Showing posts with label Batwoman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Batwoman. Show all posts

Thursday, May 16, 2019

Batwoman: New Trailer and Vigilante City

Super busy at work today, but something cool came up on my feed. The new First Look trailer is out for the CW's Batwoman.


I have been a solid fan of the character since the 52 mini-series and her own series.  I still consider Batwoman: Elegy one of the best comics ever written.

Given the grittier street feel of the CW Arrowverse, Vigilante City is a great choice to stat her up.
Since the series has not appeared yet, let's try her out at Level 1.

Batwoman
True ID: Katherine "Kate" Kane

Class: Dark Avenger
Level: 1
Alignment: Law

STR: 17
INT: 16
WIS: 15
DEX:18
CON: 17
CHA: 16
SUR: 19

Courage: 16
Critical: 14
Death: 10
Magic: 10
Mental: 14
Poison: 12

HP: 9
AC: 5 (Batsuit)
Initiative Bonus: +3
Attack Bonuses.  Melee: +2  Ranged: +3

Move: 12
Vigilante Points: 1
Kits: Batsuit and gear, utility belt

Skills
Combat, Fighting (Martial Arts), Interrogation (+2 bonus), Intimidation (+1 bonus), Steet Smarts, Computer Skills 1, Parkour 1

Height: 5'7"
Weight: 135 lbs
Age: 26
Hair: Black / Red
Eyes: Light Green
Sex: F

Will alter some details this Fall!

Tuesday, December 16, 2014

DC Cancels Batwoman

DC is pulling the plug on the Batwoman comic with issue #40 being the last.

It is sad but not really a surprise.  Sales, and frankly the creativity, of the series has been lagging since J.H. Williams III and Haden Blackman left title in an editorial scuffle over Kate and Maggie's relationship.

Batwoman was one of the best looking comics around, great art and style from J. H. Williams III who had a very clear vision of who and what Kate Kane/Batwoman was.


As I have mentioned in the past, Batwoman was more than a distaff Batman.  She had her own mission, her own goals and especially her own demons to deal with.

I, like many, stopped buying the comic after Williams and Blackman left.  It is disappointing, but not a surprise.  Though I guess Greg Rucka is coming back to DC, so there is some hope for her future.

Well. I guess that is what RPGs are for really. To continue telling the stories of the characters we like.

More information:
http://chicasderojo.blogspot.com/2014/12/bad-news.html
http://dcwomenkickingass.tumblr.com/post/105303808536/bye-bye-batwoman-dc-comics-pulls-the-plug

Saturday, May 10, 2014

Zatannurday: DC Bombshells

The art of Ant Lucia is not only the focus of some of the new covers for this summer's DC books, but also today's Zatannurday post!

Originator of the DC Bombshells yo can see all his art and the statues of such DC Heroines and Zatanna, Black Canary, Wonder Woman and Batgirl.



The pinup covers are available in June.



But I thin my favorite one is for Batwoman.


I love that it looks like a baseball card.  Her number as 52 is just too perfect.

Thursday, September 19, 2013

Batwoman: Superbabes

There is almost something not right about stating up Batwoman in Superbabes.  First of the character would not be amused, but she is also not "Super", well at least anymore than Batman is.  And "babe" is never something she would seek out. Yes she is athletic, rich and very attractive.  She considers herself a soldier first and foremost.  Plus she has a lot of pathos that you don't see in the world of Superbabes.  She was kicked out the Army for being gay. Her mother and twin sister were murdered. She had been kidnapped. Spent most of her days after the Army in an alcohol and sex-fueled daze. And she has some father issues as well.

But there are also a lot of reasons to include her.  For starters the system includes what is obviously a "Batman" option; the Adventuress.  Also, unlike the Batman himself, there are a lot of things going on in Kate's world that make her perfect for this game. She is still learning how to be a super hero for example.

Also given the recent shake-up of her creative team it would be a good idea to showcase her here.

