The Inevitable Mediocre Spin-off

Using a mix of GI Joe's Scarlett promotions and The new Batsuit. What is odd is that even without his mouth and eyes the cowl still looks Bale-y to me

WHO IS BATGIRL?
the clues so far

Despite what DC expected its the fight to fill Batgirl's tights that is the most mysterious and compelling in Battle for the Cowl. Everyone knows Bruce will be back so who cares who will fill the tights for a few months. With Batgirl we have a permanent change. All sides have their supporters and detractors so lets look at the clues and decide.

Our first clue is the Batgirl #1 cover by Phil Noto. Deliberately designed to be vague this may not be much use. What we do know is that it is Cassandra Cain's costume but we already know from Dan Didio that Cassandra will not be part of the Batfamily following the events of Battle for the Cowl. The muzzle of Cassandra's costume has been ripped off (or some suggest the cowl is sewn to the face, I doubt this). She's a smiler and shows a confident pose.

Our second clue is the Solicit
BATGIRL #1
Written by Bryan Q. Miller
Art by Lee Garbett & Trevor Scott
Cover by Phil Noto
Variant cover by J.G. Jones

In the wake of "Batman R.I.P." and BATTLE FOR THE COWL, a new heroine has emerged in Gotham City, and as she begins her nocturnal crusade to take back the night, she will truly learn what it means to wear the mantle of the Bat. But who is this young woman, and why has she donned the cape and cowl?

Most believe that an old Batgirl is the new Batgirl but how does that tie to the solicit? Is the solicit throwing us off? Should it be taken as truth?

Now for a look at the contenders

1) Bette Kane
Stalked the Pre-Crisis streets as Bat-Girl, the sidekick of Batwoman Kathy Kane. With the return of Batwoman as Kate Kane in 52 and a familial bond suggested with Bette could we be going very far back? Also note that Kate's moniker 'Flamebird' has been usurped by Thara Ak-Var who currently stars in Action Comics. She does need a new identity. Her days as Bat-Girl are out of continuity now so she could be considered a 'new heroine' as Batgirl and learn about carrying the bat symbol. Pre-Crisis she was introduced as a love interest for Robin and in Nightwing's Origins and Omens we see him kissing Batgirl. A very strong contender.

2) Barbara Gordon
Increasingly agitated at her inability to walk the classic Bargirl could once again don the cowl. Hints of her returning to being Batgirl have been occuring for months, if not years. The end of Birds of Prey brought this to a head. What followed was a mini series called the cure where no one was cured, or were they? We are told Barbara's story continues in Batgirl #1. We have to tie this to multiple origins and omens stories. First Nightwing's. He takes Babs skydiving for her birthday and the page that follows shows a kiss between him and a classic costumed Batgirl bathed in red, like Babs' hair. She and Dick were once engaged but remember Dick is most probably Batman soon, in the picture he is Nightwing so what is going on there? Could it be another flashback story? Then there is Barbara's own Origins and Omens where she is looking at her Batgirl costume, out of the trophy case with a thoughtful expression. Reminicing about the good old days or whether she can still fit in it? However she fits none of the solicit, don't count her out though.





















3) Stephanie Brown
She fights Crime as Spoiler and has previously been Robin for a short time. The first female to take the role. She has a long time love interest in Tim Drake which fills teh Bat-Girl role perfectly from its original inception. The Batgirl #1 cover is bathed in purple light which is the colour of her costume as spoiler and the solicit could still work. While she was Robin she wasn't wearing the Batsymbol even if she had the same sort of responsibility. She was recently brought back from her written death, there must be a reason.

Other Contenders

There have been various other names put forward such as Helena Bertinelli and Misfit which I think would be very random and have no clues pointing towards them. While there is potential in these characters as Batgirl I think they'll have to wait their turn.

While I would love Barbara to be back in top form I think there is a lot of evidence for Bette and Steph that can't be ignored. So with the evidence presented what do you think?

I remember as a kid first discovering the internet I was in awe they sold actual wallpaper!!!!

