Batman's Female Robin Had A Rough Origin - Stephanie Brown The Girl Wonder

[@CasuallyComics]

Get Atlas VPN! Get Atlas VPN! atlasv.pn/CasuallyComics

[@Me-wx1mt]

Your hair looks amazing in this video. And I couldn’t tell if it was your glasses or your eye makeup but it looks great!

[@salimufari]

Okay .. I'll get Atlas VPN but only after you back down the "Bat"voice a bit. It's gotta be rough on your own.

[@vernonhampton5863]

@@Me-wx1mt This queen's hair game is always on point.

[@Me-wx1mt]

@@vernonhampton5863 ikr

[@bat-mitezurenarrgh5211]

Thank you my fan fics of stephanie are so happy #stephaniebrownishot

[@Vegadra]

Bruce saying she hits like a girl as a insult is hilarious considering Lady Shiva and Cassandra Cain are the best fighters.

[@andrewquick4176]

Black Canary is on par with Bruce in martial arts or at least she was but...you know Bruce has to be the best at literally everything

[@EinDose]

I feel like Bruce is smart enough to know that assertion would spur Stephanie on, though, because her main Bat-family connection is Tim Drake, who she's trying to fill the shoes of. That'd totally motivate her to do better.

[@jameljenks2584]

Shiva retrained him after he went to broke back mountain with bane

[@Psiberzerker]

@@jameljenks2584 LOL! That's literally the best description for Knightfall ever. If it had a love button, I'd be spamming the hell out of it right now.

[@jameljenks2584]

@@Psiberzerker I try lol

[@GenerationWest]

Stephanie as a whole was kinda misused constantly, like her as Robin, and growing into the role is great, but it never was gonna go anywhere, then they "kill her off", then she becomes Batgirl, and she she's good in that too, but the New 52 happened... Let Stephanie have things, like damn!

[@MrKodachii]

I didn't know that much about her so this was pretty cool to see. Honestly sounds really interesting, its sad this didn't go further. I kinda liked where this was going and wouldn't mind reading more.

[@handsoaphandsoap]

I also hate how much they make her just be “Tim’s gf”. Just let her be her own person, Tim keeps dumping her anyway. Or at the very least allow them to develop as individuals within their coupling and not just have it be boy and girl, mandatory dating type thing.

[@MusicoftheDamned]

Yeah, she's gotten screwed over a lot, but at least she might have an actual chance now with Dan DiDio finally gone and unlike a lot of other (younger) characters she at least got brought back instead of just remaining dead.

[@oKiterrrr]

@@handsoaphandsoap ur comment is literally why I despise timsteph

[@juliusmaloney]

Agreed. But because of DC’s weird ability for Editors to mandate who can & can’t be used based on their personal whims & fancies (‘He Who Will Not be Named’: looking at you!) Stephanie disappeared for much too long! She’s back in ‘Infinite Frontier’ as part of the multi-Batgirls, along with Cassandra Caine. 🦇

[@DrPluton]

Don't forget that- after Bruce discovers that Stephanie survived- he never bothered to tell Tim that his girlfriend wasn't dead.

[@Lukecash2]

Bruce suspected that Stephanie was alive, but couldn’t confirm it. The worse part was that the War Games made it seemed Stephanie Death was Bruces fault. So in a follow up they had a character who was known for her compassion and pacifist ways, Dr Leslie Thompkins, kill Stephanie to teach Bruce a lesson. That equally proved stupid, so they brought back Chuck Dixon to ret con that so that Thompkins faked everything to get Stephanie away from Gotham

[@DIEGhostfish]

@@Lukecash2 Good move on his part to fix that

[@ericlayton8888]

@@Lukecash2 I think that retcon would really work if it was heavily implied rather than flat out stated. After realising that she’d been used by Bruce, Steph fakes her death once she turns 18 so that she can adopt her daughter and get out of Gotham to lead a peaceful life. Having her come back as Spoiler then Batgirl just undermines her decision to fake her death

[@joeker5208]

Something Arkham Knight would repeat. Out of all the stories, why pull from War Games???😂😂😂

[@lyndsaybrown8471]

All I can think is,if this came out today, they'd probably call it, "Spoiler Warring"

[@UnlimitedProduction1]

This comment is gonna live rent free in my head from now on

[@daelen.cclark]

That’s actually not bad.

[@Quisiio0303456]

​​@@daelen.cclarkIt is and that's why she points it out.

[@MstEli]

I don't care what anyone says: Stephanie was the 4th Robin. It's not the character's fault that the editors did her dirty

[@cannoliwavestudios2817]

lol Batman the hair stylist. “No no no, this looks much better.”

[@oKiterrrr]

Funfact: every Robin suit came with hair gel.

