Caped Crusaders' Crusading Careers : Batgirl & Huntress

Barbara Gordon and Helena Wayne were not only crimefighters as Batgirl and the Huntress, they were also practitioners of the law in their civilian identities. Each were practicing attorneys, only their career trajectories took them in opposite yet similar directions. One started her crusading law career in Washington D.C. before returning to her home in Gotham City, and the other built her law career in Gotham City before graduating to Washington D.C.! But how was this to be?

For Barbara, this is when she ran for and was elected to congress, where she represented her home state's district as Congresswoman Gordon. Now residing in Washington D.C. as one of her home state's representatives, Barbara continued her costumed career as Batgirl for a time in this new setting. After her term was up and she wasn't reelected, Babs returned to Gotham City where she was hired a one of the departmental directors of Humanities Research and Development Center. This organization's mission statements was investigating viable solutions to urban and cultural development for underserved communities, when her supervisor was James Stein and her amiable coworker was Richard Bender.

For Helena, this is when she became a name partner at the law firm of Cranston, Grayson and Wayne in Gotham City as Helena Wayne, Esq. Starting both her civilian and costumed careers in Gotham City as attorney by day and vigilante by night, Helena balanced her schedules as both herself and the Huntress. This public interest research firm worked on cases such as urban development, under the direction of her boss Arthur Cranston and her adversarial coworker Roger Demarest. A few years later after establishing herself in the legal community, Helena was called upon to be the legal representation of her Justice Society allies during a Congressional case against them in Washington D.C., which she successfully won against her law partner turned legal adversary during that case, fellow lawyer Richard "Robin" Grayson... himself forced into this position due to circumstances related to his guardian and her father Bruce "Batman" Wayne's diary which seemingly incriminated the Society.

Fiancées - Friends - Fiends of Strange Superhumans

Industrialists Simon Stagg and Herman Darling were about as amoral as one could get, which led to their continual conflict with superheroes in their lives. Simon founded Stagg Enterprises researching various cutting edge technologies, while Darling had other affluent business interests. While Stagg kept on the legal side, his business practices indicated underlying sinister motivations. Darling was more an overall grump and curmudgeon, especially around his daughter's dimwitted boyfriend. Stagg used the glowing Orb of Ra to eliminate his daughter Sapphire's boyfriend and his mercenary employee Rex Mason,  with the unexpected resulted being Mason's transformation into Metamorpho the Element Man of Earth-One. Darling soon discovered that Daisy's boyfriend Johnny Thunder of Earth-Two possessed an all-powerful living Thunderbolt who fulfilled his literal wishes.

Scientist Bruce Gordon found solace in the support system of his fiancée Mona Bennett and her father Professor Bennett, just as senator Thomas Wright found comfort in the extended family of his fiancée Wendy Foster and her father Doctor Foster. While Professor Bennet assisted Gordon in discovering the secrets of the shadow-casting black diamond which transformed Bruce into the evil Eclipso, Doctor Foster perhaps aided Thomas as Black Condor into refining his black light gun. Both sets of father-daughters aided the ladies' lads in their various adventures throughout the years, although Gordon's criminal career of alter ego and Wright's caped crusade as Black Condor meant that they never ended up settling down with their one-time true loves. 

Simon’s daughter Sapphire eventually got her wedding with Rex when her father finally gave them their blessing after years of enmity between the two men. This took place shortly after Rex joined Batman's Outsiders team and gained increased notoriety for himself. Herman's daughter Daisy eventually grew tired of Johnny antics and misadventures with his Thunderbolt servant, and eventually grew apart from him when Thunder adopted young Peachy Pet. Although Daisy attempted to become a surrogate older sister and prospective future mother-in-law for the girl, she soon made the decision to end her relationship with Johnny.

Eclipso's Earth-Two counterpart Doctor Charles "Doctor Midnight" McNider had as his romantic interest his nurse and personal assistant Myra Mason, with Myra's Earth-One counterpart as the personal assistant of Rick "Space Ranger" Starr in the future. The Earth-One Johnny Thunder never had time to have a romantic relationship, as he concentrated his time and energies into his criminal career leading his Lawless League gang (and twice usurping the control of the Thunderbolt from his doppelgänger). Black Condor's Earth-One counterpart Black Rock and Rex Mason's Earth-Two counterpart Joe Morgan were likewise preoccupied by their professional careers to find time for personal relationships with the opposite sex.

