Comics Archeology

Detective Comics #233 (1956)
by Edmond Hamilton & Sheldon Moldoff

Few colors scream “bat” more than red and yellow. If you are colorblind.

The cover and the teaser page can’t decide whether to call her Bat-Woman or Batwoman.

We already begin with Batwoman fighting crime!

Because she calls herself Batwoman, it stands to logic that she fights with cosmetics.
That’s a thing that female bats carry around, right?

Batman’s objection would ALMOST makes sense if her costume resembled his own in ANY shape or form. What, it’s illegal to wear ANY costume in Gotham City?
Actually, come to think of it, considering it’s Gotham that might actually help lower the crime rate.

So, uhm, honest question: why is Batman chasing her, exactly? He can’t be against ALL crimefighters, right? I mean the Justice League isn’t a thing yet, but that would be ridiculous.
And I can’t take seriously his concern about her safety, considering he goes around with a kid.

It’s only the second page where she appears, excluding the teaser page, and Batwoman has already upstaged Batman TWICE.

But she’s a girl! How could she possibly have helped Batman when she has ovaries?

Batwoman stops crime before Batman a third time in the same night…

…but sure, this doesn’t have aaaanything to do with Batman being jealous.

Batman is certain that Batwoman’s success is entirely due to sheer luck. Not only he bases that on a hunch, but even if that were true… he doesn’t even consider teaching her how to be a hero, something the taught A TWELVE YEAR OLD BOY.
Nope, since she’s a woman she can’t have any talent AND she can’t be trusted.
Wow. Just… just WOW.

Batwoman certainly has the ego to match Batman, considering she has a giant portrait of herself in her own Bat-Cave.

Meet Kathy Kane, who shares Batman’s origin of being rich…

…and Robin’s origin of being a former circus acrobat.

Maybe Batman is so jealous because she didn’t lose her parents.

And so the bat-people find themselves at the same party, having to leave to stop the same crime.
I always get a kick out of scenes like this; they’ve become a bit of a rarity after secret identities stopped being the default status quo for ALL heroes.

If Batman wasn’t such a dick throughout the story, I would complain about how frequently Batwoman upstages the title character.
But I find it nearly impossible not to root for her!

I should point out that Batman is CLEARLY having more trouble with the fact that Batwoman is a woman rather than being a rookie.
Also, considering her name is BatWOMAN, it’s annoying how everyone calls her a girl.

The crime is happening at a weird club full of status of aliens.
I swear Gotham City has the weirdest attractions.

Times Batwoman has proven herself: 5
Times Batwoman has needed Batman’s help: 1

She even saves Batman!
Times Batwoman has proven herself: 6
Times Batwoman has needed Batman’s help: 1

And she also proves her heroism by refusing to unmask Batman when she has the chance.
That’s basic hero courtesy, sure, but you know Lois Lane could never.

I should also note that Robin, who has Batman’s implicit trust thanks to his lack of breasts, has not done a single thing in the story.

Has Batman read the script solved the case already?

Batman’s hunch will prove correct, of course, but I wonder: does he randomly assume ANY change of schedule is caused by crime?

This comic’s message in a nutshell.

She also comes to the same conclusion independently AND catches the bad guy, so…
Times Batwoman has proven herself: 8
Times Batwoman has needed Batman’s help: 1

Batwoman’s “slip-up” was using circus terms, which of course means she’s from the circus.
Because obviously nobody else could possibly pick up the terms.
Batman and Robin have “a file of theatrical and circus people”… which I guess makes sense when your nemesis is a clown.
Also: Robin needed to have the circus terms explained to him, despite the fact that he grew in the circus.
Sounds legit.

Batman wouldn’t even need this clue if he really was “the world’s greatest detective”.

So Batman finds Batwoman’s hideout… and she is shocked by the idea that people could hurt her if they found out her real identity!
Girl, I’ve been defending you the entire time, please show some brain cells!!!

