Stephanie Brown: Spoiler, Robin, Batgirl Appreciation 2019

[ohfellow]

I agree - I wish Nguyen had gone with a domino mask instead of the ninja mask, but I think it was related to the Cluemaster design they went with.

It also seems like it would be harder to breathe through a ninja mask.

Still, I think better to have some facial expressiveness than none. Eyes and eyebrows can say a lot.

Seems DC is allowing a lot more artistic freedom recently - a lot is being published that isn't in that DC "realistic" house style.

In the main line of books, we had Electric Warriors by Steve Orlando.

The whole new Wonder Comics imprint features diverse styles, and Young Justice is featuring 2 artists per story (Gleason drawing the bookends and a guest artist drawing a central flashback. And hey - if they follow that story style, we may get treated to a flashback to Tim and Steph's adventures!)

The Bendis Jinxworld titles are very artist-centric.

Artgerm actually drew Stephanie as if she wasn't 14 years old - as his comics career has developed, he's drawn women with younger and younger looking faces, in an anime style. This gets awkward when he places these young faces on more mature bodies.

[millernumber1]

It also seems like it would be harder to breathe through a ninja mask.

Still, I think better to have some facial expressiveness than none. Eyes and eyebrows can say a lot.

Seems DC is allowing a lot more artistic freedom recently - a lot is being published that isn't in that DC "realistic" house style.

In the main line of books, we had Electric Warriors by Steve Orlando.

The whole new Wonder Comics imprint features diverse styles, and Young Justice is featuring 2 artists per story (Gleason drawing the bookends and a guest artist drawing a central flashback. And hey - if they follow that story style, we may get treated to a flashback to Tim and Steph's adventures!)

The Bendis Jinxworld titles are very artist-centric.

Artgerm actually drew Stephanie as if she wasn't 14 years old - as his comics career has developed, he's drawn women with younger and younger looking faces, in an anime style. This gets awkward when he places these young faces on more mature bodies.

I do think the imprints are good for DC, artistically.

Young Justice #5 DOES feature a flashback of Tim and Steph, drawn by Kris Anka!

I've always thought that Artgerm tends to have pretty strong sameface, but I like the way he does it. I haven't noticed ages of his faces, but I'm bad at that in real life, too.

[ohfellow]

Young Justice #5 DOES feature a flashback of Tim and Steph, drawn by Kris Anka!

Right, but we don't know what Bendis will flashback to. Maybe to their journey and what they found, which, if anything, could be HUGE - or maybe just to earlier scenes that have, or have not yet, been published. I guess it was you on the wiki that pointed out the little panel in Batwoman #18 that's a kind of flashback, but not too revealing. (But: good eye!) Steph had changed clothes and is now driving. Hopefully we'll learn more than that in Young Justice.

But - it's tricky asking Bendis to write that story. He's kind of turned Superman upside down.

[millernumber1]

Right, but we don't know what Bendis will flashback to. Maybe to their journey and what they found, which, if anything, could be HUGE - or maybe just to earlier scenes that have, or have not yet, been published. I guess it was you on the wiki that pointed out the little panel in Batwoman #18 that's a kind of flashback, but not too revealing. (But: good eye!) Steph had changed clothes and is now driving. Hopefully we'll learn more than that in Young Justice.

But - it's tricky asking Bendis to write that story. He's kind of turned Superman upside down.

True - based on the flashbacks for the other characters so far, it will likely reference what they've been doing (as Bendis mentioned in his recent Word Balloon interview), but mostly show them in the few days leading up to the story. But maybe we'll be surprised!

I haven't read much of the Superman title, but I really enjoy the Action title, and am very excited for Event Leviathan (despite the silly name ). I hope, if Bendis leaves Steph in a good place in Young Justice, that he'll return to her again soon! I'll definitely be tweeting him to hopefully encourage that!

[millernumber1]

[snip] thanks for your wonderful wikia. It helped me track down a lot of stories, and gives those "summary of Stephness" sections that help a reader get right to the heart of the stories. I hope you can continue to maintain it - and maybe even update the costume section now that you've covered it so well here.[snip]

Well, I've done it! https://stephaniebrown.fandom.com/wi...istory_Rebirth

It's not perfect, and definitely not as in depth as the original section by my predecessor, but hopefully it gives some fans a bit of a handle on what Steph has been wearing recently! Thanks for inspiring me to update it!

