Batwoman's full bio

Kathy Kane worked in a circus as a trapeze artist and motorcycle stunt rider. Kathy yearned to be more like Batman and use her skills to fight against crime. When she inherited a fortune from her uncle, she decided that she now had the means to become a Batwoman. Kathy bought property in the Gotham City suburbs on which resided an abandoned mine-tunnel, built a mansion over the mine, and equipped the mine in her own version of the bat-cave. Her bat-cave, or bat-cavern as it was called in one adventure, contained a crime laboratory, crime files, and a gym. Kathy put together a shoulder-bag utility-case modeled after Batman's utility belt (see Bat-weapons and equipment) and took off on her Bat-cycle to fight crime. Over the years, Batman often tried to convince Kathy to retire, implying that fighting crime was no place for a woman, but Kathy finally convinced Batman of her worth as a crime-fighter. She often teamed up with Batman and Robin, both alone and sometimes with her niece Betty Kane, who once discovered her secret identity and created the costumed identity of Bat-Girl. Batwoman also shared an attraction to Batman, and several "imaginary" stories told of how they married and had a son, who would become the second Robin.

Later in life

Kathy later did retire from crime-fighting and bought a circus, Kane's Kolossal Karnival, although she did occasionally still fight crime if needed, even teaming up with the new Batgirl, Barbara Gordon, on several occasions. In August-September, 1979, in Detective Comics #485, Batman followed up on a tip that the League of Assassins was going after Kathy Kane at her circus. He showed up just as she was attacked by the League, and Batman was knocked unconscious by the Bronze Tiger, who at that time was in the thrall of the Sensei, leader of the League of Assassins. He awakened to Kathy's scream and found her dead, murdered by two members of the League. Batman later tracked the killers to the the Sensei's lair and fought the Bronze Tiger and several of the league members. The Sensei and the Bronze Tiger escaped, but Batman captured Kathy Kane's two killers, avenging her death. In the post-Crisis world, it has not been established whether or not Kathy Kane ever operated as Batwoman. There is a mention in Suicide Squad #38 (February 1990), regarding the Bronze Tiger that, "They chose the Tiger to kill an old friend of Batman's--carnival owner Kathy Kane. Batman arrived, and while he fought the Tiger, someone else killed Kane."

Ghost

In February 1999, a "ghost" of Batwoman appeared in The Kingdom: Planet Krypton #1 one-shot, tying into the new "Hypertime" concept introduced in "The Kingdom" books. In the story, Batman, investigating a disturbance at the Planet Krypton restaurant, met the Batwoman "ghost" and somehow recognized her as "Kathy". Who knows? We may at some point see a "retcon" and Kathy Kane will be reintroduced into the Batman Family, as the "Girl-Gangbuster", the BATWOMAN!!!

Batwoman and Bat-Girl Home Page

For more info and pics check out The Batwoman and Bat-Girl Home Page for the Golden Age info and pics. http://homepages.infoseek.com/~treborred/Batwoman.html And for NEW Animated DC hero teams check out http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/dcu_anim/dcu_animated.html