Super Steph Series pt 5- Do you know my boyfriend's real name?

[nevermore999.insanejournal.com]

Robin #80, #84, #87, #92, #93, #94, #98 and #99! With 2 never before seen scans! The era of Stephness we enter now is post No Man's land Robin. The situation is thus- Steph's mom found her Spoiler costume and forbade her from vigilante activities. Steph, naturally didn't listen. Tim has been moved to a private boarding school called Brentwood by his father thanks to his constant disappearing acts, making it harder to do the Robin thing and spend time with Steph. It's also growing harder for him to keep his identity from her.

We also have Pete Woods on art, and he is awesome. He draws my favorite Tim and Steph. I love especially how he gives Steph a believable body type for an athletic teen girl- fit and pretty, but no huge knockers or sexay!ness or any of that. And his Tim is so adorable and fun.

Tim is tailing this girl who taught him how to skateboard, because she's involved with a gang. Steph shows up, wanting to hang.



You know, I think I know why Steph is my favorite superheroine. She calls people "bucko." That is awesome.



The Bandido's Bikers Club is apparently real. I wonder how they'd feel about this comic.



I imagine Tim saying "IS NOT," in a really petulant voice. And I giggle.

Bullets start flying, and Tim and Steph jump to the rescue (Tim tries to convince Steph not to interfere, but she replies "Not likely.")



Tim freaks out over Star, so Steph must do the actual capturing of the bad guys. I guess it is a good thing she came along, huh, Tim?




Oh Tim. The people dying in you arms thing is not even CLOSE to being over.



Ouch. Steph storms off and refuses to talk to Tim. Since he won't tell her his secret ID, she vows to find out on her own. It doesn't go so well, mostly because she acts like a crazy stalker. And her Mom catches her in the act. Note how she is suddenly overweight and gray haired. Those damn prescription side effects!



But she's pretty awesome here. "You were trying to find a boyfriend? In the hospital?" What, you sent another one to the ICU?



Poor Steph's mom. She's trying. But just the amount of Robins Batman has is getting her confused. "No my boyfriend's the third Robin! Batman uses them up and then throws them away! Wait until I become one, then you'll see what happens to Robins!"




RUN STEPH RUN WHILE YOU STILL CAN!



YOU SHOULD BE.

Anyway, off Steph and Bats go...



Of course he doen't show it, he's the Goddamned Batman! *overused joke* Oh, Tim is off on an adventure with Lagoon Boy while this is happening. I am not even joking.





"I ignored you before, but now I'm going to make you run errands for me!"

Tim gets back from his amazing adventure with Lagoon Boy, and sees a little note with a Bat Symbol on it outside his room.

"This is what I need. Some rooftop action," says he. Okay, Tim, that's more about your relationship with Bruce than I needed to know...but it's not Batman waiting for him.



"NO STEPH! I LOVE YOU AND DON'T WANT YOU TO DIE! BAD THINGS HAPPEN TO FEMALES WHO GO NEAR BATMAN! BAD THINGS!"



"RUN BEHIND ME WE CAN ESCAPE TOGETHER!"



Ooooh...owned.



"Oh, Jesus, there goes another one. Sometimes they rebel and sometimes they get clubbed to death with crowbars...hey, you, blonde girl, wanna be my sidekick now?"

So, to clear his head, Tim goes on a trip to the Alps, where he discovers his friend at school is the new leader of Kobra...you know, the usual stuff.

But his secret ID is safe!



Tim continues to verbally own Batman.



He acknowledges that none of this is Steph's fault, which is good, cuz it isn't. She didn't ASK Batman to tell her Tim's identity. She just kind of went crazy and stalked Star. Um. Well. Anyway.




OH MY GOD HE ACKNOWLEDGED HE WAS WRONG IT'S A MIRACLE!

So, Tim gets grounded for randomly dissapearing from school and can't see Steph therefore. So Steph and Bats do some training that involves Steph trying not to fall off buildings.





Don't delude yourself, Steph. He's does that speech all the time.



Bat-apologies! Like regular apologies only more cryptic!



Jesus, Arthur looks like a creepy old pedophile there. No wonder Steph's saying ew.

Anyway, Steph has about the reaction you'd expect, namely she punches him in the face.



Why does Steph have a picture of some angry glaring guy with bad hygiene in her room? She doesn't seem the type...I do enjoy her cute stuffed turtle though.




STEPHANIE BROWN! YOU STOP BEATING THE HOLY HELL OUT OF YOUR FATHER THIS INSTANT OR YOU'RE IN BIG TROUBLE, MISSY!



Steph's expressions here are the best, especially the second panel.

Note the name of the building: Sphinx apartments. (I actually didn't notice it 'till this minute. Really cool!) Gee, I wonder who our mystery man is?

