Thursday, June 02, 2005

Batwoman has the final word!


kathy2
Originally uploaded by Scipio1.
Hi, I'm Kathy Kane, also known as BATWOMAN! Halo (who seems easily confused anyway) thought she was the last of the Comeback Poll contestants, but she forgot about me. Most people have, I'm afraid.

But I'm still doing well in the poll, because, well, I'm fabulous (and Bat-Mite is my publicity agent). In fact, I would be winning if Scipio weren't rigging the voting so that Vibe wins (I'm not a bad detective, you know!).

In essence, I was Batman, Robin, and the Barbara Gordon Batgirl all rolled up into one. I had a fortune like Batman, I was former circus aerialist like Robin, and, like Babs, I was a sassy feminine crimefighter who, armed with a red purse and laughing at danger, defied Batman's wish that I get out of the vigilante biz. How much cooler can a character get?

At the moment, I, myself, am either dead (killed off-panel by anonymous goons from the League of Assassins...I deserved better!) or never existed (that's why I'm all ghostified in this picture).

But Kathy Kane aside, you could still have a Batwoman. Draft Onyx. Or Sasha Bordeaux, once the OMAC mess is over. Have the Huntress finally grow up some and put on a decent red and yellow costume instead of that pilates instructor/streetwalker outfit she's tramping about it now. We had none of that in my day, missy!

Just make sure the new Batwoman's got SASS. That's made me and the first two Batgirls popular and something Gotham could stand more of!

9 comments:

Shon Richards said...

You know, I am seriously thinking that Batman needs a Batwoman. Huntress was suppossed to be all dark and not-his-sidekick but yet he has the same disapproving partent relationship he has with all the gotham characters. It would be nice if Batman had to deal with an adult woman who wasn't a criminal, and wasn't subservient to him.

Anonymous said...

I know this is sad, but I've never even heard of Batwoman. Well, Halo either. Or Vibe. But I remember Ultraa. Wasn't he from some late seventies Justice League story? He was Australian or something, right? I don't remember the Ultra from your post below. Man I'm out of touch...

Scipio said...

Just a generational thing. DC's got lots of interesting history worth exploring!

In the poll, "Ultraa" is a typo. Ultraa is a different character than Ultra the Multi Alien. U the M-AHe appeared originally in only 8 stories, making him an icon among obscure stupid DC characters.

Vibe's not obscure though. His death was the first (real) JLA death and the beginning of the dissolution of the Detroit League. Unlike any of the other characters, for example, he's doing cameos on JLU.

Batwoman was pretty darned important in her day, silly though it may seem now. Her legacy continues; in essence, the current Batgirl (Cassie Kane) is named after her.

Anonymous said...

Huntress should only become Batwoman if she does so against the explicit wishes of Batman, i.e., to piss him off. Because Helena is much, much more fun when she's grinding her teeth at Bruce's control-freakishness or willfully ignoring it. Sasha, on the other hand, would work nicely, provded they spare her an S&M face mask like poor Cassie has to wear. Of course, I'd rather just have Kathy Kane back.

Anonymous said...

Frankly, I like Helena as Huntress (I wish she'd go back to the outfit she wore up to the Batman/ Huntress mini-series, though). I don't think her identity should be linked to Batman any more than it is now.

Sasha as Batwoman, however, has potential. I really liked her initial, pre-Checkmate appearances. I haven't picked up OMAC (I don't buy comics regularly due to budgetary reasons) and don't intend to, but I hope Rucka does something more with his character.

Jer said...

Why not bring in a new character as a new Batwoman? I liked the animated "Mystery of the Batwoman" direct-to-video movie with the new Batwoman in that.

Anonymous said...

I mostly read comics in the 80's, and would have never heard of Batwoman, either, except that at some point I checked out a Batman compilation from my local library. I think it was from the 50's. There was a lot of Batwoman/Batgirl teamming up with Batman/Robin stories. It isn't the type of stories I would look out for regularly (then or now). However, you can't help but enjoy those easygoing stories. Especially when there were giant props involved (come to think of it, when weren't giant props involved?). And this is from someone who rarely cared for Superfamily stories.

(now scipio, you know one more moniker for a site lurker)

Scipio said...

Ha, welcome to all lurkers!

Anonymous said...

I think its kind of funny that vibe who was #1 still isn't back but batwoman who was in last is.