Huntress out-stealths Batman yet again.

[richardak.insanejournal.com]

When I first posted scans showing that Huntress could out-stealth Batman, unknownscribler  commented that Huntress probably wouldn't "be consistantly able to out stealth the bat, but I think it's good that she can beat him at his own game every so often." I recently discovered, thanks in no small part to kingrockwell , yet another example of Huntress getting the drop on Batman:


I think she took that well. But in all seriousness, after the third time one character has managed to pretty thoroughly out-stealth the other, I think it might be reasonable to conclude that it's not a fluke.  I also love this because it showcases Huntress' violent temper.

Comments

[bluefall.insanejournal.com]

but Dick was the only thing that really made Babs dislike Helena.

Eh. That's Dinah's line, but I don't buy it. Babs was hating on Helena from the beginning, long before either of them ever dreamed of hooking up with Dick. She flips out on Dinah for even thinking of teaming with Hel in the second Birds mini, Helena complains in the Annual flashback about how judgmental Oracle is, and her reaction to Dick actually sleeping with Helena when it finally does happen long after any of that is incredibly mellow and accepting. Dick calls her, naked, from Helena's kitchen no less, and Babs is nothing resembling jealous - she's maternal if anything, gently telling Dick he's being a dork and that it's not serious or workable between them. Contrast this to how livid she gets during NML when Hel wears the Bat, or raids her tower, or puts Jim in danger, or to how she behaves about Kory, who she does actually perceive as a threat.

Helena was barely a blip on Dick's radar, and all three of them know it. Babs feeling genuinely threatened by or jealous of that wouldn't make sense, and doesn't wash with the way she's been portrayed either then or after.

Jason Todd springs to mind as a recent example

The female Bats and the Even Robins have a lot of thematic overlap. Having to fight for a place in the Clan, being more willing to be brutal or even lethal, suffering ignominious fates, etc etc. Jason and Hel are especially close mirrors, both equal distance from the white hat/black hat line on opposite sides, him starting in the Clan and getting kicked out for his violence and her starting out of the Clan and being brought in for her mellowing out, both equally likely to be written as utterly deranged by writers who can't comprehend that they'd act the way they do if they weren't. And hey, Helena had rape retconned out of her backstory and Jason's just probably had rape retconned into his! The parallels are astounding. -_-

[chengar.insanejournal.com]

Bah, why must you use your facts and logic to prove me wrong! I suppose that since I've recently re-read Simone's run of BoP I was buying into Dinah's line on the matter. Of course, Dinah was making that arguement right after Babs and Dick broke up, so it would make sense that anything Nightwing-related would be a sore point for Babs at that time.

On the paralells between Helena and Jason, it's also worth mentioning that Helena came into the Bat-books pretty soon after Death in the Family. I suppose it says something about the nature of the Bat-Clan that the outsider who wants to get into the clan and tends to be a touch more willing to use lethal force is such a common theme.