Wednesday 7 December 2011

Huntress #3 Preview

HUNTRESS #3
Written by PAUL LEVITZ
Art by MARCUS TO
Cover by GUILLEM MARCH
The Huntress has vowed to take down one of the most powerful mob bosses in Europe, but who's the even more powerful man behind him? And why is she facing a showdown in the ancient ruins of Pompeii?
DECEMBER 07 | RATED T | $2.99 | PRINT | DIGITAL

NOTE: Though solicited as a Helena Bertinelli story, this miniseries is actually fronted by Helena Wayne.






Wednesday 9 November 2011

Huntress #2 Preview

HUNTRESS #2
Written by PAUL LEVITZ
Art by MARCUS TO
Cover by GUILLEM MARCH
Helena Bertinelli takes a trip to Naples, Italy, but she's not there on holiday. As her alter ego, the Huntress, she's uncovered a human trafficking and gun-smuggling ring that only scratches the surface of Mafioso activity!
NOVEMBER 09 | RATED T | $2.99 | PRINT | DIGITAL

NOTE: Though solicited as a Helena Bertinelli story, this miniseries is actually fronted by Helena Wayne.







Friday 7 October 2011

DC ALL ACCESS: Helena Bertinelli is connected to Helena Wayne?

Two days prior to the release of Huntress #1, DC made an official blog post disclosing which of the New 52 books Huntress will be tied to and revealed she will be playing a significant role in Birds of Prey, Mr. Terrific (where Karen Starr is a supporting character), and next year's Justice Society set to take place on Earth-2.

Then at the end of Huntress #1, DC All Access hinted more on not just the future of the Huntress, but also on the future of Karen Starr and her relationship to Mr. Terrific:

"Ok, we told you last month that September was only the beginning! And here we are now entering the second month of the New 52!

And "two" becomes a very important number in an unexpected way as writer James Robinson revealed to a stunned crowd at Fan Expo Canada, he will be writing a JUSTICE SOCIETY series drawn by Nicola Scott that takes place on...wait for it...Earth-2!

What does that mean? Well, it means a world parallel to the current DC Earth. But what's parallel and who's on it, only time will tell or maybe there will be hints of things to come in the HUNTRESS mini that's on sale now! It's written by the character's creator Paul Levitz and drawn by the amazing Marcus To (don't take my word for it, look at the art on this page). As originally conceived, Helena was the daughter of two very cool and special people. Two people we knew, but they weren't from here. The Batman and Catwoman of Earth-2. Not bad parentage, and it made Huntress a very aggressive hero with a unique point of view.

Now as we get further into the all-new world of the New 52, you'll have to check out the 6-issue mini to find out where she really comes from.
In that regard, I also say pick up MR. TERRIFIC by Eric Wallace and Gianluca Gugliotta. In that book, Michael Holt's relationship with Karen Starr could have some interesting developments.
As been noted, we're just getting revved up!"

--Eddie Berganza
Executive Editor


I have to admit I'm rather intrigued by both of these "big" reveals. Either this means that Helena Bertinelli has made some connection to her Earth-2 counterpart in the form of Helena Wayne and there will be a first multiverse cross-over, or the big reveal at the conclusion of the Huntress mini is that 'Helena Bertinelli' is really Helena Wayne working undercover for something and is using an assumed alias. Either way, it's gotten me very excited for following this mini through to the end!

The premise DC has set up of the Huntress character is a rather interesting one and it'll be interesting to see how her story ties into both the Earth-2 JSA as well as the Earth-0 Birds of Prey and Mr. Terrific. But from what is known so far, it looks like all the arrows are pointing to the return of the Helena Wayne Huntress after 20+ years of inactivity.

How this will fair with new fans and old fans alike only time will tell, but at least fans of the original Huntress will have something to look forward to if DC does decide to bring her back to Earth-2.

How will Helena Bertinelli play a role in reviving Helena Wayne? How will she react to the knowledge that her Earth-2 counterpart is the daughter of Batman and Catwoman? Or is she really Helena Wayne in disguise? Oh the mysteries!

Thursday 6 October 2011

Huntress #1 Review (2011)

Title: Huntress #1
Story: Crossbow At The Crossroads, Part 1
Characters: Huntress (Helena Wayne)
Creators: Paul Levitz (writer), Marcus To (artist)
Publication Date: October 2011
Available In: Print | Digital

Summary: After a long month's wait, Huntress #1 written by Huntress co-creator Paul Levitz has finally hit the shelves. The story centres around Helena Bertinelli returning home to Italy on a personal mission to foil a shipment of drugs into Gotham. On her first night there, however, she discovers something more than just your normal organised crime-sponsored drug shipment; she also catches a disgusting sight of an unknown case of human trafficking and gun smuggling!

