10 Things Everyone Forgets About Batgirl

9. The Death Of Stephanie Brown

Batgirl Barbara Gordon Jim Gordon
DC Comics

When Jack Drake found out that his son Tim was Robin, he made his boy give up the cape. Tim was forced to live a normal life. Having been previously told the former Robin’s identity by Batman, Tim's girlfriend Stephanie made a surprise visit to his school and caught him in a compromising but ultimately innocent position with another girl. Believing that he was being unfaithful again, Stephanie left in anger and put her frustrations in another direction.

Steph created a homemade Robin costume, stormed the Batcave, and demanded that Batman train her. Despite past bad experiences with her, Bruce agreed, and after months of intense training he gave her a proper Robin costume and took her on patrol... and for a time, she was an effective Robin.

However, in Detective Comics #796, Stephanie was captured by Mr. Zsasz and he used lethal violence against her. Later, she disobeyed Batman in the field and he fired her, saying he couldn’t trust her.

In an effort to prove herself, Stephanie tried to implement one of Batman’s long-range plans to eliminate Gotham’s criminal underworld. It quickly spiraled out of control and started a gang war, and Stephanie was captured by Black Mask and tortured for information on Batman. Although she escaped and made it to Leslie Thompkins' clinic, Stephanie died from her injuries.

It would later be revealed that Brown's death was faked and later returned to action after recovering in Africa.

Contributor
Contributor

John Wilson has been a comic book and pop culture fan his entire life. He has written for a number of websites on the subject over the years and is especially pleased to be at WhatCulture. John has written two comic books for Last Ember Press Studio and has recently self-published a children's book called "Blue." When not spending far too much time on the internet, John spends time with his lovely wife, Kim, their goofy dog, Tesla, and two very spoiled cats.