Bette Kane
Bette Kane | |
---|---|
Publication information | |
Publisher | DC Comics |
First appearance | As Bat-Girl: Batman #139 (April 1961) As Flamebird: Secret Origins Annual #3 (1989) |
Created by | Bat-Girl: Bill Finger (writer) Sheldon Moldoff (artist) Flamebird: George Pérez (writer) Tom Grummett (artist) |
In-story information | |
Full name | Mary Elizabeth "Bette" Kane |
Species | Human |
Team affiliations | Batman Family Teen Titans Young Justice |
Partnerships | Batwoman Dick Grayson Beast Boy Kate Kane |
Notable aliases | Bat-Girl Flamebird Hawkfire |
Abilities |
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Mary Elizabeth Kane, better known as Bette Kane, is a
Fictional character biography
Pre-Crisis
The original Bat-Girl first appeared in Batman #139 (April 1961) as Betty Kane, the niece of Kathy Kane, also known as Batwoman. After discovering her aunt's dual identity, Betty convinced Batwoman to train her as her sidekick.
Batwoman and Bat-Girl were created to be romantic interests for
Later in 1977 Batwoman and Bat-Girl were revived and were regarded to have been inactive for several years. Bat-Girl became a member of the Teen Titans West in Teen Titans #50 (October 1977). However, the original Teen Titans series was cancelled with issue #53 (February 1978) and the Teen Titans, including Teen Titans West, were disbanded. After this, Bat-Girl only appeared two more times during this era; a guest appearance in Batman Family #16 (March 1978), and as one of the attendees at Donna Troy and Terry Long's wedding in Tales of the Teen Titans #50 (February 1985).
Post-Crisis
In the post-Crisis DC Universe, the character known as Batwoman was erased from existence (although her alter ego, Kathy Kane, was revealed to have existed and was murdered by the League of Assassins). Batwoman's niece, Betty Kane, disappeared as well. Unlike her aunt, Betty's removal from history would not last long.
For a brief time in the 1970s, Betty had joined the west coast version of the Teen Titans under her Bat-Girl moniker. Though "Bat-Girl" does not exist in the post-Crisis universe, her team did; therefore, a new version of the character was necessary. In Secret Origins Annual #3 (1989), the official post-Crisis history of Titans West was revealed. Instead of Betty Kane's Bat-Girl, fans were introduced to a similar character called Mary Elizabeth "Bette" Kane, also known as Flamebird.[3] This was an in-joke, as the team of "Nightwing and Flamebird" had a history in the Silver Age continuity as a pair of supporting characters in the Superman books.
Bette was now a very driven and somewhat spoiled
A short time later, Gar "
Infinite Crisis
Flamebird appeared in
Relationship to Batwoman
Following the events of Infinite Crisis, it is revealed that Bette is the cousin of current Batwoman, Kate Kane. In
A Bat-Girl looking similar to Betty Kane is revealed to have existed in the past in Batman #682, and later reappears in Batman, Inc. #4 (April 2011). As in pre-Crisis continuity, she is the younger protege of the first Batwoman, Kathy Kane (who reappears in post-Infinite Crisis continuity as the original Batwoman, but with a revamped origin). Despite her initial Post-Crisis origin retcon, Bette Kane has regained her prior history using the Bat-Girl identity in her younger years prior to becoming Flamebird.[13]
DC Rebirth
In the DC Rebirth relaunch, Bette has enrolled at the United States Military Academy, seeming to be a yearling, or sophomore, cadet. She keeps in contact with Kate Kane and Julia Pennyworth, and even briefly visits Kate in Gotham.[14][15]
Powers and abilities
Flamebird is an exceptional athlete, trained for strength and endurance, and has worked as a professional tennis player. She has also trained in several forms of martial arts, with kickboxing as her specialty.[16] As such, while she is a formidable martial arts opponent and combatant, she is not among the top tier or elite of DC's martial artists.
Like Robin, Flamebird has a utility belt containing a grappling hook with line, gas grenades, gas mask, flares, flashlight, radio/transmitter, handcuffs, bird-shaped throwing blades (Bird-A-Rangs), and an emergency medical kit. She increased her arsenal by equipping her mask with lenses capable of emitting powerful bursts of blinding light, and created bird-like bolas that can electrocute anyone tangled in them.
As Plebe, Batwoman's sidekick, Bette is stripped of her outfit and gadgetry, wearing a nondescript grey military outfit. Her martial arts prowess however is being improved by Batwoman's tutelage. Later, as Hawkfire, her costume features gold plated elements and she carries a wrist-mounted flamethrowing device.
Since enrolling at
Other versions
- In Teen Titans Go! #24, the Titans get their powers swapped. When Starfireis given Robin's abilities, she finds herself wearing Bette's original Bat-Girl costume. In issue #50, Flamebird is officially introduced via a small screen on the Titans Tower computer, and she appears again in issue #55 as a member of Titans North, wearing a red T-shirt with a burning bird emblem, cargo pants, and yellow goggles.
- In Stephanie Brown and Cassandra Cain.
- In part two of Neil Gaiman's Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?, Bette is seen in her Silver Age Bat-Girl costume describing a death of Batman. He was holding a bomb that would destroy Gotham if he released its switch or if the timer ran down. Batman then throws himself into the Gotham River with the bomb to prevent the explosion from causing any damage.
- In the alternate future storyline "Terra, Bumblebee, and Captain Marvel Jr.) and helped the Titans' past incarnations defeat the dark adult counterparts. After Infinite Crisis, the "Titans Tomorrow" timeline was altered by the deaths of Superboy and Bart Allen, with Duela Dent also being killed during Countdown. As such, in the "Titans Tomorrow... Today!" storyline, Bette remains Flamebird in the future, with Cassandra Cainbeing Batwoman. With the altered timeline, all the future heroes, even those who opposed the West Coast Titans, were unified in their fascistic endeavors to "save the world".
- She appears in the 20th issue of the Young Justice tie-in comic series, it is shown that Bette has spent the night with Dick Grayson/Nightwing.
- She appears in DC Bombshells.
In other media
- Bette Kane appears in the Young Justice episode "Homefront", voiced by Alyson Stoner. This version is a Gotham Academy student and liaison to Artemis Crock.
- A version of Bette Kane, named Mary Hamilton, appears in Batwoman, portrayed by Nicole Kang.[17] This version is Kate Kane's step-sister.
References
- ^ OCLC 213309017.
- ^ York, Christopher (2000). "All in the Family: Homophobia and Batman Comics in the 1950s". The International Journal of Comic Art. 2 (#2): 100–110.
- ISBN 9780345501066.
- ^ Beast Boy #2
- ^ Beast Boy #3
- ^ Beast Boy #4
- ^ Infinite Crisis #4
- ^ Infinite Crisis #6
- ^ Teen Titans vol. 3 #38
- ^ Detective Comics #863
- ^ Batwoman #1
- ^ Batwoman vol. 2 #24 (December 2013); Batwoman Annual #1 (June 2014).
- ^ Young Justice vol. 1 #21 (July 2000)
- ^ Batwoman vol. 2 #1
- ^ Detective Comics #967
- ^ Who's Who in the DC Universe vol. 2 #2 (September 1990)
- ^ Ennis, Tricia (April 26, 2020). "Batwoman's Nicole Kang on the power of sidekicks and what's next for Mary". Syfy Wire. Retrieved August 13, 2020.