Robin IV
Stephanie Brown
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First appearance as Stephanie Brown
Detective Comics #647
Stephanie Brown was introduced in a three-issue story arc in Detective Comics #647-649 in which writer Chuck Dixon reinvented a villain called the Cluemaster. Dixon created the Cluemaster's daughter, Stephanie, as simply a plot device for this story, seeking to "spoil" her father's plans. Even so, the character was well-received by fans.
First appearance as Spoiler
Detective Comics #648
Stephanie Brown appears as Spoiler for the first time in Detective Comics #648.
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The following year, Chuck Dixon launched the first ongoing Robin series and featured the Spoiler as a foil and love interest for Tim Drake.
First appearance as Robin
Robin #126
Stephanie Brown appears as Robin for the first time in Robin #126.
Story
Stephanie Brown's Robin costume
Stephanie snaps Tim out of his funk just as his father discovers he is Robin. After Warlock's death, Tim's father orders him to hang up his cape, and Tim is forced to live a normal life for a time. One day after school, Stephanie attempts to surprise Tim with a visit. As she arrives, however, she catches a female classmate, Darla Aquista, attempting to seduce him. Assuming yet again that Tim is being unfaithful, she breaks off ties with Tim and angrily decides to put her attention elsewhere. Creating a homemade Robin costume, Stephanie sneaks into the Batcave and demands that Batman train her as the new Robin. Batman reluctantly accepts her as the new Robin, puts her through several months of intensive training, and makes her a better costume with roughly the same design as Tim's. As Robin, she patrols with Batman, but he thinks she is too unskilled to be an acceptable replacement for Tim. Batman later fires her after she disobeys his orders during two missions. In an effort to prove her worth to Batman, Stephanie steals one of his long-term plans for dealing with the entirety of Gotham's criminal underworld. Since this plan is predicated on the involvement of "Matches Malone", who, unbeknownst to her, is a persona that Batman uses to infiltrate the underworld, it quickly spins out of control. The result is a city-wide gang war in which Stephanie is captured by the Black Mask, who tortures her to get info about Batman. Although she escapes and makes her way to a hospital, she is severely injured, and supposedly dies in a hospital bed as Batman sits beside her.
Death...
Detective Comics #809
Or not...
Her death was revealed to have been faked in a 2008 story and in 2009, she became the eponymous lead character in the Batgirl series. The title was cancelled after 24 issues and replaced with a new Batgirl series starring Barbara Gordon.
With Barbara Gordon becoming Batgirl again after the events of Flashpoint (see The New 52), Stephanie will be re-assuming her Spoiler identity.
With Barbara Gordon becoming Batgirl again after the events of Flashpoint (see The New 52), Stephanie will be re-assuming her Spoiler identity.
Stephanie Brown as Batgirl