Anyway, the guys leave, and since "no one takes a cab to a robbery", Steph decides to check out the building, but is interrupted.





I love how Steph is all like "thanks for the compliment" when they think she's Cass. It's clear she respects her here, even though we'll see from issue 98 that this is set before they become BFF's.





Judging from Batman's dialogue, he realizes who the "mystery man" is, but doesn't tell Steph for some reason. Batdickery!

Steph gets home, and finds a surprise.



NO!!!!

So, Steph goes and tells Batman about this new development and he's all "Okay, so stalk your dad a little". Meanwhile, Mrs. Brown isn't the passive creature she once was, andt tells all the criminals on no uncertain terms they may have the right to stay here, but they ain't welcome. This includes beaning the Riddler with some groceries. Anyway, Steph and moms try to get away from it all.



 Mother daughter bonding time! Steph's mom has a white streak in her hair she didn't have at the beginning of this issue. Did Arthur's antics literally make her hair go gray? (or was it those darn prescription meds again...)



I like Steph's Mom's jacket at any rate. And ha ha, Dixon is randomly shoving in his politcal agenda and using his characters as a mouthpeice. (Using Steph as a mouthpeice is especially bizarre. Considering her economic background, she more likely to be liberal, or just not care)





Did people ever REALLY use the word "chippies" in everyday conversation?



I'd say Cluemaster is the worst Dad ever- but really, by comic book standards, he's rather tame. And I love Steph's boots.





Poor Steph. (Tim's talking to his drunken roommate at Brentwood there.)

So anyway. Issue 98 is a tie in with Bruce Wayne: Fugitive.



Yeah, Bruce did it. Jesus, I know he was busy, but he could have at least shot Steph an email. "Sorry, I have to go out of town for a little bit, don't go near the Batcave or you'll wreck your bike"?






Hey, it's Cass. Hi, Cass!



Judging from how Steph's treating Cass, this is before they became BFF's. Which means they had to have bonded pretty soon after that, since it had them interacting during the "Bruce Wayne: Fugitive" storyline.



"Spoiler All City Buss Pass". This is why Steph rocks. And who does she go to for help? Who does everyone go to for help? BABS!

Tim and Steph get together again for the first time since the "secret" was let out when Tim goes to the Tower of Babsel (nickname from Robin 103) after one of his loser friends from Brentwood was kidnapped for gambling too well on the Internet.



Still in Bruce Wayne: Fugitive obviously.



Dinah: Aren't they adorable together?
Babs: Yeah, I don't care.

After Tim gushes over Babs computer a little, he finds out who kidnapped Kip. Note Babs's awesome bat voodoo doll. So much love.



Steph and Tim are together again, and you know what happens when Steph and Tim get together: ASSKICKING, that's what!



See? Back to Tim's loser friend (okay, okay, his name's Kip)





I love the way this panel is from Tim and Steph's POV. And they did the punch-him-in-the-face-at-the-same-time move! Like I said before, OUCH!



And that's Tim and Steph's make up date. No talking, no making out, just beating up kidnappers. Kind of appropriate for those two. (The cover of this issue says: ONLY ONE PERSON COULD REUNITE ROBIN AND SPOILER- BUT IT ISN'T WHO YOU THINK! Nope, definitely didn't think it was Tim's geeky friend from Brentwood)

Next, an overview on Steph and Cass, and how Steph joined the BoP and got Black Canary to take care of her Riddler problem!

Comments

[bluefall.insanejournal.com]

"I expected you, Dinah. It's a date night after all, aren't we all hanging with our girlfriends this evening?"

I love Pete Woods so much. Partly because he's so flexible as a penciller. Some artists are just more suited to some styles of story - like, Nauck, frex, was perfect for YJ but would be really weird on JLA, and Gaydos was amazing on Alias but all wrong for Manhunter - but Woods' style works for anything. I mean, you look at this, and then compare it to, say, Shamazons, and it's basically the same lines, but change the inking and coloring and it goes with perfect ease from smooth and cartoony and great for a pair of adolescent heroes kicking around in youthful ways to sharp and nuanced and suited to an epic and bloody tale of majestic battle (now if only the story had lived up to the art...). It's fantastic.

[nevermore999.insanejournal.com]

I know, right? I hear he's a nice guy too. A 'net friend of mine said Pete really encouraged him and helped with his art back in the day, thru DC Boards.

And I love your icon!

[unknownscribler.insanejournal.com]

Speaking of date nights, is this the first time Query and Echo showed up being really very obviously Dykes on Bikes, what with the labrys and everything?

