Stephanie Brown: Spoiler, Robin, Batgirl Appreciation 2019

[millernumber1]

I haven't read it yet but in the second panel the narrator says "Even this... Holly Robinson." Could be her.

Pretty sure it is Holly.

[Konja7]

I haven't read it yet but in the second panel the narrator says "Even this... Holly Robinson." Could be her.

Yeah. The blonde woman is Holly Robinson.

I had forgotten about her.

[adrikito]

Steph was mentioned in Batman Who laughs 6..

I didn´t understand it.. Seems that we saw some kind of future with one old bruce and the batfamily and that idiot trying to kill that bruce.. Maybe she is the character closely to babs with blonde hair..

batman laughs 6 batfamily.jpg

[millernumber1]

Steph was mentioned in Batman Who laughs 6..

I didn´t understand it.. Seems that we saw some kind of future with one old bruce and the batfamily and that idiot trying to kill that bruce.. Maybe she is the character closely to babs with blonde hair..

batman laughs 6 batfamily.jpg

Good catch, I'll have to read through it to see what the context is.

[Falcon16]

She reminds me of Barbara Wilson.

[ohfellow]

Remember this question I asked back on 4/7? I asked:

I vaguely recall some story where some version of Supergirl - maybe the one from 2004-2011 - meets some version of Batgirl, and they have an exchange - something like Batgirl tells Supergirl "I'm not the same one you know" and Supergirl says "I know, I heard."

And part of your reply.

Sorry this took so long!

...

With regards to Batgirl and Supergirl, that's an interesting question. I've gone over the World's Finest issue, and you're absolutely right, that conversation doesn't appear. I'm not quite sure if I recall a conversation exactly like that, but I haven't read a lot of Supergirl stuff. It might be possible that Cass had that conversation, but I don't have a distinct memory of it.

Well, I finally stumbled on the answer, and what I remembered was a jumble of stuff that almost happened.

The actual interaction happened in Superman/Batman #19 from 2004, reprinted as Supergirl #0 in 2005. This long predates Steph as Batgirl, and it kind of references Cassandra Cain, though not by name.

On a rooftop, a "Batgirl" with the appearance of Barbara Gordon introduces herself to Supergirl, who responds that she's read about her. It later turns out it was Clayface in disguise as Batgirl, and Supergirl had known something was up as soon as they met on the rooftop, because, having read about Batgirl, she knows something "horrible ... happened to the original Batgirl."

Superman then comes along and tells Supergirl he sees she's been studying the Oracle Files, and Supergirl says Diana is encouraging her to stay up to date. So that is how she was informed about the Batgirls.

So yeah - Supergirl certainly knows that Batgirl is now Cassandra Cain, not Barbara Gordon, though Cass is never mentioned by name. Nor is Barbara.

Clayface's stated excuse is "I thought it was kinda weird being the old Batgirl. But you didn't notice. Where you from that you didn't know, anyway?"

Realizing in advance that someone was impersonating Batgirl makes no difference in the story, though - Supergirl doesn't start fighting this fake Batgirl until she is attacked by "her." The impersonation doesn't make any real sense, except perhaps to demonstrate that Supergirl is studying. It's stunt writing and a pointless use of the pre-Oracle Barbara Gordon. Clayface could have just as easily, and probably more strategically, impersonated Cassandra.

His whole role was to lure Supergirl into a trap, but he didn't need to impersonate Barbara specifically to accomplish that.

This is shortly before the "One Year Later" DC initiative, which recast Cass as the villainous head of the League of Assassins. That version of Cass and Supergirl came to serious blows.

Later, this is the Supergirl version who hangs out with Steph/Batgirl. That sentence makes this entire post on-topic for this forum? Maybe.

[millernumber1]

Remember this question I asked back on 4/7? I asked:

I vaguely recall some story where some version of Supergirl - maybe the one from 2004-2011 - meets some version of Batgirl, and they have an exchange - something like Batgirl tells Supergirl "I'm not the same one you know" and Supergirl says "I know, I heard."

And part of your reply.



Well, I finally stumbled on the answer, and what I remembered was a jumble of stuff that almost happened.

The actual interaction happened in Superman/Batman #19 from 2004, reprinted as Supergirl #0 in 2005. This long predates Steph as Batgirl, and it kind of references Cassandra Cain, though not by name.

On a rooftop, a "Batgirl" with the appearance of Barbara Gordon introduces herself to Supergirl, who responds that she's read about her. It later turns out it was Clayface in disguise as Batgirl, and Supergirl had known something was up as soon as they met on the rooftop, because, having read about Batgirl, she knows something "horrible ... happened to the original Batgirl."

Superman then comes along and tells Supergirl he sees she's been studying the Oracle Files, and Supergirl says Diana is encouraging her to stay up to date. So that is how she was informed about the Batgirls.

So yeah - Supergirl certainly knows that Batgirl is now Cassandra Cain, not Barbara Gordon, though Cass is never mentioned by name. Nor is Barbara.

Clayface's stated excuse is "I thought it was kinda weird being the old Batgirl. But you didn't notice. Where you from that you didn't know, anyway?"

Realizing in advance that someone was impersonating Batgirl makes no difference in the story, though - Supergirl doesn't start fighting this fake Batgirl until she is attacked by "her." The impersonation doesn't make any real sense, except perhaps to demonstrate that Supergirl is studying. It's stunt writing and a pointless use of the pre-Oracle Barbara Gordon. Clayface could have just as easily, and probably more strategically, impersonated Cassandra.

His whole role was to lure Supergirl into a trap, but he didn't need to impersonate Barbara specifically to accomplish that.