[ohfellow]

Well, I've done it! https://stephaniebrown.fandom.com/wi...istory_Rebirth

It's not perfect, and definitely not as in depth as the original section by my predecessor, but hopefully it gives some fans a bit of a handle on what Steph has been wearing recently! Thanks for inspiring me to update it!

Nice! Great job. So, it looks like you added the Rebirth costumes section, but also YJ #5, Detective #974, and Detective #980. Did I miss anything?

I've read through it and going to go over it more closely later. I think you nailed all the important stuff. I know less about Spoiler's costumes, but think I have a few thoughts about the "flashback Batgirl" costume, and if I do I'll post them back here. You are right, it unmistakably captures the essence. And maybe that's all that's needed in a - holographic projection?

It's like that 1944 photo in Batgirl #24 - once you know who all the Batgirls are, it's easy to distinguish them in that photo.

In YJ #5 you link to the instagram of Anka's cover, but you could also paste in the actual cover I think. You do have a copy of the cover on the Rebirth costume page.

The lighting is so cool on that cover. And, how will Zatanna figure into Time and Steph's story? We'll know in two weeks.

I do wonder - does Brother Eye show Steph and Cass the future in the other timeline, or a present or past? I guess it doesn't matter - perhaps it's not so much stolen from them as was given back to Barbara.

So much was NOT stolen from Steph (or not yet) in this timeline - she didn't have to give up a baby, get fired by Batman, or start a gang war and get shot and presumed dead. At least I think none of that happened in the New 52 universe.

[millernumber1]

Nice! Great job. So, it looks like you added the Rebirth costumes section, but also YJ #5, Detective #974, and Detective #980. Did I miss anything?

I've read through it and going to go over it more closely later. I think you nailed all the important stuff. I know less about Spoiler's costumes, but think I have a few thoughts about the "flashback Batgirl" costume, and if I do I'll post them back here. You are right, it unmistakably captures the essence. And maybe that's all that's needed in a - holographic projection?

It's like that 1944 photo in Batgirl #24 - once you know who all the Batgirls are, it's easy to distinguish them in that photo.

In YJ #5 you link to the instagram of Anka's cover, but you could also paste in the actual cover I think. You do have a copy of the cover on the Rebirth costume page.

The lighting is so cool on that cover. And, how will Zatanna figure into Time and Steph's story? We'll know in two weeks.

I do wonder - does Brother Eye show Steph and Cass the future in the other timeline, or a present or past? I guess it doesn't matter - perhaps it's not so much stolen from them as was given back to Barbara.

So much was NOT stolen from Steph (or not yet) in this timeline - she didn't have to give up a baby, get fired by Batman, or start a gang war and get shot and presumed dead. At least I think none of that happened in the New 52 universe.

Thanks! I'm slightly rebellious against DC's dictates, and include pretty much anything post-Rebirth as "Rebirth Continuity" - because DC hasn't done any kind of linewide branding since then. (I also count DC You as still part of the New 52, because they made no real changes to continuity between the two brandings.)

I'd love to hear your thoughts on Scot Eaton's rendering of Steph's Batgirl suit! (I'm still so sad we never got the time-travel teamup of Steph, Babs, and Cass in WWII!)

The main cover of YJ #5 sadly does not include Steph, so it doesn't help with the analysis of her costume (I'm also using the variant on the main page for YJ #5, as it is a Steph wikia. We'll see if I include the Detective Comicsc #1004 Mark Brooks variant https://www.midtowncomics.com/store/dp.asp?PRID=1823849 - I did include Detective Comics #42 in the n52 because it featured Steph as Robin! https://stephaniebrown.fandom.com/wi...omics_Vol_2_42)

We shall have to see what is up with Zatanna! I love the way Anka lit the cover - it's so ethereal!

I don't think the past Steph and Cass saw in Tec 980 was supposed to be their own past - more a past from another timeline - but we shall have to see what happens with Bendis - who has promised to pick up where Tynion left off - but he has less than 20 pages to do it!

