The Lost Batgirl - Stephanie Brown - A Retrospective 

"Since Oracle had become such a strong character, there was no sense going back." -TRUTH BOMB.

The Bat family needs more recognition. Enough Young Batman finding his favorite gargoyle to brood on. Give us more of the Best Dysfunctional Family in Comics.

The friendship between Cassandra Cain and Stephanie is one of the best friendships in DC as the interactions between the two were fun to read.

"...The things she wants. _A relationship with Dick..._ " Grayson's name will never not be funny.

It's weird knowing for a time that Stephanie was a prominent Batgirl, with a run that had actual ending if she never popped up again, not many characters get that luxury. But as of now, her history, growth, and presence is just, not, there anymore. This could change, but I was there in those New 52 days, and the pain Stephanie fans had could be felt through a screen. (Loved her cameos in Young Justice, and Artgerm is a Art God.)

Stephanie and Damien's relationship was pretty funny every time

"I still blame Barry." So do I Sasha.

The first scene that ever got me to care about Stephanie Brown actually happened during Cassandra Cain's Batgirl run. While watching her train Steph constantly begs Cassandra for a full out sparring match, to which a very reluctant Cassandra finally agrees to. The result is a full page of silent panels showing Stephanie getting utterly wrecked, ending with her on her knees puking her guts out; and Steph's first words after Cassandra asks if they're still friends is to ask for another "match" next week.

I loved Steph as Batgirl so much. And with the new Gotham Knights game I feel like a mistake has been made. They have Babs as Batgirl but it should be Cass or Steph. Babs has had her exposure and it just feels like the others deserve their chance too. Great vid I hope more people come to love Steph

"Since Oracle had become such a strong character, there was no sense going back." Reverting Barbara Gordon into being Batgirl was a lazy and wrong decision in my opinion but that's a discussion for another day.

Stephanie Brown will always be the best Batgirl. Her relationship with the Bat family was solid, and she had strong pathos. If only the Bat family titles didn't start those big crossovers that lead into The New 52.

Cass is my favourite Batgirl, but it is good to see Stephanie get some recognition.

“How did the grey ghost get back on the streets so fast?” It’s Gotham, it basically works on GTA logic.

I've always liked Stephanie even tho I grew up with Cass. She was a good dynamic with all the serious characters at the time, shame dc done anyone who isn't Bruce, Dick or Jason dirty rn.

Although Cass is like my second favorite dc character of all time and I like Barbra, I think Steph was amazing as Batgirl and definitely the most fun to read. She deserves more from both canon and the fandom. But of course she's a bat which means there always going to be messing her and her relationships up somehow.

“I'm pretty sure Batman's legal, detective,” had me rolling.

I really loved this series because it was a Batman Family that actually felt like the cast of characters were an actual sort of family, especially the big sister/little brother thing she had going on with Damien. It also worked really well with what Morrison had going on with Batman Inc at the time IMHO

That "Cassandra for life" at the end made my day. She is the most underrated superhero.

Stephanie’s was one of my favorite Batgirl runs ever

Last time I was this early Stephanie “wasn’t really Robin” 🦇

Steph is what got me into DC... right as new 52 hit and she got wiped from existence. She has so much potential, and when done well she is still my favorite, but DC wrecks her more than they use her well. I love the Batgirl series

All I want is more interactions between Tim and Steph because I still ship them Also you’re not the only one who remembered the pregnancy plot. It was handled very well in my opinion.

I love Steph and I thought her Batgirl run was the most fun. She had been so horribly treated by DC editorial it was amazing to see her get a really good series for a little while. I also love Cass and consider the first 24 issues of her Batgirl run to be one of my favourite runs of comics ever.

My favorite Batgirl. Awesome! She doesn't get enough love.

I had no idea that Stephanie and Damian bonded in such a way! Very sweet and interesting at the same time, giving younger brother-older sister vibes. *sigh* again something that has gone lost completely. Is it just me or are the interactions within the batfamily becoming scarcer? That's a shame since they are my favorite comics family. Great video! Hope to see more videos in this style!

I was about to say ARE WE NOT GONNA BRING UP HER PREGNANCY??? (and subsequent adoption b/c I like the way they handled that storyline)

I don't know what the DC/Warners problem with Batgirls is - if they don't wipe out their uniqueness (Babs and Cassie), they try to wipe them from existence! (Steph and Bette) - I like all the Batgirls as they all give something different. It still annoys me that they made Grant Morrison remove Steph from her important role in the middle of the Leviathan storyline (now I'm deleting text and reminding myself to calm down and not start thinking about the New 52 - happy thoughts, happy thoughts).