This despite the fact that she’s rigged her own cave to expose the secret identity of anyone who gets in. Why doesn’t BATMAN’s Bat-Cave have this!?!?

You’re making this up for trying to look less pathetic, aren’t you Batman?

And so we close with Batman having ruined the potential career of a hero.

Historical significance: 6/10
Batwoman does stick around, and she even gets a bit of legacy herself.

Silver Age-ness: 8/10
This could’ve been WAY lower, despite the cosmetics weapons, if only Batwoman didn’t reveal that she never even considered that she might get hurt.
I could give her a pass if she was talking sarcastically, but sarcasm had not been invented yet.

Does it stand the test of time? -50/10
This is the most sexist story I have reviewed yet. AND I REVIEWED LOIS LANE.
Talk about a culture shock: it’s impossible to read this today and not thinking that Batwoman fully deserved at the very least the benefit of the doubt AND to see Batman as just. The. Worst.

Is this the beginning of the Silver Age?
I’ve never seen Batwoman being considered the beginning of the Silver Age, which is a bit weird since she DOES pre-date Flash by a few months and that she’s undeniably a Silver Age character… even if, by most accounts, Batman is not QUITE in the Silver Age yet.
That’s one of the reasons why she’s not considered, because her arrival doesn’t create a clear split between the eras. And, much like Martian Manhunter, she doesn’t herald a bunch of new attempts to update old characters.

How close is this to the modern character? What modern character?
Batwoman’s creation is a direct consequence of “Seduction of the Innocent”, the 1954 book by Fredric Wertham. Among its many, many idiotic deductions, Wertham was certain that the Batman comics were promoting homosexuality by suggesting he was in a relationship with Robin.

Only someone ignorant of the fundamentals of psychiatry and of the psychopathology of sex can fail to realize a subtle atmosphere of homoeroticism which pervades the adventures of the mature ‘Batman’ and his young friend Robin.
FREDRIC WERTHAM

Batwoman was explicitly created to counter the idea that Batman was gay… even though he doesn’t seem to be all that interested in her in her first story!
She returns in 1957, on Batman #105, after she’s bored to just be a civilian.

She helps out in the story, only to be convinced to end her career AGAIN.

Batwoman is initially a sporadic presence, but she does end up working well with Batman.
Even if this cover is just a dream (by Robin, of all people).

Batwoman would make frequent appearances in the next few years.

She even gets her own sidekick: the first Bat-Girl, who is introduced as a love interest for Robin.

Unfortunately, Batman’s attitude rubbed off on her.

She even became Cat-Woman (no relation) once.

Following the 1964 revamp in Batman’s titles, Batwoman disappeared from his series: she would only show up in World’s Finest imaginary stories, like World’s Finest #154.

Her disappearance was particularly notable with Batgirl debuting in 1967; I suppose Batwoman was TOO tied to the silliest Batman stories.
Take this letter from Detective Comics #417, 1971 (cut for brevity):

We wouldn’t learn what happened to Batwoman until 1977, on Batman Family #10.
Turns out she had just been in retirement.

Which is kind of weird: Batgirl is explicitly 25 years old in this story, so how old is Batwoman supposed to be?

The story proved enough of a success for Batwoman to return in Batman Family #14… which, true to her 50s stories, has her needing to be rescued from having been disintegrated.

She had a couple more appearances, mostly team-ups with Batgirl, until Detective Comics #485 has her finally meet Batman again.

Only to be murdered by Ra’s Al Ghul’s men.

And that was basically it for the original Batwoman.
Her Earth-two counterpart is basically a footnote, and at most Batwoman gets some appearances in homages set in the Silver Age.

The concept of Batwoman proved to be resilient, though, because in 2006 a new Batwoman was introduced.
I’m not too familiar with her, but I’m pretty sure she has no resemblance to the original.
The name is almost the same (this one is Kate Kane, not Kathy), but she has a very different look both in and out of costume, and a different personality.