The most famous father-daughter duo on each Earth were undoubtedly Gotham City's Police Commissioners and their superheroine offspring. On Earth-One, this was James Gordon and his daughter Barbara "Batgirl" Gordon... and on Earth-Two, this was Bruce "Batman" Wayne and his daughter Helena "Huntress" Wayne. Unlike the aforementioned "damsels in distress" above, these two young women could easily take care of themselves and protect their cities from various threats.

Marvelous Maidens’ Memorable Meetup

When Helena Wayne began her costumed career as the Huntress, she soon came to the realization that she needed guidance from more experienced caped crusaders. Since her dual identity was kept a secret on her own world of Earth-Two, given the fragile health state of her father Bruce following the tragic death of his wife and her mother Selina, initially she drew some insight amongst her fellow members of the Justice Society. 

However, as she sought the respect of her contemporaries, among whom included some sceptics such as Green Lantern and possibly Hawkman, she decided to journey to Earth-One. There, she sought out her father's cosmic twin, who was still active as the Batman. However, he and his ward Dick "Robin" Grayson quickly came to the realization that Helena would benefit from meeting fellow superheroines instead.

Connecting Helena to the retired Batwoman, Kathy Kane, she was then introduced to Barbara "Batgirl" Gordon. Although having different parentage and appearances, both Barbara and Helena had several similarities marking them as true doppelgängers. Both were the daughters of Gotham City Police Commissioners, both were trained from young in martial arts, both had careers in the legal field. And both had cool calculating demeanors yet also, at times, fiery demeanors.

This was shown during their initial meeting, when Barbara seemingly mocked Helena from seeking out her advice. This was merely a cover to disguise her own feelings of inadequacy, perhaps comparing her own modest background with that of Batman's daughter. Nevertheless, after the three women teamed up to defeat Madame Zodiac, Poison Ivy, and the counterpart of Helena's mother, the Catwoman, the two legendary ladies parted as friends.

While Helena invited both her "Uncle" Bruce and her counterpart Barbara to visit her on Earth-Two as she departed from their universe, using the Justice League's transmatter tube connected to her team's own, only Batman journeyed there. 

Perhaps back on her own world, Helena reached out the the Kathy Kane of her Earth, who restarted her career while battling Hugo Strange alongside the Earth-One Batman and Earth-Two Robin. Of course, on that occasion, Helena was out-of-town visiting Karen “Power Girl” Starr’s cousin Clark “Superman” Kent and his wife Lois.

A pair of young heroines predated Barbara and Helena decades earlier, although these counterparts' costumed careers were brief and so they never had opportunity to meet Batgirl and Huntress when they began their caped crimefighting. The Earth-One Kathy Kane's niece Betty Kane adopted the alias of Bat-Girl, although her primary motivation for her alter ego was to capture the attention of Robin, whom she had a crush over. The Earth-Two Kathy Kane's niece apparently adopted the alias of Flamebird, with untold adventures, later revealed in a post-Crisis Earth when she became the dominant version overriding her Earth-One counterpart's existence in this new reality.

Batgirl and Huntress would next encounter each other, at least tangentially, during the Crisis on Infinite Earths… perhaps aboard the Monitor’s satellite. Interestingly on that occasion, an insecure Batgirl turned to her old friend Supergirl for encouragement, while the roles were reversed for their counterparts as it was a dejected Power Girl who was given motivating words by her best friend Huntress.

Super-Shipping: The Lost Love of Superman and Batgirl

Superman of Earth-One has had a variety of love interests throughout the years. As a lad in Smallville, his childhood sweetheart was Lana Lang, while college his romantic interest was Lori Lemaris, and as an adult his steady girlfriend was Lois Lane. Other women also captured his attention, and as both Superman and Clark Kent, Kal-El of Krypton had a several candidates for true love. Among these was Barbara Gordon.

Although having met Batgirl when he and his best friend worked together as the World's Finest Team alongside the heroine and Superman's cousin Supergirl, it was later when that friend Batman encouraged him to ask out Batgirl's alter ego. And so, Clark accompanied Barbara to a diplomat dinner date, when he inadvertently blurted out confidential information (while under the influence of an alien device). This ended a stale first date between the two. although after their costumed alter egos teamed up to battle the evil organization known as M.A.Z.E., they parted as friends.

Soon after, the two met once more as Clark and Barbara, then later as Superman and Batgirl, to stop a criminal scheme to steal oil. They would pair up again to tackle the demented Doctor Horus. Still, no sparks flew between the two.

