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Batman One-Shots
Batman: Huntress/Spoiler - Blunt Trauma (1998) #1
Spoiler and the Huntress face some of Batman's greatest foes in this "Cataclysm" one-shot! Freed from Blackgate Prison, a group of Batman's most ruthless foes come ashore at the devastated Gotham Mall. Only Spoiler and the injured Huntress stand between them and hundreds of victims.
38 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1998
About the author
Chuck Dixon
3,485 books1,088 followersCharles "Chuck" Dixon is an American comic book writer, perhaps best-known for long runs on Batman titles in the 1990s.
His earliest comics work was writing Evangeline first for Comico Comics in 1984 (then later for First Comics, who published the on-going series), on which he worked with his then-wife, the artist Judith Hunt. His big break came one year later, when editor Larry Hama hired him to write back-up stories for Marvel Comics' The Savage Sword of Conan.
In 1986, he began working for Eclipse Comics, writing Airboy with artist Tim Truman. Continuing to write for both Marvel and (mainly) Eclipse on these titles, as well as launching Strike! with artist Tom Lyle in August 1987 and Valkyrie with artist Paul Gulacy in October 1987, he began work on Carl Potts' Alien Legion series for Marvel's Epic Comics imprint, under editor Archie Goodwin. He also produced a three-issue adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit for Eclipse with artist David Wenzel between 1989 and 1990, and began writing Marc Spector: Moon Knight in June 1989.
His Punisher OGN Kingdom Gone (August, 1990) led to him working on the monthly The Punisher War Journal (and later, more monthly and occasional Punisher titles), and also brought him to the attention of DC Comics editor Denny O'Neil, who asked him to produce a Robin mini-series. The mini proved popular enough to spawn two sequels - The Joker's Wild (1991) and Cry of the Huntress (1992) - which led to both an ongoing monthly series (which Dixon wrote for 100 issues before leaving to work with CrossGen Comics), and to Dixon working on Detective Comics from #644-738 through the major Batman stories KnightFall & KnightsEnd (for which he helped create the key character of Bane), DC One Million , Contagion , Legacy , Cataclysm and No Man's Land . Much of his run was illustrated by Graham Nolan.
He was DC's most prolific Batman-writer in the mid-1990s (rivalled perhaps in history by Bill Finger and Dennis O'Neil) - in addition to writing Detective Comics he pioneered the individual series for Robin , Nightwing (which he wrote for 70 issues, and returned to briefly with 2005's #101) and Batgirl , as well as creating the team and book Birds of Prey .
While writing multiple Punisher and Batman comics (and October 1994's Punisher/Batman crossover), he also found time to launch Team 7 for Jim Lee's WildStorm/Image and Prophet for Rob Liefeld's Extreme Studios. He also wrote many issues of Catwoman and Green Arrow , regularly having about seven titles out each and every month between the years 1993 and 1998.
In March, 2002, Dixon turned his attention to CrossGen's output, salthough he co-wrote with Scott Beatty the origin of Barbara Gordon's Batgirl in 2003's Batgirl: Year One. For CrossGen he took over some of the comics of the out-going Mark Waid, taking over Sigil from #21, and Crux with #13. He launched Way of the Rat in June 2002, Brath (March '03), The Silken Ghost (June '03) and the pirate comic El Cazador (Oct '03), as well as editing Robert Rodi's non-Sigilverse The Crossovers. He also wrote the Ruse spin-off Archard's Agents one-shots in January and November '03 and April '04, the last released shortly before CrossGen's complete collapse forced the cancellation of all of its comics, before which Dixon wrote a single issue of Sojourn (May '04). Dixon's Way of the Rat #24, Brath #14 and El Cazador #6 were among the last comics released from the then-bankrupt publisher.
On June 10, 2008, Dixon announced on his forum that he was no longer "employed by DC Comics in any capacity."
