The Dark History Of Batwoman

Batwoman has one of the most unique histories in comics. Her story begins in 1956, when Kathy Kane, the first Batwoman, burst onto the ink-and-paper landscape. Kathy is a fascinating combination of traditional femininity and daredevil antics. She totes a Bat-purse (yes, really) full of goofily weaponized cosmetics, yet she also boasts killer acrobatic and motorcycle skills. The second Batwoman, Kate Kane, rocketed to fame upon her 2006 debut. Her moniker and desire to fight crime appear, at first glance, to be just about the only things she has in common with Kathy, as Kate is a dedicated soldier, a proud lesbian, and a hard-nosed detective. 

But if you look a bit closer, you can discern a thread connecting the women who've taken up the mantle of Batwoman. That thread is a dark one, woven from trauma and prejudice both on and off the page. Indeed, Batwoman's history is pockmarked with murder, substance abuse, bigotry, and loneliness. In some ways, she's an even more tragic figure than Batman himself. From Kathy Kane's roots in real-world oppression to Kate Kane's shredded family ties, this is the dark history of Batwoman.

So, what happened to Kathy Kane of the Bat-purse and yellow unitard? Like so many cheesy elements of comics' awkward postwar period, she was put away like an outgrown toy. The first Batwoman was not, however, so minor a character as to disappear with zero explanation. Though she largely vanished from DC canon after 1964, the late 1970s saw something of a revival for the erstwhile heroine. Unfortunately, her return to the page didn't end well.

In 1979's "Detective Comics" #485, Kathy is enjoying quite the unique retirement. Since putting away her cape and cowl, she's become the owner of a circus. Unfortunately, the League of Assassins has decided to pay her operation a little visit, and Batman intends to find out why. Though she's troubled by the baddies who've darkened her doorstep, Kathy is delighted to see her old beau ... until a fresh group of fighters, led by the Bronze Tiger, enter the big top. After incapacitating Batman, the Tiger dispatches Kathy with a fatal slash of his knife. She manages to drag herself to her private quarters where she dies clutching her old costume. 

There's something especially tragic about Kathy's end when one considers her beginning. Who could look at her sunshiny debut and imagine that her story would end in the blood-stained dirt? No wonder Batman swears, as the cover to this issue trumpets, a "vengeance vow" in her name.

Tragic backstories are fairly common among the cape-and-cowl set, but some heroes manage to escape this curse. In many incarnations, for example, Wonder Woman gets to be an Amazon princess and the superpowered toast of Man's World. And Squirrel Girl takes on Galactus, majors in computer science, and enjoys the support of a loving family. 

Kate Kane isn't so lucky. As depicted in 2009's "Detective Comics" #858, her childhood is shattered when terrorists kidnap her, her twin sister, Beth, and their mother on the twins' 12th birthday. The girls' father, Colonel Jacob Kane, leads the rescue mission, but he's too late to save his wife and Beth. Though he attempts to shield Kate from the grisly scene as he carries her away from the carnage, she still catches sight of her mother's corpse and the apparently lifeless edge of her sister's body. 

The Kane family had stuck together through multiple cross-continental moves and countless deployments, with the two sisters forming an especially close bond after they were uprooted to Brussels for the sake of their parents' NATO posting. Over the course of one terrible afternoon, all that strength, love, and sisterhood was ripped apart.

Doing the right thing is allegedly its own reward. But after Kate is discharged from West Point for refusing to deny her sexuality, she finds herself at loose ends. As she tells her father in 2010's "Detective Comics" #859, without the ability to serve her country, "I've got nothing."

This isn't strictly true. Since her father marries Catherine Hamilton, a wealthy heiress, shortly after Kate's discharge, she certainly doesn't suffer from a lack of funds. Yet even this is its own sort of punishment, as Kate plunges into mindless hedonism in an attempt to blind herself to everything she's lost. A drunken swirl of nightclubs, flashy cars, and skipped college classes ensues ... until she drops out. Upon learning this, Kate's then-girlfriend, Renee Montoya, asks her, "What are you going to do [with your life], Kate? Waste it spending your stepmother's money, lying in bed all day, playing your d**n guitar?"

Shortly after this altercation, Kate is mugged, which catalyzes her transformation into Batwoman. Yet this period in Kate's life looms large, even after she puts on the cape. Without rigid structure, and, specifically, a way to serve, she spirals in substance abuse and self-destruction.

