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What About Steph? The Superheroes That Apparently Never Were
Okay, I apologise if I sound like a conspiracy nut throughout this, but for the past year I’ve been trying to find answers as to why Stephanie Brown isn’t around anymore in DC Comics, and really, all I end up finding are more questions. I’d ask Renee Montoya to solve this for me, but she’s not really around anymore either. Nor is Cassandra Cain, Wally West, and a bunch of other characters in DC’s line-up prior to the relaunch.
“Here we go.”
For those who don’t know the character, here’s a short synopsis of her history. Originally a vigilante called the Spoiler, Stephanie Brown is the daughter of criminal mastermind the Cluemaster. She quickly allied herself with Tim Drake, whom she had an on again off again relationship with, and temporarily replaced him as Robin when he was forced into temporary retirement, only to be fired by Batman for disobeying orders on two occasions (I don’t see him firing Damian for disobeying orders and killing people, but let’s not open that bag of feral cats). After an incident where she was believed to have been killed, she returned to Gotham originally as Spoiler, but following Cassandra retiring as Batgirl due to disillusionment, Stephanie took up the role. She earned the trust and respect of the original Batgirl, Barbara Gordon, and often-times worked closely with Tim Drake, now Red Robin, and the new Batman and Robin (Dick Grayson and Damian Wayne). Apparently following Barbara’s surgery that granted her the ability to walk again, Stephanie returned the role of Batgirl to her and resumed work as Spoiler, but I only know that because of a tell-all book written on Batman and his allies that was released recently. Otherwise, she has not appeared once since the reboot.
Stephanie Brown: The only superheroine with the balls to slap fucking BATMAN! XD
Now admittedly, the current Batgirl title written by Gail Simone is AWESOME, and is worth your time and money. Personally, I prefer her in her role as Oracle, but if DC was gonna put her back in the role of Batgirl, I’m glad Simone is handling that. In fact, I’ve tweeted back and forth with her a number of times, once in particular about Stephanie Brown and if she would consider maybe bringing her back, not necessarily as Batgirl but possibly as Spoiler working as a partner of sorts with Barbara since their duo worked so well. However, she claimed that the character “wasn’t available”, and that she didn’t know anything more on the subject.
Admittedly, this new Batgirl title IS pretty awesome
That struck as a bit odd. Gail Simone is the writer, right? Aside from making sure her stories stay in continuity with the others, why should DC Editorial care at all if she wants to involve Stephanie Brown in those stories ONLY? And why wouldn’t Simone know anything regarding why the character isn’t available?
Admit it, this would be fucking AWESOME
Well, some other odd things happened recently too, like the change to the Smallville comics (seriously, Smallville has it’s own comic series, and no, I don’t know why) wherein originally Batman would appear for a storyline that would see him accompanied by a female Nightwing that would turn out to be Stephanie Brown. This was later blocked by DC Editorial and Nightwing was changed to Barbara Gordon. Another odd bit was changes to the new Teen Titans books so that there were no previous incarnations of the group prior to the relaunch and that Tim Drake was apparently ALWAYS Red Robin. And when I say changes, I mean literally that the new comics originally stated that Tim Drake WAS Robin and that there WERE previous incarnations of the group, both of which seem to be backed up by other comics in the DCnU, and yet in the collected graphic novel/trade paperback/whatever you wanna call it, the dialogue boxes were changed to deny these previous facts.
Related articles
- This Just In: New Development for Tim Drake [Spoiler] (comicvine.com)
The most recent thing that happened that I took note of as odd was the pulling of the DC Nation block on Cartoon Network. Now I’m not really a fan of Young Justice, but I couldn’t help but notice something very interesting about a character that appeared in the episode set to air until it and the block were pulled until January. Fortunately, the episode was released on iTunes, revealing THIS.
And that’s when it finally hit me: There’s some sort of communications issue between DC Editorial and their writers. The reason for the changes to Tim Drake and the Titans is either because DC Editorial didn’t make it clear from the get-go that they wanted those changes instituted from the beginning or because they made the decision much later. So where does Stephanie Brown fit into this? Well, based on what I’ve seen, what I’ve read, and from the newest incident regarding Young Justice, it’s pretty clear that DC Editorial has blacklisted Stephanie Brown and won’t just frigging say it or explain why.
Red Robin’s Been Wow’d
Now, there’s been a number of rumours backing that up, but because these are just rumours, take them with a grain of salt. The rumours suggest that Dan Didio, the man behind the relaunch in the first place, is a HUGE fan of the original characters that took on various superhero aliases and hates their later replacements, which seem to suggest why in the DCnU, Barry Allen is the only Flash and Wally West either never existed or was never either Flash or Kid Flash, the main Green Lantern comic focused primarily on Hal Jordan and Sinestro while the other Earth-born Green Lanterns were instead demoted to side stories Green Lantern Corps and New Guardians, Dick Grayson gave up being Batman and returned to being Nightwing, and oh yes, Barbara Gordon became Batgirl again and her history as Oracle MAY have been retconned (still looking into that), and Stephanie Brown and Cassandra Cain are nowhere to be found (although Cassandra was last seen operating out of Hong Kong, so I suppose she could still be there and we just haven’t seen her). Now of course, I could bring up how there were characters that took up the identities of Flash and Green Lantern BEFORE Barry and Hal, but I wouldn’t wanna chance it and have THEM demoted as well.
