The Original BAT-WOMAN was a wealthy Heiress Kathy Kane, who had once owned a circus. She was designed to be a feminine counterpart for Bruce Wayne and BAT-MAN of that age. They were both wealthy crime fighters, who knew each other in their normal identity, but only Bat-man would discover Bat-Woman was his friend and socialite Kathy Kane. Kathy would romance Bat-man as Bat woman, and also would flirt with Bruce as herself.... never knowing they were the same man.
With the addition of Kathy's niece Betty Kane, who became the first BAT-GIRL, young Robin also ended up with a love interest.
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| THE ORIGINAL BAT-MAN FAMILY MEMBERS |
However, in the mid 1960's DC publications revamped Bat-man, and BAT-WOMAN and BAT-GIRL disappeared never to be mentioned again. This is how it stayed until the 1970's when Bat-girl resurfaced as part of the Teen Titans West, and later Bat-woman popped up in a few stories through out DC publications.
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| The Original BAT-WOMAN |
However, to make things even more complicated, the early stories of BAT-MAN along with his Bat-man Family that took place prior to the mid sixties shake up became tales of another Bat-man from Earth 2.
The idea that on Earth 2 Bat-man originally started his career in the early 1930's fitting well with the old stories. Many of the characters still existed but had been allowed to age. This gave the DC comic people to have the best of both worlds. The new styled heroes from Earth 1 could continue and the old versions could also continue to exist.
This worked well for a time, but as much as fans loved the new stories, and up dated versions of their heroes, many still loved the old style heroes, who had come from a much gentler time.
The original Bat-woman was now forgotten about, BUT in the 1970's she was reintroduced again into the Earth 1 modern day, were she shared many adventures with the "New" Bat-Girl Barbara Gordon. However her character was finally killed off for real when the league of assassins killed Kathy to get back at BATMAN.
However, the legend of the Bat-woman continued on Earth 2, were an old wiser Kathy Kane had retired from crime fighting and was content to live out her life as a normal citizen. BUT in a story that brought the Modern Batman from Earth 1 to Earth 2 where he encountered the Adult Robin, Kath was tempted to put on her costume for one last time just so that she could meet the younger version of the now deceased Batman of her world.
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| Together again for the First and Last Time |
After Earth two was destroyed in the Crisis on Infinite Earths, along with all of the other Earths, All memory of ANY Bat-Woman was erased. However, the Character Katherine Kane would be talked about, she would never ever have become BAT-WOMAN.
However in the 2000's DC was ready for a revamp yet again, this revamp originally called for Bat-Girl Barbara Gordon to return as a caped crusader, in a revamped costume with a new name..... BAT-WOMAN. As her character had been crippled many years before by the Joker in the Classic Tale...The Killing Joke, writers devised various ways she could now walk. Rumours of Barbara Gordon walking again did not go down very well with soon fans and some of the writers.
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| BARBARA GORDON BAT-GIRL NO MORE |
For many years Barbara had become a successful Wheel chaired crime fighter called Oracle, and as DC felt that loosing their only disabled character would not be the correct thing to do.
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| BARBARA GORDON SHOWS THAT AS ORACLE SHE CAN STILL HELP FIGHT CRIME. |
So Barbara was left alone, but the idea of a NEW Bat-woman was continued with, this would be a brand new character, who had an old established name...... Katherine Kane, or Kate to her friends.
Next time the many changes that lay ahead for the new BAT-WOMAN.
Until then ENJOY !
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