Loving the “Spoiler” purple 💜

Stephanie is my favorite Batgirl. I watched her grow from her Spoiler stage, to assuming the Robin mantle, then graduating into becoming Batgirl. Loved her interaction with Barbara and their growing friendship. I felt betrayed when DC kicked her back to being Spoiler and reverting Barbara into being Batgirl again.

"It's only the end if you want it to be." Sounds like the writers going "Yes, give us fanfic since we can't do more!"

Stephanie Brown has quickly became one of my favorite characters in the Batman family, and I was happy to see her in any role. I think she did great s batgirl, and spoiler. I don’t care how I see her, as long as I see her. I am a bit disappointed that her batgirl comic essentially got wasted (it was so good!), but I suppose I’m content.

Imagine that... Damien being bratty.

Loved this run with Steph. New52 really screwed up my DC collecting. Really hated that Steph was no longer BG. She was fun.

"Brutalized by Wonder Dog" Comics, in a nutshell.

Stephanie Brown is one of my favorite DC characters ever. I love when she gets videos made on her history, because she is so underrated in the series.

STEPHANIE GETTING HER NOTICE

It’s time to send some love and appreciation to this other batgirl incarnation.

This run truly means so much to me. Will always love Steph.

I love Stephanie so much! I wish she spent more time as Batgirl for sure.

Idc what people say Steph is one of my favorite characters in the batfamily.

Ahhh Steph my beloved

I really enjoyed Steph's Batgirl run. Cassandra is my favorite Batgirl, though. I really hope DC finds a way to use them that respects their legacies and gives us entertaining reads, whether as Batgirls or something else.

This has motivated me to finally read all of Stephanie's run, I'm so excited

I love Steph as batgirl. She seemed like she had the most fun out of all of them. Her relationship with Barb had me laughing. Cassandra is always Cassandra no matter what her hero name is. Steph rocked it well.

"It's only the end if you want it to be." *POOT!*

So glad you referenced Steph's pregnancy - I wish they'd talk about it at all.

Steph is my favorite Batgirl, I REALLY love this whole run. No, I'm not okay, didn't you just heard that I love Stephanie Brown???? I only know suffering TT

I LOVE Stephanie's Batgirl run, it was so much fun. Plus my favorite dynamic is Dick (Batman), Damian (Robin), with Stephanie as their Batgirl. I love each of the Batgirls for different reasons. Barbara is probably my favorite just in general sense that I love the character in any role she takes similar to Dick. Though, I do like that she evolves became Oracle. Cassandra for me works with Bruce and Tim, really fits their leaving Stephanie as Spoiler. An identity she had all on her own. But, one of the things I love is the relationship between Stephanie and Damian that I feel gets lost. They did grow to care for each other, something not many can say with Damian outside of Dick and now Jon.

I love the Stephanie Brown character. My fave Bat-Side kick

One of my favourite series . It is very fun , well-written ,balanced , uplifting and it really solidified Steph as one of my favourite DC characters. Not to mention the amazing relationship she built with Barbara and Damian , which we unfortunately couldn't see more of.

Even though Babs is my favorite Batgirl and did enjoy Gail’s New 52 run and some moments in rebirth,I hate how Dc did Cass and Steph,I’m glad Dc brought them back as Batgirls,though I hope Steph gets her actual Batgirl suit later on

I never read a full Steph comic except for her appearance in Convergence (which directly mentions her pregnancy). But even though I observed her story only through reference and wiki, I really like it. I was pissed that she was teased in Young Justice season 2, and was a mere cameo in S3. I'm glad she's back, to whatever degree. And hope to hear more of her.

This is so weird i was literally just talking to my sister about Stephanie and 3 minutes later this notification pops up🤣

Thank you for doing a piece of steph. She is my favorite robin and needed some love.

Steph will always be my favorite bat girl.

The first Batgirl run I read! Loved her interactions with Damian!

I really love that version of batgirl suit and character. She sounds pretty interesting and fun.

If anyone hasn't read this series, they should. Its such a fun book and an absolute gem. Stephanie by far is my favorite comic book character and deserves more respect.

I've never heard of Stephanie as Batgirl but after hearing your take I do like her in that role. Also the younger version of Batgirl in DC Kids and other shows remind me more of Stephanie than Barbara Gordon, even though she is going by Barbara there

I really love Steph as batgirl and I LOVE her adorable interactions with Damien :')

I’m not much of a comic reader and I adore Stephanie, her Batgirl run is one of the few comic runs I own all of the issues for. It’s a shame she’s been left at the wayside for the most part since the New 52 as she’s such a fantastic character in my opinion, so I hope there’s is a writer in future that will treat her with the respect she deserves.