His earliest comics work was writing Evangeline first for Comico Comics in 1984 (then later for First Comics, who published the on-going series), on which he worked with his then-wife, the artist Judith Hunt. His big break came one year later, when editor Larry Hama hired him to write back-up stories for Marvel Comics' The Savage Sword of Conan.
In 1986, he began working for Eclipse Comics, writing Airboy with artist Tim Truman. Continuing to write for both Marvel and (mainly) Eclipse on these titles, as well as launching Strike! with artist Tom Lyle in August 1987 and Valkyrie with artist Paul Gulacy in October 1987, he began work on Carl Potts' Alien Legion series for Marvel's Epic Comics imprint, under editor Archie Goodwin. He also produced a three-issue adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit for Eclipse with artist David Wenzel between 1989 and 1990, and began writing Marc Spector: Moon Knight in June 1989.
His Punisher OGN Kingdom Gone (August, 1990) led to him working on the monthly The Punisher War Journal (and later, more monthly and occasional Punisher titles), and also brought him to the attention of DC Comics editor Denny O'Neil, who asked him to produce a Robin mini-series. The mini proved popular enough to spawn two sequels - The Joker's Wild (1991) and Cry of the Huntress (1992) - which led to both an ongoing monthly series (which Dixon wrote for 100 issues before leaving to work with CrossGen Comics), and to Dixon working on Detective Comics from #644-738 through the major Batman stories KnightFall & KnightsEnd (for which he helped create the key character of Bane), DC One Million , Contagion , Legacy , Cataclysm and No Man's Land . Much of his run was illustrated by Graham Nolan.
He was DC's most prolific Batman-writer in the mid-1990s (rivalled perhaps in history by Bill Finger and Dennis O'Neil) - in addition to writing Detective Comics he pioneered the individual series for Robin , Nightwing (which he wrote for 70 issues, and returned to briefly with 2005's #101) and Batgirl , as well as creating the team and book Birds of Prey .
While writing multiple Punisher and Batman comics (and October 1994's Punisher/Batman crossover), he also found time to launch Team 7 for Jim Lee's WildStorm/Image and Prophet for Rob Liefeld's Extreme Studios. He also wrote many issues of Catwoman and Green Arrow , regularly having about seven titles out each and every month between the years 1993 and 1998.
In March, 2002, Dixon turned his attention to CrossGen's output, salthough he co-wrote with Scott Beatty the origin of Barbara Gordon's Batgirl in 2003's Batgirl: Year One. For CrossGen he took over some of the comics of the out-going Mark Waid, taking over Sigil from #21, and Crux with #13. He launched Way of the Rat in June 2002, Brath (March '03), The Silken Ghost (June '03) and the pirate comic El Cazador (Oct '03), as well as editing Robert Rodi's non-Sigilverse The Crossovers. He also wrote the Ruse spin-off Archard's Agents one-shots in January and November '03 and April '04, the last released shortly before CrossGen's complete collapse forced the cancellation of all of its comics, before which Dixon wrote a single issue of Sojourn (May '04). Dixon's Way of the Rat #24, Brath #14 and El Cazador #6 were among the last comics released from the then-bankrupt publisher.
On June 10, 2008, Dixon announced on his forum that he was no longer "employed by DC Comics in any capacity."
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
January 19, 2021
I had high hopes for this one in that it stars 2 female characters. As soon as I saw that Dixon wrote it, my hopes were immediately dashed. It's interesting, but I don't know that I've read a comic that so horribly fails the Bechdel Test. (Which, btw, isn't that hard to meet).
Here's a comic that perfectly encapsulates my issues with Dixon's writing of female characters in one single story. Huntress and Spoiler - the 2 characters that are the same in every way save hair color. Two female vigilantes who put on costumes to fight crime because they came from families of criminals and saw the harm they caused first hand. Two female vigilantes who encounter the Batmen (Dick, Bruce and Tim) and were told to go home and stop fighting crime. Two female vigilantes who have their methods criticized and deemed lesser than because they're not Batsy's way. Two female vigilantes who are constantly never allowed to win. (I will say, this one time, they seem to win in that they get out alive, but the people they face come back in an issue of Robin with little to no damage - the timeline's a bit wonky).