So what does that mean for Stephanie Brown? Well, it means that unless you’re watching the fan series Batgirl: Spoiled, which I admittedly am not all that impressed by yet but if you like it feel free to follow it, don’t expect to be seeing Miss Brown any time soon, possibly ever. This seems especially telling given some other stuff that’s come up as of late, but I’ll get into that some other time. Ja né!
Related articles
- Stephanie Brown fights crime, boredom in Batgirl: Spoiled premiere (robot6.comicbookresources.com)
A Tribute to Stephanie Brown
Well yesterday I decided to do up to things in relation to Stephanie Brown, AKA Batgirl, AKA Spoiler, AKA the fourth Robin. The first is a poster of a humorous moment between her and Livewire. Readers of the comic should know all about that.
The other is a short slideshow to the song “Nobody’s Perfect”, by Miley Cyrus…and NO, I am not a fan of Hannah Montana, I just thought the song suited the character. lol
Whether you think Stephanie Brown was the favourite Batgirl or not, regardless, I think most of us can agree she did not deserve to be seemingly completely dropped in the DC reboot. So if you like, love, or feel even remotely affectionate for this character, please support Waffles For Steph, a cause that hopes to eventually convince DC to bring Stephanie Brown back.
15 Characters I’d Like to See in Injustice: Gods Among Us
Okay, so as you’ve likely heard if you’re a fan of either DC Comics or Mortal Kombat, NeatherRealm Studios is doing another fighting game with DC characters entitled Injustice: Gods Among Us. I’ve seen trailers and early gameplay footage, it looks great, and while the current roster of characters revealed so far is awesome, obviously people are gonna be making lists of characters they’d love to see included, so here’s me pretty much throwing my opinions out there, as these are 15 Characters I’d Like To See In Injustice.
Images are obviously from DC Comics (Anybody else find that name horribly redundant?) and the music is from Justice League: Doom. And now, here are my reasons for each character.
This one’s pretty much a no brainer. There is no conceivable way that I can think of that they could do a game like this and not include a Green Lantern, and while he’s not my personal favourite, as arguably the most well-known Green Lantern, I would imagine Hal Jordan will be in. Expect some crazy moves from Green Lantern if he’s in, given what that ring can do.
Okay, first off, put the pitchforks down. I’m well aware that his connection to Cry For Justice (or as I prefer to call it, Gay For Vengeance) might make this guy a bit unpopular, but understand, I’m not picking this guy out of any kind of popularity or lack thereof. Rather, I think he would be an interesting choice for a fighting game with his various tools and the ability to adapt to different opponents, though not quite in the ludicrous way he could in Gay For Vengeance.
For three reasons. One, founding member of the Justice League and a badass character, two he’d have some unique and awesome moves for a fighting game, and three because an Atlantis stage would be AWESOME! Next!
I thought I’d cover all three of these at once because they all share a major reason for being picked: I LOVE the Teen Titans cartoon. I know, that’s not the same thing, but I can’t help it, just by watching that cartoon, I would love to see these three in the game (by the way, Dick Grayson and Cyborg are already in). That said, I think each one of them would present some interesting styles of combat, in particular Beast Boy’s transformations and Raven’s ability to project her soul self.
Because I wanted a Batgirl, and I think Barbara should be a character you see and hear in the game but as Oracle. So why Stephanie? Because Cassandra is already Black Bat, and I LOVE Stephanie as Batgirl. Though speaking of which, where the hell are Cass and Steph in The New 52? ANSWER ME, DARN IT!
Because Robin, while similar to Batman and Nightwing, is just different enough to warrant an inclusion. As for why Tim Drake, well I can’t see Damian being in the game and being taken seriously since he’s frigging 10, and Jason Todd…well, because…
Jason Todd as the Red Hood works as an antagonist and the occasional begrudging ally for Batman and his whole group, and I can see him as being the sort of Kurtis Stryker-like character (I don’t get why do people hate that character, btw). And speaking of antagonists for Batman…
Because honestly, I can’t see how they will be able to possibly resist doing this, unless it somehow turned out this game is canon with Arkham City, which I can’t see happening. Next!
…Do I honestly need to explain this pick? I know why this guy is a great pick, and I haven’t even read any of the comics he’s in. This is the force of evil that almost destroyed the entire universe in Crisis on Infinite Earths. This should be THE final boss in this game, period. Joker, the next guy on this list, Lex Luthor if it turns out he is playable, they should all be leading up to the Anti-Monitor.
One of the ultimate villains of the DC Universe, the guy that could drive even Superman to going homicidal just by being around, and would be one of the most powerful fighters in the game if included, I can’t see him not being in for any reason. Next!
Catwoman always brings uniqueness to her style of gameplay no matter what game she’s in, and I doubt this would be any different. Next!
Well, since I picked the Titans, why not their arch-nemesis? Plus, Deathstroke would be interesting as a character since he’s got the size and strength to be a Strength type character but clearly favours gadgets and technology over pure force, so I think he would make for a nice balanced character.
And finally, the man that broke the bat. Again, can’t see how they can avoid putting this guy in, especially given that he’s the villain in the new Batman movie coming out this year and, as a tie-in, has had his main story-arc where he was introduced reprinted. Would make for an excellent character.
So there ya go, my 15 picks. Feel free to comment on them, why you agree or disagree with any of them, and hey, feel free to list your own Wanted List in the comments as well.
Jyger's Rant 