Character: Batwoman
Secret ID / AKA: Kate Kane, Katherine Kane, the Twice Named Daughter of Kane
Age: 24   Apparent Age: mid 20s
Origin: Adventuress (0cp)
0 CPs

Primary Stats
Muscles: 18 ("Peak")  Damage: +4 Max Press: 900
Health: 17  Regen, Combat: - Regen, At rest: 1pp/3rd  HTK/Day: 1d10
Moves: 20  Bonus to hit: +3 Movement: 8" Hittability: 8 Initiative Bonus: 2
Brains: 15 ("Remarkable")  Mental Attack Bonus: +1 Mental Hittability: 5
Will: 20 ("Forthright") Regen Rate: 1pp/2rds HTK Regen/Day: 1d6+3
Personality: 8 ("Unpleasant") Batwoman and Kate have some issue relating to others.
Looks: 18
232 CPs

Secondary Stats
PP: 116
HTK: 57
Fame: 15
Bimbo Points: 0
XP:
Level: 9
CPs: 3 left to spend

Powers
Hit Em Harder +2d6 20cp
20 CPs

Gizmos
Batsuit ("Uniform of the Bat") Obvious, hard to loose Gizmo
Invulnerabilty 12 60cp
Super Senses
- See Far Away 10cp
- See in the Dark 5cp
- Good Hearing 15cp
Go Places, Line of Sight (Grapple gun) 50cp

Batarang (free)
140 CPs


Skills
Soldier 200cp
- Acrobatics
- Demolitions
- Detect & Deactivate Alarms & Traps
- First Aid
- Fire Pistols/Rifles
- Fire Unknown Weapons
- Mechanic
- Melee Weapons
- Skydiving
- Stealth and Concealment
- Squad Tactics
- Survival
- Thief
- Trapping

Blind Fighting 25cp
Contacts (Criminal) 20cp
Interogation 30cp
Martial Artist 7 levels 350cp
Persuasion 20cp
Streetwise 10cp
655 CPs

Character Description
Height: 5'10"
Weight: 135 lbs
Hair: Red
Eyes: Blue
Skin: Extremely pale Caucasian
Unique Characteristics: Out of uniform Kate has a number of unique tattoos.

So this one was a real test of the Adventuress Origin.  Kate can't have any ability above 20 and really no super powers.  Everything comes from her own skills and the gizmos she has.
I didn't refer to her previous stats or even her official ones in DC Adventures in order to make her more "organic".  She ended up about a level higher than I wanted, but I really wanted her Martial Arts at 7 or even 8.

Links
Elegy
Unisystem
Marvel Heroic Role-Playing

Batman Wikia
DC Wikia
ComicVine

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Batwoman: Marvel Heroic Role-Playing

Note: Here is my next post for the YAM Magazine LBGT Blogathon.  I am going to go over some of my favorite characters from TV, Books, and Movies and talk about how to use them in various games.

In some cases I'll also talk about why I picked the characters I did and why I paired them with the game I did.

Today I want to focus on a character I absolutely adore, but have not devoted many posts too.  The Kate Kane Batwoman.

Batwoman: Marvel Heroic Role-Playing

Batwoman is one of the more interesting characters to come out of DC's 52 comic from a few years back.  52 is also notable for giving us a new Question, Black Adam kind of sympathetic, and making Booster Gold actually kinda cool.  But it was Batwoman that made her debut here and the character has been crazy popular ever since.

This is not the old, original Bat-woman, set up only as a romance interest for Batman.  No. Not this one.

Kate Kane, is a rich heiress. A socialite. A member of the family that "owns everything else in Gotham that Bruce Wayne doesn't". But all of that is a façade.  Kate Kane is a lot of things. She is a daughter, once was a sister. She is soldier, she is openly gay and she it the Batwoman.

As an openly gay character in the comics Kate received a ton of publicity, and not just because of that, but because she was a "Bat".  The Batman family is royalty in the comics biz.  Do anything that close to the Batman and no matter what it is, it will be noticed.

While Kate of "52" seemed to be a somewhat closeted "lipstick" lesbian, Kate of the "Batwoman" series (one of DC's best selling female lead books) isn't.  She is openly out, she has tattoos, she is a former Army cadet with a promising career ahead of her till "Don't Ask, Don't Tell".  I talked about her backgroud a lot in my review of Elegy a while back.

