That’s a very good question.

I don’t know if Allan Heinberg or Jim Cheung are fans of the Huntress themselves, but I’m honestly inclined to believe that any resemblance between Kate Bishop and Helena Wayne/Bertinelli is purely coincidental for various reasons. 

The first obvious one is that Kate’s look is largely based off of Clint Barton’s who’s signature look predates Helena Wayne who was created in 1977. Clint’s been around since 1964 which means the colour purple and the Huntress-looking mask were signatures of his long before Helena Wayne made them cool.

It is also worth noting that at the time of Kate Bishop’s creation in 2005, Helena Bertinelli was serving as the Huntress during that time. In addition to being consistently depicted as angry/tough-as-nails by writers, she had also been wearing a more generic-looking mask for nearly 16 years before getting her Helena Wayne-inspired mask around that same year. 

Personality-wise, I don’t think Kate has that much in common with Helena Bertinelli since they both respond to situations very differently. At best, they both have the ‘personal trauma as a main motivator’ in common, but beyond that they have completely different personalities. It can be argued that her personality is closer to that of Helena Wayne who is more relaxed, more optimistic, and more self-assured as a heroine, but there are also many other heroines like that between Marvel and DC. 

The same is also true about their social status as wealthy women. That’s not really a unique trait for either Kate or Helena since many heroes are wealthy socialites, CEOs, heirs, etc in the genre.  

Or better yet: set the Huntress mini on Earth-2 and keep Helena Bertinelli and all of her history intact on Earth-Prime.

Considering that Italy right now is a giant fire pit on Earth-2, I could’ve easily seen Helena Wayne deciding to ‘make a trip’ there to help repair the country while simultaneously fighting crime in Italy. Given that a destroyed Italy alone would give rise to organised crime, plenty of story potential there that could’ve led to the revelation of Earth-2.

Other than that, I completely agree with the rest of your comment.

If we can have Power Girl on Earth-2 and Supergirl on Earth-Prime, we could’ve easily had Helena Wayne on Earth-2, Helena Bertinelli on Earth-Prime. It’s that simple.

1. Helena Bertinelli: One Year Later
2. Earth-2 Continuity In Review: Year One
3. Badass Comic Woman of the Week: Kate Bishop

Wow. I actually finished writing everything I started last week except for my Infinity Inc #1 review, which I hope to have up by either tomorrow or Wednesday.

I’ve honestly been feeling so burnt out lately from working too much that I often find myself too exhausted at the end of the day to get as much done as I used to. I don’t think the lack of sleep is helping on that front, though I should think of remedying that soon. I’m currently getting by on barely three hours of sleep!

Nevertheless, more stuff to look forward to this week as we approach Mother’s Day in some parts of the world!

sea-dilemma:

fuckyeahhelenawayne:

helenawaynehuntress:

HOW TO TELL HELENA WAYNE AND HELENA BERTINELLI APART:
A Head-to-Toe Guide For Tagging Your Huntress Posts Correctly

STEP 1: Check for covered ears.

If ears covered == WAYNE
If ears exposed == BERTINELLI
 

STEP 2: Check for the presence of gold clips.

If gold clips present == BERTINELLI
If gold clips absent == WAYNE
 

STEP 3: Check for shoulder pads.

If shoulder pads present == WAYNE
If shoulder pads absent == BERTINELLI
**Exception to this in Bertinelli’s case is The Question: Pipeline by Greg Rucka and Cully Hamner 
 

STEP 4: Check how cross is stylised.

If cross part of cape + shirt == BERTINELLI
If cross part of shirt only == WAYNE
 

STEP 5: Check cape colour.

If cape is black == WAYNE
If cape is purple == BERTINELLI
**Only exception in Wayne’s case are the Huntress covers by Guillem March. 
 

STEP 6: Check how belt is stylised.

If double belt == BERTINELLI
If triple belt == WAYNE 

STEP 7: Check for white pant stripes.

