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bszpak — BatSteph
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Published: 2011-08-26 18:08:21 +0000 UTC; Views: 2416; Favourites: 53; Downloads: 59
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Description
DC Comics' Stephanie "Spoiler/Robin/Batgirl/AWOL" Brown, one of my favourite characters. Over the course of her series from 2009-11, Stephanie Brown became MY Batgirl (despite my being a huge long-time fan of both Cass Cain and Babs Gordon) and I made this image as a tribute to her after her book was cancelled and she was ceremoniously de-Batted in 2011's linewide reboot. I'm still waiting for her return, DC...She started as a 3D render from DAZ Studio. I created the costume from scratch in Photoshop, and heavily reworked the face to make it look like a reference photo of Mia Wasikowsa. I created the background in Bryce 3D using textures from cgtextures.com and cars/buildings previously collected from several free 3D model collections.
This was the first image I created after a several year sabbatical from fan art.
If you like it, please leave a comment.
Stephanie Brown is © DC Comics.
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Comments: 10
WROOOOOONG! Apparently DC editorial has decided that NO ONE can used Steph OR Cass! So we need to keep them alive in awesome art pics like this one.
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I know! At the time I posted this (nearly a year ago -- and only now do I get a comment 
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Apparently not. Yeah I saw that date when I made my comment. Wish I had seen this sooner. Still it's really annoying they won't let anyone use them. the only reason I can think is because they "tainted" the Batgirl name. Because, you know, neither of them where the "true Batgirl". Even though Steph's title was MUCH better than the current Batgirl one. And I say that as both a fan of Barbara AND Gail Simone. I just liked Steph's book better.
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Barely anyone has seen this sooner, cause I only recently learned how to actually get stuff noticed here on dA.
And yeah, I agree completely -- the new Batgirl title really isn't very good. I read the first few issues (in spite of my deep misgivings) and it gave me no reason to continue. Barbara is a shadow of what she was as Oracle, and Gail's writing isn't anywhere near as sharp or fun as in BoP or Secret Six. Steph's book was far better, as was Cass's. But DC Editorial want the One True Batgirl (aka the one who was around when they were kids), so that's what we get. 
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Pretty much yeah. Actually I was thinking of this today and as much as everyone's on DC's case for being sexist for all the Starfire/Catwoman stuff they don't seem to realize the way they treat Barbara is incredibly sexist too. In fact ALL of the fans who wanted her back as Batgirl are kind of sexist.
Think about it, they wanted to bring Barbara back as Batgirl because as you said they think she's the One True Batgirl and that NO ONE else can be Batgirl. Only Barbara Gordon can be Batgirl! Except for the fact that for the past 20 or so years she's been Oracle and had amazing growth as that character. FAR more than she EVER had as Batgirl. Yet she can only be Batgirl cause that's what people know her as from outside media like TV shows, cartoons and movies.
Yet, they also keep making Dick Grayson Robin in those same media but you'll notice that NO ONE is calling for him to stop being Nightwing and going back to being Robin. It's only Barbara. Which to me says that the only way the SHE can be important as a character is by not only going BACKWARDS as a character but by being a distaff counterpart to Batman and not a character in her own right.
That seems pretty messed up, huh?
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Yes, yes, yes. Absolutely. I've seen comments like this elsewhere and it's very true. Making Babs Batgirl again is character regression. Oracle was a strong, capable, independent woman and one of the smartest and strongest characters in the DC universe. New 52 Batgirl is a young, inexperienced, borderline incompetent little girl. It's doubly annoying because Barbara going back in the field as a crimefighter (though preferably not as Batgirl, an identity she retired even before her paralysis) while ALSO maintaining her skills and activities as Oracle could potentially have been quite awesome. And it's triply annoying because while being Batgirl is a step back for Babs, it was a major step forward for Steph. Spoiler was a satellite character with more chutzpah than brains, and the sidekick of a sidekick. Becoming Batgirl was a sign of her increased skill and confidence, and of acceptance and respect from the Batfamily. Assuming we ever see her again, I rather worry that character development will also be gone.
The media issue is an irritaing vicious circle -- no one knows the other Batgirls because they're never used, not because they're somehow inferior. Yet instead of, say, promoting Cass and Steph and using them in outside media, DC just decide that Babs is clearly the iconic Batgirl and no one is interested in the others. And of course, the 'iconic' argument only applies to the girlies, unless Damien is supposed to be the iconic Robin. And yes, there's a disturbingly misogynistic double standard when it comes to male and female Bat-characters in general: after all, we have four Robins (including the one fans hated so much they voted to kill him) but two of the three main Batgirls are MIA. Even if you accept that sales on their previous books were below-par, surely both Steph and Cass have enough fans to at least anchor a team book or the like?
And we haven't even touched on the ablism issue...
Gaaah. So annoying.
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You know I want to say more to this but all I can really do is agree. That's EXACTLY the problems I've been having with the new Batgirl series. It just feels like ground we already treaded with Steph only she actually did BETTER than Barbara has so far! Honestly I just can't believe this is the same Gail Simone that made Oracle such a strong, memorable character when Barbara is now making very rookie mistakes. There's a different between being a bit off your game and never fucking playing it before! THAT'S what this series feels like right now and it's just irritating! Especially since I KNOW Simone can do MUCH better than this.
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