[@bricktrooper540]

A bet he made Alfred do it.

[@hope-cat4894]

I'm picturing Batman combing her hair with Bobby pins in his mouth. 😆

[@baligong3592]

Batman the Hairstylist probably hates Stephanie so much, and it's the reason why he picked the Worst Hair style to have in Combat

[@baligong3592]

@@oKiterrrr Was the Hair Gel called Gorilla Glue?

[@handsoaphandsoap]

I love Stephanie, her bubbly personality just fits so well with the rest of the Batfamily especially since Dick is usually off doing his own thing so she can fill that gap. I think a more honest attempt at doing her Robin storyline would’ve worked a lot better than just making it buildup to her death, maybe one day we can get a good adaptation of this storyline that can do Steph justice.

[@AesculapiusPiranha]

Even if the intent was always to kill her off, most writers didn't really give her the kind of room to grow that would leave an emotional impact on the reader. It just seems like a comedy of errors that makes the whole cast look bad

[@juliusfrauenglass2411]

Her bubbly personality hides alot of the pain she feels, it is a defensive front. Also way underestimated is how smart she is mainly because of the fact that most of the other bats are outright geniuses in one way or another.

[@TipeneThorner]

Bruce: "I don't expect to see Spoiler out there either" Steph: "Right, Ill become Batgirl"

[@WhiteRaven696]

DCeased did her return as Robin so dirty. She dies, we get a promise of her being revived by Talia in the Lazarus Pits, and then it’s never followed up on in Dead Planet.

[@ProfessorHurt]

I get the feeling it'll be addressed in the sequel to Dead Planet. As there was a subplot from that book also dropped. So there are THREE lingering subplots.

[@WhiteRaven696]

@@ProfessorHurt Yup. We still need to address Superman from the original DCeased, Stephanie's revival from Hope At World's End, and now the return of Zombie Darkseid from Dead Planet. And I still want to know where the hell Raven was while her daddy barbecued Paris.

[@FantasticDinos]

Hearing the words “good girl” in your Batman voice activated my fight or flight response. That voice is so horrible, yet it brings me so much joy.😂

[@AesculapiusPiranha]

Does Batman need a new Robin or a new Dog

[@TeruteruBozusama]

@@AesculapiusPiranha yes

[@barbellina]

Stephanie as Robin is a design I really like, her blonde hair really sets her apart from the other members of the Batfamily like how Barbara is a redhead. Also noticing some similarities between how Bruce treats her and how he treated Carrie Kelley in the way he talks. The one mistake and you're out, with similar situations but different results.

[@MrDariox555]

Stephanie is such a cool character. When given time and effort, she can really work as both Spoiler and Batgirl. I'm pretty sure she would have also worked as Robin if editorial actually wanted to make that happen. That boat has sailed, since I don't think current-day-stories could fit a third concurrent Robin and she feels more at home as part of the Batgirls trifecta. But I would love to see stories set in the past that expand on her time as Robin. Even if just as oneshots or something like that

[@catlawyerwilldefendfortrea6038]

that was... upsetting. She was really treated poorly. I vaguely knew about the events but uff... this couldn't be fun to read. Glad her Batgirl run was good. That treated her a lot better.

[@AesculapiusPiranha]

For me the cringe makes me want to read it

[@johnbockelie3899]

Batman : " This modern age is killing me, All the Robins have been " Boy wonders" .........now I'm dealing with a " Girl wonder" ..........Alfred, should I hang up my CAPE ???."😄

[@cannoliwavestudios2817]

My favorite version of Stephanie is her as Batgirl. I liked the run, and I liked her dynamic with Oracle. I still kinda feel like Steph should be Batgirl but that’s just me

[@ladyoftheabyss13]

I really think that Stephanie as Robin could have been so much better if the dynamic Bruce had been more of a father figure than mentor. I just think if Bruce and Stephanie's dynamic was more father/daughter then her death would have had been more meaningful. It was like it was trying too hard not to be a parallel to Jason's story and death that it was awkward and unfulfilling.

[@mattyt1961]

I think the point was to make it less like 'family' and more of a mentor role since he felt betrayed by his 'family' (Tim) I also don't think it was well executed. If it was given more time that could have been explored and it might have worked better because then her death (while still a parallel) would have meant that no matter how he treats his Robin, they can still die. Then with her having not been treated like family, Dick, Jason, Tim, Barbara, Alfred could have almost turned on him, laid down some tough love about not treating her like family and it would have all felt like it actually had a real point. If all of that was done well and better fleshed out :D

[@ladyoftheabyss13]

@@mattyt1961 Yes but Tim wasn't his son yet. In the beginning, Bruce and Tim's relationship was mentor/student because Tim's parents were still alive. Granted they were asshats but still alive. It wasn't until Tim's parents died did their dynamic change.

