Betty Kane / Bette Kane Appreciation 2018

[Herowatcher]

After Crisis on Infinite Earths Betty Kane had a make-over.

So happy Perez brought Teen Titans West back as Titans West.
Betty Kane (Bat-Girl) was now Bette Kane (Flamebird).
The groups intro was pretty much the same as Pre-Crisis.

[Herowatcher]

Not one of Perez's better designs.



I was overjoyed when the makeover happened.

[The Whovian]

Didn't think I'd see this thread pop up, but I'm pleasantly surprised.

[OBrianTallent]

Not one of Perez's better designs.



I was overjoyed when the makeover happened.

Perez's remake just simply modified her original look somewhat, but yeah, her second make-over was amazing. Not sure if it was Justiniano who designed it or not, but it was amazing. So much better than what they dumper her into as Hawkfire. I would love to see Bette back as Flamebird...or even just as Bette Kane (showing up in Grayson!!)

[The Whovian]

Perez's remake just simply modified her original look somewhat, but yeah, her second make-over was amazing. Not sure if it was Justiniano who designed it or not, but it was amazing. So much better than what they dumper her into as Hawkfire. I would love to see Bette back as Flamebird...or even just as Bette Kane (showing up in Grayson!!)

Yes, the redesign is much better

[hotroddii]

I'd love a Bette mini-series/one-off special ... as Flamebird.

Hawkfire is a bad name (and costume!)

[Thirteen]

The Flamebird suit that ran from Justiano to Bette's early days in the Batwoman comic is the best she's ever looked. Even if its still derivative of Nightwing (with the V shape)
The look of the cape is a challenge visually for a non-superhuman/fantasy look but worth the suspension of disbelief.


Bless George Perez for keeping some of the Silver Age goofiness in his rebranding of Bat-Girl

[Chickfighter]

I'd love a Bette mini-series/one-off special ... as Flamebird.

Hawkfire is a bad name (and costume!)

Agreed. Not holding my breath but I'd love something like that, particularly if it embraced the old somewhat frivolous origin story. News flash DC - not every single character needs to be motivated by terrible personal trauma and loss.

[dropkickjake]

I'd love to see her show up in spyral somehow. Never read Batwoman, so I'm not sure if that version of her had much in common with the "Became a hero to impress Robin," original or not. They could always just introduce the original as "Betty" instead of "Bette."

[Herowatcher]

Agreed. Not holding my breath but I'd love something like that, particularly if it embraced the old somewhat frivolous origin story. News flash DC - not every single character needs to be motivated by terrible personal trauma and loss.

Bette Kane’s intro into super-heroism is reminiscent of a time when a lot of bored rich socialites donned the mask. However, Bette’s origin can be a little more complex than that. I’m all for her not coming from a tragic beginning, but I think a little discomfort can be found in the actions she took to become Flamebird.

Perez’s Post-COIE origin for her was good, but can be fleshed out more.

Being born into the Kane family, one of Gotham’s oldest and most influential, Bette had the best childhood money could buy. This also came with a lot of expectations from her parents.

She was put on a pedestal at an early age, starting with beauty contests at the age of five. She’d go on to compete in gymnastics and swimming, becoming the best in those fields at a young age. The adulation must have been like a drug for Bette, which helped drive her to have such a competitive (overachiever) nature. The pinnacle of Bette’s achievements was her pro tennis career. However, now in her teens, Bette was becoming bored by all the admiration. The price of being popular was loneliness. She no longer wanted to be put on that pedestal. Bette had always done what was expected of her and now she wanted a new challenge of her own choosing.

Bette had long had a crush on Robin, the Boy Wonder, since seeing him in action on one of her tennis tours. She challenged herself to meet him and work with him as equals. Bette entered the super-hero community with high expectations. However, when she finally does meet Robin, he’s not impressed by her flashy moves and overconfident demeanor. Not use to rejection and finding she’s out of her comfort zone, Bette falls into a spoiled rich kid attitude. As her disillusionment begins to fade, Bette is horrified about her selfishness and discovers a true challenge worth going after. Being a hero is the one selfless act that is more important than all her past achievements. Bette discovered she doesn’t have to be the center of attention to make a difference as her parents tried to raise her to be.

[Chickfighter]

Bette Kane’s intro into super-heroism is reminiscent of a time when a lot of bored rich socialites donned the mask. However, Bette’s origin can be a little more complex than that. I’m all for her not coming from a tragic beginning, but I think a little discomfort can be found in the actions she took to become Flamebird.

Perez’s Post-COIE origin for her was good, but can be fleshed out more.

Being born into the Kane family, one of Gotham’s oldest and most influential, Bette had the best childhood money could buy. This also came with a lot of expectations from her parents.

