Kathy Kane

Katherine "Kathy" Kane is a character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. She is the first DC character to appear as the superheroine Batwoman. She was created by writer Edmond Hamilton and artist Sheldon Moldoff under the direction of editor Jack Schiff, as part of an ongoing effort to expand Batman's cast of supporting characters. Batwoman began appearing in DC Comics stories beginning with Detective Comics #233 (1956), in which she was introduced as a love interest for Batman in order to combat the allegations of Batman's homosexuality arising from the controversial book Seduction of the Innocent (1954). When Julius Schwartz became editor of the Batman-related comic in 1964, he removed characters deemed non-essential, including Batwoman, Bat-Girl, Bat-Mite, and Ace the Bat-Hound. Later, the 1985 limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths retroactively established that Kathy Kane never becomes Batwoman in DC's main continuity. The character has since made appearances in the main continuity without the Batwoman persona.