Kate Kane: Batwoman Appreciation 2020

[Sergard]

Another Tec #1027 variant, website with the additional covers doesn't list the artist though:

It's by Kael Ngu. There is also a second version with Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn and Catwoman, see here.
But I think these covers are shop-exclusive.

[Tsukiakari1203]

Is it just me who dislikes how Kate treated Bette in the 2011 series?

[Caivu]

Is it just me who dislikes how Kate treated Bette in the 2011 series?

No, but Kate had very good reasons for treating her that way. Namely, that she doesn't want Bette to be a vigilante.

[Bat-Meal]

Part of it is Bette is not quite in limbo, but pretty close to it. Given more recent comic events Kate seems a lot more open to working in teams and team-ups in general since then, so story-wise there's no real reason why Bette couldn't be Kate's sidekick again.

The character gets mostly ignored and written-out (her absence in most of the Andreyko run was explained by bruised ribs, then in the Tynion/Bennet runs as being at West Point), because it seems either no one wants to actually use her, or knows what to do with her. Jacob is going the same way though, whenever Kate does show-up these days, if she does have an ally with her it's usually Renee or more often she's alone apparently without anyone in contact via earpiece.

It's a result of the character getting closer to Batman: if she becomes support cast then she doesn't need her own support cast. Or not unless she gets another solo/team ongoing anyway.

[Caivu]

Part of it is Bette is not quite in limbo, but pretty close to it. Given more recent comic events Kate seems a lot more open to working in teams and team-ups in general since then, so story-wise there's no real reason why Bette couldn't be Kate's sidekick again.

The story reason is that Kate doesn't like nor want Bette being a vigilante (and at the moment, that Bette has military obligations). It's not due to Kate's reluctance to being on a team or in a partnership, but because of who Bette is.

[Tsukiakari1203]

The story reason is that Kate doesn't like nor want Bette being a vigilante (and at the moment, that Bette has military obligations). It's not due to Kate's reluctance to being on a team or in a partnership, but because of who Bette is.

I really hate Bette being in the military. I don't think it fits her. Her original plan was to study sports medicine and become a doctor pre-reboot. That worked better. I just want Bette back. She's one of my favorite characters

[Caivu]

I really hate Bette being in the military. I don't think it fits her. Her original plan was to study sports medicine and become a doctor pre-reboot.

They're not incompatible. West Point offers a kinesiology degree, and she could serve her five years in the Medical Service Corps as a physical therapist, which is almost exactly the same thing. Afterward she could continue with medical school in or out of the Army, and that would be true in general anyway.

[Tsukiakari1203]

They're not incompatible. West Point offers a kinesiology degree, and she could serve her five years in the Medical Service Corps as a physical therapist, which is almost exactly the same thing. Afterward she could continue with medical school in or out of the Army, and that would be true in general anyway.

Caivu, you are the only person that has made me like Bette's portrayal in Batwoman 2011.

[Bat-Meal]

The story reason is that Kate doesn't like nor want Bette being a vigilante (and at the moment, that Bette has military obligations). It's not due to Kate's reluctance to being on a team or in a partnership, but because of who Bette is.

In the original solo Kate kept insisting on wanting to work alone. She also turned down Batman and his allies. Since that time she has been in multiple teams and team-ups. Yes, Kate is protective of Bette, but there is more to it than that - it's not an either/or situation. In short there are layers, and one of those layers was her protectiveness because she believes Bette lacks the skills necessary - but that's not the entirety of the situation because it's more complicated than that. And to be meta about it, it's also due to writers not wanting to (or being able to) use the character much lately.

[Tsukiakari1203]

In the original solo Kate kept insisting on wanting to work alone. She also turned down Batman and his allies. Since that time she has been in multiple teams and team-ups. Yes, Kate is protective of Bette, but there is more to it than that - it's not an either/or situation. In short there are layers, and one of those layers was her protectiveness because she believes Bette lacks the skills necessary - but that's not the entirety of the situation because it's more complicated than that. And to be meta about it, it's also due to writers not wanting to (or being able to) use the character much lately.

Which makes me really sad because Bette's amazing and deserves to be noticed. I was really disappointed when they replaced her with an OC (who I really like) on the tv show.

[Bat-Meal]

Which makes me really sad because Bette's amazing and deserves to be noticed. I was really disappointed when they replaced her with an OC (who I really like) on the tv show.

My suspicion is that there's some level of discomfort over Bette also being Bruce's cousin, at least by implication since she's a Kane. This didn't matter in the first solo because it wasn't confirmed that Kate and Bruce were related. In fact at the start of the solo with Batman's intro, and his subsequent comments to Kate about having a sidekick, implies they didn't know each other at all.

Now with that retconned, and Kate and Bruce being cousins who having known each other since childhood - trying to fit Bette into that as well would require work. Now Beth tends to be ignored by Bruce too, but that's kinda expected as she's the embarrassing relative he doesn't want to talk about, and so far is exclusively part of Kate's Rogue's gallery. If they put in the work Bette's history etc could be cleared-up, but that hasn't happened yet.

[Tsukiakari1203]

My suspicion is that there's some level of discomfort over Bette also being Bruce's cousin, at least by implication since she's a Kane. This didn't matter in the first solo because it wasn't confirmed that Kate and Bruce were related. In fact at the start of the solo with Batman's intro, and his subsequent comments to Kate about having a sidekick, implies they didn't know each other at all.

Now with that retconned, and Kate and Bruce being cousins who having known each other since childhood - trying to fit Bette into that as well would require work. Now Beth tends to be ignored by Bruce too, but that's kinda expected as she's the embarrassing relative he doesn't want to talk about, and so far is exclusively part of Kate's Rogue's gallery. If they put in the work Bette's history etc could be cleared-up, but that hasn't happened yet.