She was put on a pedestal at an early age, starting with beauty contests at the age of five. She’d go on to compete in gymnastics and swimming, becoming the best in those fields at a young age. The adulation must have been like a drug for Bette, which helped drive her to have such a competitive (overachiever) nature. The pinnacle of Bette’s achievements was her pro tennis career. However, now in her teens, Bette was becoming bored by all the admiration. The price of being popular was loneliness. She no longer wanted to be put on that pedestal. Bette had always done what was expected of her and now she wanted a new challenge of her own choosing.

Bette had long had a crush on Robin, the Boy Wonder, since seeing him in action on one of her tennis tours. She challenged herself to meet him and work with him as equals. Bette entered the super-hero community with high expectations. However, when she finally does meet Robin, he’s not impressed by her flashy moves and overconfident demeanor. Not use to rejection and finding she’s out of her comfort zone, Bette falls into a spoiled rich kid attitude. As her disillusionment begins to fade, Bette is horrified about her selfishness and discovers a true challenge worth going after. Being a hero is the one selfless act that is more important than all her past achievements. Bette discovered she doesn’t have to be the center of attention to make a difference as her parents tried to raise her to be.

Hey, let's not dismiss the time of bored socialites in masks. I still love a good Domino Lady story, frequently more fun than the over-wrought super-violent psychobabble personal demons crap that are so often considered today's best.

The approach you suggest would certainly be workable. I would suggest a slight variation on it by flipping it around. Let's say Bette is portrayed as a bit of a savant at everything she does but then becomes easily bored with it as you suggest precisely because it is easy. She imagines Robin as some sort of perfect partner and pursues him. Instead of Robin not being impressed with her as in your scenario he actually is impressed by her as they work on some mission together and get to know each other. She becomes really involved in overcoming the challenges of what proves a very difficult mission. She also begins to see Dick as just a man who is perhaps too easy a conquest and not as perfect a partner as she imagined. By the end of the mission she's losing her interest in him and struggles with how to tell him as he seems quite smitten with her. She tells him she feels bad about breaking it off when she can't really explain why. Dick nods. "You're bored with me already like every other thing you've ever tried, but during the course of our time together there was one thing that continually challenged you. The mission." She blinks, then smiles, having found what she wants to do with herself. "Thanks, Dick."

[OBrianTallent]

Let's dream a little...you've been made an editor at DC and you get to put together a Flamebird mini series. It seems that someone in the upper offices kind of likes the ol' gal and wants to see what a series would do. You can write it, you can draw it or you can hire someone else to. What's the pitch...
Mine: codename: FLAMEBIRD
writer: Kathryn Immonen
artist: Marcus To

Life in Gotham was starting to become a bit of a drag for Bette Kane until she got the shock of her life when out and about one day she noticed a butt she knew well but thought was dead...Dick Grayson. Using her cousin Kate's resources, Bette starts digging and runs into someone else a little too familiar with the family, Agent Zero...Kathy Kane. Kathy had her eye on her young niece or some time but backed away when she started palling around with the Batwoman. Now, Agent Zero has pulled Bette into her web and sent her on a whirlwind tour tracking down a rogue agent. Bette thinks she is on the trail of her former crush until she digs a little too deep and finds herself neck deep in trouble with an ancient scarab and in the crosshairs of Steve Trevor, ARGUS.
Trevor would recruit Bette by the end of the first arc and set up her working for ARGUS. Kathy Kane would occasionally step in to trip Bette up who is still trying to find Grayson using the resources of ARGUS. Bette would work both in and out of costume adopting something a little less flashy than her previous Flamebird outfit, but decidedly more chic than her hawkfire armor.

any others...?

[Chickfighter]

Dreaming is good. I'll play. No doubt my take may seem out in left field to many of you but the previous poster said to dream so I'm coming up with a pitch that appeals to me.

Series title: Flamebird
Opening arc: "Want to Make a Bette?"
Writer: Bryan Q. Miller and Molly Whipple (me of course!)
Artist: Joelle Jones

Bette Kane is a bored young socialite and tennis star who lives in Los Angeles. Bette is playing a tennis match when there is a terrorist attack on the venue. Dick Grayson/Nightwing/Agent shows up and the athletic tennis star, Bette, manages to play a role in assisting him save the day although the attackers get away. She immediately becomes interested in him and as a result in helping him in his mission to find out who is behind the attack and why? Grayson, of course, tells her to stay out of the way so she won't get hurt. Her psyche is hurt by this dismissal even as he leaves her to the paparazzi intent on making her the heroine of the scene.

Later that evening Bette's grandmother, once a private detective, pulls her aside and confides in Bette that her mother, Bette's great grandmother, was actually a domino masked avenger of Los Angeles during the golden era of Hollywood. The grandmother explains that she never told anyone before but because of what she has seen Bette do this day she wants her to know. Grandma then shows Bette the costume and mask that her great grandmother wore. Bette smiles as she tries on the mask and gets an idea for the perfect way to pursue Grayson by helping him with his mission to track down the terrorists.