Interestingly, neither recalled their first meeting, when Clark as Superboy rescues a young Barbara from near drowning, and due to another alien artifact found his powers being transferred to her while she was Mighty Girl.

In a parallel reality, Kal-El's rocket ship landed outside Gotham City instead of Smallville, and was found by patrolman James Gordon. Leaving the infant in the care of Doctor Thomas Wayne and his wife Martha, the couple adopted the lad and named him Bruce, training him in the use of his superhuman abilities. 

During a dinner party, Bruce protected a dinner party from gunman Lew Moxon, seeking vengeance against Thomas Wayne and Commissioner Gordon. Disguising himself, Bruce conceives the idea of adopting an alter ego, as Superman!

In his new identity, Superman had numerous adventures, including one occasion where he took down terrorists. His civilian career was as a librarian, working alongside Gordon's daughter Barbara. The pair strike up a budding romance, which blossoms into engagement and finally marriage. Learning of her husband's dual identity, Barbara convinces Clark to use his super-intelligent mind coupled with his father's training to become a research scientist. Clark retires his Superman costume, and works full time seeking to cure the various illness that plague humanity.

Sometime later, Lew Moxon escapes prison and guns down James Gordon. Seeking vengeance, Barbara adopts the alter ego of Batwoman, and finally brings Moxon to justice... ending in his inadvertent death. The World's Finest Team Superman and Batwoman was created!

Interestingly, these tales show that while Kal-El as Clark did not attract Barbara, Kal-El as Bruce would. And Bruce would gladly retire as Superman, while Clark would resist this urge to have a normal life. Meanwhile, on yet a third world, Kal-L aka the Superman of Earth-Two as Clark Kent would serve more as an honorary uncle to Barbara's counterpart Helena, daughter of his best friend Bruce aka Batman. As members of the Justice Society of America, this Superman and Helena as the Huntress would work side-by-side on various cases.

Velvet Tiger: The Elusive Enemies of the Batwomen

Velvet Tiger was secretly Lani Gilbert, the sister of a software developer who developed a backdoor key to computers produced by their company Gilcom to infiltrate into corporate databases. Seeking to use these for her illicit ends for extortion, Lani as Velvet Tiger sought to eliminate her brother. When thwarted by Batgirl, the Tiger retreated and remained in hiding since 1982.

In 1985, her counterpart on Earth-Two relied on her acrobatic aptitude during a series of burglaries, which brought her to the attention of the Huntress. However, something related to the scent her costume produced knocked Huntress unconscious, allowing her to escape. There seemes to be some mysterious connection between both women and Huntress' mother, the recently deceased Catwoman.

That Velvet Tiger, unlike her Earth-One doppleganger, never had a face-to-face meeting with her Gotham City's resident active Batwoman. Nevertheless, both Tigers were frustrating anecdotes in the otherwise exemplary crimefighting crusades of Batgirl and Huntress. 

The previous female feline foe these heroines faced years earlier, the original criminal Huntress of each of their worlds, was far more deadly than the Velvet Tigers. And yet, they were easier to capture once confronted. It should be noted during the period of time when Tiger faced these Bat-ladies that Batgirl’s Barbara Gordon alter ego and Huntress’ Helena Wayne alias were more heavily concentrating on their civilian rather than costumes careers, and so may have been more easily distracted at this time..

Dashing Detectives Devoted to Daring Damsels

The Batwomen of Gotham City, heirs to the legacy of the Batmen, included wealthy debutante Kathy Kane, her niece Betty Kane, and a pair of young ladies who were more than a batch for Bruce Wayne. These lasses, Barbara Gordon and Helena Wayne, were trained in the legal field as well as tutored in various athletic aptitudes. Barbara adopted the alter ego of Batgirl, while Helena assumed the alias of Huntress, motivated by the example of both the Batmen and their Police Commissoner fathers, James Gordon and Bruce Wayne, respectively. They also were personal friends of the Dick "Robin" Grayson of their two worlds. There were two other prominent men in their lives.

Jason Bard's life was borne of tragedy, which he'd mold into personal triumphs. Seeking to bring his father to justice for the murder of his mother, this fueled Bard's lifelong interest in the field of criminology. After a tour in the Marines where he was injured, Bard became a private detective. On his first case, he met Barbara and Batgirl, when investigating a homicide by Gotham Goliaths basketball player turned mugger.

