Betty Kane / Bette Kane Appreciation 2018

[Doctor Bifrost]

I liked her best as Flamebird, and wished she had been treated - by the other characters, but particularly by the writers - with more respect. A brightly-clad, lighthearted, but skilled and competent hero. I think we really need her today.

I liked the idea that she was related to the current Batwoman, but I hated what they did with her in that comic. Tonally it was all off. She's not a character that should be gutted and put through hell. That just tends to ruin the personality that suits her best. (I could say similar things about Sue Dibny, but let's not go into that.) Then they gave her a costume that was all muted browns and black. And that name: Hawkfire!

(a) We already have had years of a perfectly good character named Firehawk, so, really?
(b) It sounds like a raptor with digestive problems.
(c) Has a military ring to it that also doesn't sound like what the character was created to be.

Surely one of the worst names ever.

Bring back Bette Kane as Flamebird!

[Caivu]

If rumors are true that Batwoman will lead Detective Comics, then there's hope we'll see Bette Kane appear as well.

Whoa, what rumors are these? I honestly wasn't expecting to see Batwoman again regularly in Rebirth, but if so, yay! As long as they don't stuff things up again.

[Caivu]

Surely one of the worst names ever.

I always saw that as a running joke with the character: getting saddled with uncool codenames, whether she chose them or not. First Flamebird, then Plebe, then Hawkfire...

[Aahz]

If rumors are true that Batwoman will lead Detective Comics, then there's hope we'll see Bette Kane appear as well.

Since they return Detective Comics to the original numbering, I doubt that they give the title to somebody else then Batman.

[jules]

I liked her best as Flamebird, and wished she had been treated - by the other characters, but particularly by the writers - with more respect. A brightly-clad, lighthearted, but skilled and competent hero. I think we really need her today.

To some extent I guess her role as the cheery and lighthearted one has been taken over by Stephanie Brown, but they're still different from each other. Historically Bette was the more competent, Steph the more committed to the job.

And I'd say that there's room in the universe for someone who has the skill set, but has more lightweight reasons than most for putting on a costume, either because she's tagging along with Aunt Kathy or thinks it might be fun and a way of chatting up that good-looking Nightwing fellow. Giving her a traumatic event to act against and make her mood more sombre is yet another extension of the regrettable trend to kill off everybody's parents, no matter whether they came into the hero game for perfectly workable reasons without it.

I guess her tennis career mostly happened at a time when she could still be casually amateur about it, but if it were to be brought up to date and to modern standards she'd probably have spent more time in the gym than Kate, and have the physical fitness, conditioning and stamina to match, as well as great hand to eye coordination from her sport of choice. It grates a little that Batwoman treated her almost like a beginner, when it should really have played it more along the lines of her getting a crash course in military training to extend and improve her fighting techniques. She could have taken things more seriously as part of growing up. No trauma required.

The Hawkfire name also grates. I liked her best as Flamebird too, though admittedly that's a persona that has most meaning when there's an active Nightwing around to bump into occasionally. I'd definitely like to see her return to it.

[Doctor Bifrost]

I always saw that as a running joke with the character: getting saddled with uncool codenames, whether she chose them or not. First Flamebird, then Plebe, then Hawkfire...

You think the Flamebird name isn't cool? Hey, the SA Jimmy Olsen running around Kandor with a non-powered, masked Superman wants to have a little chat with you...!

[Caivu]

You think the Flamebird name isn't cool? Hey, the SA Jimmy Olsen running around Kandor with a non-powered, masked Superman wants to have a little chat with you...!

Well, of those three, it's the least uncool. But in and of itself? Nope, not very cool. Firebird is a cool name, but Flamebird just doesn't have the same punch for some reason.
However, Bette's dogged insistence that the codenames she picks for herself don't suck is one of the things I like about her.

[Chickfighter]

I liked her best as Flamebird, and wished she had been treated - by the other characters, but particularly by the writers - with more respect. A brightly-clad, lighthearted, but skilled and competent hero. I think we really need her today.

This is my argument. I understand that dark troubled characters are popular, but that shouldn't mean every single character has to have gut-wrenching gravitos behind them. If anything a character like Flamebird stands out today than this other sort that has become so popular.

[Herowatcher]

Since they return Detective Comics to the original numbering, I doubt that they give the title to somebody else then Batman.

I'm inclined to agree with you.
I heard the Batwoman comment on another site (don't remember which one) and it mentioned Detective Comics and James Tynion writing Batwoman in some manner.

[Herowatcher]

This is my argument. I understand that dark troubled characters are popular, but that shouldn't mean every single character has to have gut-wrenching gravitos behind them. If anything a character like Flamebird stands out today than this other sort that has become so popular.

Bette Kane might've been born in Gotham City, but she grew up far from it in California. I don't see her as a brooding hero tormented all the time.
However, that doesn’t mean bad things won’t happen to her. Bette is the perfect choice to explore how a hero with a positive attitude reacts and is affected by dark situations.

[Chickfighter]

Bette Kane might've been born in Gotham City, but she grew up far from it in California. I don't see her as a brooding hero tormented all the time.
However, that doesn’t mean bad things won’t happen to her. Bette is the perfect choice to explore how a hero with a positive attitude reacts and is affected by dark situations.

On one hand I see your point. I think the previous failed series originally planned to do that as it went along, bringing back Bette after the gutting as more seasoned and determined but still positive and upbeat. Unfortunately besides the gutting being too much for my sensibilities the series also went sideways before the progression could really be completed.

It appears Batwoman will be appearing in the new Detective series with Batman. Mention is made that they may be training a raw recruit hero types in a boot camp scenario. There is probably a fair chance that Bette might appear there, but this sounds dreadfully like the already failed previous Batwoman series to me. So unless it is handled differently I'll have to say no to that.

My personal preference is still to hold out for a heroine who achieves the impossible precisely because she's too naive to know it is impossible and thereby shows all the old world-weary seasoned types how to make a real difference. By leaps of faith and acts of courage. The sort of inspirational things that comics should be about.

[ouroboros]

Bette's not yet made any appearances in animated cartoons, correct?

[Herowatcher]

Bette's not yet made any appearances in animated cartoons, correct?

Actually...Bette did make an appearance in the 1st season of the Young Justice animated TV series.
I was hoping to see her in costume in the 2nd season, but nope.

[ouroboros]

Actually...Bette did make an appearance in the 1st season of the Young Justice animated TV series.
I was hoping to see her in costume in the 2nd season, but nope.

Thanks. (10 char]

[Herowatcher]

Batwoman will be in Detective Comics after all...but no sign of Bette Kane.

Bette will be benched to Limbo if she doesn't show up in Titans.