls in love withColossal Boy, who harbored an unrequited crush on the real Violet for years. Yera's charade is exposed and the real Violet is rescued. After returning to active duty, Violet breaks up with Duplicate Boy and enters a short-term romantic relationship with fellow Legionnaire Sun Boy.
During the "Five Year Later" storyline, it is implied that Violet is in a lesbian relationship withLightning Lass.[4] After the Legion's disintegration in the aftermath of thePaul Levitz-written era, Violet returns to Imsk and participates in a war against Braal, the home planet ofCosmic Boy. Delirious with pain, Cosmic Boy attacks Violet and injures her right eye.
In the "Legion on the Run" storyline, she operates under the aliasVirus, as Legion leader.
During the"Five Year Gap" following the Magic Wars, Earth falls under the control of theDominators and leaves theUnited Planets, during which "Batch SW6", temporal clones of the Legionnaires, escape captivity.[5]
In the post-Zero Hour continuity, Violet is possessed by the Emerald Eye of Ekron, becomingVeye. She is freed and obtainsLeviathan's powers in addition to her own. Since then, she has alternated between using the codenameLeViathan in tribute to him, and simply being known asViolet.
In this continuity, Shrinking Violet is also known as Atom Girl, a myth to all but the founding Legion members. She is considered a joke by the second wave of Legionnaires, until Brainiac 5 reveals her in the battle against Elysion of Terror Firma.
The events of theInfinite Crisis miniseries restore an analogue of the pre-Crisis Legion to continuity. In this continuity, which is a version of the "original" Legion had all of the retcons and manipulation of the timeline not occurred, Shrinking Violet is still at odds with Yera Allon, who joined the Legion as Chameleon Girl. It is revealed that her relationship with Lightning Lass from the Five Year Later gap had been incorporated into the main continuity and they are a lesbian couple.[6]
As Shrinking Violet or Violet, Salu Digby has the ability to vary her size. Originally, she could only shrink (down to subatomic sizes, if necessary).[7] In the post-Zero Hour reboot, the Emerald Eye gave her Leviathan's power to grow to giant sizes as well.[8] As Violet, Salu possesses expertise inespionage and unarmed combat. As a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes, she wields a Legion Flight Ring, which allows her to fly in both the vacuum of space and other dangerous environments, and was additionally modified by Brainiac 5 to change size alongside her.