Gary Minelli was a Gotham City police detective about to testify on mob bribery with the police force, both of whom conspired to send him to Arkham Asylum. There, under the watchful eye of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether, Minelli was held captive until a riot broke out in the facility, when he met a fellow friendly prisoner in the Huntress. Freeing her, the pair escaped the Asylum, with Gary helping the Huntress recover from an overdose on drugs she was injected with by Fether. Although unmasked, the Huntress' real face was not recognizable to Minelli.

Batgirl was assisted by Jason Bard in subsequent adventures, such as tracking down the Orchid Killer (who threatened the heroine's life), an amoral actress named Veda (who tried to frame Bard for a crime), and a half dozen other cases together before Barbara Gordon left Gotham to become a congresswoman in Washington D.C. Jason  carried on his investigative pursuits, working alongside Kirk "Man-Bat" Langstrom.

Huntress encountered Gary Minelli once more months after their last meeting, as he was assigned to track down the heroine. A series of cat-burglary incidents seemed to suscipiciously point to Huntress as being the cultprit, which she herself believed she had committed while in her sleep. Minelli confirmed she wasn't the burglar, as he had followed her continuously, indicating he knew her double identity. This caused a rift in their relationship, as Helena grew annoyed at Gary's invasion of her privacy.

These detectives, Jason and Gary, were peers to the batwomen in their lives... although their prescence was only momentary in the costumed careers of Batgirl and the Huntress.

Four Generations of Romance in the Batman Family

Everytime a Batman and a Catwoman crossed paths, it wasn't a traditional hero versus villain encounter. Underneath their conflicting values and beliefs was a romantic tension simmering. If only the Queen of the Cats walk the path of redemption on the side of justice like her Dark Knight opponent. 

In fact, on Earth-Two, this eventually happened.after almost fifteen years quarreling with one another, as the Bat and the Cat were on opposite sides of the law, Selina Kyle grew tired of crime and repented, creating a cover story whereby she was an amnesiac flight attendant who suddenly recovered her memories of her life before her life of crime. After assisting Batman in tracking down a number of criminals as his informal partner, Catwoman finally helped him corner her own brother Karl "King of the Cats" Kyle.

Sometime after this, the Caped Crusader was under the influence of Scarecrow's potent fear gas, which caused Batman to believe all the persons he loved had disappeared. With only Catwoman left to assist him, the two eventually succeeded in fending Scarecrow off and helped recover Batman's senses. At this moment, the pair discovered they truely fell in love with one another, and ended up getting married. 

From the marital union came a daughter, Helena, who would assume the mantle of Gotham's protector as the Huntress after her mother tragically death. Shortly thereafter, while visiting Earth-One, she encountered that world's Catwoman who was still a criminal, albeit in her last case as a felon. From this point, the younger Selina Kyle finally embraced her her love for the Dark Knight, and dated his alter ego Bruce Wayne on-and-off for years. Although not married, and outside influences stalled their romantic relationship for a time, their love would never die.

Not to be outdone by their mentors, the sidekicks of the Batmen also found love in the form of their fellow crimefighters. While teenage Earth-One's Robin knew of the young adult librarian Barbara Gordon and her alias of Batgirl from a distance, their differing ages delayed the possibility of romance between the two. With Barbara Gordon a young woman in her early twenties and Dick Grayson in his late teenage years, it took until Dick entered college before he began to pursue a relationship with Barbara while she was in Congress. At the same time, Grayson as Robin and Gordon as Batgirl formed an enduring partnership, working alongside one another on numerous adventures throughout the years.

The situation was reversed on Earth-Two, as that Dick "Robin" Grayson was already in his early twenties when Helena Wayne was a new born baby of Bruce and Selina Wayne! Only decades later, when Helena was an aspiring lawyer in her early twenties and Dick was an ambassador in his mid forties when sparks began to fly between the two.

Although Dick and Helena were surrogated siblings, not truly growing up together but nevertheless having close familial contact for years, the possibility that there could be a relationship beyond something like step-brother/step-sister seemed unfathomable. However, after the pair worked closely on a case while tracking down an infamous Gotham City Crimelord, the heirs to the late Batman's legacy began to feel an attraction for one another.

Eventually, Barbara delicately brushed off Dick's feelings as kindly as she could, and he moved on. The same could not be said for Helena, who spurned her Dick's advances out of her feelings for District Attorney Harry Sims. Still, for both almost couples, there was friendly reconciliation without hard feelings after some time had passed.

