Betty Kane / Bette Kane Appreciation 2018

[scary harpy]

So was Bette Kane or Golden Eagle mentioned in Titans Hunt?
I haven't kept up on that title.

Not yet. They might be. The writer seems to be drawing from that era.

[jules]

So was Bette Kane or Golden Eagle mentioned in Titans Hunt?
I haven't kept up on that title.

They both come from the tail end of the Teen Titans run that inspired this core cast. Some of the others had left by the time they showed up, and they were mostly part of a secondary team anyway. So I never expected to see them in Titans Hunt.

If Duela Dent hadn't been used elsewhere in the New 52, I'd half expect her to be the next to show up. After that it'd be a toss up between Starfire/Red Star and the Titans West crowd. But there's potentially an 11 person team already, if everyone sticks around, and much as I love Bette and want to see her again I'd like to see DC consolidate on that first.

[Herowatcher]

Thanks.

Bumblebee was only a few issues before Bette and Golden Eagle, so I kind of expected some mention of them as well.
I'm all for a 12 member team if done right.

[jules]

Thanks.

Bumblebee was only a few issues before Bette and Golden Eagle, so I kind of expected some mention of them as well.
I'm all for a 12 member team if done right.

Hopefully the ex-Titans from that run will make guest appearances at some point, even if they don't join/rejoin.

And Bette would definitely be my choice if they did add one more, particularly since she pretty much vanished from Batwoman and hasn't been mentioned in relation to Detective Comics. Tynion is probably just planning a team of his favourites, but it'd make sense for Kate to have brought in her cousin to a team of trainees. With the possible exception of Clayface the others all seem to be Batman's team selections, and you'd certainly have thought Kate would have picked Bette over him.

[Aahz]

And Bette would definitely be my choice if they did add one more, particularly since she pretty much vanished from Batwoman and hasn't been mentioned in relation to Detective Comics. Tynion is probably just planning a team of his favourites, but it'd make sense for Kate to have brought in her cousin to a team of trainees. With the possible exception of Clayface the others all seem to be Batman's team selections, and you'd certainly have thought Kate would have picked Bette over him.

But Bette just had her boot camp in Batwoman, and she is more the generation of Dick as of Tim.

And I think the Titans could really need more light-hearted character like her.

[Oberon]

With her retcon of sorts in Batwoman, plus the details about the original Batwoman (Bruce's aunt by marriage and first true love) Kathy Kane, in Batman, INC, you
would think they could find easy ways to bring her in.

Just the whole truth of the Kanes and Waynes should be more investigated. Is/was Bette's father also an uncle to Bruce? How so, etc.

The whole idea of the girls being trained in INC and wearing old school Batwoman costumes once made me think that Bette might have been a possible template - but then when Kathy found out the truth of her father/etc, she sent her away for her own protection.

Since the Kanes and Waynes would know about the Court of Owls I see this as a possible story. Was Bette possibly optioned for the Owls, similar to the way Dick was.

Yes, you can see where I'm going. I just think the original Robin/Bat-Girl ~ Nightwing/Flamebird team could use some love.

I would love to see a triangle between Babs, Dick and Bette. What fun!

[Vinsanity]

With her retcon of sorts in Batwoman, plus the details about the original Batwoman (Bruce's aunt by marriage and first true love) Kathy Kane, in Batman, INC, you
would think they could find easy ways to bring her in.

Just the whole truth of the Kanes and Waynes should be more investigated. Is/was Bette's father also an uncle to Bruce? How so, etc.

The whole idea of the girls being trained in INC and wearing old school Batwoman costumes once made me think that Bette might have been a possible template - but then when Kathy found out the truth of her father/etc, she sent her away for her own protection.

Since the Kanes and Waynes would know about the Court of Owls I see this as a possible story. Was Bette possibly optioned for the Owls, similar to the way Dick was.

Yes, you can see where I'm going. I just think the original Robin/Bat-Girl ~ Nightwing/Flamebird team could use some love.

I would love to see a triangle between Babs, Dick and Bette. What fun!

Nooooo no triangles involving Babs. lol

Nah that would be cool to bring back Bette like that.

[Oberon]

I just think this character should be in the mix. She has as much right to being Flamebird (cannot stand 'Hawkfire') as Dick has a right to be Nightwing. The potential dynamic is too much to be ignored. Even if they play it like Dick is clearly not interested, there is always this plot point from the past; that she was there back in the beginning, before Babs, or even other female characters, like Wonder Girl, and that Dick's first kiss was from her. She could be the occasional non-sensical voice of "what was before". But if Babs is off limits, I felt her dynamic in the Batwoman series was good; clearly not crazy over Dick as she once was.

[Herowatcher]

But Bette just had her boot camp in Batwoman, and she is more the generation of Dick as of Tim.

And I think the Titans could really need more light-hearted character like her.

I agree.
I thought Lilith might be light-hearted too, but they're giving her a Raven vibe it seems...ugh.

Bette Kane's more cheerful personality would be a welcome and needed viewpoint to the Titans.

[Aahz]

I agree.
I thought Lilith might be light-hearted too, but they're giving her a Raven vibe it seems...ugh.

That is not so different from how she was written before. She was iirc never a very cheerful character. And I don#t really see any of the other characters filling the role of the goofy character.

[Herowatcher]

Too cute!

[Doctor Bifrost]

She has as much right to being Flamebird (cannot stand 'Hawkfire')....

Thank you. "Hawkfire" always sound to me like a raptor with digestive problems. And it's too military and stoic for Bette. (I know that was the point, but it wasn't a good point.) And since we've had some perfectly good characters named Firehawk, it's a little awkward. (Unless you're actually trying to make the connection, like Batman and Manbat.)

Flamebird! The name has a great lineage, and an optimisitc feel.

[Oberon]

I hope it won't be never or many moons before Bette returns. Considering some of the ground they want to cover, positioning Watchmen into/against the DC universe, it offers up other possibilities.

Other than Morrison and Batman, INC, no one else has wrote of Bette's prior to Flamebird existence as "Bat-Girl". In real life this is obvious because of Babs' Batgirl, but this could be creatively used as another out of synch/problem with DC continuity as a result of Watchmen/OZ/Psycho Pirate 's actions?

Example of sorts: Batman has the most 'heavy' story-laden continuity. How could all these things have happened to him in the condensed timeline?

Was Bette plucked/replaced from other areas of the DC verse by someone trying to fix or alter things in the real/unreal history?

Keeping in mind that Flamebird symbols are likened to Phoenix and Rebirth symbols, is there some 'reason' why the world doesn't remember the short lived Bat-girl - and most of the people who might have don't either?

Come on creative folks at DC, think about it!

[Herowatcher]

I think DC could niche out a corner of Gotham City for Bette Kane.
She has the University and is a member of the Kane Family. Why
not make her the Nancy Drew of Gotham? Solving mysteries and
fighting crime.

[Mister BoMan]

Bring back Bette as Flamebird with The Titans!