[@TheEndKing]

I'm a little sad that you glossed over the actual death of Stephanie, the climax of this entire little story they did. I feel like if we saw how violent and mean spirited it was, it would really drive home how dumb this entire thing was.

[@CTheng]

This video is mainly about Steph's stint as Robin. It leaves room for Sasha to do a "Death and Return of Stephanie Brown" in the future.

[@questworldiangreenknight7455]

So what happened exactly? I had no idea she was ever killed off!

[@mediatorraptor3349]

How did she die? I heard it was terrible

[@talk2myself315]

​@@mediatorraptor3349 She was graphically tortured to death by Black Mask

[@cthulhutheendless1587]

Your gravelly Batman voice never ceases to amaze me

[@dinoracleofseasons8095]

I just want Stephanie to be treated better overall, hopefully her going back to being batgirl will be well executed. She's my favorite member of the bat-family

[@rory_pond1701]

As bad as her treatment was during her time as Robin, it only got worse for Stephanie when she "returned from the dead." Dan DiDio really hated the character and made it his purpose to reduce her appearances at every opportunity. You can't really discuss the mismanagement of Stephanie Brown without covering DiDio's bizarre hatred of her.

[@yurineri2227]

wow everyone is such a jerk in this story that it's unintentionally hilarious lmao -batman is extremely petty towards Tim and doesn't give Stephanie a fair shot -Stephanie immediately assumes Tim is cheating on her and doesn't try to clear things up -a girl who had a crush on Tim straight up assaults him -Tim proceeds to have a date(?) with that girl while still having a girlfriend I swear this was such a mess lol

[@AesculapiusPiranha]

I agree. If you wrote this as new characters it could be parody

[@yurineri2227]

@@AesculapiusPiranha it unironicly could lol

[@tomorrow4eva]

DC hires failed soap opera writers.

[@questworldiangreenknight7455]

This screams Spider-Man 3 writing 😂😂😂😂 when is the dance sequence?!!!

[@michelenorris8499]

Steph my baaaaaby. She remains one of my very favorite characters across all comics and she gets done SO DIRTY. A friend of mine made the mistake of asking me 'so what was the deal with the one time Spoiler faked her own death?' - DEEP BREATH - - breaking out all the war game fatty trades - And Tim was 100% cheating on Stephanie. Because Tim's an idiot who I love anyway. And Sasha writes the whole thing better than all the people who got paid to do it. I'd read that fic.

[@thejoabear]

For some reason one of the first things that come to mind when I think Stephanie brown is when she was tortured by Black Mask with a drill connected to a battery because of power outage. Very specific memory for no reason at all.

[@Symon2099]

Being reminded of Steph's treatment and writing during the entire Robin/Wargames arc just makes me all the more grateful for the short but beautiful time she was written by Bryan Q Miller. Poot.

[@snakesnoteyes]

Poot

[@LordDarque]

I liked her as Robin. Seeing her wasted potential was fixed a bit when she because Batgirl. I feel this started the trend of DC killing off Teen Heroes left and right. Look at what happened in Teen Titans. They were dropping like flies.

[@questworldiangreenknight7455]

No kidding

[@RobertJazo]

I've always had a soft spot for Stephanie Brown since I was an avid reader of the Robin series she was part of. I enjoyed the initial "love triangle" dynamic with Ariana, Tim and her which was reminiscent of Gwen, Peter and Mary Jane to me. I wasn't reading the bat books regularly at the time of War Games but I remember being pretty annoyed when I found out they had killed her off as part of (IMO) a cheap stunt.

[@garywillig5143]