If pant stripes present == WAYNE
If pant stripes absent == BERTINELLI 
**Note: you will sometimes see Wayne’s pant stripes painted black due to colouring error.
 

STEP 8: Check for presence of leg pouch.

If leg pouch present == BERTINELLI
If leg pouch absent == WAYNE
**Note: Bertinelli may not always have the leg pouch on her leg. 

STEP 9: Lastly…

If WAYNE-unique costume accessories ≥ 3 == Safe to assume Huntress is WAYNE
If BERTINELLI-unique costume accessories ≥ 3 == Safe to assume Huntress is BERTINELLI 

And that ladies and gentlemen of Tumblr is how you tell Wayne and Bertinelli apart. :)

You’re welcome!

Please take note of this important information.

Thank you!  I was CONSTANTLY getting them confused…I will look for ears from now on - if I see them…Bertinelli?

DC Comics does unfortunately make it very difficult to tell these two women apart, but yes, exposed ears + gold clips on cape are two definite ways to tell if it’s Bertinelli.

The only time that Helena Wayne’s ears are ever exposed is if she’s wearing her pre-Crisis costume, but fortunately that costume has a very different design from the one she has now.

kareemopolis:

Because, let’s face it, Jessica de Gouw’s Helena Bertinelli on CW’s surprise hit Arrow series is without a doubt the best live action realization of a female DC Comics character ever.

So why does she deserve her own show?

1. Because she even incorporates her purple/white/crucifix costume into her stripper disguise.

2. Because she’ll kill your family.

3. Because she’s her own person, not Batman’s daughter from an alternate timeline.

4. Because crossbows are cooler than bows and arrows.

5. Because Huntress deserves better than this.

6. Because she definitely deserves better than this.

7. And because redemption makes a good character.

If you think repeatedly bashing Helena Wayne for being Batman’s daughter and stating that crossbows are superior weapons to an actual bow and arrow (lol, did you seriously not know that a crossbow IS a bow and arrow with a trigger that requires no work?) are strong, solid arguments for why this complete mockery of Helena Bertinelli’s character should get her own TV show, me thinks this would be an even more rubbish TV show than both Arrow and Birds of Prey put together.

Similarly, if your definition of a ‘best live action realisation of a female DC Comics character’ is one that was:

• A) Stripped of all of her positive qualities and had her more negative ones exaggerated to make the male hero look more heroic,
• B) Was made less skillful so that she wasn’t more skillful than the male protagonist and could be mentored, and
• C) Had her agency diminished so that she could be easily shoehorned into a love interest for that character, then I hate you say you have pretty good definition of a weak, one-dimensional female protagonist at best.

As an added bonus, this entire post demonstrates you have no bloody clue who Helena Bertinelli is as a character if you think “killing families” is one of her more “positive” character traits, which again doesn’t ring true for the Helena Bertinelli I know, who has a bigger heart than that.

I similarly can’t take your comments on Helena Wayne seriously for the fact that you didn’t actually point to any specific traits she possesses as a character beyond the fact that she has one of the most badass fathers in the entire DC Universe. Though honestly, even if you had, I doubt you could’ve made any strong arguments about her as a character without sounding like the misogynistic jackass that you are coming off to be on this post. 

ozwinozwald:

hmmm…..haven’t had much experience with huntress….

does anyone have any thoughts on huntress: year one?  worth the read or….?

First off, love your username! ;)

Second, I think it is worth a read, though I’d recommend reading Batman/Huntress: Cry for Blood first since Huntress: Year One is based off of that story. :)

The Best of the Huntress in Comics: Cry for Blood

It’s no longer ‘Good Friday’ on my corner of the planet (sadface), but no matter, cause the review for this week’s ‘Best of the Huntress’ story still got published on time. I just couldn’t publish it here cause Tumblr’s server crashed, but that’s okay too cause it took all day to write anyway. This story is six chapters long, but the job still got done!

