Stephanie Brown: Spoiler, Robin, Batgirl Appreciation 2020

[millernumber1]

Welcome to the Batgirl: Stephanie Brown reread, Week 21! (Schedule starts here: https://community.cbr.com/showthread...=1#post4916669) Today, we're on Batgirl #20, "The Lesson: Tunnel Vision, part 2", written by Bryan Q. Miller, pencilled by Ramon Bachs, inked by Ramon Bachs, colored by Guy Major, cover by Dustin Nguyen.



Notes: Batman Inc gives Steph her own Batcave, finally - Firewall! It’s actually a really cool way to tie in the story with the wider Batman universe, and gives a LOT of really fun storytelling tools to BQM in the 4 (count em, four ) issues he has left. I just wish we’d gotten another full year of this status quo, with a Steph who is mature, levelled up in skills and equipment, facing a darker Gotham. Plus wacky adventures...but more on that when we hit issue #24.

Ramon Bachs concludes this arc, which is fair, since he designed most of the looks of Slipstream. I gotta say, though I love the way he visualizes Team Batgirl’s hideout, I do not understand why Steph’s outfit looks like an underwear version of her Batgirl costume.

The way Steph defeats Slipstream is very clever - it might be coincidental that she sits next to him in class all semester, but it leads to a really fun dynamic, and shows off Steph’s ability to think on the fly, not just react.

Cover: Extremely dynamic cover! Really love how Steph and Slipstream face off against each other with Steph’s car breaking up the space between them.

Discussion Questions: Do you think Steph’s solution to defeat Slipstream was a good one? How does it stack up next to her other victories against Clayface, Livewire, Scarecrow, etc?

Bonus Comic: None this week. But tune in next time for the start of an exciting derailment! (well, sort of the start. It was already hinted at in a previous bonus comic.)

[Tsukiakari1203]

A LOT.

There are the unnamed public and private elementary schools that Bruce, Selina, Hush, and Dick went to (in the Gotham TV series Bruce and Hush's school is called Anders Preparatory)

Dick went to Bristol middle school
Jason went to North Gotham Junior High (Pre Crisis) and Thomas Wayne middle school (Post)

Bruce Wayne, Julie Madison went to Roxbury Fielding Academy
Tim and Steph went to Gotham City Heights too
Tim transferred in and out of Louis E. Grieve Memorial High
Dick and Steph graduated from Gotham City High, which Tim dropped out
Duke went to West Robinson

Barbara went to Burnside College and graduated from Gotham State University
Punchline went to Snyder College

That's just the comics.

Oh wow! This is certainly a lot of them. What about Brentwood and Gotham Academy? Are they TV inventions that made their way to comics?

[Caivu]

What schools exist in Gotham? I know of Brentwood, Gotham Academy, and Hamilton Hill and that's it.

Aside from the ones already mentioned, there's also Gotham Military Academy, where Sophie Moore teaches.

[Restingvoice]

Oh wow! This is certainly a lot of them. What about Brentwood and Gotham Academy? Are they TV inventions that made their way to comics?

Brentwood is comic original
Gotham Academy first appeared in The Batman as an abandoned closed school and Penguin's hideout, then in Young Justice, finally in the comic. Instead of Dick, who went to public high school, the one who attended was Bruce.

Aside from the ones already mentioned, there's also Gotham Military Academy, where Sophie Moore teaches.

There's Gotham Police Academy too, in Gotham TV used by Gordon to recruit his own team. I don't know if they made an appearance in the comics, but it only makes sense it exists.

[Digifiend]

Notes: Batman Inc gives Steph her own Batcave, finally - Firewall! It’s actually a really cool way to tie in the story with the wider Batman universe, and gives a LOT of really fun storytelling tools to BQM in the 4 (count em, four ) issues he has left. I just wish we’d gotten another full year of this status quo, with a Steph who is mature, levelled up in skills and equipment, facing a darker Gotham. Plus wacky adventures...but more on that when we hit issue #24.

Had the New 52 reboot not happened, she would've probably got that extra year. Though I think Babs eventually taking back the mantle was inevitable, as they'd considered that even before they handed it to Steph.

[millernumber1]

Had the New 52 reboot not happened, she would've probably got that extra year. Though I think Babs eventually taking back the mantle was inevitable, as they'd considered that even before they handed it to Steph.

