Note: This debut session for Stephanie Brown is appearing in the General Discussion – Comic Books forum as a special premiere, but most club discussions can be found in the Community Events – Fan Discussions forum. If you have not checked out that section of the site lately, be sure to give it a visit! We’re always looking for more engagement!
The Renegade Robins Club welcomes a new hero to the stage: Stephanie Brown, the Spoiler!
This month, we are taking a peek at her classic origin story!
For now, I’m bringing back the “Background” section, this time re-dubbed “Spoiler Alert!”
Click the drop-down box to learn more than you care to know!
Spoiler Alert!
Cluemaster first appeared in Detective Comics #351. He later appeared in Batman #201 & 336 in a supporting role alongside other Batman rogues.
In the early post-Crisis era, Cluemaster was best known for being a member of the Injustice League, as seen in Justice League International #23. This inept incarnation of the IL appears in various issues of JLI and its spinoffs. The team is sometimes being portrayed in a somewhat heroic light, e.g. Justice League Quarterly #4.
If you want a refresher on Tim Drake’s origin story and earliest adventures, check out these sessions from World of Bats:
The first Stephanie Brown story fits in between Robin II and Robin III.
For the lead-in to the Robin issues, you might want to backpedal and read Detective Comics #668 and Robin #1-2. These issues take place immediately after the events of Knightfall, and Jean-Paul Valley has assumed the role of Batman.
Question for Club Regulars: How does this origin story stack up against her revised origin in Batman Eternal?
General Discussion Question: Stephanie is motivated by her strained relationship with her father, the Cluemaster. Do you find this motivation compelling?
Poll Question:
What do you think of Stephanie’s debut storyline?
It’s great!
It’s perfectly serviceable.
It’s a letdown.
0voters
Thanks for stopping by! And if you want more from the @RenegadeRobinsClub, be sure to check out this month’s reading of Robin Rises!
Perhaps the wealthy Gotham elites were like, “Let’s donate our money ahead of time–and let’s use cash. That way, we can all admire our big tub of money.”
Now, it would be really funny if Cluemaster succeeded, only to discover that it’s prop money.
I kind of accept that comic book characters are just more durable than regular humans, but the telethon thing wasn’t covered by my pre-existing suspension of disbelief XD
I love both Tec 647-649 AND Batman Eternal, both for Steph’s amazing origins. I think the original story has the charm of “a tale that grew in the telling” - just a one off that became so popular that Steph kept showing up in Robin! The letters to the editor for these issues were often shipping Tim and Steph as well, which I think is hilarious (and appropriate ). Batman Eternal is a more “epic” story, with perhaps more flaws in some of the dead ending plotlines and the way the resolution is more the result of the villains’ plans than the hero’s, but it was still an amazing way to spend a year with my favorite characters. Plus, it brough be back to DC after three years of no DC at all (the n52 killed my interest with so many things, but one of the cheif things, of course, was the erasure of Steph from existence, so Batman Eternal bringing her back was landmark and extremely exciting).
Yes, I agree that Batman Eternal felt like somewhat of a return to the pre-Flashpoint era. It’s the part of the New 52 that feels the most like the Rebirth era to me.
And yeah, this first origin story feels small in comparison, but then again, most classic hero introductions are about one issue long, so maybe it’s not as small as it seems.
Coming in almost cold (I read The Court of Owls when it first came out, then stopped reading all DC), it did feel more like coming home than when I afterwards went and read most of the Bat-Line to that point. I still think it has some of the best characterizations for the Batfamily that are in it.
To answer your general discussion question heck yeah I find her motivation compelling. Its simple and clear cut without all the angst normally associated with other heroes like Batman. She just wants to ‘spoil’ her father’s plans.
As for your other question honestly I couldn’t even finish Batman Eternal because I was suffering from Synder burn out by that point. One of the few things I liked about it though was the return of Steph. Having said that though nothing beats the original origin for the character in my book.