SupermanHawaii.com

by Keona Tang

Greetings once again, fellow citizens of Earth-Prime, and welcome back to the Occasional Orb! In my last article, I began profiling my favorite characters from the Batman family, including Tim Drake, formerly the third Robin and now called Red Robin. In this issue, I'd like to turn your attention to one of the more obscure members of the Bat-family, a young woman named Stephanie Brown, also known as the Spoiler! Eagle-eyed readers out there may remember that I mentioned her briefly in my Tim Drake/Robin article, but she is definitely more than a footnote in another character's history. The irony, though, is that she may have started out that way.

Stephanie was created by writer Chuck Dixon and artist Tom Lyle in 1992, when she first appeared in Detective Comics #647. Soon after, she would become an integral supporting character in the Robin solo series, also written by Dixon. Initially developed as a potential love interest for Tim Drake, Steph's background revealed hidden depth: She was the estranged daughter of the minor Batman villain known as the Cluemaster (a.k.a. Arthur Brown, a small time crook who would leave clues when he committed a crime; think of a less refined version of the Riddler). Because of her father's criminal proclivities and the fact that he was a deadbeat dad, Stephanie rejected him, and dedicated herself to doing good as the purple-clad vigilante known as the Spoiler! She did so, however, without the official sanction of Batman, and even Tim (who knew her secret identity) discouraged her from being who she was. Still, even in the face of their disapproval, she soldiered on.

Under Dixon's pen, Steph was a capable, witty, and fun heroine. However, after he left, she was portrayed as a well-intentioned but unskilled amateur crimefighter who really couldn't measure up to Batman's standards. At one point, Steph even stepped in for Tim and became the first female Robin in DC Comics' current continuity, but that plotline ended when she was fired by Batman for disobeying orders in the field. Her disillusionment towards Batman and his decision then led her to inadvertently ignite a gang war in Gotham, which ultimately resulted in her death.

But Steph's story didn't end there. Comicbook readers were split down the middle after DC made the decision to kill her, with one side demanding some sort of meaningful acknowledgment of her existence in the Bat-books (such as the establishment of an on-panel memorial in the Batcave), while the other thought her death made sense within the context of the story. The latter group viewed her as a minor character and a sub par heroine, so her demise was inconsequential. To the former, her death symbolized more than a bad way to end a substandard twenty-five issue crossover (I am, of course, referring to the War Games debacle of 2005): It was an indictment of DC's misogynistic treatment of their female characters, including Stephanie herself. Websites were created in honor of the character, and many fans wrote letters to DC Comics' Executive Editor Dan Didio, pleading with him to at least acknowledge Steph's importance in the Bat-family in some way. Their requests were left unanswered until Chuck Dixon made his surprising return to Robin in early 2008.

Dixon was well aware of the dissatisfaction fans felt at the way DC had handled this situation, and immediately took steps to address it. He had Tim mention Stephanie several times in his internal monologue, which finally showed that her death had made an impact on the character. "She didn't even get a memorial in the cave," he mused in Robin #170. Then he was shocked to see a young blonde woman who looked like her walking down the halls of his school. A few issues later, in Robin #174, Stephanie reappeared in the book, alive and well. The moment was a happy one for readers of the book and the characters therein, but it was short lived. After just five issues (plus the Robin/Spoiler Special), Dixon left the series once again, and the book was swept up into yet another crossover, entitled Batman: R.I.P. As a result of the events in that story and those of DC's epic seven-issue mini-series, Final Crisis, Batman (that is, Bruce Wayne) died, though we aren't sure if that will be a permanent change in the character's status.

In the aftermath of those two stories, Steph and Tim haven't been the same. Their close friendship/romantic relationship has been undone. On top of that, convinced that Bruce is still alive, Tim has become obsessed with finding him, even at the expense of alienating his friends. Meanwhile, Stephanie has taken up the Mantle of the Bat herself and has become the newest Batgirl. Nevertheless, while it is clear that Tim Drake is no longer the same upbeat character we knew and loved (for better or worse), Stephanie Brown is still portrayed as the same lovable yet unskilled amateur who isn't quite good enough to hang with the big Bats. At least, not yet. Hopefully, underwriter Bryan Q. Miller and artists Lee Garbett and Trevor Scott, she'll finally be revealed as the capable and heroic character we've always known her to be. As it stands at the moment, Steph's turn as Batgirl is off to a promising start, as I enjoyed most of the first issue of the new series (it was great to see former Batgirls Cassandra Cain and Barbara Gordon appear in there as well). I think there may be some hope on the horizon for us Steph fans, after all.

On a more personal note, as you can probably tell from the tone of this piece, I am a huge Stephanie Brown fan! Something about this character really hit home for me, whether it was her intense dislike of injustice and crime, or her humor and lightheartedness even in the face of tragedy. Even more than that, I think it had to do with her innate spunkiness and the fact that she never gave up doing what she wanted to do, even when the people she loved and looked up to discouraged and disapproved of her. She's just the kind of character I love to root for: Imperfect and a little clumsy at times, but she's got heart and humor and spirit and guts, and those qualities more than make up for her faults. Kudos to her creators for giving us such a wonderful and vibrant character to follow every month, and a huge bonus thanks to Chuck Dixon for bringing her back to life! I certainly know that my comicbook reading would be a lot less enjoyable without her around!

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