| Shondra Kinsolving | |
|---|---|
Shondra Kinsolving, art by Jim Aparo. |
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| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | Batman #486 (November 1992) |
| Created by | Doug Moench (writer) Jim Aparo (artist) |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Shondra Kinsolving |
| Supporting character of | Batman |
| Abilities | Limited telekinesis Healing powers |
Shondra Kinsolving is a fictional supporting character in the DC Comics universe. She was introduced during the "Knightfall" storyline in Batman #486, (November 1992). She was created by Doug Moench and Jim Aparo.
Shondra Kinsolving was one of a pair of adopted children to a British family. Her adoptive brother, Benedict, found that Shondra had latent psychic powers and the two could combine their mental energies for enhanced effect, the two killing their abusive foster father (Her mother later speculating that her husband adopted a black child, despite his racism, in order to regularly beat something that he deemed evil). Although using her powers felt good, Shondra came to hate what she and her brother did, eventually fleeing from him.
Later in life, Shondra is a trained physiotherapist who is treating Jack Drake, father of Tim Drake aka Robin, and neighbor of Bruce Wayne. Drake had been paralyzed during a kidnapping a few months earlier. When Wayne finds himself dealing with chronic exhaustion, Kinsolving becomes his caregiver and helps to look after him after he is injured by supervillain Bane. The two begin to develop a romantic attachment but before Bruce could fully commit to her she is kidnapped by her half brother Benedict Asp, who turns her abilities to evil uses.
Asp reveals Shondra's healing powers and, along with his own psychic powers, uses her to telekinetically kill an entire village. Bruce eventually defeats Benedict, but the events traumatize Shondra, causing her psyche to regress back into childhood to escape the horror of what she has done in the present and revert to a happier time, the last of her sanity being sacrificed to heal Bruce's broken back. Bruce puts her in an institution. Shondra later is put in the care of a foster family and begins to slowly recover from her ordeal.
Kinsolving was recently featured in the "Hush" storyline, when Barbara Gordon asks Alfred Pennyworth if they should call Shondra to operate on Batman after he fractures his skull. When Alfred asserts that she is not well mentally, Barbara informs him that "she got better," and may thus have recovered. She appeared during Bruce Wayne's surgery, assisting Dr. Thomas Elliot.
Shondra is a low level metahuman telekinetic with the ability to heal. Her powers can apparently be boosted (by other metahumans with psionic abilities) high enough to kill.