Kathy Kane, the ORIGINAL "Batwoman", appreciation thread

[K. Jones]

I'm a tad confused, aren't Kathy and Kate (both Kane) essentially the same character just different interpretations?

They were.

When Greg Rucka introduced Kate Kane she was intended to fill that role in a new, interesting way. At that point Silver Age continuity was being revisited but probably nobody really suspected Silver Age Kathy Kane would be a concept that got revisited in any way. And so Kate was the "updated" version of Batwoman.

But one of the tenets of Morrison's run was this "everything happened" approach that brought like ... all of Batman's weird history back into continuity in some fashion. Like it all happened, albeit, not necessarily how it was written before or how we remembered it. And much to a lot of our surprise, when he did his "Last Rites" glimpse at Batman's bullet points total career history, there was Kathy Kane, existing as a key figure in his early career. That story was made up of a lot of reference to his mind being mucked with, false memories, false glimpses at non-canonical timelines and elements of the Silver Age possibly being drug-induced hallucinations.

So surprise surprise when Batman Incorporated # 3 came out and we started getting a new in-continuity backstory for how the original Kathy Kane was still part of continuity. Big things were done with her character for a few reasons - first to further the international spy plot happening in Incorporated and to connect with things happening with Batman and all his "imitators" or bat-themed global allies. Second, definitely to differentiate her from current incarnation Kate Kane. For instance we learn her maiden name and where she comes from so that she and Kate are no longer kind of the same character, once removed by continuity.

So while Kate initially was indeed meant to be the modern incarnation of the same character, Morrison got cheeky and weird and brought in the original incarnation, retconned her a lot, and allowed the two characters to both exist in the same universe.

What's more, another later retcon, this time by Marc Andreyko and this time for Kate, finally explicitly names Kate's connection to Bruce, and they are stated to be first cousins. This means that Kathy is Bruce AND Kate's AND apparently Bette's former/one-time aunt by marriage. It also means that the Kane Family Tree is WAYYYYYY WACKIER than even the Wayne Family Tree.

[millernumber1]

I'm a tad confused, aren't Kathy and Kate (both Kane) essentially the same character just different interpretations?

Ooooh, no. Kathy is the classic character who Grant Morrison re-imagined as part of his massive Batman RIP/Inc epic. Kate is Greg Rucka's creation, a former Marine who was kicked out under Don't Ask Don't Tell, created in the mid-2000s. Rucka and Morrison were both drawing heavily from the classic character - the names, relationships, etc. have eerie parallels - but they're definitely not the same at all.

[Oberon]

I have to ask, given this huge retcon, mostly by "Cheeks" Morrison,

would fans or readers have liked it better if Kathy, original Batwoman, was not related to Bruce, et al by marriage?

I guess the big question is since everything is "not quite coincidence" in comics, there had to be some reason why she was originally a "Kane".

Was Martha always a Kane? When did that happen, was it in tandem with Morrison's retcon?

[Pohzee]

I would prefer Bruce have no living relatives and find the idea that he would have married his Aunt kind-of weird.

[Caivu]

Ooooh, no. Kathy is the classic character who Grant Morrison re-imagined as part of his massive Batman RIP/Inc epic. Kate is Greg Rucka's creation, a former Marine who was kicked out under Don't Ask Don't Tell, created in the mid-2000s. Rucka and Morrison were both drawing heavily from the classic character - the names, relationships, etc. have eerie parallels - but they're definitely not the same at all.

Yes, but Army, not Marines.

Was Martha always a Kane? When did that happen, was it in tandem with Morrison's retcon?

I know she's been a Kane since about 2002 or 2003.

[millernumber1]

Yes, but Army, not Marines.

I thought she was both? This is embarrassing. I literally just bought and reread Batwoman by Rucka like two months ago.

[Celgress]

I would prefer Bruce have no living relatives and find the idea that he would have married his Aunt kind-of weird.

That is indeed weird...

[Celgress]

Ooooh, no. Kathy is the classic character who Grant Morrison re-imagined as part of his massive Batman RIP/Inc epic. Kate is Greg Rucka's creation, a former Marine who was kicked out under Don't Ask Don't Tell, created in the mid-2000s. Rucka and Morrison were both drawing heavily from the classic character - the names, relationships, etc. have eerie parallels - but they're definitely not the same at all.

Thanks for the information Millernumber1.

[Caivu]

I thought she was both? This is embarrassing. I literally just bought and reread Batwoman by Rucka like two months ago.

No, she was never in the Marines. That's a common misconception though, I guess because the Marines are are popularly thought of as being the most badass branch of the US military.

[millernumber1]

No, she was never in the Marines. That's a common misconception though, I guess because the Marines are are popularly thought of as being the most badass branch of the US military.

Huh. I did a google, and I think the reason I thought it was it's listed on several wikias. You should go fix that and prevent me from making more mistakes.

[WonderScott]

Ms. Kane's mask-age was beyond epic. Between that and rocking a canary yellow bodysuit, she's was always so extra and we are all the better for it as a society.

IMG_0293.jpg

[WonderScott]

I'm most likely in the minority here, but back in the Earth 2 days of yore having Batwoman and Bat-Girl retconned into members of the JSA would have been fun.

[MajorHoy]

I'm most likely in the minority here, but back in the Earth 2 days of yore having Batwoman and Bat-Girl retconned into members of the JSA would have been fun.

Making them actual members wouldn't have necessarily made sense, but having them appear in an adventure or two would have been nice. (Heck, I'm not even sure Dick Grayson as Robin was actually made a full-fledged member prior to his reaching adulthood; back in the day, he was just an "honorary" member.)

[WonderScott]

Making them actual members wouldn't have necessarily made sense, but having them appear in an adventure or two would have been nice. (Heck, I'm not even sure Dick Grayson as Robin was actually made a full-fledged member prior to his reaching adulthood; back in the day, he was just an "honorary" member.)

Honestly, I just want to see Batwoman, Bat-Girl, and Wildcat versus Sportsmaster, Huntress, and Artemis. I wouldn’t be surprised if Kathy and Ted might have had a thing for each other if she had been a member of the Justice Society. Bats and Cats and all.

[MajorHoy]

Found this on the internet when looking for something else; listed under "Sheldon Moldoff Batwoman Batmobile".