In the lives of the Batmen Family, romance rarely reconciles with the rough road of its members.

Dynamic Duo Damsels: Wonder Women and Gifted Girls

The relationship between the Amazing Amazon and Dark Knight Damsel was considerably more rocky on Earth-One than on Earth-Two, and with good reason. There, the Batman and Batgirl were not related, and as such she was was more prone to being enamored with amor toward her caped crimefighting mentor. However, on a parallel planet Batman and Huntress were father and daughter, and thus had a more familial instead of a romantic relationship. Plus, by the time Helena (Huntress) Wayne debutted on the scene, the golden age Wonder Woman had been married to her true love Steve Trevor for decades. However, the silver age Wonder Woman was in the prime of her life and still unattached when she was lured into a caring conflict, fighting over Batman's affections with Barbara (Batgirl) Gordon. Okay so they were enlisted to simulate this situation to draw out the criminal Copperhead, but it quickly got out of hand beyond what the trio of heroes had planned at the start.

Thankfully, Barbara and Diana already built up a repoire with one another when they along with the Justice League defeated Queen Bee only months before. As for Helena and Diana, they quickly assimilated to one another working side-by-side with the Justice Society allies on New Genesis, saving their universe from Darkseid's incursion into their universe.

While acquainted prior to these tales, the Girls of Steel and Amazing Amazons had theretofore not worked side-by-side until they were absconded from their worlds to alien planets in another cosmos. While Wonder Woman and Supergirl were abducted by Klamos the Mighty in order for one of them, the victor of a battle between them, to become his queen... Wonder Woman and Power Girl were brought to New Genesis in the same case as mentioned above. Although the Earth-One Diana and Supergirl dueled, it was only to get close enough to Klamos to render his devices inert and reveal his identity. Earth-Two Diana and Power Girl worked on seperate teams to defeat their foe.

Dynamic Duo Damsels: Mighty Maidens and Leaping Ladies

The predominant female doppelgängers to their World's Finest Teams of the Supermen and Batmen of Earths One and Two were Supergirl/Batgirl and Power Girl/Huntress. Each had relationships as essential with one another as had their male mentors. Likewise, the gals' friendship was as strong as the guys whom they modeled their costumed careers after. And during the Crisis On Infinite Earths... these bonds depended. How so?

Their dynamic was such that there was a dominant and passive member to each Dynamic Damsel Duo, only reversed in each universe. On Earth-One, it was a Supergirl who provided the inspiration for a dejected Batgirl, feeling vulnerable perhaps for the first time in her caped crusading career. On Earth-Two, it was her cosmic twin the Huntress who needed to inspire Power Girl, despite the death of the Maid of Might's Kryptonian counterpart.

By the end of the Crisis, it was the weaker pair... Batgirl and Power Girl... who were left behind as their courageous best friends Supergirl and Huntress perished, attempting to protect their worlds from the mad schemes of the Anti-Monitor. Both of these women were erased in the composite Earth that was created in the wake of the Crisis.

However, on the Earth-Two that remained after the Crisis (in an alternate timeline indicated by past stories), Huntress continued to inspire her pal PG throughout the years to come. Meanwhile, Batgirl was left to reflect on her fallen friend who died so that the Multiverse could remain in one form or another.

Fawcett's Finest: Legal Ladies

No matter which of the many parallel planets in the Multiverse you may reside, you'll no doubt find some legal ladies that takes no guff from nobody. Betty Bates was a renowned prosecuting district attorney who fought for justice on Earth-S, both inside and outside the courtroom. 

On Earth-Two there was the Huntress and on Earth-One there was Batgirl, two of the finest female fighters of their worlds. Each lass was motivated by their police commisioner fathers' heroic examples upholding justice. While both of these ladies adopted costumed alter egos, it was the Huntress as Helena Wayne and Batgirl as Barbara Gordon who struck a balance in their civilian lives as attorneys. 

We know that Ms. Bates was resided on Earth-S, as she was once shown alongside the superhero known as Kid Eternity and his mentor Mister Keeper, along with various other contemporary heroes from the 1940s such as Stormy Foster aka the Great Defender, Her Highness and Silk, Bill the Magnificent and others. Whether she ever had any chronicled adventures with these mystery men is unknown.

Like Barbara and Helena, Betty was fearless when facing the criminal element. As the first known lady lawyer in the DC Multiverse, Betty set precedent for all that followed on her world and all others. Her lengthy career fighting crime lasted from 1940 until at least 1950, with some of these tales told in Quality Comics.

