Preview Batgirl Annual #1

Benes is the cover artist but Admira Wijaya in on interiors. I like what I see here; I think this may be the best Barbara has looked since the reboot sans the Hughes covers. 

(Source: maxim.com)

DC’s Female Trinity - Undercover

Blah blah blah women don’t like superheroes. Blah blah blah superhero comics appeal only to males blah blah blah. 

So here we have the latest from WeLoveFine.com with some new licensed swag which seem to be designed for self-identified ladies who want to dress like their favorite superheroes, underneath their clothes or in appropriate sexy times. (You know, the whole awkward Wonder Woman/Superman thing in JL could actually make me laugh if Diana showed up in one of these).

While not quite as provocative, I’ve also bought seen superhero themed traditional women’s underwear on the rack at Target.

These are two pieces - pants and top and list for $40. 

WeLoveFine only has smalls. Hop over to Superherostuff for few other sizes.

But while the outfits above may be great for going to bed, this is the only thing that you should wear waking up.

Wake up, stretch your arms and announce, “the Dark Phoenix rises.”

Oh, Did You Want Batgirl Pajama Bottoms?

Because they have them at Old Navy. And these are really Batgirl not Batman with pink bat logos; the label says Batgirl (of course the logo looks like the old Cass one … )

If you are absolutely sure Barbara Gordon is your Batgirl then these, available here, are for you:

What don’t wear pajama bottoms?

From the same place as above.

Happy Bat-dreams …

Cover and Solicit for Batgirl #15

I can’t decide. Does this Bat wedding veil Barbara is wearing look better or worse than the one she wore to marry Dick Grayson as Robin? The Joke definitely looks MUCH better than Robin did going with a traditional black tux instead of just an adaption of his costume.

BATGIRL #15

Written by GAIL SIMONE

Art and cover by ED BENES

On sale DECEMBER 12 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T

• A “DEATH OF THE FAMILY” tie-in!

• With so many funerals planned, The Joker decides it’s time for a wedding!

• Barbara’s first confrontation with The Joker since he shot her is coming to a horrifying conclusion!

Solicit and Cover for Batgirl #14

I really can say nothing good about this cover.

BATGIRL #14

Written by GAIL SIMONE

Art and cover by ED BENES

On sale NOVEMBER 14 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T

• A “DEATH OF THE FAMILY” tie-in as Barbara tries to save her family from a fate much worse than death!

• Has Batgirl come this far just to fall victim once again to The Joker?

The first time Batwoman and Batgirl Joined Up

Batgirl #12, out this week, will include the meeting of Batgirl and Batwoman. But this isn’t the first time a Batgirl named Barbara and a Batwoman with the last name of Kane have met. Thirty-five years ago, Barbara Gordon aka Batgirl met Batwoman aka Kathy Kane.

I did a long post last year about how DC ended up having both both a redheaded Batgirl and Batwoman and it is a pretty convuluted tale.

But let’s instead focus on that first meeting of the two. It took place in issue #10 of Batman Family Giant.

This is actually a pretty significant story in that it explains why Barbara Gordon didn’t take the name Batwoman. But you can read about that in the post I linked to above. More important is to see these two Bat women in action together taking on Killer Moth, a giant moth and Cavalier in Provincetown.

You know I don’t think superheroes do enough leap frogging in taking on villains anymore. Let me know if this Batwoman and Batgirl leapfrog, ‘k?

This wasn’t the duo’s only team-up. Kathy Kane show up again in Batman Family and the two also appeared in two issues of Freedom Fighters together.

The original Batwoman was killed in 1979’s Dectective Comics #485 and like other Bronze and Silver Age characters was thought to have been lost in Crisis on Infinite Earths. However, Infinite Crisis brought back some Pre-Crisis elements and that combined with Grant Morrison’s merry jaunt into making everything in Batman’s history canon established that there was a Batwoman named Kathy Kane before Kate Kane. In fact, Batman Inc. #4 prior to the new 52 had Kate speaking about her:

And Kathy Kane/Batwoman still exists in the new 52 as seen in Batman, Inc. #4 (volume 2)

So that means in the 5 year timeline of the new 52 Kathy Kane became Batwoman. Retired. Barbara Gordon became Batgirl, stopped being Batgirl and then became Batgirl again (whether she was ever Oracle and ran the Birds of Prey we still don’t know). And somewhere in those 5 years Batwoman aka Kate Kane began operating in Gotham.

Whew.

The Battle of the Red Headed Bat Women! Preview of Batgirl #12

It’s finally here; the meeting of new 52 Batgirl and Batwoman. I’m kind of scratching my head as to why DC who hands exclusive previews as promotions all the time decided to throw this one up on their blog (but then again they threw up the preview for Batman #12 featuring Harper Row and art by Becky Cloonan).

Anyway, here you go Babs vs. Kate:

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Your Fingers Can Now be Superheroes; No Help from Felix Faust

I can’t promise they’ll be as fast and strong as a superhero, but they’ll sure look the part. I love seeing all the different superhero nail art at conventions and on Tumblr. But what if you don’t have time? Or the skill to put little logos on you nails. Fear not evil doer vanguishers, there is a solution!

Here from Think Geek is new nail art featuring two of DC’s finest:

Just $6.99 a piece. 

Much easier than Felix Faust’s attempt at combing fingers and superheroes:

Guest Post: Being Batman - Female Superheroes as Counterparts to Male Heroes

I hope you have been enjoying the guest posts this week while I am on vacation. Today’s post is by Pamela Bodziock who did a wonderful guest post last year about how she brought superhero comics into the library where she serves as a Teen Services Librarian. In this post she discusses why some many female superheroes are distaff versions of iconic male heroes. Her thoughts follow.

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Lauren Faust character sketches for Super Best Friends Forever

One of the many delights of Super Best Friends Forever was the varying body shapes and and faces of the three main characters. Given that superhero comics suffers from a lot of  ”same face” and boobtastic artwork where the only thing that changes is the costume its nice to see an alternative. 

Lauren Faust has posted some of her early sketches on her DeviantArt page and it gives a glimpse of how the well defined personalities of the friends first began to be developed:

Wonder Girl looks very regal in the middle sketch - as an Amazon would.

I

I love the body language on Supergirl.

You know even though I adore Barbara Gordon, I’m just going to pretend Batgirl is Stephanie Brown when I watch this from now. It’s better that way.

(Source: fyre-flye.deviantart.com)

Minimalist female superhero t-shirts by Marco Recuero

Artist Marco Recuero has created minimalist graphics of female DC superheroes from that are available on a variety of items including t-shirts and iPhone cases at Red Bubble. Recuero, who is from Spain, also offers Marvel characters including Black Widow and She-Hulk. Batgirl looks ready to kick some ass. Check out more here.