Stephanie Brown as Robin is probably the biggest missed opportunity DC has had among the bat-characters. If DC had been serious about making her the first female Robin and not been so focused on killing her off - over the objections of the entire writing staff - they could have easily had a huge success that would have driven sales way up. Tim had been considering retiring many times over the previous few years and didn't want to be a vigilante forever. It was natural for him to retire and let someone else take on the role. Moreover, Stephanie would have been better at being the type of Robin Tim was trying to be. His shtick was he was the 'normal' Robin because he had a dad he was keeping his superhero life a secret from and a school life he had to juggle. But he was still a rich genius just like Bruce. Moreover, the reason he became Robin in the first place was to be a certain kind of influence on Batman, a lighter influence, and at that he was a complete and utter failure. He never counterbalanced Bruce's dark side. Steph's personality was much better suited to that, as even Tim noted when he went back to being Robin, telling himself he needed to be more like her. Moreover, she was much more 'normal' than Tim since she came from a poor background and had to deal with things like an abusive father, drug-addicted mother, teen pregnancy, ect. The plot-induced-stupidity of the entire arc is mind-boggling. Logically, since Tim was no longer Robin, he should have had more time to spend with his girlfriend, and that's the moment he stops calling her? Bruce plans to use Steph to get Tim back, but at no point does he try to address the reason Tim was forced to quit - his father - so whatever plan he had was doomed from the start. Plus he learned nothing from the Tower of Babel arc just a few years earlier and left his secret files vulnerable to being stolen by a teenager who never showed any high-tech skills whatsoever. And then there's Steph herself. Very little of what she does makes any sense and this story is the source of the whole 'Stephanie Brown is an idiot' thing. And it's so insulting that this story has her come to the 'realization' that 'this isn't a game!' In the 90s she reprimanded Argent, another teenaged superhero, for thinking it was all a game. Steph is ultimately a victim a victim of the Didio era, where DC's creative decisions were so often made by a man who doesn't know how to tell stories other than to 'write with death,' who didn't understand that characters could still have appeal and be marketable even if they were created after 1970, and who seemed to think all readers were idiots who could only follow characters if you could explain those characters in 2 words or less. Even her lack of a memorial was a result of Didio deciding she wasn't worth being treated with any respect and DC trying to forget War Games ever happened since it was so poorly received. If they wanted to do it for real, what they could have done was have it be Tim's idea to make Steph Robin because he thinks she can be the influence Bruce needs to not be all 'grr i am vengeance grr' all the time and because since she wasn't going to stop she'd be safer with Batman's training and protection. By having it be Tim's idea, Bruce would take it more seriously and treat her with more respect. The sad thing is that all of her development from 1992-2003 was thrown out the window. Every lesson she had ever learned, every life she had ever saved, including Bruce and Tim, all of it was discredited and rendered moot and meaningless by War Games. So when they brought her back she was essentially starting at square 1 and was treated as if she had never done anything good in her life. Even Hal Jordan got to keep his heroic history intact when he went and destroyed the universe.

[@ricconway8719]

I love Steph as Spoiler and Batgirl. She and Tim made a lot of sense together. I hope she comes back some day.

[@Insane-Howl-Cowl]

8:47 - WTF happened to Batman's arm? did it get switched with his leg? It's HUGE!

[@CasualNotice]

To be fair, the Batmobile (current one, not the classic or the silver age Plymouth) is big and heavy enough to be classified as heavy machinery, requiring at least a CDL if not a specialized operators license.

[@Chris-th5fl]

steph kind of felt like a fan getting sucked into a comic book and living the best life and fangirling. i do love her character.

[@dlee827]

I'd imagine a lot of people have pointed out that this Robin's hair makes her look like Sonic the hedgehog.

[@tristanthompson1980]

It didn't come up in your video, because it obviously wasnt relevant, but in the excellent Kevin Smith Green Arrow which features his return to life, Batman helps GA out uncovering the secret and Stephanie is there and there is some witty banter

[@sjtheartisan]

Your Batman voice is absolutely great. Sasha, the next Batman 😎

[@Chris-gq8ev]

Damien Scott was a fantastic artist on the Cassandra Cain Batgirl series

[@Giovanna-rv3gx]

I really love steph as batgirl and i cant wait to read this story when i have the time

[@Sleestak_Krankor_Addams]

Every video I have to check on my boi Reverse Flash behind you. Sometimes he's there, other times he's not. Where does he go? To harass Barry? To get a soda? Turn into pure energy WB style? I need to know.

[@arpitpatel2781]

To Marry Lois Lane. Sasha did a video on that too

[@tomorrow4eva]

One of my favourite being-a-fan memories was being able to attend a convention during Stephanie's 'dead' time and call out a spokesperson from DC on her lack of memorial. I feel like they treated her as a gimmick from putting on the Robin suit to dying, and ignored her being her own popular character. Honestly, they do this sort of thing a lot. Too many editorial and writing decisions are driven by personal preference instead of careful consideration of what the buyers are enjoying. Let's get rid of all legacy characters! Wait, why are people complaining? You mean you bought comics because you like legacy characters? Who does that? Stephanie is a fabulous Robin to Bruce's Batman. She's got Dick's cheer and fun, Jason's brutal deep care, and Tim's stubbornness. I'm sad we didn't get longer with her as Robin, even though subsequent writers have salvaged her story line into using these setbacks to make her stronger. I also love the notion that Gothamites to this day argue over whether or not there was a girl Robin. It's just the kind of nonsense distraction your cryptid mythos needs. Haha.

