InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "wouldn't you like to know"

nevermore999 (nevermore999) wrote in scans_daily,
@ 2009-03-11 19:44:00

Entry tags:

char: batman/bruce wayne, char: cluemaster/arthur brown, char: robin/red robin/tim drake, char: spoiler/robin/batgirl/steph brown, creator: tom lyle, publisher: dc comics, series: super steph series

Super Steph Series Pt 1- Detective Comics 647-649

Hey al! It's the return of the Super Steph ~~Upload~~ Series. When I first joined s_d, after inundating with (very poor) TTG scans, I inundated it with Steph scans. Those were good times, there was lots of Steph discussion, and I even got a few people to check out stuff with her in it and like her! (Or so I was told!)

Anyway, a total of two people responded yes to my question of if I should repost it, but I'll give it a shot anyway. This time, it will all be in chronilogical order, and I'll include some scans from other stuff besides Robin, to get the site's archive goin' good.

We start with Steph's first appearance

Context: The Cluemaster is out of jail and has been cured of his obsessive need to leave clues. He hooks up with some random gang so he is able to do his illicit activities CLUE FREE. BUT. Commissioner Gordon mysteriously receives a CLUE. He shows it to Batman and Robin of course. IF ARTHUR BROWN HAS TRULY BEEN CURED, WHO IS SENDING THESE CLUES?

Yep, there's Steph. In a nifty nineties outfit. I like her earrings. And shoes. If you compare, Batista's Steph looks a lot like this one in the face.

so he went all the way back here to get reference for Steph to give her the proper look when she returned. Neat!

Anyway, Bats and Tim are puzzled by the clues.

I know I should be worried for Steph's Mom, who does not look well at all (prescription addiction will do that to you), but I'm more worried about how Steph's glove is clearly some sort of alien parasite that has become one with her hand.

Meanwhile, Arthur continues his heist.

First appearance of Spoiler! So, after this, Batman and Robin got to harrass Arthur (figuring out his name, being detectives and all) and one of the gangstas sees it. So the leader, Wiley Cutter, turns of Arthur but BAM...Arthur takes him down by putting some, uh, gooey pink stuff on the poor guys face so he can't breathe and the guy dies and Arthur takes over the gang. Unfortunately for him, Steph is listening... and she continues sending various riddles to the police, and by extension, the dynamic duo. Three of her riddles: "It closed when it's open, and open when it's closed." "It's a kind of jam that's not on bread." "Where lumberjacks go shopping."

Okay, so, Arthur comes up with the clever plan of dressing that guy he killed up like him and tying him to a chair with tape recorder and making him go all explodey so it looks like Arthur is dead. While Batman and Robin are investigating this, Tim spots SOMEONE hanging around and takes off after them.

One thing I like about Steph is she's always creative using her surroundings to aid her in a fight. Since she lacked gadgets at first, it was kind of a neccessity.

Also, there will be a lot of Steph and Tim hitting each other as time goes on. It's how they express affection, I suppose.

Tim likes it when girls hit him in the face with bricks. He is a strange boy.

Tim sulks about the fact Steph completely owned him. He's going to have to get used to this.

Ha ha, Alfred knows how it is. (And yes, Tim's hair is the thing of nightmares)
But he did see Steph's face, and uncovering people's Secret IDs and then rubbing it in the person's face for the REST OF THEIR LIFE happens to be Tim's secret superpower. So Steph is screwed.

God, Tim has horrible fashion sense. And Steph apparently has a part time job at..."Burger Haven." Poor girl. And how did Tim find her house?

Clearly, Agnes Bellinger is supposed to be Steph's mom. But War Crimes renamed her Crystal Brown. Just another one of the many, many horrible mistakes that book made. I mean, it makes SENSE for Steph's Mom to have her maiden name, she's dumped Arthur, why would she keep his last name?!

Tim sure knows how to pick up girls. And I love how he did his little bat finger steepling while sitting on that tree branch.

NOTE TO TIM: When you jump from the sky onto someone's bike while they're driving, they WILL PROBABLY LOSE CONTROL OF THE BIKE IN SHOCK. It's good thing there wasn't a brick wall nearby.

Interesting how hostile Steph is to Tim here (though she demonstrates her trademark snark). All business. Next time she shows up, she quickly develops a crush on him.

And I guess her original nickname for him was "birdboy" before she switched to the more affectionate "Boy Wonder" (And various variations depending on the situation "Boy Virgin", "Boy Wonderful", "Hound Wonder"...Steph is full of them)

Oh, hai, look, Batman's being nice to Steph. Don't get used to it, sweetie.

