Stephanie Brown: Spoiler/Robin IV
Tuesday, August 26, 2008 at 02:40AM I was a fan of the DC Comics character Spoiler from the first time I read a comic with her in it. I believe it was Robin #3. Since then, I tracked all three of her previous appearances in Detective Comics #647-649, where her first outing as a costumed vigilante was told. Spoiler is pretty much the only non-powered teenage vigilante that wasn't a derivative of anyone; especially not a male hero. I created this visual Costume History of Spoiler as my own entry in the grassroots online support to bring the character back from her apparent death in the War Games storyline. This piece shows the evolution of her costume through the 90's and into the present decade, including many of the looks that artist Pete Woods gave her during his lengthy and classic tenure on the Robin title.
Spoiler was always a favorite character of mine. She is determined, headstrong, fun, and comes from a blue collar background. She doesn't have millions of dollars and isn't one of the privileged rich kids living off of Bruce Wayne's money. Her dad was a supervillain, the Cluemaster. Her tenure as Robin was brief, but memorable. I am happy that DC Comics has brought her back from "the dead" under the pen of her creator, Chuck Dixon, and I hope her character continues to shine in comics for years to come.
Spoiler and Robin ©DC Comics 2011
Artwork, Batgirl, Batman, DC Heroines, Dc Comics, Illustration, Prismacolor, Robin, Spoiler, Stephanie Brown in DC Comics, Illustration
Reader Comments (2)
You are one of maybe five people that has mentioned Stephanie's blue collar background. It is such a defining part of her character and most people don't even notice that she made her own costume, worked in fast food, and bought her spy gadgets at "Radio Hut". This makes her a hero anyone with an eagerness to make things right can be.
Very nice picture btw.
StephsVoice
[Spoiler is alive and real in my world]
http://www.youtube.com/user/StephsVoice
Yes - I loved the Spoiler, too. She was fantastic. You hit the nail on the head in saying she's not a derivative of anyone - that was so appealing, especially in the Bat-world. When it comes to all the other Bat-people they all come back to Bruce, but Steph was on her own, and that was so great. It's one of the reasons I really didn't like her working as Robin. I hated her tenure as Robin, but mainly because of the writing. It all felt temporary - Bruce never gave her as much rein as the other Robins, and then got upset when she didn't do enough. He never committed to her as Robin, and I couldn't either. I'm glad she's still "alive", but I do wish she were back in the Spoiler costume.