Batwoman

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Profile image by Alex Garcia (Pen and inks) and David Stepp (Colors)

Personal information

Real Name:  Kathy Kane

Residence: Gotham City
Occupation: Adventurer, socialite
First Appearance (Golden Age): Detective Comics #233 (July 1956)
First Appearance (Post-Golden Age): The Brave and the Bold #182 (July 1982)

Character History

Kathy Kane was likely born in or near Gotham City in the mid 1930's to unrevealed parents.  Early in her life in she worked as a circus performer develop potent skills in acrobatics and stunt maneuvers with motor bikes and other devices.  Sometime in the late 1940's, a wealthy uncle died and willed his entire estate to Kathy, making her an instant Gotham socialite.  While initially caught up in the swirl of being a Gotham debutante, Kathy eventually became fascinated with Gotham's most prominent guardian, the Batman.  Secretly, she created her own cave lair and outfitted herself with feminine variants of Batman's weapons and a Bat-Cycle.  Creating a bat-themed costume, she set out to thwart crime by watching for the Bat Signal.  Her first recorded foray was at the Gotham Airfield, where she rounded up some crooks before Batman and Robin could arrive.  The Dynamic Duo pursue the new interloper but she dodges them on her motorbike, warning that attempting to capture her would reveal their identities.

The following night, she made  the news at a charity ball when she saves Batman from a gangster who has drawn a bead on him.  She again eludes Batman and when he follows her trail, she witnesses thugs about to ambush he and Robin and intervenes with a perfume flask filled with tear gas.  Her activities capture the imagination of the media and newspaper quickly fill with stories of that Batwoman who saved Batman.  The chagrined heroes are convinced that the new heroine does not appreciate the danger she puts herself in and will soon be hurt.

One night at a ball hosted by Kane and attended by Bruce Wayne, the Bat Signal appears.  Both Wayne and Kane, caught in conversation with each other, make excuses and disappear, emerging near the crime scene in their respective uniforms.  The arrive to find members of the Vorn gang ransacking a futuristic club.  As they work together to capture the gang, Batman notices Batwoman uses terms like "trap artist" and "scracth rider", slang used by circus performers.  After gangleader Hugo Vorn is captured, Batman researches his records on Gotham and narrows down the only individual of the correct age, with wealth and a history with the circus is Kathy Kane.  Identifying a cave beneath her estate, the enter it to find Batwoman returning from patrol.  Revealing that they have solved her identity, they warn that criminals could easily do the same.  While she says recorded devices could allow her to deduce Batman's identity as well, she agrees not to and to retire as Batwoman (Detective Comics #233).

Much of what is known of Kathy Kane's life as Batwoman is inferred from Earth-One counterpart, of whom there is extensive documentation.  How much exact overlap exists between the two remains unclear.   It is most likely that the earliest casework overlaps extensively with some degree of drift as their careers were influence by different factors in different timelines.  Two cases of note occurred within a year of her debut.  In the first, an escaping criminal doffs his cowl while running through smoke and when hit in the head develops amnesia. Batwoman assumes the criminal, Curt Briggs, must be Batman as she knows him as a local physical fitness instructor and not a crook.  Coincidentally, Batman has sprained his angle and must stay out of sight, further convincing Kathy that Briggs must be an amnesiac Batman.  As Briggs memory returns he returns to crime, ultimately captured by Batwoman and Robin when Batman stages an appearance hiding his injured leg.  Afterwards Kathy retires again (Batman #105).  A few months later, Bruce Wayne goes undercover to flush out a criminal conspiracy in prison for Commissioner Gordon but ends up accused himself.  He is slated for execution until once-more un-retired Batwoman and Robin save the day (Detective Comics #249).

After this case, it appears that Batman is more accepting of his new colleague.  She is known to have likely participated in several cases on Earth-Two best described on Earth-One, including a battle with the Firefly (Batman #126) and another with the Spinner (Batman #129 and alluded to in Brave and the Bold #182).  She was known to be active at least as late as 1955 when the Scarecrow went on a crime spree through Gotham.  In one episode, he managed to dose Batman with a potent amount of his fear gas, activating an intense autophobia, a fear of being isolated.  So intense was Batman's experience that he began to hallucinate that those close to him like Robin and Batwoman literally vanished.  The spell was eventually broken when he teams up with Catwoman, revealing their histories and finally bonding in a way that opens Batman up to his eventual marriage to Selina Kyle.  Who captured the Scarecrow is not entirely clear (The Brave and the Bold #197).

