Why Stephanie Brown is Awesome
By batmannflash 16 Comments
Dedicated to @cara_hunter :)
I'm going to really busy starting from tomorrow until the end of 2013, so I decided to make two more of these tonight! This time, I going with someone who is easily the least known character that I've done so far. I've done Aquaman, Wolverine, Bane, Captain America and you'll see me do another one 5-10 minutes after I post this one! Yes, I tend to keep the ideas flowing.
Stephanie Brown is incredibly underrated and here are reasons why she is awesome:
1. Light in the Bat-Cave
Batman is depressing. Yeah, that's a shocking revelation...in fact, most of the Bat family is dark and depressing. What makes Stephanie Brown totally shine is that she's easily the happiest character of the bunch. Read Batgirl Volume 3 by Bryan Q. Miller and you'll understand. Brown is among a very select view that can make me laugh or at least smile in every scene she's in. She's cocky, funny, and gives off a cute-girl vibe. Above, I have quite a few scans to make your day.
2. Weakness
Unlike Dick, she wasn't trained in the circus at a young age. Unlike Tim, she wasn't blessed with high intelligence. Unlike Cassandra, she wasn't trained by the greatest assassins in the world. Unlike Damian, she wasn't bred to be the perfect replacement to Batman. So why does that make Stephanie Brown awesome? She's like us (except I'm not a teenage girl). She's just a normal teenage girl who wanted to arrest her criminal dad. She dawned the Spoiler outfit and tried to fight crime. The Bat family did not want her doing that. Batman, especially, did not approve. Cassandra Cain knocked her out a couple times just so that she doesn't get herself hurt. Tim Drake let her, because let's face it, he wanted her real bad. What's my point in all this? She's relatable and weakness can add greatly to character depth. Despite all the disapproval and lack of skills as Spoiler, she still wants to bring justice to Gotham City.
I will also add, that she has obvious human flaws that a lot of us can relate to. Unlike quite a few comic book characters, we're able to see her frustration, anger, and her...teenage pregnancy? Yeah her problems are alive and realistic.
3. Redemption
This follows-up on the last point on weakness. Stephanie worked real hard to gain approval as a vigilante. Despite not having such amazing abilities, she trained and trained and never gave up. She was given her chance to shine when Darkseid "killed" Batman and Bruce let her take up the Batgirl mantle. And she did not disappoint. She showed great improvement, much to the amazement of Barbara, Tim, and even Bruce. In her fight with Scarecrow (see scans above), she sums it all up. She talks about second chances, redemption, and facing herself. Stephanie Brown should be an inspiration to all. My words of wisdom is this: Even when times get hard and people say that you can't succeed, try and try again!
4. Personality Can Keep You Alive
Okay how does this girl survive all that she's been through? Her personality. Wait what? No really, her tough girl, confident attitude and her strong willpower is what makes her special. One would not expect someone like her to be so tough, but she totally is. This is extremely similar to last point, so I'll keep it short: her mentality makes her a strong ally.
5. Relationships
One of my favorite things about Stephanie is how she interacts with others. She's funny, kind, and has entertaining conversations. Two notable relationships I want to point out are Tim Drake and Damian Wayne. Tim, in a romantic way, and Damian in a brother-sister type of relationship. In Tim Drake's legendary ongoing Robin series, Steph was a frequent member and soon became his main love interest. His serious personality is always a nice contrast to her fun personality. As for Damian, she's probably the only one (except Dick, later on) who tolerated Damian. In one issue in "Batgirl," she noticed that Damian didn't know how to play like a child. So she got him a bouncy house! (See scans above). Brown was easily the love of Tim Drake's life (no jokes about Superboy and Tim, please) and for a good reason. She made serious Tim happy. Way than when Tim was with Ariana Dzerchenko, that insecure attention craving-- Sorry.
In summary, I recommend that you give Batgirl Vol. 3 by Bryan Q. Miller a try. And please DC please bring back soon and don't change anything about her!
If you ever need a history lesson on the Bat family, here's Stephanie Brown with a little education:
So what do you think? Any characters you want to see me do?
Check out my blog for more of these!