Batgirls

Barbara Gordon/ Batgirl/ Oracle

The Commissioner's daughter was infamously disabled by the Joker (in The Killing Joke, 1988), and became Oracle, an IT and communications whiz. While other characters returned from crippling injury (and death!), she remained stuck in her chair until written out of it in 2011. I'm pretty happy with her hair and yellow bat-stuff.

Batgirl

Batgirl

Batman Eternal (2014)

Oracle

Hush (2003)

Whilst Babs was wheelchair-bound, other teenagers took the Batgirl role.

Cassandra Cain/ Orphan

Cassandra Cain is the daughter of the assassins Lady Shiva and Orphan. She was raised without speaking, only fighting, so that she could become a supreme martial artist. Oracle took her under her wing and let her be Batgirl. She can barely speak, but is getting better, and loves ballet. She later steps down as Batgirl and retitles herself Orphan, like her father. As you would.

Orphan

Batman & Robin Eternal (2015)

Orphan

Batman & Robin Eternal (2015)

Orphan & Orphan

I was pretty happy with the white- it is a thin blue-grey wash, drybrushed white, and a black pin-wash around selected areas.

Stephanie Brown/ Spoiler

Her dad was a C-list villain ('Cluemaster'), so Stephanie Brown became The Spoiler to thwart his plots. She got in Batman's way a few times, and she undertook the Batgirl role. She was also Robin for a while. In the overall continuity, she is back as Spoiler and is the romantic interest for Tim Drake (Red Robin). I always see her as a Buffy the Vampire Slayer-esque character- a blonde, wise-cracking crimefighting teenage girl.

Spoiler

Batman Eternal (2014)

Harper Row/ Bluebird

Harper Row was never Batgirl, but she fits in here with her vigilante friends. She's good with gadgets, has a cyberpunk aesthetic, and was fun to paint. She's wielding a taser rifle.

Bluebird

Batman & Robin Eternal (2015)

Orphan, Bluebird, and Spoiler

Batman & Robin Eternal (2015)

Kate Kane/ Batwoman

Kate was never Batgirl either, but I've thrown her in here with these bat-ladies. She is (of course) Bruce Wayne's cousin, and left the military for breaching 'don't ask, don't tell' regulations. She is a very tough individual. I am happy with her signature blood red colour. I think the shiny batsuit came out pretty well, also.

Batwoman

Detective Comics (2009)

Bat-tally 44/ 215 (20%)

Poison Ivy

Poison Ivy is motivated by her love for plants. She'll flit between good and evil depending on the impact on flora.

Poison Ivy and friends

Poison Ivy

I enjoyed painting her and these carnivorous plants, which would be great alien death world scenery. Feed me, Seymore!

Hush (2003)

Bat-tally 37/ 215 (17%)

Robins, young and old

Robin, the boy hostage. There has been more than one person to assume the sidekick role, and I'll focus on the main four Robins and their subsequent alter egos (there have been others, but they've been written off as occurring in alternate dimensions etc.)

Dick Grayson/ Nightwing

The first Robin was Dick, an orphaned circus child. When he grew out of the role, he became Nightwing, a gymnastic young man who has occasionally worn the batsuit when Bruce has been unavailable.

Nightwing

Batman: Hush (2003)

Detective Comics (2017). This is why I love Batman.

Jason Todd/ Hush/ Red Hood

The second Robin was Jason Todd, a street kid who tried to steal the tyres off the Batmobile. He was killed by the Joker (A Death in the Family, 1988) and is another wound in Batman's tortured soul. Years later, a mysterious bandaged figure called Hush is unmasked as Jason Todd- or is he? Jason does come back from the dead as Red Hood. Red Hood is a bit of an antihero, and unlike Batman & Co., hunts criminals with firearms.

Hush

Jason Todd

Red Hood

Hush (2003)

Hush (2003)

Under the Hood (2004)

Tim Drake/ Robin/ Red Robin

By comparison, Tim lacks a tragic backstory and is my preferred Robin. He's very bright and good with computers, and worked out Batman's identity. As he got too old to be Robin, he became Red Robin with a funky wing-cape.

Robin

Red Robin

Batman (1990)

Batman & Robin Eternal (2015)

Damian Wayne/ Robin

Bruce Wayne's surprise son after a possibly drugged dalliance with Talia al Ghul, Ra's al Ghul's deadly assassin daughter. She dumped Damian off at Wayne Manor aged ten. He's been raised by ninjas and is a brat with a massive attitude. Face it, Bruce isn't parent material.

Robin

Batman & Robin (2010)

I'm happy with my progress. I'm working around the challenging lycra bodysuits, and I'm happy with the vibrant yellows and greens. Facemasks are still easier than pupils. The trenchcoats and Red Hood's jacket are just one colour and a wash.

I've counted the figures (it took me several goes to get the same result), and there's 215.

Bat-tally 32/ 215 (15%)

Bruce Wayne and Alfred

Bruce Wayne? Who's that? Sounds like a cool guy!

LEGO Batman

Bruce Wayne and Alfred Pennyworth

I love this picture of Batman and Alfred by acclaimed bat-artist Darwyn Cooke:

Detective Comics (2015)

Alfred Pennyworth is always a scene-stealing character; an accomplice and enabler from the Jeeves school. In Batman Eternal (2014) it was revealed he has a daughter, Julia, who is (obviously) a member of UK Special Forces...

Julia Pennyworth

Batman Eternal (2014)

I have a lot of bat-content to plough through, so there will be more mid-week blog posts to come. I need to get a bat-tally going, but don't actually know how many figures I've got! I think it is about 200...

GCPD Blue

GCPD

I have a soft spot for the Gotham City Police. They've got no super powers or gadgets, they're (mostly) constrained by the rule of law and the whims of the Mayor, they're targets for supervillains, sometimes they're sent to hunt the Batman, and are a bit of a laughing stock to other police forces because crazy vigilantes do their work for them. I liked Gotham Central (2002-2006), a comic book series about the police where Batman and friends are hardly present.

Cops with handgun

Cops with baton

Commissioner Gordon

I've always liked Jim Gordon, a man thrust into the centre of the Batman's shenanigans. He overcomes corruption in the GCPD and rises to its very head, but somehow can't work out either the identity of Batman or that his daughter is Batgirl. In Year One, an excellent origin story, it is hinted that he has always known about Bruce Wayne but chooses not to let on.

Batman: Year One (1987)

Batman: Eternal (2014-15)

I liked that depiction of Gordon wearing gloves and carried that over. I'm a little concerned my paintjob looks like he's got a Groucho Marx disguise on...

Commissioner Gordon

Bullock and Montoya

Harvey Bullock appears to be a slob, but is a hardworking and loyal detective. He's old-school and not afraid to break the law to get results. His partner, Renee Montoya, is an excellent detective in her own right. She has struggled with homophobia from both her colleagues and her immigrant parents.

Detective Bullock

Gotham Central (2004)

Detective Montoya

Detective Comics (2015)

Major Crimes Unit