[@douglasbriel6103]

One writer said Stephanie was marked for death by editorial, which. Is the only reason they let them make her Robin to begin with. The one writer hoped they'd change their mind. That she could stay.

[@josephkolar3443]

The worst wrinkle in her tenure is that she died because Leslie Tompkins refused to treat her injuries in order to teach Bruce a lesson. Awful awful awful.

[@CasuallyComics]

Yeah I want to do her death as a separate video cause my word what a mess.

[@monthly.girls.digital8728]

@@CasuallyComics omg do it

[@randomweirdo6712]

Yeah, they really waisted their dynamic. It makes me sad. As for identeties, I believe that Stephanie should get another shot as Batgirl. I really enjoyed the passing of the torch between her and Cass and getting both of them another chance in the role would be great. They deserve so much more attention than they get.

[@dataweaver]

Good news! That's exactly what has happened. There is a recently concluded series called Batgirls featuring Barbara Gordon, Cassandra Caine, and Stephanie Brown. Babs pays a role in this series very similar to her Oracle role in Birds of Prey, while Cass and Steph ran as a duo, almost like sisters. Most of the action centered around the two of them. And yes, all three of them called themselves “Batgirl” and went around with the bat emblem on their chests.

[@ChaosMechanica]

I am new to your channel. Really loved your coverage on Tim. LOVE that you're giving attention to Steph, perhaps the most underrated and misused Bat-member over the years. Miller's Batgirl run could've run for years for me. Edit: Also, love your Batman voice. Wildly appropriate for this Batman who was written to be such a d**k to Stephanie. Also love your take on how they could've done this better. I wish we had that version!

[@JSRLPadre]

I remember reading War Drums and War Games back in the day and thinking, "WTF was that?" at the end. It felt really weird that Spoiler was soooo freaking seasoned and had made it so far on her own only to be tied to Bruce for whatever, not being allowed to grow during her working relationship with Bats, and ultimately dying horribly. Where was the character arc? DC's writers room allegedly wanted to make her death some kind of event, and instead, Stephanie turned out to be an overlong cameo in her own story? That's just bad.

[@andreworders7305]

2:44 they made a 100+ issue series about Tim Drake? Never knew about this.

[@grahamcann1761]

One of the problems with the 'hurry-up and wait' world of comics is they always seem to want to 'grow' them too quick, then never (significantly) age them afterwards. Damian could have been an exception to this as he had a good excuse for his first ten years, but then... but you're asking about Stephanie. I like Robin's, and I liked Stephanie, but year I think she deserved a much longer build-up and run. As always thank you so very much for the video.

[@fredcampbell4066]

Bruce never wastes any time finding new Robins.This should have been fantastic, but it wasn't it was meh.3 to 5 more Stephanies would have been perfect.

[@Vegadra]

Titans had Bruce with a database of potential Robins for him to recruit.

[@vernonhampton5863]

@@Vegadra That was actually pretty fucked up. That and him pleading for Nightwing to be Robin again was... well, that broke me, I don't watch Titans anymore. People said season 3 is better, but it's not good.

[@SubzeroBlack68]

You have definitely made me a fan of Stephanie. I think I said before but there were to many BatFamily that I just inherently hated learning about new characters,and just avoided everything they were a part of. But now ive turned a new leaf Thanks once again for such an amazing video

[@connerkent9641]

The amount of times Tim has been sexually assaulted is… alarming.

[@Mooncalfproductions]

Stephanie had such POTENTIAL as a Robin! She's the daughter of a criminal who wants to do this to get back at him and also be a BETTER PERSON! We could have seen a Bruce realising his mistakes with Jason, and doing things RIGHT this time! Their dynamic is more fun, and there are a few panels throughout her life time that show Bruce opening up to her. Plus her dynamic with Cass would have lead to some GREAT Batgirl & Robin stories! Stephanie is my favourite Robin, not necessarily because of how it went down, but because of all the POTENTIAL there is for her story!! And also because people like to pretend it was all fake, it never ckubted, and I live to annoy Fake Geek Gatekeepers.

[@bensneb360]

I liked your Batman voice Sasha. You did great! Good girl! Lol I like Stephanie in her pre-52 Batgirl series, she was a lot of fun in that. Maybe some day they can do a Spoiler solo series again and bring in Oracle as a supporting character and try and re-create that dynamic, that would be pretty cool

[@mooncaketin]

@16:34 now there's a tongue twister, saying "bad Bat-dad Bruce" 10 times 😄

[@ViccVegaa023]

