#idc!

Hey Dude! That’s not a Button it’s a UsserrBarrrr And they’re Fairly Easy 2 Make! Things You’ll Need:

Userbar Frame

Animated Shine

Ibis Paintx

IMAGE OF YOUR CHOICE!

first step, import your Image

Then You Crop Your Image in the Userbar How you’d Like, Then put whatever Words You’d Like on it.

Now, you might be thinking: “Tumblr user a-bad-case-of-the-stephs, what POSSIBLY could you have to complain about! You’re always saying ‘I miss Stephanie Brown’ and ‘Where is my daughter Stephanie Brown’ and such things. Now she’s here! You should be rejoicing!”

Well, for one, I am! Stephanie brown, on her own, not in a panel of miscellaneous bats, speaking lines of dialogue, in 2025!! I’m happy for her!! I’m overjoyed at Proof that Steph has a degree of remaining relevance!! However I would be even happier if she was a smidge more in character!

Now, you might be thinking: “but tumblr user a-bad-case-of-the-stephs, how can that be? Didn’t Steph act a very similar way in the Robin 80 Page Giant when she meets Black Canary for the first time? How about her similar attitude in Gotham Knights #22? you Love Gotham Knights #22! Don’t you remember Gotham Knights #22?”

I do! I promise I remember Gotham Knights #22! And the Robin 80 Page Giant! But I still think there’s a few key differences in play here! Let’s break it down.

When Steph meets Black Canary for the first time in the Robin 80 Page Giant, she’s immediately starstruck. But she’s also still distinctly Steph! Almost immediately after meeting her, Steph tries angling to be Black Canary’s partner and then, when rejected, to be her apprentice. Steph has a purpose, and her admiration doesn’t render her too shy to act like herself: she’s just as gregarious and outgoing and forthright as always.

And this continues on when Steph completely uninvited returns to Dinah’s the next day, and makes her case to learn from Black Canary again. And, when rejected again, she keeps pushing, and when Dinah brushes her off again, Steph is still at it, offering to do her errands. When Black Canary finally assents, Steph leaps to start, asking ‘What do we do first?’. Noticeably, Steph’s core characteristics (her stubbornness, her defiance, and her determination) are intact and in play. Her admiration of Black Canary makes her giddy and overeager, but she is never cowed and her actions are all rooted in who she is.

“But tumblr user a-bad-case-of-the-stephs!!” You might cry, “there’s a big difference here! Steph doesn’t already admire or even seem to know of Black Canary until they meet! Sure she’s awestruck by meeting a female hero she looks up to, but it’s not the same situation at all!”

And you’d be right to say so. Damn, if only we had an example of how Steph acted when meeting a hero she looked up to since childhood and who had massive significance to her.. Oh wait! The Batman!

It isn’t really useful to analyze Steph’s first meeting with Bruce in Detective #648, because from a doyalist POV, Steph’s childhood admiration of Batman hadn’t been established yet. But in the retelling of her backstory and where her childhood admiration of Batman is established in Secret Origins 80 Page Special, we also see a retelling of her first meeting with Batman, and lo and behold: turns out she is able to form a complete sentence!

“Ah, but tumblr user a-bad-case-of-the-stephs! You still have forgotten Gotham Knights #22!”

Fine, let’s talk about Gotham Knights #22 then. On first blush, the style of Steph’s dialogue seems mostly the same! She flounders with her words briefly, she rambles, and she is overeager. But let’s take a closer look at what’s different. In Gotham Knights #22, Steph is not overly apologetic. This makes sense, Steph is a character who deals with self doubt but who does not show it very openly. She is self assured and blunt and makes her decisions quickly. While she has, and does, apologize when she thinks she’s done something wrong, I wouldn’t say shes the type to apologize for a faux passé in a social situation, and I can’t see her doing so three separate times in between her handful of sentences like she does in the preview.

Additionally, although in GK #22 Steph trips over a word once or twice, she is never downright stuttering and she isn’t nearly as shy. This is another strong element of Steph’s character. She is not bashful, she is not nervous and sheepish. Even as she is obviously somewhat nervous in GK #22 she’s also distinctly herself. Steph doesn’t become any less bold.

“So sure, maybe Steph isn’t the most in character she could possibly ideally be in this - what - one page of a comic that’s not at all about her. Is that really such a big deal? If you agree she has at least acted nervously and ramble-y in the face of other heroes she’s looked up to, what’s the big fuss about?”

Well, first and foremost, I love Steph and again, am super happy to see her in something current! I wanted to break it down a little, and would probably be making a similar post talking about Steph’s history with meeting heroes she admires even if I agreed 100% with the execution here!

But also, well, because I’ve neglected to mention one little tiny detail. Context.

When she meets Black Canary, Steph is 15 years old. She’s a scrappy, fresh, a new-to-vigilanting high schooler who is desperate for some real training from someone who will take her seriously. Black Canary is the third superhero Steph had ever met at that point, the second to give her the time of day, and the very first to give her the time of day who was also an actual adult instead of a teenaged boy a year younger than her. That influences how she acts- a fucking lot.

Same goes for Gotham Knights #22: context plays a big role here. She’s been struggling to prove herself to a cold and aloof Batman since she met him, and now is her chance! She’s also still only 16, with, again, still limited experience with other heroes.

Today, Steph is no longer 15, and She’s met quite a few more heroes and she’s been a vigilante for quite a few more years. Besides that, she’s also met another childhood favorite superhero - and we all know how that went - and the disastrous result likely should’ve by all means instilled in her an inkling of a ‘don’t meet your idols’ notion. At the very least a degree more caution, or a degree less hero worship.

I’m not saying it’s impossible for Steph as an adult hero to look up to Wonder Woman, or be a little shell shocked in her presence, but I do think the execution works and fits better for the character she was at 15 than the hero in her own right she is (supposed to be) today, and for the reasons I’ve gone into above, I don’t think the characterization is quite right even for that 15 year old. So if it’s too meek, too shy, too untethered and aimless for 15 or 16 year old Steph characterization, I really don’t think it works well for an older, more experienced Steph.

And I think it matters especially because Steph’s age is still weirdly in flux, as unfortunately some comic authors (Batgirls.. cough cough) have thought of her and wrote her as a young teen instead of the adult she should by all means be.

"you have no kids"