Spyral and Kathy being reinserted does clean up Bette's history. My idea is that she grew up in Malibu and often was shipped off to her uncle Nathan's house because Bruce had no interest in his baby cousin and Jacob was still moving around. Although when the Kane twins are in town Bette spends time with them because they are her only female cousins. So Bette grows very close to Nathan and Kathy and eventually becomes her aunt's sidekick. After Kathy fakes her death Bette retires Bat-Girl and abandons Gotham City going to LA and starting the Titans West. Then fed up with all the put downs and ridicule she's suffered over the years she reinvents herself and moves back to Gotham because she saw there is a new Batwoman in town. Figuring out it's Kate is pretty easy (she figured Kathy out real quick) and wants to become partners with Kate. Kate ends up treating her like a sidekick which pisses Bette off that she goes solo for the first time. Only relying on herself. Preferring to stay on the fringes of the Batfamily. This is my pitch and I really think it could work. It clears up her history. Explains why she's not close to Bruce and why she and Kate are a little distant.

I'm still annoyed we never saw Bette find out that her aunt was still alive. Reading those old issues I see a sorta mother daughter bond between Kathy and Bette. It's very sweet.

I also think that Bette would be a little jealous of Barbara because she got Dick's attention and became famous while Bette got relegated to wannabe screw-up.

I have many thoughts on Bette Kane

[Artemisfanboy]

Spyral and Kathy being reinserted does clean up Bette's history. My idea is that she grew up in Malibu and often was shipped off to her uncle Nathan's house because Bruce had no interest in his baby cousin and Jacob was still moving around. Although when the Kane twins are in town Bette spends time with them because they are her only female cousins. So Bette grows very close to Nathan and Kathy and eventually becomes her aunt's sidekick. After Kathy fakes her death Bette retires Bat-Girl and abandons Gotham City going to LA and starting the Titans West. Then fed up with all the put downs and ridicule she's suffered over the years she reinvents herself and moves back to Gotham because she saw there is a new Batwoman in town. Figuring out it's Kate is pretty easy (she figured Kathy out real quick) and wants to become partners with Kate. Kate ends up treating her like a sidekick which pisses Bette off that she goes solo for the first time. Only relying on herself. Preferring to stay on the fringes of the Batfamily. This is my pitch and I really think it could work. It clears up her history. Explains why she's not close to Bruce and why she and Kate are a little distant.

I'm still annoyed we never saw Bette find out that her aunt was still alive. Reading those old issues I see a sorta mother daughter bond between Kathy and Bette. It's very sweet.

I also think that Bette would be a little jealous of Barbara because she got Dick's attention and became famous while Bette got relegated to wannabe screw-up.

I have many thoughts on Bette Kane

Sounds interesting. I'm also a Bette fan and would love for her to come back(as Flamebird, don't like the hawkfire costume/name) and earn some respect. As for Kate's treatment of Bette, I get the protectiveness aspect, but Bette also had more actual experience as Flamebird while Kate had only recently started as Batwoman, even if Kate had more proper training before putting on a costume. I think there's definitely some potential especially with a writer who wants to build up Bette.

They're not incompatible. West Point offers a kinesiology degree, and she could serve her five years in the Medical Service Corps as a physical therapist, which is almost exactly the same thing. Afterward she could continue with medical school in or out of the Army, and that would be true in general anyway.

Comics are pretty bad with handling real time especially when it comes to spans like multiple years. For Bette to come back properly she would probably need to either drop out/get kicked out or for them to otherwise ignore or handwave the writers sending her off to west point. I guess if we don't want her in Gotham she could find time to do the Flamebird stuff during her time off at west point and commute to join up with the Titans maybe?

Not personally a fan of the West Point placement for her, but it really hasn't been used for anything but to get her out of Kate's way. Having her move back to the west coast would have done the same.

[Tsukiakari1203]

Sounds interesting. I'm also a Bette fan and would love for her to come back(as Flamebird, don't like the hawkfire costume/name) and earn some respect. As for Kate's treatment of Bette, I get the protectiveness aspect, but Bette also had more actual experience as Flamebird while Kate had only recently started as Batwoman, even if Kate had more proper training before putting on a costume. I think there's definitely some potential especially with a writer who wants to build up Bette.

I hated how Bette treated her like a rookie even though Bette had more experience. I also despise Hawkfire

Comics are pretty bad with handling real time especially when it comes to spans like multiple years. For Bette to come back properly she would probably need to either drop out/get kicked out or for them to otherwise ignore or handwave the writers sending her off to west point. I guess if we don't want her in Gotham she could find time to do the Flamebird stuff during her time off at west point and commute to join up with the Titans maybe?

Not personally a fan of the West Point placement for her, but it really hasn't been used for anything but to get her out of Kate's way. Having her move back to the west coast would have done the same.

I want her back with the Titans too. The West Point placement makes no sense

[Oberon]

Is it just me who dislikes how Kate treated Bette in the 2011 series?

I was a casual fan of most DC things, for years (Marvel guy) but always kind of liked the very old Bat-girl. Wasn't very tuned into her later Flamebird appearances, but chancing upon 'Elegy' realized who Kate's cousin was and became a fan of both - - I came for Batwoman, but I stayed for Bette.

So I loved the first volume. I sort of felt there were some contradictions with her previous appearances but . .

I liked the direction because, it was removing all the 'crazy-for-Robin' stuff. And in a way, showing the real life struggle with training to be one of the best.

So I don't dislike that 2011 per se, but would just love if they did anything at all with the character.