Sarah Simms

Sarah Simms
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	New Teen Titans Vol. 1 #8 (June 1981)
In-story information
Full name	Sarah Simms
Supporting character of	Cyborg

Sarah Simms is a supporting character in the DC Universe and a love interest of Cyborg.

Character history

Vic Stone, having just been rejected by his girlfriend because of his disfiguring implants, was brooding about how he cannot have a normal life and no one outside his teammates in the Teen Titans could stand being around him.

In the midst of this gloom, he was struck by a baseball. The child nervously asked for his ball and Vic handed it back, forgetting the child could see his metallic hand. To his surprise, the boy did not recoil at the sight of him, but instead marveled at Vic's metal prosthetics, and revealed he had a mundane regular prosthetic arm of standard plastic design. The boy called over the rest of his child physical rehabilitation support group which was overseen by Sarah Simms, a teacher at West Side School for the Handicapped. The children immediately idolized Vic with his fancy parts and exciting life while he, encouraged by this heartening experience, became close friends with Sarah Simms. Both considered the idea of a romantic relationship, yet both were rather shy about asking for fear of placing a rift between their already strong friendship.

Vic and Sarah's friendship was shaken when she was kidnapped by Deathstroke the Terminator in an attempt to get to the Titans. Vic felt responsible, and Sarah was upset by the event. Vic and Sarah later came to terms with this and resumed their friendship.

Later, Sarah Simms was accosted on the street by Mark Wright, who insanely persisted in claiming to be her fiancé after she has told him repeatedly that they were never more than friends and co-workers. Mark, clearly unbalanced, dragged Sarah into a nearby sporting goods store, which he took it over at gunpoint, wounding a cashier who tried to stop him. Using a rifle from the store merchandise, Mark held off the police, who surrounded the shop, while Sarah took advantage of his distraction to place a whispered phone call to Titans Tower. Cyborg, Changeling, and Raven, the only Titans on hand at the moment, arrived almost immediately, but their initial efforts to enter the store and disarm Mark met with failure. Finally, confused and surrounded, Mark put down his weapon and collapsed into Raven's arms, surrendering.

Sarah's life was without much incident following her hostage situation with Mark Wright. She continued her friendship with Vic, and even attended Donna Troy's wedding as his date.

Following that, Vic's adventures left him little time for Sarah. Meanwhile, a new man entered her life: a coworker at the West Side School for the Handicapped by the name of Gary Sellers. Sarah and Gary did not plan on a relationship, but found themselves falling in love. Sarah initially was hesitant to tell Vic, and he found out by accident. He was angry at first, but later accepted they were not meant to have a romantic relationship — just a close friendship.

Eventually, Gary left Sarah and she found herself single again. She flirted with the idea of a relationship with Joe Wilson (Jericho), but nothing ever came of it.

Sarah Simms still remains a friend to Vic Stone and the Titans.

Additional notes

Marv Wolfman, on the possibility of a Vic/Sarah Simms romance: "Not necessarily. At first I thought of it. And then decided there was nothing wrong with a good healthy friendship that isn't based on a sex. I received a letter that sort of helped me change my mind, from a black leader who felt that we had seen a lot of interracial relationships, but we haven't seen that many good, solid black-black relationships to show that a black hero doesn't always go together with a white heroine and vice-versa. And that sort of got me thinking. That came very early in the relationship, that it made a lot more sense in terms of their needs to be very good friends. He has no girlfriend who he is totally in love with in a sexual way at this time. He's just very good friends with her, And that in itself is a slightly different relationship."

In other media

The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians

Sarah Simms appears in the episode The Seeds of Doom, as teacher of handicapped children.

Titans Go Comic appearances

Sarah also appears in the Titans Go comics which are based on the animated series. She is like her comic counterpart and has a very similar introduction issue. She also teaches handicapped children but not as a teacher, since she is a teenager, but as a volunteer counselor.

She left Cyborg briefly in Issue 27 after a misunderstanding, paired with Jinx's hostility toward her for being Cyborg's girlfriend.

Sarah reunited with Cyborg in issue 39 where she and Cyborg went on a double date with Starfire and Robin. It is not known at this point what caused her to go back to Cyborg, but both she and Starfire bear roses.

In #45 she along with Beast Boy and Cyborg the supervisors of the children on a camping trip. The first portion of the story has Beast Boy telling his origin around the campfire. The second portion (which takes place later in the evening from the first story) has Cyborg telling Sarah his origin prior to joining the Titans. Cyborg tells her that he has strong feelings for her and he believes that they have "met in another life" (referring to Sarasim). She mentions that she'll be attending college later in the fall, with Cyborg mentioning that he'll keep in touch through cellphone, e-mail, text (as he refers to himself as a walking communication center). The story ends with them embracing, and Beast Boy teasing them.

In the animated series episode "Cyborg the Barbarian" Cyborg is stranded in 3000 BC by a magic spell, where he meets and falls in love with a barbarian warrior woman named Sarasim (voiced by Kimberly Brooks). This character's name is obviously an contraction of Sarah Simms, possibly hinting at an incarnation in a former life.

Appearances

• Issue 3: Lame
• Issue 13: What Time Is It, Mr. Wolf?
• Issue 20: Secret Moves
• Issue 27: Love is a Battlefield
• Issue 39: Stupid Cupid
• Issue 45: Biography of a Beast Boy/Cyborg's Story