That is totally random.

I don’t think it’s dumb to feel that way. I’m pretty sure most (if not all) of us would like to see more characters like ourselves being represented across all mediums, including comics. We are a very diverse lot. 

On a similar note, I don’t think it’s a bad thing to have a ‘favourite’ character on the note that they resemble us in some way either. Part of what makes us like characters in the first place is if they possess traits that we immediately relate to. It’s also what allows us to fully connect with a character, invest in their journey, and even be inspired by them if they are stronger in other areas we’re weak in.

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.

I would have definitely read that story!

I actually did find myself wishing they had done that back when they did Infinite Crisis, but alas. The original Helena Wayne never came back despite Power Girl getting back her Earth-2 origin. It was an opportunity that was greatly missed. :’(

I think that’s what they are going for now in the New 52, but Levitz hasn’t actually made it work. Which is unfortunate cause the idea itself has a lot of potential for great storytelling, it’s just being squandered on a writer who—let’s be honest—no longer knows how to write creatively. :/ 

1. Helena Wayne
2. Natasha Romanoff
3. Nicola Scott
4. Marjorie Liu

Actually for that first one it’s more of a tie between Kara Zor-L, Helena Wayne, Selina Kyle, and Lois Lane, but I guess what keeps Hel on top is ‘dark haired woman + loves the colour purple + shoots arrows + quirky’ all bundled into one. Also she has one of the coolest mums in the DCU.

Same with that second list. It’s more of a tie between Natasha Romanoff, Wanda Maximoff, and Kate Bishop.

One would think Kate would be on the top of the list given that she has all of the above in common with Helena Wayne only with a bigger bow, but there’s something about that Russian spy that just keeps me going back to her each time. I can’t decide if it’s the fact that she’s entirely fearless and maintains her cool in every situation that she’s in, the fact that she always knows what to say in every situation, the fact that she’s just so damn good at what she does, the fact that she’s very much a gray character, compelling back story, or all of the above. I’d probably go with ‘all of the above.’

To further solidify that point, this panel from the more recent Hawkeye got me saying ‘this book needs more Black Widow!’ even though Kate was equally great in this issue:

There is literally nothing about those two panels that isn’t brilliant.

Also Roy Thomas who did amazing work with Huntress and Power Girl on the pre-Crisis Earth-2. 

I don’t know his exact reasons for leaving DC Comics when he did, but he was a great talent that was sadly lost with the Crisis on Inifinite Earths reboot. :(

It’s a shame because he was the man who gave us great stories like America vs. The Justice Society (which is still one of my favourite miniseries from the pre-Crisis Earth-2) and Infinity Inc, which was basically the Earth-2 version of Teen Titans.

We all feel your pain, man. But as much as I’d like to see someone else writing both Huntress and Power Girl and actually doing them justice, unfortunately we’re in a no-win situation. :/

Like I told another fellow Tumblr user a while back, Levitz has a strong hold on DC Comics given his decades of employment there. He also has a strong hold on the Huntress since he co-created her, and subsequently Power Girl who is paired off with her on the book.

All that into account, DC Comics is not going to be as eager to get him off the book even if the writing is spectacularly bad, and is consistently dropping in sales every month. We’re already seeing that with Legion of Superheroes (which he is also writing) and that book has hit below cancellation levels and is still going.

In all likelihood, Levitz will probably continue driving this book into the ground until he decides to personally leave or end the title. :/

They’re found in the back of the Worlds’ Finest: The Lost Daughters of Earth-2 TPB, which is where I’ve been snagging them from.

Hello! Thanks for your question. :)

I can safely say the willingness to kill hasn’t always been a consistent thing with the Huntress. The original version of Helena Wayne very much abided by the strict ‘no kill rule’ and felt very strongly about upholding the law. It makes sense when you take into account she was a lawyer at the time. This isn’t to say her confrontations didn’t occasionally result in circumstantial deaths, and there were two occasions where she did consider it, but she was—for the most part—not deliberate about it.

It wasn’t until the Huntress was rebooted as Helena Bertinelli for the post-Crisis continuity that the willingness to kill became a regular part of her characterisation (which made sense for the origin she was given), and it was a trait Paul Levitz decided to keep with the current, rebooted version of Helena Wayne. 

As for whether or not Earth-2 Bruce would have instilled the strict ‘no kill rule’ on his daughter Helena, it’s hard to say for the fact that Earth-2 Bruce was considerably different from his mainstream counterpart in various ways.

To begin with, the original Golden Age Batman (that is the Earth-2 Batman) began his career killing mobsters before he adapted more conventional ways of crime-fighting. Even though he acknowledged that he very much didn’t like taking a human life, he also rationalised that there were times when it was necessary. Obviously he didn’t want his daughter to follow in his footsteps on the pre-Crisis Earth-2 (and it was for this reason that Helena functioned as the Huntress in secret), but the fact is he didn’t feel as strongly about killing as his mainstream counterpart.

Even within the newer continuity, this appears to still be the case, and even moreso considering that Earth-2 was in a constant state of war with Apokolips. So I wouldn’t be surprised if Earth-2 Bruce was considerably lenient on killing for that alone.

On the subject of war, I’m pretty sure that experience would’ve also changed Helena’s outlook on many things since she lost both of her parents in an incredibly violent way. As such, it doesn’t actually surprise me that this newer version of Helena Wayne doesn’t feel as strongly about killing as her original pre-Crisis incarnation and is probably more intolerable of crime as a consequence of that experience. 

So I guess, to really best answer your question, Helena’s willingness to kill is entirely subjective to the continuity that she’s a part of, if that makes sense.

I honestly wouldn’t call it a redesign since all they did was make him look like The Master from ‘The Deadly Assassin’ episode of Doctor Who:

A genuine redesign should’ve—in my opinion—followed the New 52 standard for all rebooted characters: Young, ideal body type, and more importantly: SEXY! SEXY! SEXY!  

Actually, I did do a few quick sketches of what a genuinely rebooted Desaad should look like. Using this image of Young Desaad as a reference:

I came out with this version complete with a suit and tie (Damn you Justin Timberlake):

Or if he looks too normal for a guy who’s a sadomasochist that gets off from torturing people and serves as Darkseid’s right hand man, we can always go back to Desaad’s classic look of wearing a hooded robe. Just deaged with a better hair style, glowing Apokoliptian eyes, and maybe a few scars on his face to emphasise the sadomasochism bit:

Truthfully, I think the ‘Dorian Gray’ look makes him scarier since you’d never guess he’s that guy just by looking at him. He would therefore be more effective at luring any unsuspecting victim into his torture chamber, which I think is more eerie than a guy you would expect to be into that sort of thing at first glance.