Batwoman First Appearance: Detective Comics #233 and 52 #7

Batwoman first appeared in Detective Comics #233, cover-dated July 1956, as Kathy Kane, created by writer Edmond Hamilton and artist Sheldon Moldoff under editor Jack Schiff (Wikipedia). She was added as a love interest for Batman after Fredric Wertham's attacks on comics had included claims about Batman's sexuality. Kathy Kane was killed in Detective Comics #485 (August to September 1979).

The Batwoman most people search for today is Kate Kane, who first appeared in 52 #7 (2006). Alex Ross designed her, and the 52 writers Greg Rucka, Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison and Mark Waid developed her as a Jewish woman with a military background who is a lesbian (Wikipedia). She later led Detective Comics from issue #854 and got her own Batwoman #1 in fall 2011.

PriceCharting values, retrieved September 25, 2026:

Detective Comics #233 (1956), Kathy Kane

• Ungraded: $440.00
• 2.0: $805.02
• 4.0: $1,767.76
• 6.0: $2,915.00
• 9.2: $50,400.00

52 #7 (2006), Kate Kane

• Ungraded: $9.49
• 9.2: $35.07
• 9.8: $50.35

The 1956 book trades about once or twice a year per grade, so its figures can move on one sale. The 2006 issue stays inexpensive even in 9.8: about $50, against $50,400 for the 1956 debut in 9.2.

Kate Kane is. She was written as a lesbian from her 2006 debut, and at the 2009 New York Comic Con DC described her as its highest-profile gay superhero (Wikipedia). The original Kathy Kane was not; she was created in 1956 as a romantic interest for Batman. On television, Ruby Rose played Kate Kane in the Batwoman series and Javicia Leslie played her successor, Ryan Wilder.

Extraño, created by Steve Englehart and Joe Staton, first appeared in Millennium #2 (January 1988) and is recognized as the first openly gay superhero in DC Comics (Wikipedia, Extraño). Kate Kane came 18 years later but became the most prominent. Alan Scott, the first Green Lantern, was later rewritten as gay; see our Green Lantern page.

Because Batwoman already existed. Kathy Kane's Batwoman came with a teenage sidekick, Bette Kane, called Bat-Girl. When DC introduced Barbara Gordon as Batgirl in Detective Comics #359 (January 1967), it retired the earlier Batwoman and Bat-Girl and presented Barbara as a more capable crime-fighter (Wikipedia, Barbara Gordon; Wikipedia, Batwoman). Barbara was an adult from the start, a career woman with a doctorate in library science who ran the Gotham City Public Library. See our Batgirl first appearance page.

This question refers to the 2016 animated film Batman: The Killing Joke, whose new prologue has Batgirl and Batman have sex after an argument. The film's Wikipedia article gives no age for Barbara. In the comics she was introduced as an adult with a doctorate. Critics objected to the scene, calling it a cliché that reduced her to a sexual role and uncomfortable because Batman is her mentor.

• Indicia: the small print on the first page or inside cover gives the title, issue number, date and publisher; reprints and facsimiles say so there.
• Cover price and barcode: a price or barcode that did not exist in the cover year means a later edition.
• Paper: decades-old newsprint tans at the edges; bright white pages on an old date are a warning sign.
• Restoration: color touch, trimmed edges and replaced covers are common on expensive keys; a grading service such as CGC can detect them. See spot a fake or restored comic.

Shoot the front cover flat and straight on in even light, then the indicia and the back cover. Detective Comics #233 is a 1956 book, so photograph the edges and spine closely for restoration. For 52 #7, make sure the issue number reads 7. ComicLens reads the title, issue number and cover art from the photo and shows a reference price range that moves with the grade you pick; there are free scans every day.

Research and drafting were assisted by AI and checked line by line against the sources listed on this page. Prices are the figures shown by the named source on the date given; they change with the market.