This is shortly before the "One Year Later" DC initiative, which recast Cass as the villainous head of the League of Assassins. That version of Cass and Supergirl came to serious blows.

Later, this is the Supergirl version who hangs out with Steph/Batgirl. That sentence makes this entire post on-topic for this forum? Maybe.

Haha, thanks for the update! I always love learning a bit more (or remembering) bits of lore. It is weird that the Supergirl who fought Cass with red lightsaber katanas was also the Supergirl who fought Draculas with Steph. But that's comics for ya!

Wish I had more news about our girl Steph, but sadly, since Young Justice #5 and Heroes in Crisis #9, we don't have anything that I have heard about our girl. Though Bendis has said she's coming back! I'm hoping for #10, but solicits might hint it's further out...

[ohfellow]

Spoiler sighting: Cover of Catwoman #17 in November, peeping out of the bottom left corner of the mirror.

A bunch of the Bat family is in the mirror - sort of. That's not Batgirl's current cowl. Spoiler is in the half-mask. I question if there will actually be in-book appearances. In any event, this is a hallucination.

This is on the front acetate cover, drawn by David Finch.

https://www.cbr.com/dc-year-of-the-v...cetate-covers/

The supposed idea with these acetate covers, as described in this month's DC Previews magazine, is that the front acetate shows the villain hostile takeover, while the second layer shows the events leading to the hero defeat. But I think the artwork inconsistently shows that. CBR describes the covers as "thematically linked" and that seems more accurate.

The acetate layer title logos, at least, are consistent with the theme, with the villain name in place of the hero. Sometimes the villain is the same as the hero, or someone we don't think of as a villain, so we have titles like "Catwoman," "Infected Supergirl," "Superman's Enemy, Lois Lane," and "Harley-er Quinn." In other cases, the title is a full-on villain takeover, like "Lex Luthor," "Captain Cold and the Rogues," "The Cheetah," etc.

P.S. In Advanced options, you can put a title in a reply, but does anyone do that? Is it against board standards? I tried it here. It seems the title of replies is usually left blank.

[millernumber1]

Spoiler sighting: Cover of Catwoman #17 in November, peeping out of the bottom left corner of the mirror.

A bunch of the Bat family is in the mirror - sort of. That's not Batgirl's current cowl. Spoiler is in the half-mask. I question if there will actually be in-book appearances. In any event, this is a hallucination.

This is on the front acetate cover, drawn by David Finch.

https://www.cbr.com/dc-year-of-the-v...cetate-covers/

The supposed idea with these acetate covers, as described in this month's DC Previews magazine, is that the front acetate shows the villain hostile takeover, while the second layer shows the events leading to the hero defeat. But I think the artwork inconsistently shows that. CBR describes the covers as "thematically linked" and that seems more accurate.

The acetate layer title logos, at least, are consistent with the theme, with the villain name in place of the hero. Sometimes the villain is the same as the hero, or someone we don't think of as a villain, so we have titles like "Catwoman," "Infected Supergirl," "Superman's Enemy, Lois Lane," and "Harley-er Quinn." In other cases, the title is a full-on villain takeover, like "Lex Luthor," "Captain Cold and the Rogues," "The Cheetah," etc.

P.S. In Advanced options, you can put a title in a reply, but does anyone do that? Is it against board standards? I tried it here. It seems the title of replies is usually left blank.

I saw that! I hope that means Steph will be in there, as she is a Catwoman guest star relatively recently - but probably not.

Post titles aren't a problem, but it doesn't really add much to the conversation and can be distracting, which is why I think most people leave it out.

[adrikito]

I only started to see the covers because you said it..

Screen Shot 425.jpg

[ohfellow]

A nice interview with Chuck Dixon, Bryan Q. Miller, and Lee Garbett was just posted here:

https://www.newsarama.com/46588-step...s-batgirl.html

Lots of good stuff in the interview, probably some worth citing here.

One thing I was amused by was this that I took to be a comment about the current Spoiler mask, even though it really refers back to to the original one too. (But - why go back? I guess the point is by the time of "Batgirl," the character design had evolved into something better, don't jettison that.)

Nrama: What do you think of her placement in DC's comic books now?

Miller: Never in a million years would I put her in a costume that covers her smile/smirk. Laughing in the face of danger – and danger being able to see that laugh – is 90% of her hero game.

[Chickfighter]

Miller: Never in a million years would I put her in a costume that covers her smile/smirk. Laughing in the face of danger – and danger being able to see that laugh – is 90% of her hero game.

And that is why many of us loved Miller's take on the character.

[Konja7]

English isn't my main language, so I'm not totally sure, but Milller seems to imply something about Stephanie with a different identity (neither Spoiler nor Batgirl), right?


Miller: Yes, but as neither Spoiler nor Batgirl. And yes, I have a pitch for that. And no, I won’t spill it here.

[ohfellow]

English isn't my main language, so I'm not totally sure, but Milller seems to imply something about Stephanie with a different identity (neither Spoiler nor Batgirl), right?


Miller: Yes, but as neither Spoiler nor Batgirl. And yes, I have a pitch for that. And no, I won’t spill it here.

Yes, that's also how I read it. That he has an idea for a Stephanie Brown solo series but where she would take on a new hero identity. (With more of her face showing, of course!)

And @Chickfighter. I totally agree! That's really what I meant when I quoted that - not just that he didn't like that they reset the mask, but that in doing that they hid that personality.

At least the ninja mask, when they draw that and not the full mask, lets some of it through.

[dietrich]

And that is why many of us loved Miller's take on the character.

Too true. My favourite Batgirl.