Elseworld's Finest: Supergirl & Batgirl

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Elseworld's Finest: Supergirl & Batgirl (1998) is an Elseworlds comic book by Tom Simmons, Matt Haley and Barbara Kesel.

It is based in a world in which Bruce Wayne was never Batman, and the infant Kal-El did not survive long enough to become Superman. The orphaned Barbara Gordon becomes Gotham's near-dictatorial protector, and Kara Zor-El as the Girl of Steel teams with Lex Luthor and the Justice Society.

Contents

[edit] Characters

[edit] Main characters

  • Supergirl (Kara Zor-El): After Krypton's explosion, was the only survivor of Argo City. She landed on Earth already knowing the exploits of the Justice Society of America and joined them. Lex Luthor became her mentor and friend.
  • Batgirl (Barbara Gordon): When Bruce Wayne's family was targeted by Joe Chill, Commissioner Jim Gordon interfered, which left both him and his wife dead. Barbara took her father's gun and arrested the murderer. Barbara now dons the cape and cowl of Batgirl and rules Gotham with an iron fist.
  • The Joker: The Joker is obsessed with Batgirl and desperately tries to win both her attention and love.
  • Bruce Wayne: Billionaire philanthropist, he is the equivalent of Alfred to Barbara, helping her fund her hi-tech gadgets and helping her hide her secret identity.
  • Lex Luthor: Primary benefactor of the Justice Society, he revolutionized life in Metropolis after developing a state-of-the-art solar battery. He oversaw and designed the JSA headquarters.
  • Professor Emil Hamilton: Discredited and humiliated, Hamilton seeks revenge against Lex.

[edit] Secondary characters and cameos

  • The Justice Society of America
    • Wonder Woman (Diana Prince): With both Batman and Superman absent in this continuity, Diana is the leader of the Justice Society. She is Supergirl's adoptive mother.
    • Tarantula: This hero is male, which implies that his secret identity might be John Law. He wears Catalina Flores' costume.
    • Captain Marvel: This Captain Marvel is an African American.
    • Big Barda
    • The Flash: Flash wears armor and his mask completely covers his face.
    • Revenant: A glowing magenta male hero who resembles Johnny Thunder's Thunderbolt.
    • Hawkwoman replaces Hawkman. This version is a Thanagarian.
    • Green Lantern: Abin Sur never died in the crash and is now a member of the JSA.
    • Doctor Midnite: This version of Doctor Mid-Nite (note the different spelling) is a woman.
    • Vectron a hero that resembles Apokolips's Metron.
    • Ambush Bug
    • Interceptor: A female super-hero that can fly.
  • Robin (Tim Drake): Makes an appearance as a watchman for the Justice Society.
  • Black Canary: Makes an appearance inside JSA headquarters. This incarnation is a black woman.
  • Jade: Makes an appearance inside JSA headquarters. She does not appear to be different from the normal continuity aside from slight design changes in her costume. However, it is implied that she and Abin Sur share some sort of father-daughter relationship.
  • Star Bolt: A hero also seen in JSA headquarters. His name may be an allusion to Starman.
  • Firestorm: Seen inside the headquarters, trying to impress Jade.
  • Asteria: A heroine wearing a red jumpsuit decorated with orange and blue stripes on her shoulders.
  • The Captain Marvel and Black Canary of the normal DC Universe are seen in a flashback.
  • Two-Face: Mentioned. He is the main villain of Barbara Gordon's The Binary Beast, a book based on his crimes and Batgirl's capture of him.
  • A novel named Killer Moth hints at another one of Batgirl's foes (Killer Moth).

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Barbara Gordon is Batgirl, a crime-fighter that rules Gotham City with an iron fist. Wonder Woman and the rest of the Justice Society have been permitted to make a public announcement inside Gotham Arena, where they introduce Supergirl and Lex Luthor to the Gothamites for the first time. Lex announces his plans to construct a factory in Gotham, employing a large number of its citizens. Ambush Bug senses a disturbance and teleports to find Luthor's driver being attacked via gas by an unknown assailant. Oracle stops him before he can investigate. As Lex leaves the arena, he is kidnapped by the Joker and Professor Hamilton.