[bluefall.insanejournal.com]

Well, they've only been in like, six issues of anything ever, as far as I know, so they haven't had much time to be obvious, really. But I remember them seeming like they were both into Eddie during the Cluemaster kidnapping thing - asking him if he thought they were hot, that sort of thing. I kind of suspect it's something Woods snuck in (that and the body language), totally of his own initiative and possibly without Dixon's knowledge.

[unknownscribler.insanejournal.com]

That was pretty much where my thoughts were at too, especially given Dixon's proven low-level homophobia. Still, operating beneath the radar of the writer like that does give us some rather nice "characters who are lesbians" rather than "lesbians who are characters" material.

[icon_uk.insanejournal.com]

Batman blowing Tim's ID to Steph like that was one of the nadirs of Dixon's run. There is no aspect of it that didn't make Batman look like a complete and utter bastard.

And Batman admitting he was wrong would have been a damnsight more affecting if you'd actual said it TO TIM.

Oh and "If I'd known what it would do to you I'd never have tried to find out"... Sheesh Steph, so all those subtle hints that Robin has been dropping since you first met, such as asking you not to, wasn't enough for you? Too little, too late there.

But Pete Woods art is always nice to look at, which is lucky as I didn't enjoy this era of Robin AT ALL. Brentwood - Lousy idea from start to finish. Steph becoming such a major player as to take over large chunks of the issue - Not bad, but not why I was buying the comic, I still say she should have been a regular in BoP and guested in Robin.

[nevermore999.insanejournal.com]

I dunno, I liked Brentwood. The shenanigans Tim got into there, as well as the supporting cast and interaction with Alfred, were tons of fun. Also, it made sense for Tim's dad to resort to something like that, with how Tim was always running off.

[icon_uk.insanejournal.com]

Brentwood didn't work for me because it was rather ridiculous that a security conscious private school (with several high ranking politico's in their number) would never notice one of their pupils being missing so frequently.

Even moreso was making his roommate oblivious to it all, and even EVEN moreso when they explained it away by making him a chronic alcoholic and Tim never even noticed for months.

[unknownscribler.insanejournal.com]

What would have been awesome was Steph finding out on her own. But that would have been showing the character waaay too much respect.

[icon_uk.insanejournal.com]

Steph was never really a detective though, was she. Other than stalking Star of course...

[unknownscribler.insanejournal.com]

I disagree. Her entire raison d'etre is foiling her father, a mandate that includes a degree of investigative work and detecting skills -- let us not forget the Spoiler-Wall.

[nevermore999.insanejournal.com]

Mmm, I dunno about that. Her uncovering her dad's plan and following him in her first appearance was pretty detectivey. Not to mention the detective work she did in Robin #26 (tracking down Young El) and Robin #41 (tracking down the Ghost Dragons). Also, half of detective work in the Bat-verse is following people around, and Steph rocks at that.

And in Jon Lewis's run, she used major detective work to trick Black Canary into revealing Riddler's location, and she told Tim how she tracked down Murray.

Of course, if she's ever gotten proper TRAINING, she would have been much better.

However, Tim's so paranoid about his identity, it's probably not plausible she could have detective it outta him. I think it would have been good if he'd revealed it to her himself (Maybe asked Bats first "I'm afraid of revealing my identity to Steph because it would connect me to you." and Batman's all "Oh, go ahead. Our only connection is we were neighbors once. She's not going to figure that out.") or Steph stumbles on it accidentally, like she has to go to Brentwood for some reason, runs into Tim, recognizes him. Which would lead to Tim trying to keep her quiet as she freaks out ("Oh my God! Ro-" "OH UM HI WHO ARE YOU?") and hilarity ensues.

[iesika.insanejournal.com]

or Steph stumbles on it accidentally, like she has to go to Brentwood for some reason, runs into Tim, recognizes him. Which would lead to Tim trying to keep her quiet as she freaks out ("Oh my God! Ro-" "OH UM HI WHO ARE YOU?") and hilarity ensues.

Clearly, DC should hire you as a writer, because that would have been the BEST COMIC EVER.

[queenanthai.insanejournal.com]

You know, I think I know why Steph is my favorite superheroine. She calls people "bucko."

That was a Chuck Dixon thing. His Catwoman said it all the time, too.

Man, I ask a lot of questions when people do the megaposts

[scottyquick.insanejournal.com]

I always thought Babs was kinda Secret ID conscious?

And I really, really love that Crystal scene where she's all "Wait wut?" and Steph's like "My boyfriend's Robin. The second? No third, and YOU JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND ME ANGSTANGSTANGST!"

Re: Man, I ask a lot of questions when people do the megaposts

[nevermore999.insanejournal.com]

I think Canary brought Steph over soon as they met, and Babs was like "Whut, why'd you do that Dinah!" and Dinah was all "What? What's the big deal!" And Babs was all -.-' and Steph was all "Woo!"