One of the things I enjoy about this book is that her sexuality is part of person, not there to attract or tantalize readers. Look at the cover for the upcoming Batwoman #0.  Yes, she is very attractive, and yes you about about to get a boot to your face.  Kate is a soldier, first and always.

I choose to stat her up in Marvel Heroic Role-Playing for the same reasons I often choose this game. It is because it is a great comic-book game and a great tool for role-playing interpersonal drama.  Kate is great character and there is a lot going on in her life.  Her new relationship with Maggie Sawyer and her old relationship with Renee Montoya. Her strained relationship with her father.  Her significance to the Cult of Crime (who alternately want to worship her or sacrifice her).  Her relationships with the rest of the Bat family and here working with the D.E.O.  All of this stuff combines to make great character driven drama.  You could not for example simply replace Batwoman with Batman or Batgirl in these stories.   The are different stories.  In many cases Batgirl is too smart to get mixed up in same sort of cases and the Batman would punch out the bad guys and threaten everyone else.  Kate is not as strong as Bruce, or as smart as Barbara.  So she has to be more dedicated and more tenacious.

Here she is, in her Marvel Heroic Role-Playing format.


The Batwoman

"The bat they shine in the sky... civilians think it's a call for help. The bad guys think it's warning. But it's more than that. It's something higher. It's a call to arms... I've found my way to serve."

Name: Batwoman
ID: Katherine "Kate" Kane (secret)
Affiliations: Solo d10, Buddy d8, Team d6 (Currently she is solo, she has worked with father and Flamebird before. She is best though when she has someone to work with, even if she prefers to be alone)

Distinctions:
Found my Way to Serve - Kate sees herself as a soldier in a war against crime. She applies all her discipline and training to this service.
Out Lesbian - while not out as Batwoman, this does affect her mental attitude. She had to stay true to herself, even if it meant costing her everything she had worked for.
Rich Heiress - what Kate does costs a lot of money. Also her "role" as the rich heiress is a good cover.

Power Sets
Next Level Training d8
Kate sees herself as soldier still, this is the next level of training for her.
Enhanced Senses d8
Enhanced Reflexes d8
Enhanced Stamina d8
Speed d6

SFX: Effort.  Spend 1pp to up a die in NLT power.
SFX: Second Wind. Before using a NLT Power move physical stress to Doom Pool and step Power up +1
SFX: Immunity. Spend 1 pp to ignore stress, trauma or complications of a physical nature.
Limit: Exhausted.

Uniform of the Bat d8
This is not a costume for Kate. It is her uniform, the ideals she believes in.  And the boots do not have heals on them!
Gadgets/Utility Belt d8
Body Armor d8
Batarangs (attack) d8
Swingline d8

SFX: Focus
SFX: Area Attack. Target multiple opponents
Limit: Gear


Specialties 
Acrobatics Expert d8
Crime Expert d8
Military Expert d8
Menace Expert d8
Combat Master d10

Milestones
"I'm a Goddamned Solider!"
1xp when you first enter a mission.
3xp when your loyalties to those you serve with are called into question
10xp when you must abandon your loyalties for the sake of the mission or visa-versa.

My Past Haunts Me
1xp when you first interact with your Father, Cousin Bette/Flamebird or something to do with your sister.
3xp when a member of the Cult of Crime recognizes you as the Twice Named Daughter of Caine
10 xp  when you have to defeat Alice to accomplish the mission, or abandon the mission to save your Father or Cousin.


Compared to my Unisystem build I think this is rather nice.
I have done other builds for MHRP as well:


Wednesday, September 14, 2011

DCnU the new 52: Batwoman

Picked up the new #1 for Batwoman today.
First time I have bough a comic on the day it has come out in a really long time.

It is really good.

I like the team up of Kate and Bette. I like that Kate and her Dad still have issues.
I like the banter between Kate and Maggie.

The Top Bat makes an appearance at the end, but it obvious that this is not his story.

I think I'll continue to get this one.

My only gripe is Kate is WAY too damn pale.
I know that is part of her character identity, but it looks like she has been colored in properly.

Even when she and Bette were training it looked weird.


Speaking of that scene, this is my favorite part:
Bette: Uh Kate, where's my Flamebird costume?
Kate: I burned it.