I think something like the n52 was inevitable - apparently, a reboot was being planned for a while, but Flashpoint wasn't originally going to be the catalyst. I don't think Babs would have been pushed through to Batgirl again without a reboot, though. But we'll never know. She clearly was, and Steph was erased. But returned triumphant! Ish!

[Tsukiakari1203]

Had the New 52 reboot not happened, she would've probably got that extra year. Though I think Babs eventually taking back the mantle was inevitable, as they'd considered that even before they handed it to Steph.

Other candidates that were up for consideration before it went to Steph were Flamebird and Misfit.

[millernumber1]

Other candidates that were up for consideration before it went to Steph were Flamebird and Misfit.

(as you can see if you check out the page on the wiki for Batgirl #2 )

[Tsukiakari1203]

(as you can see if you check out the page on the wiki for Batgirl #2 )

I found a picture of the DC Nation column from Batgirl #2! I do wonder what it would have looked like if Bette had gotten the Batgirl identity back. I'm thrilled Steph got it but Bette's my other favorite so I'll always wonder.

[Chickfighter]

I found a picture of the DC Nation column from Batgirl #2! I do wonder what it would have looked like if Bette had gotten the Batgirl identity back. I'm thrilled Steph got it but Bette's my other favorite so I'll always wonder.

Agreed. A Bette Batgirl could have looked much like Steph's. Yes, literally. Tehehehe.

[Tsukiakari1203]

Agreed. A Bette Batgirl could have looked much like Steph's. Yes, literally. Tehehehe.

Steph and Bette would be iconic

[millernumber1]

I found a picture of the DC Nation column from Batgirl #2! I do wonder what it would have looked like if Bette had gotten the Batgirl identity back. I'm thrilled Steph got it but Bette's my other favorite so I'll always wonder.

I wish someone would have Steph and Bette meet and fight crime together...

Agreed. A Bette Batgirl could have looked much like Steph's. Yes, literally. Tehehehe.

Looked, yes, but I think they have different personalities, and definitely different backstories

[Dataweaver]

Bette's Bat-girl looked nothing like Stephanie's Batgirl, other than both of them being blond. That said, there are definitely some commonalities between them, most notably that both were romantically involved with Robin. As well, both have essentially positive outlooks, as opposed to the more somber attitudes that you tend to find with the rest of the Bat-family. And both have been viewed as incompetent wannabes by the rest of the Bat-clan. And finally, both have undergone “coming of age” story arcs where they earned the respect of those who formerly dissed them. Bette has had two of them, in fact: once in the late 90s in the freshly relaunched Titans title, and again in the early 2010s Batwoman title.

The difference is that for Bette, neither one stuck. She keeps on getting shoved into Limbo just after attaining her cred, them coming back afterwards having been reset to the incompetent wannabe portrayal.

(Or maybe that's not so different, considering what happened to Stephanie after Flashpoint.)

[Tsukiakari1203]

I wish someone would have Steph and Bette meet and fight crime together...



Looked, yes, but I think they have different personalities, and definitely different backstories

I think they certainly have parallels but they are distinct

[Tsukiakari1203]

Bette's Bat-girl looked nothing like Stephanie's Batgirl, other than both of them being blond. That said, there are definitely some commonalities between them, most notably that both were romantically involved with Robin. As well, both have essentially positive outlooks, as opposed to the more somber attitudes that you tend to find with the rest of the Bat-family. And both have been viewed as incompetent wannabes by the rest of the Bat-clan. And finally, both have undergone “coming of age” story arcs where they earned the respect of those who formerly dissed them. Bette has had two of them, in fact: once in the late 90s in the freshly relaunched Titans title, and again in the early 2010s Batwoman title.

The difference is that for Bette, neither one stuck. She keeps on getting shoved into Limbo just after attaining her cred, them coming back afterwards having been reset to the incompetent wannabe portrayal.

(Or maybe that's not so different, considering what happened to Stephanie after Flashpoint.)

Yep! My preferred coming of age story for Bette in the Beast Boy series (not Titans) because it has a little nod to Kathy Kane and she is the book's deutaroganist basically. I think Bette and Steph would commiserate over being treated like crap by DC