It was a short-lived series that dived into a different corner of the Bat-family.
Birds of Prey might not be familiar to the casual comic fan, but to major fans, they are a massive staple. The Birds of Prey aired in 2002 and 2003 on The WB – now known as The CW. It starred Ashley Scott as Helena Kyle, the daughter of Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle and operated as Huntress. Actually, that is why we wanted to do a deep dive.
During the short run of the series, the show dived into a character very few people knew existed within the comic book community. At the same time, diehard comic fans might recall her as one of two women who took on the Huntress mantle.
Helena’s Television Backstory
Helena was born to Catwoman and raised by her mother. As a teenager, Selina died at the Joker’s hand to get back at Batman. Barbara Gordon, Bruce’s protégé who was once Batgirl took her in, becoming her legal guardian. Wayne never knew of his child’s existence.
After becoming a victim to the Clown Prince of Crime, Babs became paralysed but fought crime without going into the field like she used to. She took on another persona; Oracle. During her time as a Bat, Barbara became acquinted with three of the Robins; Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, and Tim Drake. She also formed a close bond with Alfred Pennyworth, Bruce’s butler who viewed her as a daughter.
While Helena became close to the butler, the bond wasn’t as close. Alfred saw Bruce in her. He’d become familar with the rebellious trait that ran deep within the Wayne family as he’d raised Batman.
Abilities And Being Batman’s Daughter
Helena always recalled her uniqueness. Because her mother was a metahuman, she herself inherited some of Selina’s cat abilities. With her father being human, the young woman was half-metahuman.
For years, Helena didn’t know her father’s identity. Her discovery led her to Bruce Wayne.
Like Bruce, Helena developed a temper and became ordered by the court to undergo counselling after she totaled a car. Unbeknownst to her, the shrink assigned to her case was Harley Quinn, the girlfriend of her father’s arch-nemesis, the Joker. To top it all off, he murdered Selina.
Taking In Dinah Redmond
Helena’s life revolved around being a vigilante. Though she never thought she would take on the role of mentor to 17-year-old runaway Dinah Redmond. Unknown to her and Barbara, the teen held a secret; she was the daughter of Carolyn Lance, the Black Canary.
When Carolyn suddenly shows up after years of not being in her daughter’s life, Dinah is forced to confess that her mother gave her up when she didn’t show signs of meta activity.
Carolyn, who’d become close friends with Bruce, explained bad people were after her. She claimed it was safer for Dinah if she did not get caught up in her issues.
Prior to Carolyn showing up, Helena and Barbara teach Dinah to use her powers. She could predict things within her dreams. the meta teen also possessed tactile telepathy which enabled her to read people’s minds via touch.
Alfred
As we continue our deep dive, we need to consider that Wayne family butler, Alfred Pennyworth witnessed almost every form of behaviour his surrogate son displayed. He’d raised Bruce since he was a young boy after the deaths of his parents. When Helena came into his life, he knew instantly that she was Bruce’s daughter. He had the patience of a saint, given all the years the woman’s father gave him.
He had a great love and admiration for Barbara and was her main confidente when it came to dealing with Helena.
Barbara and Helena
Continuing with our deep dive, we need to talk about. the leader of the Birds of Prey. Barbara had to play peacekeeper between her ward and Dinah given Helena’s issues with her anger. However, she loved Helena as only a big sister could. Given her closeness to Bruce when she was younger, Babs recalled that Bruce would want her to watch over his daughter.
Whenever she struggled with being a single parent to her friend’s daughter, she would go to Alfred, whom she saw a father-figure. He knew how to handle the Wayne rebellous streak as Helena had inherited from her father.
Despite going out into the field as Huntress, Helena understood deep down that Barbara was only trying to help her.
Helena Kyle will appear in Crisis on Infinite Earths which begins on The CW in mid December.
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