Hope JL Dark is as good.

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Happy Birthday Adam Hughes

Today is Adam Hughes birthday.  I have posted his Zatanna pics before,  but here is an awesome Batwoman.


How cool is that.  I love the pic of The Question/Renee at the bottom.

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

E is for Elegy

An elegy is a poem of mourning.

It is also the title of a 2009-2010 story arc of Detective Comics featuring the new Batwoman. In many ways Elegy is Batwoman's origin story,  but it is also the origin story of her arch-enemy and the secret connection they have.

After reading "52" I became a big fan of the new Batwoman.  She was a different character than either Batman or Batgirl.  You knew what motivated them, what caused this new Batwoman to don the cape and cowl?   Elegy tells you what motivates Kate Kane, what drives her and why she has to do what she does.

I'll let you in on a little secret, I don't actually read a lot of comics.  I pick up a collection every now and again, read some things that were popular years ago, or a trade paper-back, but I don't actually follow anything.  I am a bigger DC fan than Marvel by a long shot and I tend to watch any super-hero cartoon, TV show or movie that I can, but monthly comics, I rarely if ever read those.

I picked up Elegy since I was a fan of Batwoman.
I am very glad I did.

Elegy is not a story that could be told with the Batman or even any of the Batgirls.  It had to be Batwoman.

Before I go on I have to mention the artwork.
J. H. Williams III had been lauded for his work on this book, but I am not sure that even those do him justice.
The art work here is another layer of story telling above and beyond the great story by Greg Rucka. There are parallels drawn between the two foes that make you think that we have a rivalry to well, rival that of Batman and the Joker.  But that is the easy stuff to sell because it is so good.  The look on Kate's face when she is dumped by her girlfriend is tangible.  She says she is ok, but her look says so much more.   That is something you never see in the Batman.  Both characters are full of sadness and loss. Kate's though is closer to the surface, not beat down like Bruce has done, or she thinks she has done.  Kate is more vulnerable; not because she is a woman, but because her pain is still real to her, her multiple losses, all the reversals of fate.  She just wants to do the right thing, the honest thing, the just thing, but each time reopens a wound.  Elegy rips her old wounds open and drowns them in salt.

Ok on to the story.  Caution, Spoilers Ahead.

The story is told in flashbacks while the Batwoman is working on a new case.  The Cult of Crime is back in town and the Batman is giving his approval for the Batwoman to take it on her own.  She investigates and only turns up a few clues.
She returns home to where we meet her father, a retired Army officer, is helping her out via two way radio ala Batman Beyond.  Frankly it's a great idea, two heads are better than one.  She works out and has to rush to a breakfast date, only to get the aforementioned dumping.   With the Cult of Crime in town though she can't dwell on that.

We get flashbacks to her life at Westpoint.  She was then an up and coming officer with high marks.  Just past "Ring weekend" the young Kate Kane is brought into the Commandant's office where she is told she is under suspicion of "homosexual activity" and is asked if she wants to deny it, reminded that if she doesn't she will be expelled. Kate recites the Cadet Code of Conduct about not lying nor allowing others to do so. She admits to being gay and is kicked out of the academy.


Let me go back to the art for a second.  Look at the sequence of Kate's face. She is sad, angry and then finally resolved because she knows there is only one right answer the answer is the Truth she can't deny who or what she is.  She is a Westpoint Cadet and they never lie. Neither will she.

For the first time (we think at this point) Kate has no where to go and nothing to do.  She returns home to tell her Army officer father what happened and he tells her he is proud that she stood by her honor and told the truth.  That's it.  Kate struggles a bit.  She doesn't care for her new step-mother at all (we find out her mother was killed, but that is it for now).  A chance meeting with a mugger in the streets though changes that.  She is actually about ready to beat the thug into a bit of pulp, shouting at him "think I'm some victim? I'm a soldier!" till she (or rather the mugger) is rescued by the Batman.

I want to come back to this later.  Rescued is such a loaded word here, but I use it on purpose.  I want to get to why later.

