Wednesday, May 31, 2017

Appearance Spotlight: Magpie

This is a pretty surprising one to me, but it's a good example of how an adaptation doesn't need to be successful to have canon immigrants.


Beware the Batman was a 2013 animated series, the first strictly Batman-related series since The Batman ended in 2008. (Batman: The Brave and the Bold aired from 2008 to 2011, but it was a team-up show and the spotlight usually wasn't on Batman himself.) It was a decent series, and its mission statement of only using villains who had never been on tv before was an admirable, but for whatever reason, it never caught on. I suspect that had a lot to do with the CG animation, which left Gotham looking barren due to the cost and time limits of production.

Regardless, one of the villains it used was Magpie, whose first appearance was in Man of Steel #3 (September 1986). Her shtick was trying to create perfect crimes by replacing what she stole with exact copies, but she's probably more well known for her...unique appearance.


In Beware the Batman, where she debuted in the episode "Secrets" (July 2013), she's more of a generic thief, and she has a much different appearance.


She didn't appear in DC's sort-of-rebooted continuity until Batman Eternal #15 (July 2014), and only then as the Arkham Asylum receptionist. But you can see she's sporting a haircut more similar to her animated appearance.


And when she later appears as Magpie - seen here on the cover of Batgirl #8 (February 2017) - you can see a look that's definitely based on her animated appearance.


Note that the first appearance of this costume was in Batman #14 (January 2017), which I unfortunately couldn't get an image from. Also note that the issue discussed her original look, so this is simply a new style for her and not a new version of the character (although I'd count it either way).

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