Real Name: Stephanie Brown
Age: 15
Occupation: Vigilante, Student.
Base of Operations: Gotham
Known Relatives: Arthur Brown (father, Cluemaster), unnamed mother, unnamed child given up for adoption.
Height: 5' 5" Weight: 110 lbs.
Hair: Blonde Eyes: Blue
Super Powers: None
First Appearance: Detective Comics #647.
Special Abilities: The Spoiler is a lot like Robin, in that she doesn't have any "super" powers, only finely tuned natural skills. She is also a fine fighter and acrobat, and is learning a few things about detective work from her occasional partner, Robin. Though, inexperienced and danger-prone, she has assisted Robin on many occasions, even saving his life.


Detective 647:

Daddy's at it again. He gets released from Blackgate and the first thing he does is muscle in on someone (Wiley Cutter's) gang and plan some heists. Enter Steph. We first see our favourite heroine watching a press conference held by Mayoral candidate, Armand Krol, where he condemns the city's need for someone like Batman, no matter how good batman's intentions are. This obviously gives her an idea, for when we next see her, she has on the now-familiar costume and is perched on a rooftop, listening in on Daddy's plans.

Next morning, a clue arrives on Commish Gordon's desk, a puzzle piece. He calls in Bats and Rob, and they begin to try and narrow down which looney might be leaving the clues. They eliminate all the possiblilites and end up at the Cluemaster.

We switch back to Steph, who is busily cutting and pasting her next clue, when her mom (whose name we've never actually heard, have we?) comes in and asks Steph to go to the drugstore for a refill on her perscription painkillers, which she's been going through at the steady rate of a bottle per week. Steph's reluctant, but eventually agrees.

Meanwhile, Batman and Robin have cornered Artie and question him about the latest rash of crimes and the clues being left. He tells them that he's through with the crime scene, and that he doesn't leave clues anymore, he was cured of that in prison. Bats, only slightly mollified, eventually takes off.

Eventually, Artie gets wind of the clues being left at Gordon's office, and threatens to kill the imposter, as well as Batman and Robin.

Detective 648:

By this time, Steph's been busy spraypainting her clues on the sides of large buildings. Batman and Robin, believing the desperation of the clues the cry of a sick mind in need of help, go to do some leg work on some of Gotham's scum. Eventually, someone coughs up Artie's name, and they head out to find him again.

At the location of Artie's apartment, Robin spies someone in costume lurking in the shadows. Believing this person to be one of Artie's gang, Robin gives chase. It doesn't take long for the Boy Wonder to catch up and tackle the person. He gets a surprise when he pulls off the mask and sees a girl underneath, who immediatley clocks him in the head with a brick. He seems suitably impressed.

Of course by this time, the others have found out that Artie's apartment is booby-trapped and the whole thing goes kablooey. This was all part of Artie's master plan to fake his death and kill Batman at the same time. Course the last part didn't work.

Batman and Robin put Steph's clues together (they're not that difficult), and Alfred teases Robin about being overpowered by a young lady. Tim says that she surprised him. Batman figures out what target Artie has in mind, and heads out to talk to Gordon, while he assigns Robin to figure out who the mystery girl is.

He figures out where she lives, and then hides in the tree outside her house that night. Sure enough, out she comes in full costume, on a motorcycle. Robin hitches a ride, but distracts her enough that they both get thrown from the bike. He asks her if she's part of her dad's gang and if she was there to save her father. She tells him she was there to make sure no one else got hurt and that she hates her dad's guts and would like to see him rot in jail. It takes Robin all of 5 seconds then to figure out she's the one who sent the clues. They make an uneasy truce, and head for the site of Artie's big score, the grand opening of Castleland Park.

They meet up with Batman, and he tells Steph it wasn't her father killed in the blast at his apartment. They start to make some plans, and Batman asks what she calls herself. She tells him she's called the Spoiler (though the way she says it sounds like she made it up on the spot), and he replies, "I like that."

Detective 649:

The three heroes head for the mall (which is what Castleland Park is), and Spoiler fills them in on what she knows of her father's plans. Batman then tells her she won't be accompanying them any further, she reluctantly agrees and tells them what she knows. The plan involves creating a large accident on the interstate, which will shutdown eastbound access to the mall, then another flunky will create an accident on the westward bridge, cutting off the mall from any help.

The boys head off, again telling Spoiler she can't join them. Robin asks Batman if he wasn't a little rough on her, and Bats replies that they can't be sure of her motives, that she's only in this for revenge. But of course, she goes anyway.

So the party begins at the mall, Artie and his merry men (they're dressed in robin hood costumes) take everyone hostage, and broadcast their intentions to the general viewing audience, that they are going to make off with all the charity money that's been raised that evening. And that's when Batman and Robin crash the party crashers.

The big finale of Artie's master plan was to have a helicopter airlift himself and the money out of the mall. The helicopter shows up, and it looks like Artie is going to make good on his escape, but Batman manages to hitch a ride while Robin deals with the thugs left behind. During all this chaos, Spoiler finally makes her appearance, and takes out some of the thugs escaping with Artie. She's hell bent on stopping her father and takes a swing at him, which Artie easily avoids. Artie then grabs her and threatens to disfigure her with acid, unless Batman backs off. Which he doesn't. Batman calmly informs Artie that he's threatening his own daughter, which surprises Artie a great deal, so he pulls her mask off to confirm this with his own eyes. Spoiler takes the opportunity to elbow her dad lovingly in the stomach, and then wrap a chain around his neck. Batman must then convince the daughter not to kill the father. He tells her that if she kills Artie, she, not Artie,will be the one who destroys her life. She releases her father, and the GCPD show up to relieve them of their burden.

The last panel is of the Spoiler mask falling from the platform beneath the helicopter.

Synopsis of Spoiler's origin appearance by Adrienne Johansson.