DC Writers Hate Bette Kane, Specifically Secret Origins This Time:
I already sent this rant to Wren (who has not seen it yet because my sleep schedule is about as consistent as the DC Timeline), but we gotta talk about Bette/Betty Kane's absolute character assasination in Secret Origins. (I'm gonna use Bette for this post, they changed the spelling after Crisis).
So for those of you who don't know: Secret Origins started in the 1960s as literally just a collection of origin stories for various DC characters (volume 1). When Crisis on Infinite Earths occurred and reset the universe for the first time, DC used the series as an opportunity to clarify the post-crisis origin of a ton of characters and teams (volume 2).
Annual #3 for Secret Origins v2 covers the Teen Titans' complete history up to that point in 1989, including the pre-crisis original series, and it stays mostly true to the original (which I read in it's entirety about a month before this).
Key word being mostly. The 70s series was riddled with silver age ridiculousness as well as a ton of executive meddling; the series changed hands between writers and editors multiple times, got canceled abruptly, then got brought back abruptly after 4 years, then canceled again after just 4 more issues. The DC writers decided to use this opportunity to retcon some of the more insane shit that went down and keep things consistent with modern day characters.
Some notable differences include Mal Duncan's whole shtick in the late issues being updated to match his post-crisis incarnation as Herald (so no sparkly disco suit), the absence of pre-crisis Duela Dent (which is a tragedy, she's hilarious), and the team being given a concrete reason for breaking up during both the cancelations (Robin called for the murder of a changeling child the first time, teenage hubris happened the second time).
. . .Also, my entire joke comic about Aqualad leaving for a week and then the team accidentally killing a guy and swearing off their powers and junk gets a MUCH more reasonable explanation. They were framed and had to act as a civilian patrol so they wouldn't get arrested until they could find the real culprit.
Now, most of these are good or at least sensible changes. They were necessary to make the current universe make sense or they fixed really dumb stuff from the OG series. You know what wasn't a good change though? One that had absolutely no reason for existing?
BETTE KANE'S ENTIRE DAMN PERSONALITY!!!
Bette's Character Assasination:
Full disclaimer that I haven't read Bette anywhere else yet. Just 70s Teen Titans and Secret Origins. But I don't have to because they made me fall in love with her in the 3 issues of the original series that she was there! Bette is an intelligent, competent, adventurous young woman who decides to join the Titans west to save people and for the thrill of the game! She's optimistic and fun-loving and extremely charismatic because of it!
This is all despite her being originally introduced as "Robin's girlfriend because we have to give him a girlfriend so people will stop sending us letters asking if Batman and Robin are gay." She was a designated love interest who still managed to be engaging on her own merits, something that I think is incredibly rare and underappreciated.
In Secret Origins though? They flattened her into nothing more than a rabid Robin fangirl! Take a look at some side-by side panels!
Dick has NOTHING to do with her vigilanteism in this incident in the original! It's all about her Aunt Kathy! You know? The other woman who was her mentor and extremely important to her?
(Teen Titans after Beast Boy and Hawk say they don't wanna work together and don't believe Lilith's premonition).
She literally does not care about Robin here! It's all about supporting Lilith (another woman) and returning to her life of heroism with other people like her!
Bette's SINGULAR statement about wanting to work with Robin actually has a lot of undercurrent going on about people comparing Bette to the current Batgirl---Barbara Gordon. She's determined to show that the original Bat-Girl has still got it and can be just as good.
Yes, her crush on Robin is part of it. But I think it's telling that you can't even tell if she still HAS a crush on Robin during this scene or if she just considers it unfinished business. Once again, the writers are choosing to completely ignore Bette's extremely interesting relationship with another woman from 70s TT as well as her own interesting thought processes and motivations in favor of making her a one-note joke about crazy lovesick fan girls.
WHY!?!?! WHY WOULD THEY DO THIS!?!?! LITERALLY WHAT WAS THE POINT???
Listen. I know you erased her history as Bat-Girl here. But that's no excuse!
Because WHY, pray tell, would you LEAVE her relationship with Robin (as mutated as it is here) who she no longer has ANY social ties to (he lives on the opposite coast for Pete's sake)---AND THEN NOT KEEP HER RELATIONSHIP WITH KATHY?!?!?! YOU KNOW? JUST THE MOST IMPORTANT RELATIONSHIP IN HER STORY AT THIS POINT?!?!?
You could have made Aunt Kathy a retired vigilante who Bette was inspired by! You could have made Flamebird a legend that Kathy learned first and told to Bette! You could have given her the tragic mentor fate and killed her off and had Bette doing this for her! Literally anything would satisfy me!
Reading Secret Origins felt a lot like reading fanfiction of the 70s Teen Titans for a LOT of reasons, but the criminal flattening of an interesting female side character is the straw that breaks the camel's back for me. Not only is it fanfic, it's officially BAD fanfic that I hate.
It has some interesting enough Lilith and Jericho moments, so I can't say this was a complete waste of time, but BOY did this one piss me off.