Thank you! This was a great reminder to go back and read the Steph AND Cassandra books. Cassandra may be my favorite Batgirl, but Steph is my favorite Batfamily member her storied rise to acceptance her unique optimism in the Bat books and her very strong tied to ALL the batfamilly make her a fully realized character to me and adds so much weight to her stories.

To this day, this era of DC is still my favorite. I loved the Green Lantern run of this time, I loved the evolution of Tim and Stephanie over the course; how they grew from reckless teenagers to heroes in their own right. I miss when characters could grow like this.

I started reading DC Comics around that exact time, so I can proudly say she was my Batgirl. It was a really fun ride, and I would have loved it if she had lasted longer in that mantle because she had so much potential but, you know, NEW 52 :(

Stephanie is my favorite DC character, she's very relatable and funny, and I have a soft spot for characters who go trough a lot but still stay optimistic, thank you so much for this video

I know it's been a while but I can't get over what they did to stephanie and Cassandra's relationship. Really liked their friends over having f-up fathers. They really had something special until they made it toxic.

Stephanie definitely deserves more love!

Stephanie Brown from her first appearance in Tim Drakes Robin series became (and still is) my favourite literary character

Stephanie's Batgirl series was a bit of a favorite of mine. Primarily because it reminded me of how comics were done when I was a teenager back in the 80's. It was fun, the characters were distinct from each other, Stephanie had a journey and a struggle to contend with. Most importantly you could, mostly, read the entire series without having to go outside of it. Stephanie's book was about Stephanie and her stories with almost no cross over. It should be said that I also think that all the "Crisis" books with the exception of "Crisis on Infinite Earths" were abominations that should be excised from all history both real and imaginary.

14:02 *Lillie covers her shirt* I’m not ripping it off, What I’m wearing underneath isn’t exactly Super or Batman theme. Lets just say more Wonder Woman...

Please can we have a Batgirl playlist? I'd really love if you did a deep dive on Cassandra Cain.

Her sisterly relationship with Damion help fix both characters.

Stephanie as Batgirl was such an awesome run! I really got into comics during the Batman Reborn series. I was kinda sad when they rebooted everything because the stories were awesome.

What I love about Steph is that while she got into crime-fighting to better her own life by putting away her dad, she decided to stay in because she enjoyed it and liked helping people. And she stuck to it, despite a lot of discouragement from Batman, despite her peers being boy-genius Tim and uber-assassin Cass, despite the pregnancy, the torture, and how easy it would be to go back to a 'normal' life. I enjoyed her run as Batgirl, especially considering she came after Cass (and who looks good as a follow-up act to Cass?!). I like Babs as Oracle and Cass as Black Bat, because I feel they have grown into themselves more. I like Steph as Batgirl for the same reason, but I don't mind it being a stepping stone for her to something else. She's fun and determined. I love her having a big-sister vibe to Damien: Just think, he had Dick and Steph as his primary mentors into the Batfamily. He could not have done better in terms of people who want him to enjoy himself both in and out of the costume. I think that is brilliant. I attended the 2007 Wizard World Convention in LA, and got to ask someone from DC about Stephanie's memorial case. It was super fun, because I phrased it "I came all the way from Australia, and I want to ask you about Steph's memorial in the Batcave". And one of the panelists was so perturbed he came up to me afterwards in case that was my sole reason (it wasn't, but it was an awesome opportunity to support Steph).

I feel like I'm in the minority here, but Steph is my favorite Batgirl, followed by Cass. Still not a fan of bringing back Babs, so I'm glad that DC is finally giving those two the mantle again (I just hope Babs doesn't overshadow them too much. I like Oracle, but I want their focus to be on them).

Omg “have another guilt cave” 😂

17:02 I never knew I wanted Stephwing till just now. Thank you!

"Thirsty for justice" 🤣🤣

I was getting the feeling that I was the only one who remembered the pregnancy.

I loved the Stephanie Brown series so much!! She really should have had the Batgirl mantle once Barbara became Oracle. Forever. 💔

I just bought the 2 volumes that collects these books I remember reading this book and Batman and Robin religiously when it came out. It is so much fun. The first volume can be very expensive now though.

I loved Stephanie Brown as Batgirl. Not only had I grown up reading Steph as Spoiler in Robin in the '90s, but this Batgirl series is what got me back into comics in general and back into modern comics as I spent much of the 2000s catching up on classic Batman storylines like A Death in the Family and Knightfall, as I had never read those storylines in their entirety when I was a kid. This, Batman, Batman and Robin, and Batman Incorporated are the books I kept up to date with as each issue was coming out as often as possible because, I too was in college at the time this book was coming out, so I didn't have time to go to the comic book store more than once a month. And it was fun. Particularly the dynamics between Steph and the other characters. It almost felt like this book started the dynamics we would end up seeing in the Arrowverse shows, as well as later shows like Stargirl.