Anyway, every word out of Steph's mouth is about Tim and every word out of Huntress' mouth is about how Batman is wrong. This issue is supposed to be Steph's rude awakening so that she embraces the ways of the Bat and starts going easy on criminals. Honestly, the worst part of Steph's confusing and baffling love for Robin despite him consistently telling her she's not good enough to fight crime, is that Steph seems to believe it. Dixon consistently writes the men in the batfamily telling the women in their lives that they know what's best for them - and the worst part is that the women just accept it.
I get it, comics at this time didn't give a shit about women. I know that because this is one of the worst comics for ass shots. I mean over and over again, I'm looking at Huntress and Spoiler's asses and I didn't care for it (I like women - I just hate this art). The art plus Dixon's consistently horrible treatment of women makes me worry about the women who grew up reading comics because what did they have? Wonder Woman may have been the only women consistently written without storylines like this (or at least, not as many).
Here's a comic that perfectly encapsulates my issues with Dixon's writing of female characters in one single story. Huntress and Spoiler - the 2 characters that are the same in every way save hair color. Two female vigilantes who put on costumes to fight crime because they came from families of criminals and saw the harm they caused first hand. Two female vigilantes who encounter the Batmen (Dick, Bruce and Tim) and were told to go home and stop fighting crime. Two female vigilantes who have their methods criticized and deemed lesser than because they're not Batsy's way. Two female vigilantes who are constantly never allowed to win. (I will say, this one time, they seem to win in that they get out alive, but the people they face come back in an issue of Robin with little to no damage - the timeline's a bit wonky).
Anyway, every word out of Steph's mouth is about Tim and every word out of Huntress' mouth is about how Batman is wrong. This issue is supposed to be Steph's rude awakening so that she embraces the ways of the Bat and starts going easy on criminals. Honestly, the worst part of Steph's confusing and baffling love for Robin despite him consistently telling her she's not good enough to fight crime, is that Steph seems to believe it. Dixon consistently writes the men in the batfamily telling the women in their lives that they know what's best for them - and the worst part is that the women just accept it.
I get it, comics at this time didn't give a shit about women. I know that because this is one of the worst comics for ass shots. I mean over and over again, I'm looking at Huntress and Spoiler's asses and I didn't care for it (I like women - I just hate this art). The art plus Dixon's consistently horrible treatment of women makes me worry about the women who grew up reading comics because what did they have? Wonder Woman may have been the only women consistently written without storylines like this (or at least, not as many).
August 27, 2023
Steph and Helena team up was fun.
January 19, 2020
I actually really enjoyed this book, and I honestly only rated it 3 stars because I really wish it had been a longer adventure. Helena Bertinelli and Stephanie Brown just *fit* together; the more jaded older heroine with her penchant for cruelty and violence and the younger heroine who wants to find a better middle ground is a dynamic we just don't get much of. Add to that the similarities in their background, their general attitude towards Batman, and their heaping helpings of sass and honestly they make for a really great duo who deserved more than 39 pages. The story itself was straightforward, likely because of the page count, but I enjoyed the pacing and the tension between the two women, and also between Steph and her father.
August 20, 2021
I’ve been so excited ever since I found out about this one-shot. Finally! Two of the most interesting and underutilized characters teaming up! And one of them is my favorite ever, Stephanie Brown. This sounded too good to be true. The second I open it on my DCU Infinite app and I read the cover and see Dixon I let out a big sigh. This isn’t going to be the great adventure that I expected, right?
November 9, 2024
Not passing the Bechdel test is crazy.
December 28, 2025
not too bad but nothing special
January 1, 2026
kinda cool ig
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews