Disclaimer: Hey folks, Blogger is updating their format, so if any elements seem wonky, I apologize. I'm still trying to adjust to the new format, which I'm liking, though missing tools like the emojis. Please bare with me during this time of transition. Thank you, now back to your daily scheduled blog post.
And welcome back to another Character History post, where I talk about the history of characters, usually from comic books.
Today, I break the trend of covering golden age/public domain characters and discuss a larger, mainstream character. We're digging into the history of Batwoman, from her bonkers real life origin and the knock offs. Trust me, it's gonna get weird! I wanted to talk about Batwoman because I recently became a fan through the CW TV show, and I decided to investigate her history.
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| Detective Comics #860 textless cover. Image Credit: DC, used under the Wikipedia Creative Commons Share Alike License. Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=22388623 |
With the news that Ruby Rose is leaving the show (that makes me the big sad) I wanted to discuss the history of the character, and now seemed like an appropriate time.
But before we do that, let's discuss mainstream Batwoman's origins.
But before we do that, let's discuss mainstream Batwoman's origins.
DC Batwoman: Origins
Image Credit: DC, Comic VineNow, if you're familiar with Batwoman from the CW show, than you're going to be really confused by the picture above. Whose this weird, yellow Batwoman? Brace yourselves....
Batwoman, alias Kathy Kane, first appeared in Detective Comics No. 233, published in 1956. She was created by Bob Kane (co-creator of Batman) and Sheldon Moldoff, according to Comic Vine. Before we get into the reason she was invented, let's discuss who she is as a character.
Kathy Kane was basically Robin and Batman's origins rolled into one character. She worked at a circus, was the heir to a wealthy family, and was inspired by Batman. She decided to become Batwoman, though Batman was not impressed, because he feared for her safety. (You gotta love the 50's). However, Kathy persevered, and eventually became accepted by the Cape Crusader. Her niece, Betty Kane, found out about her secret, and became the first comic Bat Girl. That's right, Barbara Gordon is NOT the first Bat Girl.
And even then, Batwoman (who let me remind you, was discouraged from being Batwoman) tries to discourage her! How do you spell double standards? I mean, she is pretty young, but also... Batman has Robin. You know, once you start trying to bring logic to comics, it starts to fall apart.
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| The original Batwoman and Bat Girl. Image Credit: DC Wiki. https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/Katherine_Kane_(Earth-One) |
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| Kathy Kane Batwoman with the Bat Family. Image Credit: DC Wiki. https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/Katherine_Kane_(Earth-One) |
However, there were more sinister (or dare I say, stupid) reasons behind Batwoman's creation. According to History.com, Batwoman was created by DC for a very specific reason. It wasn't, as you might suspect, to protect the copyright and ensure no one created a Batwoman character before DC could.
The reason? They were afraid people would say Batman and Robin were gay.
And no, I am NOT making this up.
The "fear" of Batman being percieved as gay came from the book Seduction of the Innocent, written in 1954 by German psychiatrist Fredric Wertham, according to History.com. Wertham is known as the boogey man of comics. Because of Dr. Wertham, comics had to self censor themselves with the Comics Code Authority, due to the unfair and idiotic accusations that comics were making kids criminals and were destroying their spiritual health.
Dr. Wertham is proof that old white men don't understand popular culture, and shouldn't try and censor what they don't understand. Especially when, like Wertham, you base your claims on inaccurate research. But let's get back to Batwoman.
To make Batman "safe," DC had to create a female love interest for him and Robin, hence why we have Batwoman. Overtime, when the power of the Comics Code Authority became more relaxed, the need for Batwoman decreased. So what do you do with a character you don't need? Have them retire happily? Make them a supporting character? No of course not, you kill them!
Batwoman was killed in 1979, and stayed dead after DC's reboot known as Crisis on Infinite Earth. Her death was apparently done by the League of Assassins according to DC Wiki, though Comic Vine states it was by Bronze Tiger. Comics continuity is very confusing.
I don't have any nostalgia for for Kathy Kane Batwoman, but her murder doesn't sit well with me. In particular how the DC Wiki says that Batman was motivated to avenge her death. This means that Kathy was fridged, a term created by comics writer Gail Simone. Essentially, the term (in reference to a Green Lantern comic, where a female love interest is murdered and stuffed in a fridge) means a female character is wounded or killed to motivate a male character.