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Losing Beth is one of the defining tragedies of Kate's life. You'd think, then, that discovering Beth didn't die at a terrorist's hands would be a cause for celebration. But learning that Beth survived the attack that took their mother is a dark moment for Kate, which haunts her for years.

"Elegy," the 2009 "Detective Comics" arc that introduced many comics fans to Kate Kane, sees the rise of a new leader within Gotham's Religion of Crime. She calls herself Alice, after Lewis Carroll's heroine, and only speaks in quotations from that beloved storybook. But, as she reveals to Kate as they cling to an airplane's wing high above Gotham City, she's also Beth, Kate's long-lost sister. When confronted, Kate's dad admits that the body she saw wasn't actually Beth's, and that efforts to track her down proved fruitless. Kate is devastated by this revelation and the fact that her father kept it from her.

Though Kate is ultimately able to wrestle her sister free from the Gotham underworld (and move her into some fancy digs, as seen in 2018's "Batwoman" #17), Beth's grip on reality remains tenuous. The trauma she went through during those murky years between her kidnapping in Brussels and the emergence of Alice isn't easily forgotten — and neither, to Kate, is their father's betrayal of trust.

Kate Kane is a practical person. Her world is one of blood, muscle, strategy, and advanced technology — in short, not exactly the sort of place mysticism might thrive. And yet, time and time again, Kate's concrete world is invaded by magical thinking of the most malicious kind — that of murderous, criminal cults.

In 2006's "52" #28, Kate learns that Intergang, a villainous outfit with a long history, has been reborn as a quasi-religious organization with an interest in murdering her. They're very into the biblical Cain, which you'll notice is a homonym for Kane. Their Crime Bible thus dictates that she, the "twice-named daughter of Cain," must be sacrificed. They come darn close to doing so, as 2007's "52" #48 sees Kate take a knife to the heart on their altar.

The Religion of Crime then enters Kate's life in 2009's "Detective Comics" #854, led by Alice, their mysterious High Madame (and Kate's long-lost twin sister). They're also into blood and mayhem as religious rites, and they very nearly poison all of Gotham City for the sake of their twisted ideals. Will Kate ever shake her association with cults? She certainly hopes so.

Kate Kane doesn't have much trouble meeting women. She is, after all, an attractive, intelligent, and passionate person who also happens to be an heiress publicly connected to the Wayne family. Maintaining relationships, however, is something Kate struggles with, to the point that her lowest moments have often been ones where she's let yet another beautiful, intelligent, and vivacious girlfriend down.

Kate's so-so status as a significant other is established early on in her modern incarnation: 2009's "Detective Comics" #854 sees her broken up with by a disgruntled woman who accuses Kate of being a wealthy brat looking for a rebound. "Detective Comics" #859 sees her first attempt at a relationship with Renee Montoya end with Renee accusing Kate of being a privileged dilettante. Now, Renee and Kate have since rekindled things — 2018's "Batwoman" #18 sees the pair decide to give their relationship another try after they take down the Clock King together. But Kate's issues are far from resolved. Juggling a secret identity and a life in tights takes a heavy toll on anyone's love life, and Kate's is already impacted by her tendency to shrug off the realities of commitment.

Batwoman is a stalwart member of the Bat-Family — literally, in fact, as she's Bruce Wayne's cousin. But the Bat-Family is as defined by internal tension as it is by its closeness. Pretty much every member has, at some point, caused a major schism within the clan, if not broken away from it entirely. Kate is no exception to this rule, as evidenced by the 2018 "Detective Comics" storyline "Fall of the Batmen."

Tortured into violent insensibility by the villainous Victim Syndicate, Clayface rampages across Gotham City in "Detective Comics" #973. As every attempt to halt him falters, Kate — ever the soldier — grits her teeth, hefts a specialized rifle, and shoots him through the head. The Bat-Family — particularly Cassandra Cain — is devastated and outraged, though Kate stubbornly maintains she made the right call. 

The situation quickly crumbles into emotional chaos in "Detective Comics" #975. Tim Drake calls Kate's actions "cynical," Damien Wayne rolls his eyes at the whole affair, Jason Todd accuses Batman of throwing a "tantrum," and Barbara Gordon claims the trial they're putting Kate through is actually rooted in Batman's relationship with his own mother. In the end, Kate leaves the Bat-Family entirely to join the Colony, a Batman-inspired military outfit led by Kate's dad. It's probably the darkest moment in Kate's relationship with her cousin and one of the loneliest chapters in Batwoman's history.