i found a book that i used to read a lot of as a kid, The Essential Batman Encyclopedia by Robert Greenberger. i got it at a library book sale as a kid and read this thing until it is in some places tearing to shreds because of how much i read it (yes i was a kid deriving joy from reading an encyclopedia, leave me aloneeeeeee). but anyway, this encyclopedia was published in early 2008 (and new entries into it stopped in september 2007), which is obviously a weird time as a stephanie brown fan because she had not been retconned back to life yet. i didnt know anything about steph at the time that i got the book, but being a steph fan now i wanted to check and see what this book, and by extension dc editorial, were saying about her before they brought her back. i have tried to find as many notes about steph as i can, but it is entirely possible i have missed some things along the way (there is no appendix to cross reference.)
lets be clear about the scope of this: this is an encyclopedia largely written by one person, but as the acknowledgements attribute a person who was pulling knowledge from DC's staff and archives as well as asking questions and getting infor from a number of comics writers. all this is to say, is this book the be all end all of what is canon? no. it is, however, a database published and supported by dc comics, so im choosing to see it at least in part as the official views of the company at the time of publishing, with the caveat that of course different writers and editors will have different views on these things. i am showing you these details from these pages because i think they are interesting to note within the frame in which they are published and i am intrigued by their implications. do with that what you will, this ends my disclaimer.
lets start with a big one: This book officially considers Steph to be a Robin. this may be an odd thing to have to include, but consider that frequently after steph's death, multiple writers and editor dan didio refused to consider steph a real robin. i think its noteworthy that this book does. the gigantic entry for Batman includes a sub-header called "The Relationship with Robin(s)", it is separated by the names of robins bold and italicized, and right after tim drake is the entry for stephanie brown. heck, her entry is nearly as long as his. however, her entry is not exactly flattering. it is as follows:
"Batman never thought Stephanie Brown had what it took to be a member of his team. He tried to train her and even asked the Birds of Prey for help. Stephanie proved to have desire and spirit, but she lacked the keen mind and athletic skills needed to be the exceptional crime fighter Batman's mission demanded. When she lobbied to become the fourth Robin, Batman accepted her and drilled her harder than he had her predecessors. Unlike the others, he never revealed his identity to her or entrusted her with many secrets. Largely, that was a result of his belief she would not live up to the role and the blind obedience it demanded. She proved him right and was fired. They remained estranged until she lay dying, a victim of Black Mask's torture. Batman was filled with grief and guilt for not working harder to make her dream a reality."
Steph shows up in a few entries throughout this book, but they all tend to follow this general pattern that holds with how the company usually views her situation: They state that she has "More Heart Than Skill" (most entries term it this way), Batman didn't trust her with his secrets and believed she would disobey him and not be good enough, she proves him right, starts the gang war, and she dies. the misogyny is as present here as it is with usual company attitudes towards steph, but i want to highlight two things about this particular entry.
First, I'm really interested in the notion that Steph received the most difficult training of any robin. im well aware of the difficulties she faced in terms of Bruce constantly comparing her to Tim, but like. as far as we are aware, steph's training with bruce was never the problem during her time as robin, it was his need for her to obey. steph was given 3 months of the hardest training any robin had ever received, and for all we know she was doing well. the idea that bruce fired her not out of a lack of competency (yes i know the rest of the entry is implying her incompetence but im ignoring that due to the writer and dc's misogyny) but just out of a need to control the situation, control her, is reaaaally juicy to me.
The second point here is the ending, Bruce's apparent grief over "not working harder to make her dream a reality". i am so intrigued by this because like, the entire aftermath of war games is trying to not show this. so much of the aftermath of war games and war crimes is dc comics tripping over themselves to have every character steph has ever met blame steph for her death. i am very interested in the idea that amidst all that, after bruce manipulated steph so much in trying to bring tim back as robin, like. the idea that after all that, bruce wishes he had done more to make her a robin for real. i want to imagine him sleepless one night after firing her, so so lonely, wanting to send her a com message asking her to come back. like, realizing that by firing he had sent her to her death. god, war games would be in some ways marginally better if we had actually gotten to see something like this from bruce. i wish the writers hadnt killed steoh to begin with but like. in a world where they did kill her, i wish they had thought of this.
moving on, we get to cass's entry! cass' space doesnt say too much about steph, but it does have the following:
"A friendship blossomed with Spoiler, although Cassandra had a habit of giving her friend a concussion rather than let her participate in battles she was clearly unprepared for."
NO NO NO CASS NOT THE CONCUSSION NERVE STRIKES!!! as if the jaw fractures weren't enough... cass is gonna give steph cte.... post concussion syndrome stephanie brown... oh wait, whats that im hearing from steph's entry?
"Batgirl liked Stephanie a lot but protected her by frequently giving her a mild concussion to prevent her from endangering herself in critical situations"
oh its ok, its only a MILD concussion. crisis averted.
one weird thing about cass and tim's entries is that neither mention steph's death being part of the reason for their move to Bludhaven? like i know it wasnt the only factor, but for cass the only justification they gave was that they were "In the wake of a devastating crime wave in Gotham...". just kind of odd to not mention it
this book weirdly glosses over arthur's abuse and crystal's addictions? i guess its because crystal doesn't even have an entry, and both of these factors are only really developed towards stephanie, who this book would likely consider a fairly minor character. however, the book does later mention the fact that one of steph's babysitters tried to rape her and he later died of an overdose, so like. it clearly cares enough to mention some stuff but not others. this book also affirms that dc sees the brown's financial situation as being one of struggle. arthur's entry says he turned to crime to pay the rent, and steph's entry mentions that her family "enjoyed a middle-class life until Arthur's television series was canceled. They spiraled towards poverty until he adopted a costume and gimmicks to begin a crime soree to provide for his family." which like. why is it trying so hard to portray arthur as a good father, or at least one who wants to help his family??
Tim's entry is more of the same, but it does make sure to characterize steph as "desperate to find affection and approval" , and "craved full acceptance [as a crimefighter]". weirdly, the book says here that steph's motivation to stop her dad was "in an attempt to retain some semblance of a family"?? its a bit of an odd one.
Steph's own entry provides us just two more points. Firstly, in regards to her Robin training, it says she "absorbed more than thought possible. In addition to her successes, she also did as he expected, saving his life by disobeying an order." so for one, im glad they acknowledge that she broke the rule TO SAVE HIS FUCKING LIFE, and secondly, i was right earlier! she was succeeding! she was receptive to the training! he trained her harder than any other robin, and SHE. WAS. DOING. WELL! i find many ways to be mad at bruce, and this is one of them. let her stay!!!!
secondly, we get to her actual death. the book says "[Catwoman] took the dying girl to Dr. Leslie Thompkins for treatment but her injuries were too severe and she died, the Dark Knight at her side. In one account, Thompkins so disapproved of what had transpired that she allowed Spoiler to die, but the events of Infinite Crisis wiped that from reality." i truly had no clue that Infinite Crisis was the justification for the steph retcon. like i guess its the best way to do it? i just had no idea. thats wild. that basically makes steph's resurrection as much a result of reality warping as jason's.
thank you for staying with me on this! i have one final note that is just an addition from me; this book repeats "more heart than skill" so much for steph that part of me was fucked up and evil and thought what if steph had a memorial case and this was the epitaph bruce put and when she came back she got sooooo rightfully angry about it. just a final silly from me. thanks! love yall! good night!
P.S. let me know if yall want me to look at anything else from this book! its an odd one! id be happy to provide pics or transcriptions
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