As far as I can tell, Steph has not done any of those things in the n52 universe. I'm not sure if I'd want them redone, but I wouldn't mind them Doomsday Clocked back in.

[ohfellow]

I'd love to hear your thoughts on Scot Eaton's rendering of Steph's Batgirl suit!

I started putting some work into it and discovered I lack the "fashion" vocabulary to describe clothing, hah. I think I'm getting there with help from your writeups and the work of the original wiki author.

There are 3 panels with Steph's Batgirl, and at a quick glance they all seem like the same pastel-shaded hologram. But looked at more closely, they each differ in almost every detail! So it's funny how much work I'm putting into 3 panels. Well, it's something to keep me busy.

Perhaps Scott Eaton was deliberately channeling different artists, because he could see the way different artists approached the costume differently and was just playing with that.

Or maybe it was an accident due to using different stories as reference. After all, who has time to fuss over 3 partial holographic images? It's not like he would be drawing the Batgirls as recurring or primary characters many times and would want to nail down a particular design. It's just 3 panels.

Several of the differences can be attributed to the coloring, and there are even two different colorists, John Kalisz and Allen Passalaqua.

The main cover of YJ #5 sadly does not include Steph, so it doesn't help with the analysis of her costume (I'm also using the variant on the main page for YJ #5, as it is a Steph wikia.

Right, actually my mistake - for some reason I thought you had only linked to Anka's Instagram post of the variant cover, but actually you do have the variant cover pasted on the side of the page.

but we shall have to see what happens with Bendis - who has promised to pick up where Tynion left off - but he has less than 20 pages to do it!

The flashback portions will occupy half or less of the book, so I'm prepared to deal with the fact that he only has at most 10 pages.

[millernumber1]

I started putting some work into it and discovered I lack the "fashion" vocabulary to describe clothing, hah. I think I'm getting there with help from your writeups and the work of the original wiki author.

There are 3 panels with Steph's Batgirl, and at a quick glance they all seem like the same pastel-shaded hologram. But looked at more closely, they each differ in almost every detail! So it's funny how much work I'm putting into 3 panels. Well, it's something to keep me busy.

Perhaps Scott Eaton was deliberately channeling different artists, because he could see the way different artists approached the costume differently and was just playing with that.

Or maybe it was an accident due to using different stories as reference. After all, who has time to fuss over 3 partial holographic images? It's not like he would be drawing the Batgirls as recurring or primary characters many times and would want to nail down a particular design. It's just 3 panels.

Several of the differences can be attributed to the coloring, and there are even two different colorists, John Kalisz and Allen Passalaqua.

The flashback portions will occupy half or less of the book, so I'm prepared to deal with the fact that he only has at most 10 pages.

Well, I'm going to hope that Bendis gives us good stuff with those 10 pages. I should go back and check the flashback sections of the other three books with major flashback sections. 10 for #2 (Wonder Girl), 11 for #3 (Superboy), and 10 for #4 (Amethyst).

I checked Tec #980 again, and you're right - the three versions of Steph as batgirl do look different - but I still don't see a direct reference in the same way that I do for Cass's Batgirl images and Steph's Robin image. I wish Eaton had picked a bit more distinctive poses for Steph as Batgirl, like Garbett's final image of #4, with Steph leaping off a building shouting "Here we go!"

Feel free to update the section yourself, or post your findings here and I'll be happy to add them!

[ohfellow]

I'll probably instant message you later if that's possible, and you can check it out. I think I went into so much detail that it's just too much and should be trimmed before publicly airing.

[millernumber1]

I'll probably instant message you later if that's possible, and you can check it out. I think I went into so much detail that it's just too much and should be trimmed before publicly airing.

Thanks! As a result of this collaboration, we have updated the Rebirth Costume history page!

[adrikito]

Young Justice 5 is almost here.

Young Justice #5 DOES feature a flashback of Tim and Steph, drawn by Kris Anka!

WOW. Really?

[ohfellow]

Young Justice 5 is almost here.



WOW. Really?

Next week! Maybe previews somewhere else even sooner?

[adrikito]

Next week! Maybe previews somewhere else even sooner?

I tried to found the preview today and nothing for now..

[uchihafanboy]

After what DC did to Wally, I just can't anymore. They sucked me dry of hope.