Chronology

Marcio Takara All Stephs — All three of Steph's post-Crisis costumes drawn by Marcio Takara

The following is a chronology of Stephanie Brown's complete appearances in the Post Crisis continuity from creation until her solo Batgirl series. We have arranged her issues primarily by release date, grouped by rough "periods" in her character development and history. Date information was found mostly on Comixology, ComicVine, and Mike's Amazing World.

Debut[]

The three-part story that started it all! Loser Bat villain Cluemaster decides to become a winner Bat villain by dumping the clues schtick, but a certain someone keeps Spoiling his plans...

Title	Date
Detective Comics #647	June 23, 1992
Detective Comics #648	July 7, 1992
Detective Comics #649	July 21, 1992

Sins of the Father[]

After several tryout mini-series, Tim Drake was given his own regular solo series where Steph began to show up, sporadically at first, roughly one story per year. These early stories focused on Steph's continued mission to thwart her dad's schemes, as well as her growing relationship with the Boy Wonder.

Title	Date
Robin #3	January 31, 1994
Robin #4	February 28, 1994
Robin #5	March 31, 1994
Robin #15	February 28, 1995
Robin #16	March 31, 1995

Suburban Avenger[]

Steph's first two stories in Robin involved her bad Dad, but by her third tale (and third year into the series), Steph began to be less defined by her rotten relationship to her father and more as a hero in her own right. By the series' fourth year, her appearances began to be more frequent and she began appearing in other series outside of Robin. During the Cataclysm/Aftershock/No Man's Land storylines, she blossomed as Tim's steady girl and a full blown regular.

To Spoiler — Steph as Spoiler, drawn by Marcus To

Title	Date
Showcase '95 #5	April 18, 1995
Robin #25	January 31, 1996
Robin #26	February 29, 1996
Robin #35	October 31, 1996
Detective Comics #707	January 15, 1997
Robin #40	March 31, 1997
Robin #41	April 30, 1997
Batman: Chronicles Gallery #1	May 1, 1997
Robin #43	June 30, 1997
Robin #44	July 31, 1997
Batman: Secret Files and Origins	August 13, 1997
Robin #45	August 31, 1997
Robin/Argent Double Shot	December 3, 1997
Teen Titans #17	December 31, 1997
Robin #50	January 31, 1998
Batman: Huntress/Spoiler: Blunt Trauma	March 18, 1998
Robin #54	May 31, 1998
JLA: World Without Grownups #1	June 3, 1998
Robin #56	June 21, 1998

Pregnancy[]

1998-1999 brought Steph perhaps one of her most memorable story arcs prior to War Games. Immediately following the events of Cataclysm, Steph became pregnant by her loser boyfriend Dean, went bravely through the difficult time with Robin's support, gave birth during No Man's Land, and gave the baby up for adoption. Wizard Magazine #89 named Robin the best ongoing title of the year, in large part because of Steph's role in the book.

Title	Date
Robin #57	July 22, 1998
Robin #58	August 5, 1998
Secret Origins 80 Page Giant	October 7, 1998
Robin #59	October 28, 1998
DCU Holiday Bash #3	November 11, 1998
Robin #60	December 2, 1998
Robin #61	December 30, 1998
Robin #62	January 27, 1999
Robin #64	March 31, 1999
Robin #65	April 28, 1999

Identity Revealed/Hero in Training[]

After Steph's baby was born, she went through a period of recovery, after which she resumed heroing. Complications, as always, ensued - from the discovery of her boyfriend's civilian identity, the Joker escaping and murdering everyone in sight, Batman, the new Batgirl, and Black Canary all giving her some training, and Bruce Wayne being framed for murder and going on the run.

Title	Date
Robin #68	July 28, 1999
Robin #69	August 25, 1999
Robin #71	October 1999
Robin #72	November 24, 1999
Robin #74	January 19, 2000
Robin #75	February 16, 2000
Robin #80	July 19, 2000
Robin 80-Page Giant	July 26, 2000
Batman Chronicles #22	July 30, 2000
Robin #82	September 20, 2000
Robin #83	October 18, 2000
Robin #84	November 18, 2000
Young Justice #30	February 7, 2001
Robin #87	February 21, 2001
Robin #88	March 21, 2001
Green Arrow #5	June 27, 2001
Robin #92	July 18, 2001
Robin #93	August 22, 2001
Batgirl #20	September 5, 2001
Robin #94	September 19, 2001
Batman: Gotham Knights #22	October 10, 2001
Joker: Last Laugh #3	October 17, 2001
Batgirl #21	October 17, 2001
Wonder Woman #175	October 24, 2001
Robin #95	October 31, 2001
Joker: Last Laugh #6	November 7, 2001
Birds of Prey #39	January 16, 2002
Robin #98	January 23, 2002
Batman: Gotham Knights #26	February 20, 2002
Birds of Prey #40	February 20, 2002
Robin #99	February 20, 2002

Steph in Transition[]

Robin issue #100 signaled a massive spate of changes for the Eggplant Avenger. Chuck Dixon left DC, and as creator and chief champion of Steph, that meant a characterization, thematic, and storyline shift. Jon Lewis brought some strong writing to her appearances in the Robin title, effectively promoting her to co-lead in his run. During this run, Steph's father was "killed" working for the Suicide Squad, and she grew closer to Tim. However, Batman effectively blacklisted her vigilante career, treating her as unworthy of training or support, foreshadowing the terrible events to come.