I wanna say upfront that Tim Drake's Dad reaction to Tim being Robin is something I really really enjoyed. Tim's was a minor at the time being turned into a child soldier/superhero by Batman. From the outside it looks really bad and even in context... it ain't much better. Child endangerment being a thing. There's a reason you don't see too many kid sidekicks anymore. Teen heroes yes. Kid sidekicks not so much. If Tim's Dad HAD somehow managed to put a bullet in Bruce, no jury would have convicted him given the circumstances. Stephanie as Robin always seemed to me like Bruce's way to get Tim back into the fold. Like he just couldn't accept being "beaten" by Tim's dad (even if Bruce understood his point- he isn't a total psycho...yet). While Bruce did warm up to Steph over time, she started out with one strike against her. She was the Superhero equivalent of a spare tire only useful til it can be replaced. Then she was killed off in a manner that was meant to imply that she never should have been Robin in the first place ( Batman's child soldier fetish isn't questioned at all though ). Whatever the creators intended, the storyline did the character a great disservice which is why there was such a backlash to it. The writers oddly didn't seem to notice how much of a manipulating, vindictive SOB this storyline made Batman look like either. I'm not sure how any of this ever got past editorial. P.S.: Apologies for the length.

[@tomorrow4eva]

I think their editorial team live in an echo chamber and talk a lot.

[@questworldiangreenknight7455]

Yeah. It definitely needed a rewrite

[@joshuaklub3786]

I can't with this batman voice. it's so good.

[@creed8712]

I guess we can add being dumped offscreen as another nail for the poor girl

[@prynxeofdarkness]

Oh man this makes me so tempted to write my own Stephanie brown story fjfnfnd

[@BThings]

Stephanie Brown is that character that I keep wanting to know more about. Thank you for making this video!

[@jeremiahperryman948]

I also think that before her death was ret conned it wasn't just that she died even though she was well liked by the readers,it was that Leslie Thompson Bruce's doctor and the only parental figure he had other than Alfred after his parents were murdered,had intentionally failed to treat Stephanie's injuries to insure that she died all to teach Bruce a lesson that she thought would drive home just how much danger he was putting the kids he mentored in ,and that was in some ways even more shocking than Stephanie's death itself!!!Why DC comics thought that it would be alright with readers to have Leslie Thompson do something so awful and do it on purpose is completely beyond me!!!

[@realrealwarpet]

Man, dc dislikes the female bat family members. Oracle got crippled, stephanie died, and cassandra stupidly got turned evil

[@alexwimberly1268]

Your Batman and Spiderman voices are never what I expect to hear from the characters but also a great surprise

[@DSan-kl2yc]

I think Batman really did give her a chance and wasn't trying to manipulate her. But! Remember that he's been hurt with Jason, and now he's hurt with Tim leaving and quitting. He's basically just more emotionally raw.

[@nearlynormel8242]

I literally havent even started the video but I am already excited to see what you have to say! I just love Stephanie Brown and she means so much to me! I wish that DC treated her better!

[@genevieveowusu885]

We all do. ☹

[@jenslangheinrich402]

Stephanie could carry being Spoiler, Robin & Batgirl, each costume & persona giving her the ability to to show a facet of her character. Limiting her to one aspect of herself would be a great disservice, because she is more than a Spoiler, more than singular sidekick, more than a Legacy (Cluemaster and Bat), she is a friend to the whole Batfamily.

[@macuna1995]

I think I prefer *complementing Dad Batman* over "dark and serious" Batman.

[@michaelfabian7825]

If I ever become a show runner for a animated Batman show, your my first choice to voice him. Maybe the first episode will be a Lois marries Bruce story 🤔

[@DaJackCracker]

Ah, I fondly remember the time Cassandra Cain was beaten and drowning to death only for Stephanie's ghost to visit her from the afterlife and inspire her to get back up.

[@ProjektTaku]

you know, I always imagined that after stephanie became robin, tim would become spoiler, and then batman and steph would go something like: Steph: "So, do you think he'll stay as spoiler." Batman: "Well, he does meet the "I had a falling out with bruce so I'm going solo" criteria, but his name isn't related to a past traumatic event, although then again, after jason came back to life he did also adopt someone else's identity. Well it doesn't matter, since I have you as a new robin." Steph: "You know, maybe this robin thing wasn't as great as I thought it was." Batman: "Oh, so your going solo? Fine, they have plenty more children in the orphanage."

[@padenal6069]

This story segments you mentioned could've been amazing if that Jason parallel was strengthened Something very important to Bruce's mindset here that you didn't mention is what he says when he introduces Cass to Jason. They visit Jasons grave on what should've been his 18th birthday. Bruce shows genuine sadness when he explains how Jason will never get to do any of his favorite things ever again. He then ties Steph to Jason and says that she is too much like him and it scares him. That's why he doesn't want her being spoiler. So here we have a Bruce who just recently mourned his son's birthday at a graveside. He misses Jason and somebody shows up acting just like him in a Robin costume. He enjoys the energy for a while because it's nostalgic for him. But then she disobeys an order and with the Jason parallel it makes sense that he fired her. It's not unfair, it doesn't matter what the other robins have done in the past and gotten away with. She reminds him too much of Jason to stomach her disobeying and going missing. Because yeah after she disobeyed he had to find her and i can't imagine how much regret and trauma he was feeling as he was searching for her.

[@estebanzabalagomez7976]

The Batman voice is perfect!

[@overthinking2621]

I really enjoyed Stephs time as batgirl and her time as robin worked well in term of establishing relationships. That being said the only way it makes sense is if you see Batman as a really shitty person and that seems like a ridiculous way to write a hero. (Also It would have been great to see her with cass more cause their dynamic is great)

[@targetdreamer257]

Wow I absolutely LOVE Sasha's Batman voice. LOL! Love it!

[@JRuben-dw5gc]

Can we get a full episode in the bat voice?! All my future batman comics will be read in that voice in my head.

[@andyenglish4303]

When Batman said "Tim could lift twice the weight at this stage of his training" I really wished she'd said something biting and sarcastic to that and it feels really out of character that a smart ass like Stephanie didn't. "Sorry I don't have as much testosterone as the teenage boys you normally train," or "Yeah, funny, my dad was going to get around to putting together a home gym but we didn't have the money due to the hospital bills from all the times you put him in traction."

[@paultapner1896]

I had forgotten how good Andersen Gabrych was on the bat books. Bill Willingham...was great on Fables. On Robin not so much. You know how sometimes it feels like people do things because the plot requires it, not because their character would do it? The hiring and the firing felt like such. Damion Scott's art was always...interesting. Some of his panels are great. Some look a bit messy. No wonder Batman says good girl because she looks like a doll in the particular panel. I had no idea though that Cluemaster of this time was a reboot, I always assumed he was an original creation. So a video on the original would be equally educational...

[@ncprime9447]

I freaking loved the Stephanie Brown Batgirl run. She was so much fun in that.

[@keythirteen]

Stephanie Brown was one of the reasons I got interested in DC Comics. Thanks, Comics Wiki.

[@frogmouth2]

I’m imagining an alternative timeline where instead of writers killer her off, she just became spoiler for good and do her own thing. Maybe her and Tim hold a steady relationship and eventually get married. It would help with the part of Tim Drake’s identity as “the robin with the lesst baggage” and it could be a neat dynamic. And maybe they could take a break from eachother for a couple issues and he dates Bernard.

[@phantomdriver2010]

I always thought of Stephanie as the forgotten Robin. Whenever discussions of the Robin mantle come up she is always the one that isn't mentioned

[@millernumber1]

Steph is amazing as Robin, Batgirl, and Spoiler, and I love them all intensely. Thanks for such a great vid!

[@jgrayson1940]

Please write that fanfic, and post somewhere I can read it. Love Steph, need more content. I believe in you!

[@g.i.f2695]

How to avoid the Bat Family except from signal, Go out during the day

[@CulturePhilter]

It was actually this arc that first got me regularly reading monthly DC comics. I had recently started venturing into comic book shops for first time to pick up Buffy Vamp Slayer Spin off comic ‘Frey’ and I saw a cover with Stephanie on cover in Robin outfit with “the girl wonder” and that hit me wanting to know what was going on there, so I bought it.

[@jmiles86]

I wish steph had more time as Robin but I liked her more as Batgirl, but I'm pretty sure I'm bias because I read her Batgirl comics

[@JAbell1966]

Steph has been my favorite modern character since her first appearance as Spoiler. I was thrilled when she got the Robin promotion but it ended much too fast and much too gruesomely.

[@dataweaver]

What's not explained here is _why_ it was decided that Stephanie was going to die. Ultimately, it boiled down to the fact that the new editor on the Robin series didn't like her. It didn't matter that she was developing a healthy fanbase; she had to go. At the time, I blamed the writer, Bill Willingham. But years later, I read his side of the story: he had nothing to do with the decision to kill her, but had _everything_ to do with the decision to make her Robin: he suggested it because he wanted to do something positive with her before she died. And when sales figures for her first issue as Robin started coming in and showed that she was a hit, he tried to suggest that she continue on as Robin. But the aforementioned editor was having none of it: she was marked for death, and that wasn't going to change. Stephanie isn't the only one that this editor screwed over. He also screwed over Tim Drake. When he took over the book, the characterization of Tim changed drastically; he stopped being presented as a basically good kid who tended to get in over his head but always managed to think his way out, and became a devious schemer. During the time of the previous writers, it was also established that Tim was the sanest of the Bat-family; indeed, the previous writer, Jon Lewis (the guy who wrote Robin #101), described him as the Robin who dealt with tragedy in a healthy way: when him mother died, the grieved for her, but then moved on. It was also established that Tim didn't view Robin as a calling; he viewed it as a job, something that he would eventually set aside when the time was right. The new editor interpreted that as Tim being wishy-washy, and that he needed some serious tragedy in his life to make him more like Batman. That was the other motivation behind killing off Stephanie Brown: to motivate Tim. (WiF) He _also_ decided to kill off Tim's father over in Identity Crisis in order to make him an orphan like the other Robins; but that's a whole other rant. As is the fact that this same editor was responsible for YJ/Titans: Graduation Day a few years earlier, destroying the lighthearted Young Justice where Tim had a chance to hang out with friends and just goof off, and replacing it with Geoff Johns' Teen Titans (now with 120% more angst!). The editor responsible for all of this? Dan DiDio.