Groovy Girls of Gotham Week: World's Finest Females

The initial pairing of the World's Finest Team and the World's Finest Females occurred under similar circumstances on two parallel planets.

When first Supergirl then new ally Batgirl are attacked by a strange energy in the form of a hand which grabs them, something strange happens with both gals. Seeing the notoriety of Superman and Batman, they seek to usurp their reputations by making them lose their powers and/or confidence. Turns out, they weren't the real deal, as the Black Flame from Kandor took the Maiden of Steel's place while Catwoman assumed the mantle of the Darknight Damsel.

A similar thing happened to Power Girl and Huntress, on the trail of a disturbance in city zoo caused by a newly mutated Ultra-Humanite in a simian form. Turns out that within their feminine frames are the minds of Superman and Batman, evidently caused thanks to the machinations of Ultra ally Brain Wave. And they have a short period of time to reverse the process before the heroes lose their identities to the dominant minds in their new bodies, that of their cousin Kara and daughter Helena.

Back over on Earth-One, the real Supergirl and Batgirl return and expose the further falsehood behind the Supergirl-Black Flame and Batgirl-Catwoman, that the true culpits were Bat-Mite and Mister Mxyzptlk! The imps were betting on whether Batman would deduce the deception or whether the World's Finest Females would uncover the plot themselves. Turns out it was in actuality Mite's attempt to trick Mxy into saying his name backwards and exile himself once more into the 5th dimension!

And on Earth-Two, Power Girl/Man and Huntress/Man finally corner Ultra-Humanite, after defeating his minion Solomon Grundy. Once they defeat their foes and regain their bodies, neither Superman nor Batman remember their adventure although Power Girl would still years later. Which is tragic, because this was the sole occasion prior to his death when the elder Bruce Wayne realized his daughter had assumed the mantle of the Bat and the Cat to defend Gotham City in his stead. Never would he regain this precious knowledge.

Remarkable in these two tales is how certain elements mirror one another. For instance, this initial coupling of the World's Finest team and their gal partners involved disguised identities, subterfuge of sinister supervillains, and those same adversaries involving a handful of criminals from their combined rogues gallery playing mindgames to try and shatter the realities of our heroes. And yet, they persevered and carried on in their courageous careers!

Groovy Girls of Gotham Week: Terrific Trio

Seeking training on being a heroine from the Batman Family of Earth-One, since none of her own relatives over on Earth-Two knew of her dual identity, the Huntress first met silver age Batman and Robin (mentioned previously).

The Dark Knight then suggested that Helena Wayne seek out Batwoman and Batgirl for helpful hints. After initially encountering her mother's counterpart, the Catwoman, and stopping her latest crime... Huntress as Helena meets Kathy (Batwoman) Kane and Barbara (Batgirl) Gordon. After some girl talk at Kathy's circus grounds, they are aroused into activity by the presence of the trifecta of terror of Catwoman, Poison Ivy and Madame Zodiac. Each caught her prey except Zodiac, escaping Batwoman's grasp

While Batgirl and Huntress wouldn't meet again until the tragic Crisis on Infinite Earths, their careers mirrored one another in several areas. Police commissioner father, budding romance with their Robin, a longterm we friendship with Kara from Krypton, affiliation with the Justice League and Justice Society (though Babs never became a full fledged member), and earning the respect of their own Gotham City and fellow heroes as they stepped out of the shadows of Batman as true legends.

Madame Zodiac first appeared during this Earth-One crooked caper with Catwoman and Poison Ivy as her pawns, however she would soon return attempting to secure power from within the center of the United States’ military power, inside the Pentagon building in Washington, D.C. Zodiak was again confronted by Batgirl, who this time was able to defeat the problematic prognosticator. Zodiac would later return as a woman named Marissa, seducing a fellow foe of the Batman Family, a man named Theodore Carrigan.

A seamstress named Corinne was Marissa’s counterpart on Earth-Two who in 1946 Gotham City got caught up in a misunderstanding, which ultimately led her into a life of crime. When she, along with two of her coworkers believed they had misplaced $99.00 from a suit purchased by wealthy businessman Bruce Wayne, each attempting to earn back this money on their own to balance their costume shop’s register. For her part, Marissa wore a Catwoman costume while pretending to be the feline felon and stealing fake pearls to win the prize money for best impersonation in a contest. Batman discovered that he as Bruce Wayne was responsible to the missing money, and replaced the currency himself.