Kate then decides (between tattoo sessions I am guessing) that her new purpose in life is to be a vigilante.   That is till her father discovers.  He helps focus her attention. She trains with people he knows for the next couple of years.  He tells her if she is serious then she is going to war and in war you define your objectives and your winning strategies.  She comes back and her father has decked out their version of the "batcave" with state of the art surveillance, urban combat weapons (but the "Batman Rule" is always in effect) and a new costume done up in red and black, the colors of war in her Jewish faith (I have to take Rucka's word on that one, never heard it before, but it sounds right).  Though she is not happy with the heels on her boots.  In newer parts of the story we see they have been replaced with proper bad guy stomping red combat boots.



More details are discovered with the Cult of Crime.  But frankly at this point those details are only a means to an end.  That end is Alice.  Alice is the new High Madame of Crime and she has a very personal interest in Kate/Batwoman. She is also Joker-level crazy.  This gets to my one real issue with this.  WAY too many bad guys know all about her "Secret Identity" for a character that was introduced as a closeted, lipstick lesbian, everyone seems to know her secrets.  Alice in particular knows a lot of them.

We get up to the final confrontation.  Alice has kidnapped Kate's father and wants to us his knowledge to launch some missiles (I thought he was retired.  Maybe still active??).  So the ruse of fighting Batwoman was just to get to her father. Or was it.  Reading on it seems that was just a ruse to get at Batwoman.  Alice and Kate fight. Kate manages to stab Alice, Alice stabs Kate.  They are over the Gotham river and in a rare lucid moment Alice, no longer talking in 3rd person, tells Kate that "she has our father's eyes". She then falls to her death (seemingly).

Kate goes back to the HQ, her father begging her to stop along the way.  She takes two blood samples, hers and Alice's.  She gets them analyzed and Alice is her twin sister that she had assumed was dead for years.

In one more flashback we see Kate's life when she was a little girl living with her mom, dad and twin sister.  Briefly, she is kidnapped along with her mom and sister by terrorists.  Her father does get an army team in to save her, but shots are fired and her mother and sister are killed.
Kate dedicates her life to service to honor her Army Officer mother and twin.

When Kate gets the confirmation she goes to the Cult of Crime and tells them that if they come for her father again she is going to kill them all.
The story ends with Kate still not talking to her father.

--

There is so much happening here and I didn't even get into the relationship Kate has with mer step-mother, her dance with Maggie Sawyer, what happened with her and Renee Montoya,  or how Betty "Flamebird" Kane is her cousin.   It has been said before and it is true;  This is not a female Batman.  Kate's Batwoman is also propelled by loss and grief and anger, but they are different.  She built her entire life after her mother's death on the idea that she would be the best officer she could be and serve to honor them.  When that is removed she was lost in a way that Bruce Wayne never was.

When I said before that she was "rescued" I meant it.  She was never in danger of that mugger.  The mugger actually had more to fear from a very capable and very deadly opponent with no outlet what so ever for her aggression, anger  and sense of loss.  The Batman showing up saved her.  Not the man, but what the man stands for. The symbol.  That is why she is the Batwoman and not some other new costumed hero.

The parallels in the art in the book between Alice and Kate are amazing. I am rather disappointed in myself for not guess who Alice was sooner.

I mentioned also that Kate is more vulnerable than Batman is. Again, not because she is a woman, but  because her pain is still so fresh and her choices still weigh on her.  Because of that her heroic actions are greater.  We know she can fail, we know she hurts (and sometime physically given her chest wound from 52 is still not 100% healed) and yet she still goes out there, every night.  The Batman goes out every night because that is what he is.  Kate chooses her life, the ups and the many downs.

Elegy manages to be poignant yet not preachy. Kate certainly is not a perfect character.  She is still brash, has a chip on her shoulder and even with out the Batwoman gig she would still have troubles in her relationships (as seen with Renee). But she is trying and I think that is the reason why her series would do well.



Elegy is the best comic I have read in a very long time.  I like Kate, I like Batwoman and I want her to do well. It would make a great movie.  Maybe when Nolan is done with Batman he can turn his sights to a Batwoman.

