Stephanie Brown Returns....

[shadowpsykie]

So the news broke on IGN And on TVguide.

But most importantly on Tumblr :D

http://beaschalantasyoulike.tumblr.com/post/25095806850/steph-announced-as-nightwing-in-smallville

That's right S_Ders Stephanie "I slapped Batman in the Face" Brown IS BACK!



okay, so she is not back in the main DCnU but she is Back in Bryan Q. Miller's Critically acclaimed Smallville series.

That cover that appeared a week ago... yep that was her on the cover. not as Robin, not as Batgirl, but as Nightwing!




She's Rocking the Eggplant!


here is a bit from the TV Guide Interview
As to why he picked Stephanie for the sidekick slot, Miller says, "Bruce can be somewhat of an angry man. Stephanie's personality is so can-do and unsinkable and bright, so it's very much on purpose on Bruce's part that he has a good cop going out on patrol with him every night." (Miller says it will eventually be addressed as to why Stephanie is Nightwing in this comic and not Batgirl.)



Check out the articles

http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/06/14/batman-arrives-in-smallville-2

http://www.tvguide.com/News/Smallville-Season-11-1048845.aspx

Comments

[aeka]

I totally approve of this version of Stephanie Brown as Nightwing. ♥

[superfangirl1]

I agree and second this approval.

[darkknightjrk]

That's cool, but...DAMN, that's an ugly costume on Bruce.

[shadowpsykie]

it doesn't look too bad in the colored version. although the image i found was really small...

[darkknightjrk]

Yeah, from what little I can see, sure, it doesn't look THAT bad, but in the black and white version, it just looks like a hot mess, especially around the cowl area.

[sherkahn]

I do get the emphasis that it's more bulletproof mesh than someone running around in their longjohns.

[littlepunkryo]

Wait is her hair black now? Or did someone color something wrong?

[icon_uk]

This is Smallville Stephanie, there's no reason she should be identical I suppose.

[swatkat]

She's wearing a wig of some sort according to BQM.

[blackruzsa]

I'm glad they didn't change her hair (really) but hid it with a wig.

[cypherfdp]

That's a nice... suit of armor you got there.

[icon_uk]

Given that Smallville did give us the delights of Tom Welling and Justin Hartley (to name but two), I can't really begrudge them adding another costume female to balance things a little.

I think that Miller's answer tells us why Batman has a sidekick, not why Batman chose Steph out of the candidates.

(Miller says it will eventually be addressed as to why Stephanie is Nightwing in this comic and not Batgirl.)

I'm perhaps more surprised that she isn't Robin

[mrstatham]

It does seem to be specific to the nature of these interpretations. Miller makes it sound like Bruce will be a touch harsher than in other interpretations, so the one to balance it out would naturally be Steph. Her being Nightwing IS a surprise, but I suppose DC already associated her with the Robin role and badly once, and frankly, that's more than enough.

[icon_uk]

Historically, the one to balance out the grim!Batman would be Dick (or Tim in a different way). Steph never seemed to lighten him during their encounters, though I agree she is lighter in and of herself.

[runespoor]

I don't see how Tim balances grim!Batman out - Tim himself needed to lighten up, and that was more or less Steph's role in his title. Can you explain your reasoning?

I'd argue that Gotham Knights #22, Quiver and the Robin issue where Batman trains her and they quip at each other are examples of Steph lightening Bruce up, and that's just off the top of my mind.

[icon_uk]

That's why I said in a different sort of way. :) Tim took on the role of Robin in the first place not because he intended to become Robin, but because he believed, and made Bruce realise, that Batman needed a Robin, a presence to remind him that Batman should be about more that violent revenge, and in essence, to rein him in. Perhaps in that case not so much "lighten up" as "keep from plummetting back into the dark", though he did manage to get Batman smiling again.

The fact that Tim got so grim and obsessive later is an issue in and of itself.

She did lighten him up, but given that Steph's entire run as Robin lasted what? a Batverse dozen issues combined? and her inclusion in Quiver was fairly generic (you could have plug and played Tim into those scenes without much of a change) I don't necessarily see it as an partnership the way I do the other Batman/Robin pairings.