[@chrislail3824]

It would have been more interesting to partner her with Barbra, a Robin for Batgirl. Plus they could have her fill in as Batgirl as needed.

[@Killgore-ip2yq]

It really does suck Stephanie Brown never got a longer stint as Robin because she had a amazing look as one 😍. It was nice though DC to include her as a Robin in that Robins series though.

[@maskedhombre625]

I remember reading the Detective Comics and Robin issues with Steph Robin while I would go to Walden Books.

[@jimgillespie6109]

The Cage shirt is fantastic! As for the Robin situation, I've already stated that Dick is the only Robin (just as Bruce is the only Batman, Clark is the only Superman, etc.). The only "big event" DC could have to get me back would be to "unweave" the timeline of the past 30 years or so (so, mostly the post-Crisis stuff) and "reweave" it to reestablish the classic versions of their characters, including the much smaller Bat-Family, which would help reestablish Batman as a mysterious character. Having multiple Robins, Batgirls, and hangers-on takes away the mysterious aspect of the character that he needs to plausibly survive in his world. Jason, Tim, Stephanie, and whoever else would be placed into timelines where they lived simpler, more typical lives with their loved ones.

[@Groovebot3k]

Okay I just thought of this: What if they had JD & Elliot'ed all of this and we'd have had *two* Robins at the same time? Like yeah Tim's family pulls that really dumb bullshit, and Steph gets picked as his replacement because of Batman's pettiness (which if we're honest he totally has in him), but then Tim blows up at his family, comes back into the fold, and Bruce decides "fine; two Robins means more justice is dealt anyway". They have a whole awkward dynamic, sniping one another with the kind of quippy sitcomic energy folks like to imagine can happen when two coworkers who used to date still work together, but they're both really good at watching each others backs and complimenting one anothers' skillsets so it all works out even as Bruce grouses his way through caper after caper. Eventually their friendship is fully recovered, maybe their relationship is even fully mended, and it leads to this whole other elseworlds where the two become Batman and Batwoman?

[@markthomas503]

Loved, loved, loved Stephanie as Batgirl!! That was a great run! And l enjoy her friendship with Cass and their games of rooftop tag! Stephanie is a great character...unfortunately, most of the writers a t DC just aren't good at writing female characters. Stephanie makes every story better!

[@IndieHypeMan]

I remember reading that arc as it came out, I worked at a comic shop. Everyone was a bit confused by the whole thing.

[@Brilchan]

I adored how the Nolan Batman voice became the the fav Batman fan voice of the internet thanks for the fun video

[@ScreamingScallop]

Orpheus: "Yeah, tell me alllllll about characters who get created just to be killed off."

[@TwistedChungus]

Kole and Terra would also love to know.

[@RushedAnimation]

She's still my favorite Batgirl

[@dallasgrey4247]

I think the problem with Stephanie's time as Robin was that they (DC) shoehorned it in just fo her death in War Games. What they should have done is let her period of Robin go on a bit longer, so we would think that this is the new status quo for Robin, making her death so much more impactful. Her death was really rough.

[@stephanberger3476]

This is so well written. The right balance between content and fun delivery. The lisp, however, kills it for me.

[@juliusmaloney]

Stephanie Brown is my favourite Batgirl after Barbara Gordon (who I much prefer in her Oracle guise). I’m so glad to see her back in Infinite Frontier, it’s been too long! 🦇

[@WeFergie]

Another great vid, which raises a question or two. Was Tim or Stephanie a Lois Lane ex? I really liked Stephanie's time as Batgirl, especially the friendship with Kara.

[@Tubahater43]

"Yes one of them is John Travolta..." Goddamn that got me good 😂

[@benry007]

Loving the batman voice. I hope you get to voice him the next time they make another batman cartoon😁