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If you request sizes smaller I will crop

Yes, you heard right! My pull list is going to be including some of the sexiest women around.






















And this isn't even a comprehensive look at what DC has lined up for our female heroes. We have the perennial Wonder Woman, Power Girl, Wonder Girl leading the titans, Cassandra Cain in Streets of Gotham, Manhunter getting a back up story, Spoiler and the Birds of Prey in Battle for the Cowl, a yet to be announced Batgirl and The Question who will pop up in Gotham before long. Its no lie that female characters don't generate the sales the male ones do but instead of putting them back in the box like Marvel is doing DC is taking them out and playing with them. Keeping them sexy and powerful. I still could have done without looking down Oracle's shirt though.

not just clothes though...superhero clothes.
We don't get the great Junk Food T-Shirts in Britain but Play.com has started getting 'sugar daddy' T shirts and due in on Saturday is a DC direct T-Shirt both items feature 80's headbanded Supergirl. Now the headband usually gets a bad rep but it seems to be the costume the fashion designers love. (while the hotpants would be the one comic writers and artists favour)

So this is the Sugar Daddy T Shirt:


and this is the DC direct/Warner brothers T shirt:


To be honest I'm not sure what that one is going to look like. Who thought a DIAGRAM would be a good idea? I also have no idea what the white spots are. Maybe a lichtenstein effect. Well, we'll see when it comes. Which should be Monday, play usually send pre-ordered items out early rather than wait until the release date.

Other T shirts available are joker T-Shirts(one of which is £5), a superman shirt saying I love goodies, a wonder woman shirt which is basically the name in different colours


Batgirl in the wrong colours.

Catwoman

Wonder Woman
and the trinity: Wonder Woman, Supergirl and Batgirl. That colour scheme though...no no no

The supergirl T-Shirt is the first DC direct/WB T-Shirt available and that fit's their fashion line plans outlined last year for the character's trademark. The fashion rights were given to a store not available in the UK so maybe play snapped them up instead? Other than that T-shirt which is pre-ordered the rest are selling out fast! Expect some to be only available in medium(12/14) and Extra Large (18/20)- and they were only released in January! That is good news though, it means more to come!

Full Solicits are here and an hour early! Which means I get to natter before nap time in the UK. Firstly what caught my eye- Supergirl and Batgirl team up to take over the world! Wait no...save the world! thats better and they brought their pets along too. Just yesterday I was saying on Livejournal that I missed Kara and Barbara's team ups. True they were few and far between but they really sparked. Batgirl and Supergirl have become a notable tag team even though they never had the pages to back it up. Its all about the image of the female counterparts kicking butts in place of the men. In fact I'm almost certain there is an elseworlds tale of the two as world's finest

[Nikki goes off to check]

ahem, yes... Supergirl/Batgirl: Elseworld's Finest although it doesn't make clear if this world is in the new multiverse. Bring on the infinite universes I say!

We need more Babs and Kara, really. I would love for them to get close post crisis but feel Black Canary has usurped her place in Bab's life. Oh well, I can deal with it in other continuities like the DC animated universe and Johnny DC.

For all the other Bat/super fans out there how about some scans...
click to embiggen

The World's finest are out of a job! The ladies Scheme. A classic example of both superdickery and batdickery in one playful cover



















Batgirl is powerless and fears for her life in the cosmic catastrophe that was Crisis on Infinite Earths. Kara is there to give her friend support but not 100% succeeding. Of course Kara was the one to die eventually which this page foreshadows. Batgirl is on the iconic cover of COIE #7, one of the most visibly moved. Her friend she could talk to about her superheroism is gone but she will never be forgotton...(until editorial forces the DCU to that is!...me bitter...absolutely!)




















Lastly, an admirable attempt in the post crisis canon to show up the classic duo, This is clayface impersonating barbara as batgirl. I was satiated by this but can't quite remember which issue it came from



















In JSA we are currently seeing the Earth-2 Equivalent of this friendship. Powergirl Kara Zor-L and Huntress Helena Wayne. In fact in the annual there was a rooftop discussion which reminded me heavily of the COIE conversation.