Title	Date
Batgirl #26	March 6, 2002
Robin #100	March 20, 2002
Batgirl #27	April 10, 2002
Robin #101	April 31, 2002
Batgirl #28	May 8, 2002
Robin #102	May 22, 2002
Birds of Prey #43	May 22, 2002
Robin #103	June 19, 2002
Young Justice #45	June 30, 2002
Robin #104	July 24, 2002
Batgirl #31	August 15, 2002
Robin #105	August 21, 2002
Batgirl #32	September 11, 2002
Robin #107	October 16, 2002
Batman: Family #2	November 6, 2002
Nightwing #75	November 13, 2002
Young Justice #49	November 20, 2002
Robin #108	November 20, 2002
Young Justice #50	November 30, 2002
Batman: Family #8	December 18, 2002
Robin #109	December 18, 2002
Young Justice #51	December 31, 2002
Batman: Gotham Knights #37	January 15, 2003
Robin #110	January 29, 2003
Robin #111	February 19, 2003
Batman: Gotham Knights #38	February 19, 2003
Batgirl #38	March 19, 2003
Robin #112	March 19, 2003
Batman: Gotham Knights #39	March 19, 2003
Young Justice #54	March 31, 2003
Robin #113	April 16, 2003
JLA: Welcome to the Working Week	June 11, 2003
Birds of Prey #56	June 18, 2003
Robin #116	July 23, 2003
Robin #119	October 15, 2003
Robin #120	November 19, 2003
Robin #122	January 21, 2004
Robin #123	February 18, 2004
Robin #124	March 17, 2004
Robin #125	April 21, 2004

Girl Wonder/War Drums[]

In 2004, Tim Drake quit being Robin, and Steph, like Tim before her, insisted on being Batman's next partner. The promotion was greeted by an enormous sales boost - but the excitement was short-lived, as DC had a plan for Steph, and none of it involved anything good for her or her fans. Despite this fact, several of the issues starring Steph as Robin are great fun, and worth checking out.

To read more about Steph's time as Robin, see Steph as Robin.

To Robin — Steph as Robin, drawn by Marcus To

Title	Date
Wizard Magazine #150	February 25, 2004
Robin #126	May 19, 2004
Robin 80th Anniversary 100-Page Super Spectacular	March 18, 2020
Robin #127	Jun 23, 2004
Batgirl #53	Jun 30, 2004
Solo #10	April 26, 2006
Detective Comics #796	July 7, 2004
Teen Titans #13	July 14, 2004
Robin #128	July 21, 2004
Batgirl #54*	July 28, 2004

*Though not collected as part of War Drums, Batgirl did have an intermediate issue between Steph's run as Robin and the War Games event, in which Steph's motives for her actions in the crossover are displayed.

War Games[]

The Bat crossover which changed everything forever, until the next crossover. Basically, useless, except for killing off characters people loved and leaving characters people hated alive. Most fans agree that at worst, War Games was completely horrible, and at best, it was an ambitious failure. In this catastrophe, Steph was humiliated, tortured, murdered, then blamed for all of it. Consumer Alert: If you ever liked Steph, you probably don't want to collect any of the following. (Note: this is not the complete War Games storyline - it only contains Steph's appearances.)

Act 1: Outbreak[]

Title	Date
Batman: The 12-Cent Adventure	August 4, 2004
Batgirl #55	August 18, 2004
Catwoman #34	August 25, 2004

Act 2: Tides[]

Title	Date
Detective Comics #798	September 1, 2004
Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #183	September 8, 2004
Nightwing #97	September 8, 2004
Batman: Gotham Knights #57	September 15, 2004
Robin #130	September 22, 2004
Batgirl #56	September 22, 2004
Catwoman #35	September 22, 2004

Act 3: Endgame[]

Title	Date
Nightwing #98	October 13, 2004
Robin #131	October 20, 2004
Batman: Gotham Knights #58	October 20, 2004
Catwoman #36	October 27, 2004
Batman #633*	October 27, 2004

*Steph's "Death"

Epilogue[]

Title	Date
Detective Comics #800	November 3, 2004
Batman #634	November 24, 2004

Fight for the Legacy[]

After War Games, there wasn't anyone left at DC in a creative capacity who was willing to advocate for Stephanie's character or legacy. Thus began the First Great Darkness, the period in which Stephanie's legacy was denied, erased, mocked, and otherwise trashed by writers and characters alike.

