Flamebird
Flamebird | |
---|---|
Publisher | DC Comics |
First appearance | Superman #158 (January 1963) |
Created by | Edmond Hamilton (writer) Curt Swan (art) |
Characters | Jimmy Olsen Ak-Var Bette Kane Lois Lane Kara Zor-El Thara Ak-Var |
Flamebird is the name used by six different
The primary character to use the Flamebird name is Bette Kane, who was the pre-Crisis hero Bat-Girl. However, the original pre-Crisis Flamebird was Jimmy Olsen, who was later succeeded by a Kandorian scientist. In post-Crisis, a Kryptonian hero used the name Flamebird, and in a "One Year Later" storyline, so has Kara Zor-El.
Flamebird characters are also often associated with characters who use the name Nightwing.
Pre-Crisis history
Jimmy Olsen
In pre-Crisis continuity, Flamebird was an alias used by Jimmy Olsen in adventures shared with Superman in the city of Kandor, a Kryptonian city that had been shrunken and preserved in a bottle by the villainous Braniac. After the miniaturized city was rescued from Braniac, Superman placed it in his Fortress of Solitude, where he would occasionally shrink himself, and sometimes one or more guests, to pay a visit to the Kandorian inhabitants.
In Kandor, Superman had no powers and was branded an outlaw due to a misunderstanding. To protect themselves, Superman and Jimmy created vigilante identities inspired by
In Superman #166 (January 1964), the imaginary sons of Superman go to Kandor, and take on the Flamebird/Nightwing personas in order to combat a Kandorian villain by the name of Gann Artar, after finding the costumes used by their father and Jimmy Olsen.
Ak-Var
While in Kandor, Nightwing and Flamebird met Van-Zee, a Kandorian scientist who looked strikingly similar to Superman. At one point, Van-Zee himself donned the Nightwing costume in order to rescue a captured Superman. After Superman and Jimmy's departure from Kandor, Van-Zee took up the role of Nightwing full-time.
Ak-Var, Van-Zee's lab assistant and husband of his niece Thara, later assumed the mantle of Flamebird.[3] The two shared several distinct adventures, once teaming up with Superman and Jimmy.[4]
Post-Crisis
Bette Kane
For a brief time in the 1970s, the young costumed adventurer Betty Kane had joined a west coast version of the Teen Titans, Titans West, under her original moniker of "Bat-Girl". After the Crisis on Infinite Earths, "Bat-Girl" did not exist, though her team did. Secret Origins Annual #3 (1989) established the official post-Crisis history of Titans West. Instead of Betty Kane as Bat-Girl, fans were introduced to a similar character called Mary Elizabeth "Bette" Kane, also known as Flamebird.[5]
The Krypton connection
Nightwing Secret Files #1 tells the post-Crisis tale of how Dick Grayson became Nightwing, but retroactively erases the notion that Superman and Jimmy Olsen ever held the titles of Nightwing or Flamebird, respectively.
The connection between Bette Kane's "Flamebird" and Grayson's "Nightwing" was conjectural until 2001's Superman: The Man of Steel #111, wherein Superman and Lois Lane travel to a version of the Kryptonian past and assume the names themselves.[6] This once again associated Superman with the roles directly, and he revealed to Lois that he had indeed related tales of both Kryptonian legends to Dick and Bette.[7]
Kara Zor-El
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (March 2016) |
In Supergirl #6, Kara Zor-El has assumed the Flamebird identity to fight crime in the city of Kandor, along with Power Girl as Nightwing.[episode needed]
Thara Ak-Var
In 2008, "
New 52
Following the events of Infinite Crisis, it is revealed that Bette is the cousin of current
In other media
An unidentified Flamebird appears in Teen Titans Go! as a potential recruit for the eponymous group.
References
- ^ Superman #158 (January 1962)
- ^ World's Finest Comics #143 (August 1964)
- ^ Superman Family #185 (September–October 1977); first appearance as Flamebird in #184.
- ^ Superman Family #188 (March–April 1978)
- OCLC 213309017.
- ISBN 9780345501066.
- ^ Schultz, Mark (w), Mahnke, Doug (p), Nguyen, Tom (i). "Return to Krypton, Part Three: The Most Dangerous Kryptonian Game" Superman: The Man of Steel, no. 111 (April 2001). New York: DC Comics.
- ISBN 978-0-345-50108-0.
- ^ Action Comics #875 (May 2009)
- ^ Action Comics Annual #12 (2009)
- ^ Detective Comics #863
- ^ Batwoman #1