You can read more here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batwoman:_Elegy
http://www.amazon.com/Batwoman-Elegy-Greg-Rucka/dp/1401226922/

Friday, January 15, 2010

Batgirl and Batwoman

So growing up my first super herione crush had to be Yvonne Craig's Batgirl.  Was it the red hair? The form-fitting purple body suit? Or that fact that she not only was ass-kicking heroine, but also smart as hell?  Maybe it was the motorcycle.  Either way Batgirl always had a place in my heart.



I was in college and remember reading "The Killing Joke", maybe one of the post pivotable comics in DC's history.  The Joker decided up his game and shoots Barbara Gordon, paralyzing her from the waist down.  One can argue the "Women in Refrigerators" angle here (Barbara is reduce to nothing more than a prop to get to Gordon and Batman), but the counterpoint is as Oracle, Barbara may be more powerful than she ever was as Batgirl.

There is a story out there, I guess from Paul Dini (who I am a fan of), about reviving Batgirl with a new red-on-black outfit. But that idea was rejected in favor of keeping Babs as Oracle.  I have to admit, I support that choice.  It keeps Barbara in a place where she can do some serious damage to the criminal element and it gave us a new Batwoman.

The Batwoman

In "52" when Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman were away, other super heroes stepped up to take their places. One, was a figure patrolling the streets of Gotham protecting her from Intergang.

I won't get into too much detail here, but check out her Wikipedia page for more information if you like, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batwoman.  She is also playing a major role in the on-going "Batman R.I.P./Battle for the Cowl" storyline going on currently.
Like the nearly resurrected Batgirl, Batwoman wears a red on black(dark blue?) motif that is similar to both Batman Beyond and a bit like the Alex Ross Batgirl.

The Batwoman "Kate Kane"
"I think she likes you." The Quesion to Rene Montoya

Experienced Heroine
Type: Human
Life Points: 54
Drama Points: 25

Attributes
Strength 4
Dexterity 6
Constitution 4
Intelligence 4
Perception 5
Willpower 5

Qualities
Athlete (Kate has a black belt in Karate), Attractiveness +2, Contacts (Criminal) 2, Contacts (Financial) 3,
Hard to Kill, Fast Reaction Time, Nerves of Steel, Pain Resistance, Resources +6, Situational Awareness

Drawbacks
Adversary 4 (Intergang, Cult of Crime), Emotional Problems (Fear of Commitment) 1, Mental Problems (Cruelty, minor) 1, Mental Problems (Obsession, stop crime in Gotham) 1, Minority (lesbian, Jewish), Obligation (Gotham) 1, Secret (is the Batwoman, closeted), Tragic Love (Renee, it can never really work between them)

Skills
Acrobatics 6
Art 2
Computers 4
Crime 4
Doctor 2
Driving 3
Getting Medieval 5
Gun Fu 3 (mostly CO2 propelled grapples)
Influence 2
Knowledge 5
Kung Fu 7
Languages 2 (English, Spanish)
Mr. Fix-It 3
Notice 6
Occultism 1 (she knows about magic and fought a werewolf)
Science 3
Sports 5

Combat
Maneuver; Bonus; Base Damage; Notes
Punch; 13; 8; Bash
- Knock out; 11; ; Bash
- Disarm; 10; na; -
Throw Weapon (Batarangs); 10; varies; bash or slash depending on type
- Catch Weapon; 8; na; -
- Aim (batarang or grapple); 8; na; -
- Grapple Gun; 9; na; -
Kick; 12; 10; bash
- Jump Kick; 10; 15; (add dex+acro SL to damage)
- Double Jump Kick; 9; 15;
Dodge; 13; na; Defense action
Grapple; 15; na;
- Wrestling hold; 11; na; must grapple first
Feint; 11; na; add SLs to next action
Parry; 13; na; Defense action
Wall Flip; 10; na;

Batwoman is like Batman without all the angst. We don't know why she fights crime yet, but she has the tacit approval of Batman (Robin gave her a "real" Batarang).

Katherine "Kate" Kane on the other hand is the rich heiress of the Kane real estate empire. No one, for now knows her two secrets. That she is Batwoman and lesbian, save for Rene Montoya.

Some links
Another (older) blog post covering some of the same ground. http://thewastebasket.blogspot.com/2006_06_01_archive.html

Adventures in Nerdliness named Yvonne Craig as their #1 Nerd Girl of Note.