And so the exclusion begins...they wasted no time obviously.

So the plan involves them robbing some charity function at a mall, where TWO MILLION DOLLARS will be. I have no idea why people in friggin' Gotham keep having these charity events with huge amounts of money on display and not expect to get robbed.

Um, aren't we being a tad hypocritical, Mr. "I am Vengance, I am the Night?" Also, Steph makes good puns. Better than Dick's back in the day anyway.

So, as you can imagine, the Dynamic Duo bust up the Cluemaster's robbery. Unfortunately for him, he's got a friggin' helicopter float thing as a getaway car and jumps on there with the two mill while Tim's busy mocking this poor Chinese thug guy.

DADADA! Steph to the rescue. And Tim, you can't keep mocking random thugs and not expect them to try to kill you or something... (Also, note how Steph's suit randomly gets miscolored black at times. Sort of makes me want to see an all black "Stealth Spoiler")

...I'm not sure how Cluemaster got Steph into that headlock...she's...punching him...and appears to be missing...and then he...spins her around? He doesn't look like he was in the right position to headlock someone...ah, never mind.

!

"Don't let the Cluemaster destroy your life...leave that to me!"

(If you're worried about Tim and his stabby situation, the Gotham police shot that guy attacking him like four times before he got to stabbing. Tim looked understandably traumatized afterwards)

So there's Steph's first appearance! Next, her second appearance! In Robin, where she must stop her dad again!

(Post a new comment)

seriousfic
2009-03-11 07:20 pm UTC (link)

Alfred: "I understand that this 'mystery figure' turned out to be a young lady."

Tim: "Hm. Right."

Alfred: "And that she overpowered you."

Tim: "She surprised me."

Alfred: "Well, if you need someone to talk to..."

Tim: "I'm not Dick, Alfred."

As for 'Stealth Spoiler', isn't black supposed to be slimming? I think Steph would abandon it after Cass, Tim, and finally Batman asked if she lost weight. Or kept wondering where she was. Black cloak over a black full-face mask is a good way to have people trip over you.

(Reply to this)

parsimonia
2009-03-11 07:21 pm UTC (link)

You got your account! Yay!

Steph makes good puns. Better than Dick's back in the day anyway.

And this is why I want to see Dick as Batman, and Steph as Robin. Think of all the GLORIOUS PUNS AND SNARK!

(And if they're gonna shove Cass out of the family, then Tim can be Batgirl. (Hey, Dick wore the the Batgirl costume once, Tim would only be continuing to follow in his big brother's footsteps.))

(Reply to this)

oddpuppets
2009-03-11 07:52 pm UTC (link)

Ah, I miss this Tim here. Smart, having fun (maybe too much), and a little bit of a brat. That's a good way to write the lighter counterpart to Batman. Gee, I wonder what happened...

Um, aren't we being a tad hypocritical, Mr. "I am Vengance, I am the Night?

How is he being hypocritical? He of all people would know, and being wiser now, he would also know that you don't trust someone who has a personal vendetta on a highly sensitive mission. After all, he did that with Joe Chill, and that didn't end up like he wanted it. Experience is talking.

I like that Dixon made it so that while Batman was an obstacle for Stephanie to overcome, he wasn't an absolute bastard. He has good reasons that we, the reader, can appreciate, and also make sense in-text. He comes off a little grim but what the hey, he's Batman. That's like bitching about Superman being a little too optimistic and cheery, or Diana being far too understanding and caring.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

	nevermore999 2009-03-11 07:59 pm UTC (link)
	I don't really think I was bitching, just pointing out a bit of hypocrisy, but YMMV. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	oddpuppets 2009-03-11 08:07 pm UTC (link)
	Sorry, I didn't mean to say you were bitching, that was more in line with general comments about 'Batdickery'. Apologies aside, I think you are just a tad harsh on the old boy. Just a tad, mind. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	nevermore999 2009-03-11 08:09 pm UTC (link)
	Oh, I'm always harsh on Batman. He makes it easy, especially where Steph's concerned. I like him though. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	scottyquick 2009-03-11 09:25 pm UTC (link)
	This is someone who's favorite characters are Stephanie Brown and Cassandra Cain (among others). It's hard not to be harsh on Bruce. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	bluefall 2009-03-11 09:55 pm UTC (link)
	Heh. My LCS lady asked me once why, if I bought all the other Bat-titles, I so rarely picked up Batman. I said it was exactly because I bought all the other Bat-titles. I like Bruce's supporting cast far too much to be able to like Bruce (rare DCAU!like moments excepted). (Reply to this) (Parent)

