When Cass was Batgirl and Steph was Robin...

[espanolbot]

From Batgirl 53
Cass is out disrupting an illegal arms deal on the streets of Gotham, when it suddenly takes a turn for the unexpected.


Luckily Batman sends a temp to go and help out Cass,

Cass: Steph... your hair is HUGE!

Thus begins one of the few times Cass and Steph teamed up professionally that didn't have Bruce tell them not to, hooray!

Of course it was heavily implied after Batman fired her, that Bruce only gave Steph the job to make Tim jealous, and make him return to the job that he'd retired from at his father's request. Oh well.

They find that the Penguin was the one who was selling the superguns to gangs around the city, and has been using one of his henchmen's five year old daugther to transport them, on the basis that people won't expect a child of smuggling guns. Well, this WAS the guy who had a side operation of farming the unwanted babies of teenage mothers over in Broken City, so it shouldn't really be that suprising.



Another weakness of Cass' rears it's ugly head: a lack of people skills!


Steph and Cass go to get Oswald, and Steph gets speach-a-fying,




This was the first of two team-ups they had while Steph was Robin (though there might have been more in flashback if Steph's series had been allowed to progress *bitter*), and they only met briefly once more before Steph died in War Games. *sigh*

Comments

[auggie18]

...why did they make Steph's hair so big when she became Robin? I like the fact that they had her pull it back, but there's just so much of it. (Surprised Bruce didn't make her dye it.)

[espanolbot]

To draw people's eye away from the skirt? Dunno, I just think that it's an awesome feature that makes her character design more memorable beyond it just being a genderflipped version of Tim, Jason or Dick's outfit.

[aeka]

Heh. Now I'm thinking there needs to be a 'Batgirl and Robin' book starring these two. But alas, this is DC and we can't have nice things.

[anothermoviegeek]

Or even a Black Bat and Spoiler book would be awesome. But seeing as the lost issue of Steph in Batman Inc got pushed into the recent "Leviathan Strikes" and was clearly labeled as "This takes place before Flashpoint" I doubt we will ever see Steph again.

[aeka]

I would totally read a Black Bat and Spoiler book. Also wasn't it confirmed a while back that Steph still exists in DCnU?

[anothermoviegeek]

No amount of any confirmation will ever convince me (I am a bit bitter about Barbara back.) I will believe it when I have an issue in my hand with Steph on the cover.

[lieut_kettch]

No-Prize answer: It's a Kate Kane-style wig that comes off easily if grabbed in combat.

And Bruce didn't make her dye her hair because it'd take more than hairdye to make Steph into a tiny clone of his (which he can then put inside of him, from largest to smallest).

[fiddlingfrog.livejournal.com]

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CoversAlwaysLie

[raisedbymoogles]

I doubt we will ever see Steph again.

See, this is why I don't buy comics. Because they keep coming up with awesome stuff like good solid female heroes, and then deep-sixing them. I'll stick with fanfic.

[ar_feiniel]

I would so read a book with Steph and Cass.

[littlepunkryo]

The panel of the two of them flying through the air together is great!

[littlepunkryo]

A lot of people have said they'd read that book. I wish DC would TRY it, at least. They might be surprised at how it does, and even if it fails, at least they tried :/

[pyrotwilight]

And then Stephanie came back to work for Oswald as Spoiler when the batclan thought she was dead.

[zechs80]

Dear God.. Stephanie Brown gone Super Saiyian!!!!

[jaybee3]

I would not only read a Black Bat & Spoiler book but I would read (aka BUY) before any of the other Bat-books currently headlined by all the male Robins.

[runespoor]

Stephanie Brown: is a scary mofo.

I adore the Bat+Robin dynamic they have going on here.

Also, this 'do was designed by Batman.

[eyz]

Yeah, it was simply part of her awesome unique Robin design^^
Loved it!

[eyz]

I really loved the few we've seen of this super-duper duo! <3
Their dynamic was great, even better than in the past... They worked so synchro!

[runespoor]

Psh, that's like the thing where she turns invisible: that never happened.

[salinea]

They were such a great pair of characters.

[icon_uk]

That'd be because of Waynetech's patented head-protecting haircare products.

"Cowl and Shoulders" shampoo and conditioner makes hair fluffy, pettable and able to withstand impacts better than a crash helmet (It also prevents dandruff), but as Steph discovered, it has unfortunate volumising side-effects when used on blonde hair.

Why else do you think all his other Robin's had black hair?

[autohobbs]

Aw. I miss Steph. :(

[q99]

I think they were disappointed by the Spoiler & Robin (Tim) special that brought her back. It did find, mind you, but it didn't make a huge splash.

