Warning: SPOILERS for Batgirls 2022 Annual #1With a pair of new civilian love interests between them, it's possible Batman's worst trait: losing himself to the mission and forgetting to live his life. Tim Drake has taken steps to re-balance his life by dating his old classmate Bernard Dowd, and now Stephanie Brown is pursuing a "normal" romance of her own.
former Robin) Stephanie Brown as she pursues a new friendship with civilian Kyle Mizoguchi.
Stephanie and Kyle continue their romantically-tilting friendship in Batgirls 2022 Annual #1 by Becky Cloonan, Michael W. Conrad, Robbi Rodriguez, Rico Renzi, and Dave Sharpe. Fans of the Gotham Academy series will recognize Kyle from those pages, but what's more important is his budding romance with Stephanie, who seems to really like hanging out with Kyle despite wanting to take the romance part of their friendship slow. As she explains to fellow Batgirl Cassandra Cain, "being with him is like absolute normality."
Batgirl Knows Even Superheroes Deserve to Feel Normal
By dating people completely outside of the superhero world, both Stephanie and Tim are taking steps to avoid Batman's dour fate of prioritizing the "mission" over all else. Here, Batgirl insists that they all deserve to take time away from their vigilante lives and to just exist as themselves, no masks needed. It's striking that Steph and Tim are on these parallel romantic journeys with their civilian love interests; their own romantic relationship may have ended, but it was a huge part of both of their journeys as characters and heroes. After their failed superhero romance, it makes perfect sense that they're both pursuing non-masked people, and both Batgirl and Robin definitely deserve to take "normal" breaks from those heavy mantles.
One of Batman's major flaws has always been his mission-related tunnel vision, but part of what makes his protégés an improvement on his own work is their ability to balance their personal lives with their vigilante mission. Each Bat-Family member has had their own struggles with this balance, but both Tim Drake's Robin and Stephanie Brown's Batgirl are having serious success in the dating department. Whether that success is bound to fail is another question, but at least for now they are safe from Batman's worst trait.
Check out Batgirls 2022 Annual #1, available now from DC Comics!