So Bette dons the old costume and joins Grayson in a cat and mouse game between the two of them and a series of foes destined to become her rogues gallery. There is a Zorro wannabe who calls himself "The Foil." There is an apparent special effect artist who likes to make traps and calls himself, "Doctor Deathtrap." There is a "Roselyn Thorne" who can reanimate the dead with some sort of voodoo involving roses and thorny vines. There is a seemingly unstoppable zombie-like creature known as "Bonegrinder" with huge hands and a crushing grip. There is a black biker with a tattoo that reads, "Bulls%#t" and simply goes by "Bull" who turns out to be a good guy (and possible future unlikely romantic interest). And there is a gangster named Scarelli who is perhaps behind it all.

Bette and Grayson bicker but work together to thwart one of the aforementioned characters per issue while trying to track down who's behind it. Bette keeps losing torn costumes to the action much to Grayson's amusement and her chagrin. But in addition to displaying her obvious charms Bette also displays some physical prowess and martial arts abilities along the way. By the end of the opening arc Bette has created her own costume and become less enamored with Grayson, the original reason for her getting involved, having become more excited about the thrilling adventure of the work itself. Grayson says something about being thankful that the case is over because Bette definitely isn't cut out for this sort of thing.
Bette replies, "Want to make a Bet?"
Grayson smirks. "Sure." He kisses her.
She pushes him away with a scowl. "So not what I meant."
"I know, unfortunately." He winks. "Just be careful, Flamebird."

And so Bette is set as the modern masked avenger of Los Angeles with a rogues gallery in place.

[OBrianTallent]

Dreaming is good. I'll play. No doubt my take may seem out in left field to many of you but the previous poster said to dream so I'm coming up with a pitch that appeals to me.

Series title: Flamebird
Opening arc: "Want to Make a Bette?"
Writer: Bryan Q. Miller and Molly Whipple (me of course!)
Artist: Joelle Jones

Bette Kane is a bored young socialite and tennis star who lives in Los Angeles. Bette is playing a tennis match when there is a terrorist attack on the venue. Dick Grayson/Nightwing/Agent shows up and the athletic tennis star, Bette, manages to play a role in assisting him save the day although the attackers get away. She immediately becomes interested in him and as a result in helping him in his mission to find out who is behind the attack and why? Grayson, of course, tells her to stay out of the way so she won't get hurt. Her psyche is hurt by this dismissal even as he leaves her to the paparazzi intent on making her the heroine of the scene.

Later that evening Bette's grandmother, once a private detective, pulls her aside and confides in Bette that her mother, Bette's great grandmother, was actually a domino masked avenger of Los Angeles during the golden era of Hollywood. The grandmother explains that she never told anyone before but because of what she has seen Bette do this day she wants her to know. Grandma then shows Bette the costume and mask that her great grandmother wore. Bette smiles as she tries on the mask and gets an idea for the perfect way to pursue Grayson by helping him with his mission to track down the terrorists.

So Bette dons the old costume and joins Grayson in a cat and mouse game between the two of them and a series of foes destined to become her rogues gallery. There is a Zorro wannabe who calls himself "The Foil." There is an apparent special effect artist who likes to make traps and calls himself, "Doctor Deathtrap." There is a "Roselyn Thorne" who can reanimate the dead with some sort of voodoo involving roses and thorny vines. There is a seemingly unstoppable zombie-like creature known as "Bonegrinder" with huge hands and a crushing grip. There is a black biker with a tattoo that reads, "Bulls%#t" and simply goes by "Bull" who turns out to be a good guy (and possible future unlikely romantic interest). And there is a gangster named Scarelli who is perhaps behind it all.

Bette and Grayson bicker but work together to thwart one of the aforementioned characters per issue while trying to track down who's behind it. Bette keeps losing torn costumes to the action much to Grayson's amusement and her chagrin. But in addition to displaying her obvious charms Bette also displays some physical prowess and martial arts abilities along the way. By the end of the opening arc Bette has created her own costume and become less enamored with Grayson, the original reason for her getting involved, having become more excited about the thrilling adventure of the work itself. Grayson says something about being thankful that the case is over because Bette definitely isn't cut out for this sort of thing.
Bette replies, "Want to make a Bet?"
Grayson smirks. "Sure." He kisses her.
She pushes him away with a scowl. "So not what I meant."
"I know, unfortunately." He winks. "Just be careful, Flamebird."

And so Bette is set as the modern masked avenger of Los Angeles with a rogues gallery in place.

Sounds like a lot of fun! I thought about using Jones for my artist, but I really want her on the Mockingbird series...so. lol.

[Chickfighter]

Sounds like a lot of fun! I thought about using Jones for my artist, but I really want her on the Mockingbird series...so. lol.

Thanks. I enjoyed your suggestion as well and definitely agree that Bette would go with a more chic costume than that Hawkfire fashion disaster. That's awesome that you actually thought about Jones for your artist too. She'd be perfect for Bette.