Kathy Kane Batwoman would stay dead for over 30 years in comics, which, given how much characters are brought back to life, is pretty impressive. However, when she was rebooted for modern day comics, she was reinvented in a much more imaginative way, and one that would make Dr. Wertham spin in his grave.
DC Batwoman: Reboot/Modern
Kate, who is Jewish, grew up as a military brat, according to Comic Vine. And she had a sister, Beth. On their 12th birthday, their car was crashed by terrorists, the Kanes were kidnapped. Kate's dad launched a rescue for them, but the mission ended in a near failure, their mother was dead, and Beth was (assumedly) dead, parodying Batman's origin, though making it her own.
Kate followed in her father's footsteps and joined the army, quickly climbing up the ranks. However, her career was cut short when she was accused of homosexuality.
Which was true. Yes, that's right. Batwoman, the character created to ward off fears of a gay Batman, became an open lesbian superhero. Cop that Wertham!
Kate had to resign, and this led her into a depression. To keep this post from being too long, I'm going to skip the crazier parts of her origin, and get to the meat of the story. After getting saved by Batman, Kate took inspiration from him, similar to her Pre-Crisis predecessor, and thus Batwoman was born. Kate became apart of the Bat Family over time, which is funny, because she is also Bruce Wayne (Batman)'s cousin.
Kate Kane Batwoman was created by several comics alum: Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka, Mark Waid, and Ken Lashley. In short: the rebooted Batwoman was in good hands.
Batwoman's redesigned costume is, in my opinion, a LOT better than the original yellow costume. The new Batwoman costume is an all black suit with a red bat logo, with Kate also wearing a bright red wig. Another interesting difference (at least in some comics/cartoons) is that Batwoman carries a gun, but she doesn't kill, following Batman's code.
Batwoman #1 Cover. Image Credit: DC, By Source, Fair use,
Now, to avoid spoilers for the CW show, I'm not going to go into the rest of the details of who Batwoman fights. If you are familiar with the show, you will know her main villain is Alice, who is a leader (in the comics) of a cult, whereas in the show its the Wonderland Gang.
I'll offer my thoughts on the CW show at the end, for now, I want to discuss the knockoff Batwomen. And if you thought her real life creation origin was weird, get ready to continue down the rabbit hole of madness.
Batwoman Knockoffs
Whenever one has success, there's likely to be knockoffs that come along. And this' true for Batwoman.
The first was the Wild World of Batwoman, "created" by Producer/Director Jerry Warren, according to Dark Corners Reviews. The Wild World of Batwoman was made in response to the popularity of the Batman 66 show, which ironically did not have a Batwoman (But it did have Bat Girl).
Batwoman, with a group of "special" agents, who are referred to as Bat Girl (insert number here), fight crime.... kind of. It's just trash. Katherine Victor, who plays Batwoman, had to make the costume herself, and it's not very good. She literally has a bat symbol over her cleavage painted with mascara. I don't recommend you try and hunt down the film, but I do recommend Dark Corner's review of it. He really points out the clanky, silly parts, and it's a really fun video. You can find the video here.
The second Bat-knockoff came in 1968 (and probably inspired by the Batman 66 series again) is.... Mexican Batwoman. Yep, you read that right.
The official title is The Batwoman, though it is often referred to as (officially and unofficially) The Mexican Batwoman. And if you thought the first Batwoman-knockoff's costume was bad, well... take a look at the poster below.
The Batwoman (1968) Poster. Image Credit: IMDB, www.imdb.com/title/tt0235608
Yeah... it's not great. Yet somehow not as bad as that yellow original costume.
The plot for Mexican Batwoman is sillier than the previous knockoff. Here, Batwoman is called in to investigate the murder of several wrestlers. And unlike the Batfamily, Mexican Batwoman is willing to shoot anyone who gets in her way, according to BlameitonJorge.
I learned about Mexican Batwoman from BlameitonJorge, and I recommend you check out his channel. Unfortunately, he removed the video from his channel, but you can find it on Rob's Media Archive. I don't normally recommend watching reuploaded videos, but Jorge (as far as I know) hasn't stated anything about it, and it hasn't been taken down. Which makes sense, given Jorge's channel revolves partly around lost media, it seems fitting that it's been saved on another channel. You can find the video here.
That's all of the Batwoman knockoffs I could find, but I'm sure that there's more out there. If you know of any, let me know, and I might update the post.
