Batwoman (Kathy Kane)

Batwoman
Real Name	Katherine Webb-Kane
First Appearance	Detective Comics #233 (July, 1956)
Creators	Edmond Hamilton, Sheldon Moldoff
Team Affiliations	The Batman Family, Spyral
Aliases	Headmistress, Katrina "Luka" Netz
Base of Operations	Gotham City
Powers	None
Skills and Abilities	Highly skilled martial artist, Highly skilled detective
Paraphernalia	Various gadgets and tools

Kathy Kane is a superheroine who fought crime in the DC Universe as Batwoman. She first appeared in Detective Comics #233(1956).

Origin

A wealthy socialite with acrobatics training and an attraction to Batman, Kathy Kane modeled herself after him, taking the guise of Batwoman to both fight crime and win his heart.

Biography

Pre-Crisis (Earth-One)

The early years of Kathy Kane is largely unknown. When she first appears, she's a wealthy socialite who was inspired by Batman to fight crime. Using her skills as a former circus performer, she hoped that by helping the city as a new hero, Batwoman, she might not only make a difference but also hoped to start a relationship with Batman, whom she was smitten with. However, Batman was constantly concerned for her safety and would often urge her to retire from crime fighting. However, she refused to stop crime fighting, with her true identity known only to Betty Kane, her niece, who would later join her as Bat-Girl (originally because Betty blackmailed her, swearing that if she didn't get to be Bat-Girl, she would tell). Bat-Girl had feelings for Robin as Batwoman had feelings for Batman, so both worked as a team to both fight crime and woo the Dynamic Duo. After a few notable adventures, the two gave up on their life of crime fighting and Kathy decided to return to the circus.

Using her fortune, she founded the Kane Circus, which she managed and performed in without incident until she found herself caught between the Sensei and Ra's al Ghul, who were targeting her due to her connection with Batman. Soon, she was murdered by the League while Batman was fighting the Bronze Tiger. Following the events of the Crisis, a time warping event, her death and much of her past were erased from history and rewritten when reality was reset.

Pre-Crisis (Earth-Two)

In the alternate reality of Earth-Two, a world where the exploits of the heroes from the 30's and 40's continued onwards, another Kathy Kane exists with a nearly identical history to Earth-One's Kathy Kane.  She worked with Batman in fighting crime multiple times but eventually Batman feared for her safety and tried to convince her to retire.

Media

A version of Batwoman appears in Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman, voiced by Kyra Sedgwick. In this storyline (which conforms to the continuity of the DC animated universe), Batwoman is a new vigilante operating in Gotham City who is willing to use lethal force to achieve her goals. She targets the illegal operations of the Penguin and crime bosses Rupert Thorne and Carlton Duquesne. Viewed as a threat, Batman investigates Batwoman in an attempt to uncover her identity and bring her (as well as her targets) to justice. In the investigation, Batman suspects three different women to be Batwoman: Gotham Police Detective Sonia Alcana (voiced by Elisa Gabrielli), Dr. Roxanne "Rocky" Ballantine (voiced by Kelly Ripa), and Kathleen "Kathy" Duquesne (voiced by Kimberly Brooks, and a thinly-veiled reference to Kathy Webb-Kane) who Bruce Wayne forms a romantic relationship with. It is eventually revealed that all three women have been posing as Batwoman with grudges against the crime bosses, each acting at a different point to draw suspicion from all three of them.