Once Batman committed himself to Selina's reform and their life together, he distanced himself from other women in his life, including Batwoman.  Sensing the change, Kane gave up the Batwoman identity, married another man and had a family.   Her activities in the '60's and '70's are largely unrecorded.  In 1979, the Batman is killed by Bill Jensen, an agent of a Frederic Vaux (Adventure Comics #461-463).  Some months later, a freak accident pulls the Earth-One Batman to Earth-Two and at the same time, the Earth-Two Hugo Strange returns seemingly from the dead.  Having seized Starman's cosmic rod, Strange goes on a campaign of revenge, throwing Batman's relics such as the Batomobile, Catwoman's Pantherajet and the Spinner's tops into the city.  The Batman of Earth-One and the Robin of Earth-Two combined forces to stop Strange and when the Bat Signal is activated, Batwoman comes out of retirement to investigate.  The three track Strange back to the Batcave where Batwoman has to be blindfolded - Batman never shared his identity with her.  While she and Robin struggle to overcome the reticence to destroy the Batman's memories, the younger Batman engaged Strange directly, convincing the aged and decrepit criminal that what he really longs for his death, causing Strange to turn the cosmic rod on himself, committing suicide.  The Batwoman returns to her normal life as the Batman of Earth-One is returned home (The Brave and the Bold #182).

The final fate of Kathy Kane on Earth-Two is unknown, though she is noted to be a prominent citizen of Gotham City (Who's Who Vol. 1 #2).  Her full history and legacy remains unrevealed.

Powers and Abilities

Kathy Kane was a superb athlete in peak human condition.  She had extensive acrobatics training from years in the circle using both stationary and moving equipment.  She was a highly skilled motorcyclist, able to navigate off-road and in tight spaces.  She possessed an array of feminine weaponry that concealed attack in mundane forms (i.e. tear gas in a perfume bottle, reflective lasers in a hand mirror, etc.).  The origins of these devices is not clear.  She possessed extensive wealth, sufficient to fund her operations and outfit an mineshaft beneath her mansion as her headquarters.  The extent of this wealth is not known but is considerable and likely increased after her high-society marriage.

Weaknesses and Limitations

Kane was a mortal human with no superhuman abilities.  Separated from her equipment, she could be injured or killed as other humans her age and condition.

Multiversity Villains

Multiversity

Earth-One

The Batwoman of Earth-One's career is largely identical to her Earth-Two counterpart at least in the beginning.  A more detailed history is available throughout the 1960's and at some point, her niece Bette Kane joined her as a costumed adventurer using the code-name Bat-Girl (Batman #139).  After a series of cases against the criminal Cat-Man  (Detective Comics # 311, #318 and #3325), she entered a prolong period inactivity or at least undocumented activity.  She returned in the late 1970's (Batman Family #10), working with new Batgirl (Barbara Gordon) in a series of cases and eventually including her in a new business venture, operating a circus outside of Gotham (Freedom Fighters #14-15).  For reasons unclear, she attracted the attention of the League of Assassins who murdered her in 1979 (Detective Comics #485).

Earth-0

In the Post-Crisis timeline, the history of the Kathy Kane version of Batman is thought to be largely similar to other counterparts, albeit somewhat shifted forward in time.  A key difference is that Kathy Webb Kane (revealed to be the widow of circus owner Nathan Kane) had extensive connections to underground organizations from the earliest days of her carer as Batwoman.  After the turn of the century, she allowed her death to be faked as a casualty of the League of Assassins so she could assume a role in the opposing organization Spyral as the Headmistress (Batman Vol 1. #678).  After Leviathan, the terrorist organization evolved from the League of Assassins was defeated, she disappeared back into the ranks of Spyral.  Her current activities are unknown.

A new Batwoman - Kate Kane - emerged in this timeline but whether she is related to the original Batwoman in this timeline is unclear (Batwoman Vol. 2 #1).

Appearances

Issue

Comment

Reprinted In

Detective #233

First appearance in any time, Origin revealed, / Batman and Robin

Batman Annual #4, Batman #208, Batman from the ‘30s to the ‘70s. Batman in the Fifties TPB (2002),  DC Comic Classics Library: The Batman Annuals #2, Batman in the Fifties TPB (2021)

Batman #105

W/ Batman and Robin

Batman from the ‘30s to the ‘70s, Batman Family #3

Detective Comics #249

Helps clear the name of Bruce Wayne, become more accepted by Batman and Robin

Batman #233

Batman #126

Vs. The Firefly, W/ Batman and Robin

Batman #208

Batman #129

Vs. The Spinner, W/ Batman and Robin

Batman #198, Batman Family #8

Brave and the Bold #182

Existence on Earth-Two confirmed, vs. Earth-Two Hugo Strange with Earth-Two Robin and Earth-One Batman

Batman: Secrets of the Batcave, Tales of Batman: Alan Brennart, Legends of the Dark Knight: Jim Aparo #3, Batman: The Brave and the Bold Bronze Age Omnibus #3

Brave and the Bold #197

Flashback tale on Earth-Two, vs. Scarecrow, W/ Batman and Robin

The Greatest Batman Stories Ever Told  Vol. 1, Catwoman: A Celebration of 75 Years, Tales of the Batman: Alan Brennert, The Bat and the Cat: 80 Years of Romance, Dollar Comics: Brave and the Bold #197, Batman: The Brave and the Bold Bronze Age Omnibus #3