A BIRTHDAY TRIBUTE starring the fab Helena Wayne…
One of the most popular Bat-characters to emerge from the Bronze Age is the Huntress, the Earth-Two daughter of Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle Wayne. Later versions have never felt quite as right as the original, created by Paul Levitz, Bob Layton and our man of the moment — Joe Staton, who was born 74 years ago on Jan 19, 1948.
So dig these 13 GROOVY PAGES (including one cover) culled from DC Super-Stars, Batman Family and Wonder Woman. All pages, from the late ’70s to the early ’80s, were scripted by Paul Levitz and pencilled by Staton. Inkers listed as noted.
Badass.
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Layton inks
Wonder Woman #287. Bruce Patterson inks.
Wonder Woman #284
Wonder Woman #285
DC Super-Stars #17. Layton inks.
Staton’s original sketch, from DCSS #17
Wonder Woman #282
Wonder Woman #283
Wonder Woman #283
Wonder Woman #286
Wonder Woman #285. Bob Smith inks.
Wonder Woman #289. Patterson inks.
Batman Family #19
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MORE
— Just Look at This Unsung BATMAN Splash Page by JOE STATON. Click here.
— 13 COVERS: A JOE STATON Birthday Celebration — 2020 Edition: JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA. Click here.
January 19, 2022
HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Joe Staton.
Love Huntress. Very Disappointed that Crisis took her away.
January 19, 2022
Very upset we lost her to Crisis…..shoot, losing Earth-2, was a huge lost IMO. The cynic in me suspects her origin was destroyed so royalties didn’t need to be paid. Even if all that meant was proper credit being given. Joe’s artwork was always a “buy” when seen on the spinner.
January 19, 2022
The Helena Wayne Huntress was one of my favorite Bronze Age characters. I’m still angry that DC killed her off in Crisis on Infinite Earths. A few years ago, I got a convention sketch of the Huntress from Joe Staton…priceless!
January 19, 2022
One of all time favorite characters, though I did enjoy Helena Bertinelli in Birds of Prey.
January 19, 2022
Loved it! Still have the Secret Origins issue!
January 19, 2022
Happy birthday, Joe. You have given me many enjoyable moments and unforgettable memories reading the Huntress strip! Still upset about how they let Huntress live just long enough to know the pain and devastation that she had never existed before killing her off a short while later in Crisis. That was overly cruel for such a popular character and a major blow to her fans at that time. And to cap it off, she was killed in just a few small panels unlike Flash and Supergirl!
January 20, 2022
Happy Birthday Joe! Not only did I enjoy all of your work on Helena Wayne’s Huntress back in the day, but I also enjoyed your work on JSA, Power Girl, and all Earth-2 in general! And I’ve really missed that take on the characters and more that was lost to COIE. To quote Roy Thomas in Back Issue #106’s All-Star Squadron discussion, “Damn Crisis!”
Instead of republishing the Darknight Daughter collection as Huntress Origins awhile back, I wish DC had given us a Darknight Daughter Vol. 2 so that all of Helena Wayne’s solo adventures and team-ups outside JSA could be reprinted. I’d love to see a Helena Wayne omnibus, but I won’t hold my breath waiting for today’s DC to publish something that great.
March 26, 2022
Oh, how I miss Helena Wayne and the pre-Crisis earth-2!