I absolutely love Stephanie, her batgirl run was amazingly fun and it was great to see her interactions with Damian. Cass Cain is my fav DC character of all time but I loved Steph’s run I truly did. Babs is my least fav “batgirl” but I love her as Oracle. Oracle is a justice league level character imo. She really did run Gotham based off information.

I really liked Stephanie as Batgirl. She was fun and had a good dynamic with Supergirl. I wasn't happy when DC retconned her and Cassandra. Glad they brought them back. Still waiting for DC to bring back Power girl.

YES! this is in my top 5 favorite comic runs of all time. The Mission statement at 8:55 is the defining moment of her entire character for me and my personal favorite moment in all comics. I'm so glad you recognized its importance. I also love how you highlighted Her and Damian's relationship and how it evolved. Also, I always cry every time I read the ending monologue of this run so thanks for making me cry. insanely good video, please do more on Steph

I was upset about Stephanie becoming Batgirl at first, because Cassandra is one of my alltime favorites, but I really grew to love her run by the end of it. I never came around on Barbara as Batgirl though, ick.

I love Stephanie Brown! I’m so glad she’s back as spoiler. Removing her and Cassandra cain was a massive mistake

Can we get a Cassandra Kane Batgirl video, please? Her time as Batgirl was both fun and gritty sprinkled with a dash of credulity stretching logic. Everything comics should be.

I like all the batgirls for different reasons and I just want more content with them together :)

Stephanie's Batgirl costume is the best one.

Great job encapsulating the complex history of Stephanie's timeline, Sasha. I read her Batgirl run (as well as her previous incarnations as Spoiler and Robin) in real time and, as a fan of the character, was thrilled that she was given her own series as well as the mantle of Batgirl. Of course, nothing I enjoy lasts for very long, but it was fantastic while it did. WAFFLES FOR STEPHANIE! I hope you'll address Dan Didio's pathological dislike of Steph in a future video. He went so far out of his way to insure that Steph was sidelined, calling her "toxic," and I think it's worthy of some attention.

Steph has very quickly risen to my second favorite bat family member, right behind Jason.

Late to this party, but Steph's book was such a joy when it was coming out. I was heartbroken when they dumped her and Cass, whom we'd seen so little of after she handed Steph the Batgirl mantel. (I think her biggest appearance during that time was Gates of Gotham?) Bruce and Steph had the briefest talk when he came back in a side mini-series. He sneaks up on her and she slaps him in the face out of surprise and then says "I'm glad you aren't dead." Before running away. It is the best. 😅

I absolutely loved this run. It was so unusual for a Bat title, not being this grim-dark angsty fist clenched in the rain effort, but something joyful and fun. I was sad when it came to an end, but at least have the two handsome trades to re-read whenever I fancy. Brian Q Miller did a brilliant job with Stephanie and even today, I still miss this version of Batgirl. I've not kept up with what's happened with the character since (and judging by the comments below, that's perhaps a good thing, as she seems to have been poorly handled since) and wasn't aware of her stint as Robin. Great video as always, and although this book had a lot of ties to stuff going on elsewhere (which I wasn't following), it didn't get in the way for me and gave it a sense of belonging, whilst doing it's own thing...if that makes sense. Artwork was awesome throughout, with Lee Garbett being my favourite.

Love this vid! Stephanie is my favorite Batgirl and her costume is my fave Batgirl costume. It was a pretty good run and she was pretty well written.

The fact that we went from 1 batgirl to no batgirls to a new batgirl to another new batgirl to the old batgirl to now 3 batgirls (Since Barbara is now both Batgirl and Oracle) is kinda crazy. Yet it’s still pretty tame to comic book standards.

I love Stephanie Brown so so much. Her and Tim's relationship fundamentally changed me as a teenager, lol. Still love them and their drama. Still believe they're as endgame as Dick and Babs. 💜

I love this comic so much! Steph is so hopeful and strong and her interactions/relationships with other characters are fascinating. I do remember her teenage pregnancy. I feel like DC comics has done this before, as in had a secret pregnancy/adoption arc then never brought it up again. Which feels like a missed opportunity. When it comes to exploring the effects of more mature topics, DC tends to stick with death and abusive family dynamics, everything else is up in the air.

Great video Sasha. I loved it. Stephanie Brown is a very interesting character and deserves to leave the comics more. She should become better known to more regular people.

If I wasn't so old she would be my favorite Batgirl, but I grew up with Barbara and i can't get past that.But a great character none the less.