Wednesday 5 October 2011

Huntress #1 Preview

HUNTRESS #1
Written by PAUL LEVITZ
Art by MARCUS TO
Cover by GUILLEM MARCH
The Huntress hunted! What will the Huntress do that warrants such a death mark? And who puts it there? The jaw-dropping events will be revealed as the Huntress heads home to Italy and embarks on a mission that defines her life.
OCTOBER 05 | RATED T | $2.99 | PRINT | DIGITAL

NOTE: Though solicited as a Helena Bertinelli story, this miniseries is actually fronted by Helena Wayne.







Thursday 22 September 2011

An Introduction

Hey Everyone, 

Seeing as DC Comics rebooted their franchise recently and an upcoming Huntress mini series, I felt now was a good time to start this blog. A little bit about myself, I'm Diane and I've been a Batman fan since I was six years old. Amongst my favourite characters over the years have included Catwoman, Riddler, and Harley Quinn (mostly foes, haha), but as I got into the mainstream comics a few years back, I've started to learn more about the extended Batfamily. 

Up until a few years ago, I had no idea that there have been at least two other Batgirls (not including the more recent Stephanie Brown) since Barbara Gordon, and I was especially unaware that Barbara had been paralysed for 20+ years and had been fighting crime as Oracle all this time. Since my first introduction to her character in Batman: The Animated Series, I had always known her as Batgirl! But one member of the Batfamily that really stood out to me that I never new about was the Helena Wayne incarnation of the Huntress character. 

I don't remember the exact details of how I became acquainted with the character, other than I was at work one day when a co-worker informed me that Batman and Catwoman had a daughter who fought crime under the alias of Huntress. I of course didn't believe him at first, but a quick google search did in fact confirm that this was true. The next question on my mind then was "okay, if she's the daughter of two of DC's most iconic characters, how come she's never appeared any of the TV shows or movies that featured both of her parents?" One would think that with her parents' statuses as iconic comicbook characters, she would have surely made an appearance by now, but her only known appearance outside the comics has been the short-lived Birds of Prey TV series. 

Further research then informed that Helena Wayne's tenure as the Huntress was very short-lived when she was killed off in the Crisis on Infinite Earths mini series, and was replaced with the more modern Helena Bertinelli incarnation. Since then I have been very intrigued by the character and was at the same time saddened by DC's unjust treatment of her character. As the daughter of Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle, she clearly had some pretty big shoes to fill, and there were so many places they could have taken this character. I especially enjoyed Joey Cavalieri's run of her back-up stories in Wonder Woman, as he began to explore some of the characters innermost conflicts, such as a fear of following in her mother's footsteps, or never leaving her father's shadow. 

Even though Cavalieri was later responsible for rebooting the character as the daughter of a mafioso (the current Huntress we have today), admittedly it just wasn't the same without the "Batman/Catwoman's daughter" origin for me to generate interest in this newer version. It wasn't really until Helena Bertinelli's appearance in No Mans Land, and especially on Gail Simone's run on Birds of Prey that I actually started to warm up to her. By this point writers started to show that there was more to this character than just "psychotic mafia princess hellbent on revenge who needs Batman to keep an eye on her." 

For the purpose of this blog I'll be discussing the publication history of both incarnations of the character, as well as how the character has evolved over the years and the relationships she's had with other characters in the DCU. I'll also post reviews of the upcoming Huntress mini series by Paul Levitz (her original creator), as well as any future stories she appears in. With Justice Society of America being moved back to Earth-2 and Grant Morrison's up-coming Multiversity series, there is a chance we'll be seeing the Helena Wayne incarnation in future stories as well. 

It'll especially be interesting to see a more modern take on this character since her initial appearance in 1977, and from what Geoff Johns has established of her character during his JSA run, it looks like she may have more in common with her Bertinelli counterpart after all. She may not be as prone to excessive use of violence like Bertinelli tends to be, but she's definitely a darker, more conflicted incarnation than the more lighthearted version of the Pre-Crisis multiverse. All that being said, can't wait to get started on the publication history! ;) 

Until then! 

Diane