[q99]

-This was the first of two team-ups they had while Steph was Robin-

The other being the one in Solo?

[halloweenjack]

That little kid holding up a gun that's half as big as she is cracks me up. I wonder if Cass' expression really means, "That's gotta be a Nerf gun"?

[aeka]

Considering how successful Batgirl was with both Cass and Steph leading the book, I don't see why it can't be done. Both characters are really popular with fans and a book starring those two I think would be just as successful, if not more.

[mrstatham]

Yeah.. No-one acknowledges Gotham Underground even remotely anymore. I don't think the joke of a villain helped much.

[aeka]

I feel the same way. Nothing against any of the Robins, but aside from Jason who's sort of the wildcard of the group, I never really found the Robins interesting enough as characters for me to invest in any of their books. At best, I'll give RHATO a try when another team comes in and actually does ALL of the characters justice, and I liked the Batman and Robin title better when Dick and Damian were the dynamic duo since they actually brought something new and different to the table. But that's as far as my 'Robins' support goes. :/

[icon_uk]

It's a shame because there is surely an impressive story to be told about the Gotham Underworld, but GU certainly wasn't it.

Something akin to Gotham Central but from the criminals POV.

[mrstatham]

I think it's difficult because the notion of a criminal underworld in Gotham, at least to me, feels a little odd in a world of flamboyant criminals like the Joker who very often operate out in the open, and stories like The Long Halloween and Dark Victory pretty much blatantly state that the freaks have overtaken organised crime in Gotham.

But I'm fairly certain a skilled writer like Rucka or even the current BOP writer could craft an interesting crime story about the criminals like Penguin or Two Face, who operate in a more standard manner, usually, than someone like Joker.

Gotham Underground was just awful, though, and ticked off a whole bunch of cliches, including the standard 'new bad guy fucks up a bunch of old ones to show how badass he is' schtick.

[icon_uk]

One might hope that organised crime is smart enough to leave the crazies enough room to play (and accept some losses in return) in order that they can continue working under the radar.

The current Penguin series sort of skirts around that, since he's not crazy as such, but is very unorthodox in his approach.

Though the preview to the latest issue (Which I meant to post a page of), has a great moment where a couple of the Penguin's henchmen are bemoaning their lot in life and one of them notes

"My momma always told me... Never trust a man whose name starts with 'The' "

Wise words in Gotham methinks...

[bariman]

That's gotta be a Nerf gun

It almost looks like someone kitbashed a Maverick and a Barricade.

[espanolbot]

Yup, with Cass apparently being friends with a former cowgirl hitperson. :)

[newnumber6]

There is an alternate universe out there where this setup (Cass Batgirl and Steph Robin) remained the status quo.

One day I will find it.

[junipepper]

Bat-matryoshkas. *nods* Very important.

[junipepper]

Sigh. Too bad none of this ever happened. 'Cause I really enjoyed it when it, you know, did happen... Thank you Mr. Didio.

[jaybee3]

I like to pretend that most of it did happen - except just not in the manner we saw on the page (which is the the exact explanation Didio gave when Countdown bombed and started contradicted other stuff in other books). You can say that Cass was Batgirl during the period before Babs was "healed" and all of the adventures she had in her own title happened with slight changes (the Superboy romance is gone and Steph was Spoiler all along). At some point Cass quit as Batgirl after a short period to become her own hero (Black Bat) and Steph briefly filled in. Given how little Cass & Steph aged (maybe 2-3 year at best since Cass's introduction) you could make it work in the new timeline (if DC cared to do so - which I don't think they do).

[junipepper]

Yes, okay, but that still doesn't get us Steph as Robin.

[bariman]

I'd want something that explains why really crappy bosses like the Joker and Black Mask keep getting henchmen, despite frequently murdering said henchmen for stupid reasons. Not to mention the fact that their accomplices to all the super-criminals' crimes, up to multiple homicides (and even domestic terrorism, given the Joker's frequent uses of chemical weapons) that would get anyone involved life in a maximun security prison or the death penalty.

[bariman]

the Superboy romance is gone

Awww, but they were so cute together.

I'm still going with the explaination that Kon is still around somewhere, but everyone forgot about him due to pissed-off psychic guy or magic spell, and the star of the Superboy book is some new character. Maybe Kon is hanging with Miss Martian, Chris, and Thara and having space adventures or something.

[espanolbot]

Suffers from "Frank Tieri thinks he's writing Marvel characters" syndrome. Where Tobias Whale, an already established character, becomes an albino version of the Kingpin, Vigilante becomes the Punisher and that Johnny Stitchface(?) guy who was created pretty much so they could have a Jigsaw.