Marissa and Theodore as their alter egos of Madame Zodiac and Doctor Zodiac hatched a scheme to unleash tremendous power upon their world which they could control. When thus in fact tipped the balance of power and led to their being pawns to another’ schemes, they aided the World’s Finest Team of Batman and Superman in saving Earth-One, at the cost of Doctor Zodiac’s life

Corinne moved to Keystone City in 1948 and began a new career as a prognosticator, undoubtedly encouraged by her ability to even deceive the Dark Knight Detective Batman himself with her Catwoman alias. There, she tricked wealthy patrons into believing she could predict their future. In fact, she was learning where these rich clients kept their valuables, then informed her criminal husband and his gang who would steal these items based on codes she gave them over the radio. The Flash discovered this scheme, and cornered Madame Corinne’s husband Big Pete, who accidentally died of electrocution from a lighting bolt. What became of Madame Corinne, as to whether she returned to her former life as a law-abiding seamstress or carried on in her criminal career, has yet to be told.

Groovy Girls of Gotham Week: Versus Coworkers

Ah the interminably irritating coworker, who of us hasn't had one at one point in our career? Our Gotham gals certainly suffered such insufferable slugs in the forms of Bob Barton and Roger Demarest.

When Batgirl's alter ego Barbara Gordon left congress for a position at Humanites Research and Development, and Huntress' alias the Huntress left college to become partner in Cranston, Grayson and Wayne, each though these were ideal positions. Both companies were research groups attempting to help in the betterment of their Gotham City citizens. Yet loudmouth louts Bob and Roger obviously felt threatened by these intelligent ladies with more depth than these dudes could dream of possessing.

Fear not, for Babs and Hel had gal pals in Doreen Gray and Carole Martin, trusty secretaries in their respective offices. Then there was Helena's boss Arthur Cranston, an old friend of her father Bruce Wayne and no doubt a correlating counselor to that of Lucius Fox at Wayne Foundation.

Groovy Girls of Gotham Week: Versus Robin

Think things were always smooth between Huntress and Robin? Guess you'd have to qualify which Robin, precisely.

Interestingly, Earth-Two's Huntress first met the Robin of Earth-One while on a trip to that parallel world to get tips on being a heroine. Seeking out her father's counterpart, she runs into a teenage Dick Grayson not to fond of a "little lady" breaking into his mentor's secret sanctum.

Shortly thereafter, back on her own world she meets the Richard Grayson she is more familiar with, an older version who substitutes as her step-brother, twenty-something years her senior. This Robin is more calm, cool and collected which belies his age and experience. Plus his intuition as he knows who this mystery woman really is, Helena Wayne. Of course, years later under the influence of the Stream of Ruthlessness, as we've previously discussed, Robin and Huntress did have it out... and he handed him his lunch though not as easily as young Richard.

While sparks would fly yet never amount to anything between these two, something similar happened  with Huntress' cosmic twin Batgirl and the Boy Wonder. Sure both Robins and their gal pals would make Dynamic Duos of their own, but never harmonize in their true feelings for one another.

Groovy Girls of Gotham Week: Versus Sinister Serpents

Snakes are synonymous with evil since the Garden of Evil. And just like Eve, the batwomen known as Batgirl and Huntress faced their own sinister serpents which endangered their lives. Batgirl and Huntress faced more traditional but still odd opponents in Copperhead and Boa.

The Copperhead of Earth-One used his speciality designed slithered outfit on a crime spree in Gotham City, which ended when Batgirl along with Batman and Wonder Woman brought him to justice.  He later joined the Secret Society of Super-Villians as an early member and later assisted Mirror Master in forming a branch of the group to battle the Freedom Fighters.

The Copperhead of Earth-Two initially was a gang lord in Big City, who was thwarted in 1943 by Little Boy Blue and his Blue Boys. Returning in 1982 to terrorize Gotham City, Copperhead renamed himself Boa and led his gang of human serpents in controlling the city’s rackets. Nearly suffocated by Boa's pet boa constrictor named Roxanne, the Huntress was saved by aspiring hero Blackwing, and she promptly defeated Boa and his henchmen.

Charlene took her live-long fascination to a whole new level, discovering the means to transform herself partially into a viper snake. Battling Batgirl, immune from Lady Viper's influence on men, the femme fatale transformed her foe into a snake as well! When Batgirl reverted back to normal, she combated and defeated Lady Viper while using anti-venom to purge herself of these animal abilities.