Steph got the role because, IIRC (and forgive me if this sounds like bad soap opera plotting but, well....), Tim had quit being Robin because Bruce's of decision to tell Steph Tim's secret ID because he wanted her to talk to Tim so he didn't have to talk to him face to face and Alfred was also on the outs with him too. Tim had been absolutely forbidden from telling Steph his ID which had caused him significant problems, and Bruce doing it just for his own convenience was the last straw.

So, whilst not downplaying her heroic contribution as Spoiler and Robin, she was chosen to be Robin because Bruce essentially wanted to make Tim jealous so he'd take up the role again, so I can't quite see her role in the same light as the other Robins.

[runespoor]

Point about Tim's beginnings, but the thing is, he quickly stopped playing that role - first because Bruce got his back broken and thus Tim became Dick's Robin, then because Tim had his own series, where he tended to be very independent. That was by far the longest part of Tim's tenure as Robin.

I didn't mean just when she was Robin. First, Jason's Post-Crisis run as Robin wasn't significantly longer than Steph compared to those of Dick or Tim, and there's no question to anyone that theirs was a partnership. Second, the fact that her role in Quiver was generic doesn't, imo, detract much: she was still the one being included, not Tim, not Babs, not Cass. Steph was the one in the Batcave quipping at Bruce, kicking back and learning things. And last, as I said, Bruce and Steph have a relationship - it's fraught and difficult more often than not, but it exists, and it existed before she was Robin. Even Bruce revealing Tim's secret identity to Steph, while undoubtedly a dick move, proves that Bruce took her seriously and trusted her at least somewhat.

Their first interaction also included Steph not taking Batman's shit and Batman approving her name. This is a partnership in the making.

Tim spent a while quitting and coming back. He did quit during the occasion you mention, but that's not at that point that Bruce accepted Steph as Robin. Steph as Robin happened when Jack Drake stumbled upon Tim being Robin.

she was chosen to be Robin because Bruce essentially wanted to make Tim jealous so he'd take up the role again
I disagree entirely with that interpretation. Steph got the role because she put on a Robin costume and sought Batman out in the Cave. When she died, she asked Batman if she'd really been Robin, and he said yes.

Edit: also, all the Robins have a different partnership with Bruce/Batman. I don't see Steph's beginnings as less legitimate or weird than Damian's.

[darkknightjrk]

In this universe, Clark fought DOOMSDAY before he ever became Superman, among other things. Batman skipping a few steps is just following the trend.

[drexer]

You know, I just noticed what predicament you are in icon, now not only do you have to defend Dick Grayson as 'best Robin', but also as 'best Nightwing'. :P

Arm yourself for the duels sir!

[icon_uk]

No predicament at all as far as I'm concerned! Some truths can be held to be self evident, as I believe some Colonials... sorry, FORMER Colonials put it.

[kenn_el]

There can be only One Dick in Smallville!

[mastermahan]

That's not what the Clex shippers say!

[drexer]

SHE'S BACK!

BRB; HAVING HEART ATTACK!

[shadowpsykie]

not to add to it, but i posted alittle tribute to her over on my tumblr :D

http://fanboywatchtower.tumblr.com/post/25103248836/stephanie-brown-is-back

[drexer]

HEART ATTACK DONE; STILL CAN'T STOP WRITING IN CAPS. SEND HELP PLEASE?

PREFERABLY MY NEW ALL FAVOURITE NIGHTWING.

[amaresu]

I haven't watched Smallville since the end of S4, but I'm gonna have to pick this up.

[big_daddy_d]

Cool. Now bring her back in the main DCU. While at it give us back Wally, Cass, Mia, Olympian.

[q99]

The Eggplant Nightwing!

[kraesil]

Aw. Was disappointed when I saw "is not back in the main DCnU".

Woah. Steph Nightwing? Unexpected but... approved!

[red_menace]

Steph? Miller? Here, just take my money now to save time, as soon as I get my soul into an envelope, I'll send it along.