As the news of the kidnapping reaches the JSA, Batgirl sets it upon herself to save Luthor single-handedly. Supergirl is told by Wonder Woman that Batgirl will not allow any Metahumans to enter Gotham, but Supergirl becomes infuriated and rushes to Gotham anyway. Batgirl sees Supergirl as a threat to her mission. She confronts her but Supergirl avoids a lengthy battle by reasoning with Batgirl. Meanwhile, Professor Hamilton reveals that he is holding Luthor captive so that he can expose to the world how he and Lex discovered the solar battery. He claims that Lex ruined his life and reputation when he tried to reveal the truth to the world. The Joker has been using a mineral-based hormone to enhance his strength so that he can win Batgirl's attention. Luthor offers the Joker employment with the additional incentive of more of the minerals that Hamilton based his steroids on.

Batgirl and Supergirl start tracking Professor Hamilton and the Joker. Barbara leads Supergirl to an underground room, which is lead-lined and protected with a kryptonite doorway. Batgirl leads Kara to a room and they discover the body of baby Kal-El, preserved in a test tube. This is the actual basis of Lex's "solar battery" invention, and the discovery makes Supergirl furious. Lex claims that he feared Kal-El would become dangerous, and that is why he killed him and befriended Supergirl when she arrived on Earth. Ready to meet her fury with Joker's strength, Luthor awaits while Batgirl and Supergirl rush towards him. Supergirl battles the Joker, but is unable to match his strength because he is infused with Kryptonite. However, Batgirl rescues her. Kara is about to kill Lex, but Batgirl stops her. Lex was the man who hired Joe Chill to murder Bruce's parents, which means he is also responsible for the death of Barbara's parents and must be brought to justice. Luthor, Hamilton and the Joker are arrested, and a friendship between Batgirl and Supergirl starts to grow.

Spoilers end here.

[edit] Trivia

  • In the story, Cadmus and S.T.A.R. Labs are subsidiaries of LexCorp.
  • Supergirl's rocket landed in Kansas, which is where she buries baby Kal-El, saying to him: 'I think you would have liked it here.'
  • Batgirl steals Luthor's kryptonite ring and stores it in her batcave, hoping that she never has to use it. In the normal DC Universe continuity, Batman also has a kryptonite ring stolen from Luthor.
  • Stephen King is mentioned in the story. It is said that Barbara Gordon's book The Binary Beast is giving him a run for his money as the most critically acclaimed horror author.
  • Oracle is the name of the high-tech, all-seeing computer system; the eyes and ears of Batgirl. Barbara has installed cameras and recording devices everywhere in Gotham, making Oracle a kind of "Big Brother" figure. In the DC Universe, Oracle is the secret identity Barbara Gordon creates for herself after she is crippled by the Joker.
  • Barbara Gordon's first Batgirl costume is the one worn by the first Batgirl of the current DC Universe. Wonder Woman and Supergirl are also seen wearing their original DC costumes.
  • On March 21, 2007, DC Direct released action figures of Batgirl and Supergirl from the "Elseworld's Finest" comic.

[edit] Unexplained/Missing information

  • The original Captain Marvel is seen in a flashback. However this is not the same Captain Marvel as the one that currently is enlisted in the JSA. A possible identity for this hero is Billy Batson's friend Scott Okum.
  • The original Black Canary is also seen in a flashback, but the identity of the current JSA member is never mentioned.
  • The original Captain Marvel and Black Canary are missing, they may have been killed in the war between the JSA and Gotham City.
  • Revenant, Doctor Mid-Nite, Vectron, Interceptor, Asteria and Starbolt's secret identities are never revealed.
  • Tarantula's secret identity is never revealed. However we can assume his real name is John Law.
  • Two other costumed heroes are seen, but cannot be identified (One wears a costume of green and orange and has white hair) while the other wears a black and purple costume with star-shaped and flourish designs (this may be a female version of Obsidian.).

[edit] See also


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