Medusa aka Dr. Myrna Rhodes was a physician treating the Creature Commandos, when some experimental gases transformed her hair into living serpentine like entities. As the Earth-Two counterpart of Lady Viper, she nevertheless was a heroine rather than a femme fatale. As for her fellow Commandos: Sgt. Vincent Velcro's Earth-One twin was Andrew Bennett, Warren Griffith's twin there was Anthony Lupus, Pvt. Elliot Taylor's twin there was Gregori Arcane, and their leader Lt. Matthew Shrieve's twin there was government agent Matthew Cable... who stalked Swamp Thing. Each of these individuals had interactions with Earth-One's Batman, while the Commandos' activities in Europe during World War II prevented them from meeting Earth-Two's Batman or his fellow All-Star allies.

Groovy Girls of Gotham Week: Versus Mental Menaces

One day renowned professionals in their select fields. The next day, mental masterminds, thanks to mysterious alien rocks that imbue them with tremendous temporal traits. Geologist Kenneth Anderson and relic hunter Kirk Jason were two such men, living in Gotham City when they suddenly gained these grand gifts, which one used for good and the other for evil.

Anderson discovered an unusual rock, perhaps a meteorite, which when he experiments on it bestows upon the geologist tremendous mental powers. Transforming into the Annihilator, he retaliates against a city he feels fails to appreciate him. This attracts the attention of first Batgirl and then Supergirl, visiting the city on a interview tour for her alter ego's new show. Defeating the Girl of Steel and acquiring her power, he sought to transform Batgirl into his own mutated bride, but the gals double teamed on the madman and reversed his condition.

Jason one day awoke having discovered a piece of an ancient meteorite, which had previously been possessed by various men for untold centuries. Each was given cerebral capabilities such as telepathic and telekinetic which as the Immortal Man they used for justice. He also felt love for Helen Phelps, who had become acquainted with two previous Immortal Men. And like those individuals, Jason Kirk gave his life to save humanity from a threat to its safety, in this instance a gigantic subterranean beast.

Another pair of mental menaces whom the ladies battled continually were Doctor Voodoo and his evil mentor, and Doctor Tarr with his conspirator the Undertaker. While using medication to endure paranoid illusions upon Batgirl and Huntress, these devious doctors were defeated.

The Batwomen of Gotham City

No analysis of Batman is complete unless we also investigate the BatWOMEN who share his city. There have been many who were his allies, but foremost among these on two planes of existence is Earth-One's Batgirl...

And another femme fearless tied to the Dark Knight but with her own unique costumed identity, Earth-Two's Huntress...

Both were highly intelligent women in their respective professions. In Batgirl's case, her civilian identity was that of Barbara Gordon, she started out as a librarian before advancing to a  career  in a public relations firm followed by the position of congresswoman for one term. Yet always, it was Batgirl that kept distracting her secular pursuits: 

For Helena Wayne, who was the Huntress' real persona, she was the junior partner of Cranston, Grayson and Wayne serving as an attorney. Eventually she was assigned to assist her on-again off-again boyfriend District Attorney Harry Sims in his office as legal representation. Which caused a great deal of conflict between the two:

Both ladies, daughters of the police commissioners of Gotham City, had to operate in secret lest they raise the ire of their fathers whom they dearly loved. And both women lost their mothers at an early age which caused them to become at times emotionally distant from others. 

Eventually they each assisted the greatest teams of their respective Earths, with the Huntress instantly becoming a member while Batgirl remained a friendly associate instead. Each lass battled prominent femme fatales early on...Batgirl versus Queen Bee and Huntress versus the original Huntress.

And both of our pointy eared gals has a thing for their own Robins, whom they dearly loved albeit on the sly and without a word spoken:

Earlier tales of Batgirl mirrored those of the tales involving another red-haired heroine, the Black Widow of Earth-Two. Unlike her Earth-One counterpart Lori Elton, who was the off-and-on again girlfriend of Barbara's pal Dick "Robin" Grayson, Dianne Greyton used her mutant ability to control insects in her Black Widow alter ego. While both Batgirl and Huntress had numerous stories concurrent with one another, the former retired from active adventures a few years later while the latter amped up her own heroic career.

There were other females, such as the two Batwomen named Kathy Kane, and the two original Bat-Girls, Betty and Elizabeth Kane... both sets assisted the Dynamic Duo in their earlier careers. None left quite the impact as these two ladies, however.