What should DC Comics do about the ORIGINAL BAT-Girl ?

[Cmbmool]

Regardless of how you feel about Barbara Gordon and her connection to the Batman Mythos, you can't forget that she isn't the first female to be called Batgirl. Which brings out the question: What can DC do with the ORIGINAL Bat-girl ?

Especially since what happen to the ORIGINAL BATWOMAN, which also surprised me how very little they have the current one connect with original one.



To anyone who knows of the character: What do you think of it ?

[KurtW95]

Both Bette Kane (as Flamebird) and Kathy Kane should be brought back. IMO, Kathy is Bruce's best love interest.

[Oberon]

dollparade.jpg !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Oberon]

Bat-girl, Bette - - Flamebird

is the unknown daughter of Jacob Kane, and therefore

Kate's half-sister as well.

[KurtW95]

Morrison's Kathy Webb-Kane is similar to the original Kathy Kane, but still too different for my liking. IMO, no Kanes should be related to Bruce. Best thing to do, IMO, is bring back the Kanes, change Kate's last name/have her be unrelated, and have none of them be related to Bruce.

[MajorHoy]

The cleanest way to deal with this is if DC brought back the pre-CoIE version of Earth-2.

On that Earth, Kathy Kane could go back to being the original version of Batwoman,



and "Betty" (not Bette) could have been Bat-Girl (with the hyphen) who eventually takes over the role of Batwoman. (As a matter of fact, didn't they try to put Bette on the temporarily reborn Earth-2 in Infinite Crisis?)

[Godlike13]

Use her to fill out Batwoman’s supporting cast.

[Oberon]

Well, be that as it may, I wouldn't want anything to do with that. I believe, as intended, Kathy Webb is the woman who became the first Batwoman. She's just a bit different from her silver age persona.

And so is Bette Kane. Any look at using or revisioning either of them, or others with a pre Crisis persona, will have to make some concessions for the modern era.

That's why there *is* a Flamebird, who was the first Bat-girl.
Another way of looking at this thread, is

would it be better for DC to acknowledge a pre-existing Bat/-/girl, at all -

or just go with the Bette Kane is somehow related to the Bat family and somehow chose a name that mirrors Dick as Nightwing.

New 52 has never did a major flashback or retelling of any of Bette's exploits prior to that, basic lip service. So that made her character totally malleable and useful for the first volume of Batwoman.

But besides her Silver age setting, there are also the post COIE stories, as well as the new 52. How to reconcile all this. I tried.

[MajorHoy]

. . . New 52 has never did a major flashback or retelling of any of Bette's exploits prior to that, basic lip service.

Actually, there was a major screw-up with Bette's back story towards the beginning of the New52.
Early on, when Batwoman wanted to "demote" her due to a lack of experience, Bette shot back that she had already been a member of the Teen Titans. This took place in the individual issues story, before DC belatedly had announced a decision (in October 2011 I think) that there had never been any previous groups called the "Teen Titans".

[ngroove]

Not every character needs to be brought back, and made relevant again, as there are dozens, and Gotham is already polluted with too many characters calling themselves "Batman Family" already.

Batwoman and Bat-Girl could just stay in the fifties-seventies. Onyx and Orpheus could just stay in the noughties. Azrael should have stayed in the nineties. Many characters should have stayed in the nineties-noughties.

New 52 / rebirth reboots could have just kept it simple, with the most minimally required Batman, Robin, and Batgirl - but nooooo, bring back this fan cult favorite character, and bring back that fan cult favorite character, to over-saturate Gotham with dark heroes and vigilantes again, like before.

[TheRay]

They should use her as Batgirl.

[Oberon]

I realize that Betty by whatever name seems so unknown. But perspective can help. While they deep sixed her character in '61 or so . . .


by '64, they wanted another Batgirl. Only 3 years separate their fictional canon. So, to some degree anyone could say that about Babs too, especially since the latest one is not really the original (either, like Betty). Babs is now younger than Dick and certainly not a Masters in Library Science.

why not throw them all out and start over?

Because comic books - like Soap Operas - or other "serial" literature, are on going stories (even with ret cons or odd changes).

Comic book characters never grow old - Elton John said that in a song, so

it would be better if we had good ideas to give to DC rather than decide 'for them' that *we* (collective or not) dont' want.

Having said this, I am a friend of the current Batgirl writer, Scott. I 've known her since she was in her early teens (nearly 15 or so ago) and I'm prepared to take my case to her and ask her if she might find a way to use the character.

wish me luck, you never know.