	merseybeatler 2009-03-11 08:40 pm UTC (link)
	Gaaahhhh what IS it with Robins and embarassing hair?! There's nineties hairspray Tim. There's Steph with her spikey anime hair. There's Dick with his post-Robin mullet. There's Carrie Kelly with her absurd orange pompadour. There's the ginger Jason. And then there's bald!Tim again from a couple of months ago. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	bluejaybirdie 2009-03-11 08:46 pm UTC (link)
	Awww, I liked Steph's spiky anime hair. It was impractical, sure, but fun! And it seemed to fit her personality. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	merseybeatler 2009-03-11 09:06 pm UTC (link)
	Oh, it was cute, it was just kind of...inexplicable. As if she had a spikey hair piece that went with the Robin costume (which would be hilarious and awesome). I'm not really one to complain about silly hair, though - this time last year I had red Einstein hair. I can empathize. :P (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	bluejaybirdie 2009-03-11 09:21 pm UTC (link)
	IIRC, she did have a wig she wore as Robin. I love silly hair too! I dyed my tips blue for basketball a little under a month ago :D (Reply to this) (Parent)

	scottyquick 2009-03-11 09:24 pm UTC (link)
	That would be awesome. Especially if a villain yoinks it and she just slips out! (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	merseybeatler 2009-03-11 09:27 pm UTC (link)
	Like a gecko and its tail! ....Oooh, that is a disturbing image. O.o (Reply to this) (Parent)

	bariman1987 2009-03-12 12:14 am UTC (link)
	I liked Steph's hair too! I'm convinced that's why Superboy didn't recognize her when he went looking for Tim, he was used to seeing her with cowl-hair. Plus he knows a half-dozen teenage blonde girl heroes, it's easy to get them confused. (Reply to this) (Parent)

bluejaybirdie
2009-03-11 08:45 pm UTC (link)

Steph! Yay! I love her (obviously). I'm glad you're reposting these, I missed your first few over on S_D 1.0.

I love Steph's practical costume (though I am glad she lost the black thong). I've always wondered how she breathes out of that mask, but hey, comicbook logic.

Onto the actual story...I love that Steph takes no crap from Batman or Robin. It makes sense, given her backstory (she would have taken crap from her dad for years until she learned not to, so logically she wouldn't want to take it from anyone else). I hadn't read Spoiler's origin story before, and it's cool to see how it set up so many of her defining characteristics (the snark, the determination, etc).

(Reply to this)

dr_hermes
2009-03-11 09:47 pm UTC (link)

How is Stephanie's mother refilling a prescription that often? If it's a medication that harmful or potent, the pharmacy is not going to refill it more than a day or two ahead of schedule (and most won't even do that).

Unless possibly she has fraudently obtained multiple scrips from different doctors (as Rush Limbaugh?), but that's not mentioned and I think computer checks from the pharmacists catch most tricks like that anyway.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

	scottyquick 2009-03-11 10:33 pm UTC (link)
	This was published in '92, maybe the computer couldn't check it back then. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	dr_hermes 2009-03-11 10:40 pm UTC (link)
	That sounds likely, certainly everyone was a lot less security- and ID-conscious back then. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	kingrockwell 2009-03-12 01:23 am UTC (link)
	Don't wanna come off as a Richard Grayson here, but how many pages are those second two issues? i'm also trying to guess where issue ended and is it the "Wow" panel? (Reply to this) (Thread)

	nevermore999 2009-03-12 01:22 pm UTC (link)
	Second two are eight pages each. I believe that's our new limit, though I'm not positive? (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	nevermore999 2009-03-12 02:33 pm UTC (link)
	Oh, wait, it's seven. Damn! Okay, took two pages out. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	kingrockwell 2009-03-12 09:20 pm UTC (link)
	Well, seven or 1/3, so if the issues were 24 pages, then there's no issue. Anyway, great post, I had no idea Steph was even around that early! (Reply to this) (Parent)

freddylloyd
2009-03-12 11:31 am UTC (link)

You've got two pages out of order. The page when Tim is on his skateboard should follow the page when he's working on the bat-computer in his everyday clothes. You can tell by how the last word balloon on the computer page ("...be home for dinner.") segues to the first caption on the skateboard page ("I'll let you know if I'm going to be later...").

But you're not to blame. DC printed those two pages of Detective #648 out of order. I've seen scans of the original art sheets, and they were marked correctly. But somewhere along the way they got switched.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

	nevermore999 2009-03-12 01:21 pm UTC (link)
	I was always THOUGHT there was something wrong with that...thanks! (Reply to this) (Parent)