When it came to picking a Huntress story to review for a strictly Christian holiday, I felt today was an appropriate day for a Helena Bertinelli story. While unfortunately it was very difficult to find a story to fit in with the theme of Good Friday (that is the actual crucifixion of Christ), I felt that it didn’t really matter much. While she’s not necessarily seen as a ‘Saviour,’ Helena Bertinelli has always been a character who put others before herself, and was even shown to be self-sacrificing—willing to give her own life even—to ensure the safety others, which is very much the whole point of Christ’s crucifixion. It was his sacrifice to save the whole of humanity from sin. With Cry for Blood, there’s even the added bonus of a ‘Final Supper’ that set the course for Helena Bertinelli’s fate into motion.

Aside from keeping with my tradition of posting one of these during every major holiday (or at least ones known to the West) throughout the year, I also want to dedicate this review to the wonderful Stephanie who runs La Cacciatrice, and whose birthday was earlier this week.

I know it’s a late birthday present, but seeing how gravely disappointed she was with the way Helena Bertinelli was misrepresented on Arrow, I felt this the best way to make her week better and bring a smile to her face in a very big and significant way. I think this review should also help generate interest in the comic book version of the character, because it’s most definitely one of the best Helena Bertinelli stories ever told, and certainly a MUCH better story than the one audiences new to the character got on the show. :)

Fair warning though, I do spoil the hell out of this story because I did cover ALL six chapters in depth. Literally. But! If you want to read the story first, you can buy all six issues for $11.94 total on Comixology, which is not a bad deal considering what the trades sell for these days! :)

That being said, happy reading! And Steph, I hope this turns out to be the best birthday gift you’ve gotten all week. :)

The Good?

• Alex Kingston. Hope she turns out to be Dinah Drake/Black Canary I
• Helena caught Ollie’s arrow and gave him a rightful ass-beating.
• Also, she kicked ass with the crossbow this time.

The rest? Unfortunately this show’s version of Huntress completely misses the mark. (See what I did there?)

All I have to say is if Marc Guggenheim and Andrew Kreisberg think Helena Bertinelli is the manipulative, villainous, psychotic ex-girlfriend type who kills people uncontrollably, then they either clearly didn’t read the character in the comics, or they read her wikipedia page and got a completely wrong interpretation of her character. 

Either that or I’m from Earth-8 cause that’s how far fetched it bloody was.

(I really should quit with the bad puns).

“We may have the same first name, the same code name, roughly the same physical appearance, and sometimes we may even wear the same costume.

But if there is one very important thing to remember, it is this: we’re both very different people, with very different motivations, and very different outlooks on the war on crime.” 

I guess that depends on what you’re planning on addressing in your presentation, but for any information on Helena Bertinelli as a character and her background, I highly recommend reading Stephanie’s article La stessa storia: her biography which covers all of those details, and I’d also check out her list of Recommended Readings that she compiled for all Helena Bertinelli-centred stories that might help with your research. Most of them are easy to get ahold of in digital form or in TPB.

For Helena Bertinelli’s origin specifically I highly recommend reading Batman/Huntress: Cry for Blood and Huntress: Year One, both of which are listed on Stephanie’s blog, and if you’re able to, I’d also recommend reading The Huntress (1994) miniseries, as well as the original Joey Cavalieri run of The Huntress (1989) solo series. The last one in particular is probably your best bet for getting better insight on Italian-American culture, values, and family dynamics since Joey Cavalieri is himself an Italian-American. 

With regards to women in the Mafia, I can’t really help you there since that’s beyond my area of expertise. But one thing you can do is watch Mafia-oriented movies and TV shows and pay attention to how women are depicted in these narratives and make a list of any consistent patterns or stereotypes you observe. You can then compare your list of stereotypes with Helena Bertinelli’s story and address in what ways her story reinforces those same stereotypes and in what other ways she breaks away from those stereotypes. 

Hope that helps. :)