Grief[]

Robin and Batgirl were probably the characters most affected by Stephanie's death. Her funeral and their reactions appeared in the Robin/Batgirl crossover Fresh Blood immediately following the War Games issues of those two series. While it was nice to see her two closest friends mourning her, the writers were Bill Willingham and Andersen Gabrych, the latter in particular taking every opportunity to attempt to justify Batman's treatment of Stephanie and blame her death on her own incompetence.

Judd Winick used Batman's reaction to Steph's death as part of the impetus for his Under the Red Hood storyline, between War Games and War Crimes.

Title	Date
Nightwing #99	November 10, 2004
Robin #132	November 17, 2004
Batgirl #58	November 24, 2004
Robin #133	December 15, 2004
Batgirl #59	December 29, 2004
Batman #635	December 29, 2004
Robin #134	January 26, 2005

War Crimes[]

About a year after War Games concluded, Willingham and Gabrych were at it again - attempting to exonerate Bruce and blame everyone else, especially Steph, for her death. So we got the four part crossover War Crimes and ancillary titles, exploring the aftermath of her death.

Title	Date
Batman Allies Secret Files and Origins 2005	June 29, 2005
Detective Comics #809	August 3, 2005
Batman #643	August 10, 2005
Detective Comics #810	August 17, 2005
Batman #644	August 24, 2005

In Memoriam[]

Despite the company-wide effort to erase or trash Steph's legacy, Cassandra Cain, Batgirl and Steph's best friend, continued to miss her. As a friend, Steph meant something different to her than to Batman and his family, and the impact of her death caused many references and even "ghostly" apparitions.

Gail Simone also showed some of the impact of Stephanie's memory without attempting to blame or defame her in Birds of Prey.

Grant Morrison included Tim's grief at Stephanie's death, and a possibly hallucinated Steph Robin memorial case as part of the Batman RIP storyline.

Title	Date
Batgirl #61	February 23, 2005
Batgirl #62	March 30, 2005
Superman/Batman #19	April 27, 2005
Birds of Prey #82	May 18, 2005
Batgirl #67	August 17, 2005
Gotham Central #35	October 31, 2005
Batgirl #72	January 18, 2006
Robin #147	February 8, 2006
Batgirl #73	February 15, 2006
Robin #151	June 21, 2006
52 Week #8	June 28, 2006
Birds of Prey #98	September 20, 2006
Birds of Prey #99	October 18, 2006
Robin #156	November 15, 2006
Teen Titans #43	January 31, 2007
Flash #233	October 24, 2007
Nightwing #139	December 12, 2007
Batman #673	January 30, 2008
Batman #676	May 14, 2008
Batman #677	May 28, 2008

Return[]

In late 2007, something odd began happening. A familiar purple hooded figure was roaming the streets of Gotham Underground, and haunting Robin's steps. Little did fans know that this was just the beginning of Steph's long deserved resurrection!

Title	Date
Gotham Underground #2	November 28, 2007
Gotham Underground #3	December 16, 2007
Robin #170	January 16, 2008
Gotham Underground #4	January 23, 2008
Gotham Underground #5	February 13, 2008
Robin #171	February 19, 2008
Gotham Underground #6	March 12, 2008
Robin #172	March 19, 2008
Robin #173	April 16, 2008
Robin #174	May 21, 2008
Robin/Spoiler Special	June 4, 2008

Road to Batgirl[]

Once Steph's death had been retconned, DC in their infinite wisdom decided to fire the writer with the clearest plans for her character. As a result, Steph's journey suffered through the fizzling end of Robin in the Batman RIP event tie-ins, and sputtered on through the following Battle for the Cowl relaunch of the Bat-titles.

Batman RIP[]

Title	Date
Robin #175	July 23, 2008
Robin #176	August 6, 2008
Robin #177	August 20, 2008
Robin #178	September 17, 2008
Robin #179	October 15, 2008
Robin #180	November 19, 2008
Batman and the Outsiders #13	November 19, 2008
Robin #181	December 17, 2008
Teen Titans #66	December 31, 2008
Robin #182	January 21, 2009
Robin #183	February 18, 2009

Battle for the Cowl[]

Title	Date
Gotham Gazette: Batman Dead?	March 4, 2009
Batman: Battle for the Cowl #2	April 8, 2009
Batman: Battle for the Cowl - The Network	May 6, 2009
Gotham Gazette: Batman Alive?	May 27, 2009
Red Robin #2	July 8, 2009

Batgirl[]

In 2009, for the first time ever, Stephanie Brown was given her own solo series, as the third Batgirl. It lasted for 2 years with decent sales, great art, and considerable critical acclaim. USA Today listed the Batgirl Rising tpb, which collected the first 7 issues of Batgirl, among the Top 10 Graphic Novels of 2010, one of only 2 DC titles to make the list and the ONLY one set in the Post-Crisis DCU.

You can find our detailed chronological list of appearances, linking our articles on all of these individual issues, at the Steph as Batgirl page.