All right, now for my final thoughts (and thoughts on the CW Show)
CW Show/Final Thoughts
I was introduced to Batwoman through the CW series, and I've fallen in love with the character through it. Ruby Rose as Batwoman is really fun to watch on screen, and I enjoy her cast of supporting characters. They have a lot of fun moments and their own motivations that make them compelling. Unfortunately, the season was cut short due to the Coronavirus Pandemic. I haven't seen the finale yet, because it has a crossover with Supergirl and I need to catch up on the latter show.
The show starts off pretty slow, so if you're planning to watch it, be prepared to possibly slog through some episodes. The show picks up when she gets the full costume. Alice is a fun villain, who you sympathize with as the show reveals what happened to her, but you also realize that she needs to be stopped.
I'm really sad to see Ruby Rose go. I feel that she really looks like the character, and played the part with passion. I also hope that her reasons for leaving weren't due to the harassment she faced online when taking the role. I believe that she had an accident on set, which was the reason given. In any case, thank you for a great season Ms. Rose, and best of luck with your future projects. You'll always be Batwoman to me.
Overall, Batwoman is an interesting character. Starting off as way to ward off fears of a gay Batman, she was transformed into a symbol for representation. And that seems like a fitting fate for the character. (again, cop that Wertham!!) She's much more successful now, and doesn't appear to be going anywhere. With the popularity of superhero films, maybe we'll see her make a cinematic appearance. But that probably won't happen until Warner Bros. gets Batman re
I recommend you check out Batwoman (the official Batwoman, not the knockoffs) in any form. If you want a good jumping in point, I recommend Batman: Bad Blood, though that film has previous continuity from previous films. I'm not as familiar with her comics as I'd like to be (breaking into comics is unfortunately still hard, especially if you're on a budget) but if you can find a collection of her comics for a good price, consider checking her out, and maybe support a local comic book store. Like regular book stores, they're really struggling during these hard times.
All right, who wants some Fun Facts?
Fun Facts
Kate Kane Batwoman's first animated appearance was in the movie Batman: Bad Blood, as part of the current series of DC's Direct to DVD Universe, according to Comic Vine. However, it was not the first time a Batwoman appeared in an animated form.
In the DC Animated Universe (DCAU for short), Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman, released in 2003, we see a similar looking Batwoman to Kate's but with a silver costume. That Batwoman (no spoilers) was a one off, which is really sad. I wonder if we'll ever get a Batwoman The Animated Series. I'd watch that.
A Batwoman stand in, based on the original, appeared in the show Batman the Brave and the Bold.
Kate Kane's last name is a homage to Batman Co-creator Bob Kane. (Look, I had to fill the quota for fun facts, okay? Sue me XD )
Kathy Kane Batwoman returned to canon in the book Batman, Unlimited. I haven't read it yet, so I can't offer any thoughts on it, but it's fun to see her return. I personally think having her in the same universe as her successor could be weird. In my opinion, it would've made more sense to put her on a different Earth in a different universe.
The Batgirl we all know and love, Barbara Gordon, actually appeared in the Batman 66 series first.
Batwoman's first appearance on the CW was in the crossover series Elseworlds, which the first season of the show flash forwarded to.
Thanks for reading this week's post. Have you seen Batwoman in any media form? What're your thoughts on the character? Let me know on Blogger, Facebook, or Twitter. If you enjoyed this character history post, please consider sharing it on your preferred social media(s), so we can build the Tug & Tram Community. Thanks, and I'll see you on the Tramway!
Sources:
"Batwoman." DC Wiki. https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/Katherine_Kane_(Earth-One)
BlameitonJorge. "8 Bootleg Superhero Movies."
www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuPcfGWm8fk&t=353s
Ciampagla, Dante A. "Fear of a Gay Batman Brought Batwoman to Life." History.com 16 August,
Ciampagla, Dante A. "Fear of a Gay Batman Brought Batwoman to Life." History.com 16 August,
2018. Updated 12 June, 2019. www.history.com/news/gay-batman-fears-batwoman
Dark Corner Reviews. "The Wild World of Batwoman." 27 January, 2020.
"Kathy Kane." Comic Vine. https://comicvine.gamespot.com/kathy-kane/4005-81174/
Dark Corner Reviews. "The Wild World of Batwoman." 27 January, 2020.
"Kathy Kane." Comic Vine. https://comicvine.gamespot.com/kathy-kane/4005-81174/
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