[bluefall.insanejournal.com]

Dinah totally blows Barbara's cover all the time. You just know she's up in the Watchtower having lunch with Diana or whatever and telling her about her Birds adventures, and it's all "and then she busted out the escrima sticks on the guy and he's all bleedy and shouting 'I love you Barbara Gordon!' and we're like, 'no, that's not creepy at all you creepy teleporting stalker creep' -- um, not that Oracle's name is Barbara Gordon or anything... aw, crap. I'll take your next three monitor duty shifts if you pretend you never heard that."

Re: Man, I ask a lot of questions when people do the megaposts

[unknownscribler.insanejournal.com]

I'd always heard that lesbians moved in by the third date...

Not that I'm saying Dinah or Babs have ever displayed any sort of behavioural indicators or anything...

[retro_nouveau.insanejournal.com]

Considering her economic background, she more likely to be liberal, or just not care

I would be so thrilled to find out that Steph's a free-thinking, independent-minded, authority-questioning non-partisan...

[bwmedia.wordpress.com (from insanejournal.com)]

I would think she's part of the "don't care" crowd, but it could be possible she was tired of hearing about them without necessarily disagreeing with their politics (if she even followed them).

Personally, I would keep track of who's liberal and who's conservative and adjust my comments accordingly, while not making one or the other look bad. (Note that I happen to be a conservative and even made a Rush-as-superhero comic--mostly to be silly. Never published and won't be.) Why risk ticking off half of my potential readership?

[ratmel.insanejournal.com]

Steph missing her landing makes me grit my teeth. You have to wonder about Gotham's emergency services having to scrape flocks of would-be heroes off the pavement each morning o.O

[bariman1987.insanejournal.com]

If Batman's training her with those, they're presumably the really, really difficult landings, like on the tallest skyscrapers. Steph's fine with the "normal" landings she and Robin do all the time.

[volksjager.insanejournal.com]

So whats the deal with Spoiler ? Dead or alive. Her costume needs alittle something. She looks better with the hood down kinda girlie Killer shrike...

[nevermore999.insanejournal.com]

She's alive.

[volksjager.insanejournal.com]

superboy Prime strikes again ?

[scottyquick.insanejournal.com]

It was actually Africa this time.

[jcbaggee.insanejournal.com]

Leslie Thompkin's faked her death so she could get away from the vigilante lifestyle, but after a whole bunch of reader compl--er, deep thoughtful nights in Africa, she decided she had to come back.

[volksjager.insanejournal.com]

Ha. Well put. I was speaking this week of charcters that have wiki pages that are a mess. I just looked at Hawkmans. How can anyone make sense of it. ( see wonerwoman jla post)

[espanolbot.insanejournal.com]

Ahh, the days when Steph's mum was a large woman of possible Mediterrean descent. :)

[bluefall.insanejournal.com]

Heh. Steph should totally turn out to be half-Afghani and a basically nonpracticing Muslim.

[ashez2ashes.insanejournal.com]

Heh, when Steph's mom said she didn't have the money for a lawyer to get him to leave... Did anyone else wish Kate Spencer had been created already so she could probono lawyer the hell out of the situation?

[jcbaggee.insanejournal.com]

Crap, I want this book back, so bad. Just like this, just as its meant to be, not like the last 20 issues or so have been. Not Emo Tim, not Angry Tim, not I-Can't-Love-Anyone-Because-They-Die-Grr-Argh-Oh-Hey-She's-Cute Tim. Just aloof, happy, not too down over life Tim stopping crimes and having fun with his vigilante girlfriend.

Bring it back now DC! NOOOOW!

[geek-historian.livejournal.com (from insanejournal.com)]

Does anyone else find Steph's writing hard to read.

[nevermore999.insanejournal.com]

Yeah, sorry I couldn't make the pages bigger, these were already scanned at 500w a long time ago.

[psychop_rex.insanejournal.com]

Now see, this is good writing. This is how one should always write teen superheroes - as heroes, yes, heroes who kick butt, but who, being generally under driver's license age, have a few more problems than the rest of the folks in the biz. I mean, I can totally buy Steph as a character here, because she's so well delineated as a teenage girl. She argues with her mom, she writes in her diary, she fights with her boyfriend and goes home in tears, she has (major) issues with her dad, she rides her bike everywhere, and has to wheel it home when it gets a puncture - all of this is classic teenager stuff. The rest - her snarky sense of humor, her cheerful/rebellious attitude, etc. - are icing on the cake - I could have accepted her as a character without them, because it's the other stuff that makes her believable. The character details are what make her interesting as a character, but without the prosaic, riding-around-on-a-bike-crap-flat-tire stuff, she wouldn't be REAL. (I mean - you know what I mean. Real to us.)