Kate Spencer

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Kate Spencer in Manhunter v3 #23.

Kate Spencer is a female comic superhero who features in DC Comics.

Contents

Biography

Origin

Kate Spencer becoming a vigilante in Manhunter v3 #1.

Kate Spencer

As a child, she thought her parents may have taken her on a tour to Paone western village located north of Los Angeles as part of a tour of the Old West. (Manhunter v3 #5)

Around 16 months ago, she was the prosecutor in the trial over the supervillain Copperhead who had committed numerous murders and engaged in cannibalism. She petitioned the jury to consider the death sentence for his crimes but ultimately they were convinced by the defense that the villain was a victim of his genetic anomaly that compelled him to kill. He was to be transferred to a Metahuman prison and research facility where during transit he escaped as well as killed the guards escorting him who he ate. After learning of the escape, Kate used her access to enter the evidence locker to gather some equipment where she decided to confront Copperhead. She battled him in the sewers where she managed to use the armor and weaponry to kill him thus ending his reign of terror. Kate decided to adopt the name of the Manhunter and left the name over the supervillain's body as she began the life of being a vigilante. (Manhunter v3 #1) The next day she heard the news about Copperhead's death but came to forget that she had custody of her son Ramsey for the day which she had forgotten. She and Ramsey then spent their day together before she took him home where she went in the shower whilst he was supposed to a watch a movie. Ramsey then came find the Manhunter baton in the cupboard and accidentally activated the machine that shocked him. (Manhunter v3 #2) She had called an ambulance whilst her son was taken to hospital after Ramsey was rendered unconscious. During this time, she was targeted by the Shadow Thief who was seeking revenge for the death of Copperhead. (Manhunter v3 #3)

Later on, Kate paid a visit to Dylan Battles aka Rich XX who had been the man she had seen in the restaurant. He came to testify against super-villains and entered witness protection. He spent many years as a super-villain's henchman and inventor but now had a wife named Linda, and a son. She blackmailed him into helping her with her newfound suit and staff. When he returned home, his wife came to leave him after thinking that he was having an affair with Kate. He then called Kate back and accepted her offer to help. Around this time, Kate received news that Shadow Thief killed the hero Firestorm. (Manhunter v3 #4) Looking to better fight villains, she had Dylan modify her Manhunter suit and set up a training range so she could test herself as she honed her crime fighting skills. Dylan later suggested to Kate to train at a remote village at Paone where she fought against robotic copies of various supervillains. Afterwards, she went to see her son but her ex-husband barred her entry to his bed at the hospital after claiming that he had a court order giving him full custody over Ramsey. Angry, she initially lashed out at Peter but relented after feeling guilt over the injuries her son sustained and asked her ex-husband to tell her son that she loved him. Deciding to bury herself in her work, she returned to her office in the federal building at Los Angeles. Her office was then visited by the Justice League who informed her out of professional courtesy that they were on the hunt for Shadow Thief over the murder of Firestorm. By night, she decided to hunt down Carl Sands and kill him where she dressed as Manhunter. She came to track her quarry to the Hollywood Forever Cemetery grounds where she was ambushed by Shadow Thief who was using his powers to animate the deceased corpse of Copperhead. During the fight, Sands nearly engulfed Kate in his shadows but she used her upgraded gauntlets to injure him though he knocked her into a building. At that moment, the Justice League arrived where they came to apprehend the villain with Kate being forced to flee to hide her involvement in the matter. Failing to kill Sands, she decided that she would instead prosecute him for his crimes. (Manhunter v3 #5)

Upon encountering the Reach Scarab, the Darkstar armor attacked the Blue Beetle whose suit similarly attacked Kate. The two had to restrain their suits in order to end the fight between them. Manhunter then revealed to the Blue Beetle why she had come to El Paso as she was hunting down a murderer. (Manhunter v3 #32)

She was later called in alongside other Gotham heroes by Oracle to help protect Vicki Vale from Ra's al Ghul's elite assassin squad known as the Seven Men of Death. (Bruce Wayne: The Road Home: Oracle v1 #1)

Post-Flashpoint

Following the Flashpoint, a new version of reality was created with a different history of events. Kate Spencer

Spencer later was in Star City where she served as the defense attorney for Oliver Queen after he was framed for the murder of his secretary. (Green Arrow v7 #25)

She was noted to had somewhat retired from superhero activity until Leviathan struck where they had one of their agents disguised as Kate Spencer. This led to a police raid of her home and the public exposure of her superhero identity. Kate went on the run where she rendezvoused with a number of other detective superheroes that were attempting to uncover the identity of Leviathan's leader. (Event Leviathan v1 #4)

Kate later came to join the newly formed Checkmate who were looking to find and dismantle Mark Shawk's Leviathan organization. (Checkmate v3 #1)

Overview

Personality and attributes

Kate had a tendency of being forgetful and missing important gatherings. (Manhunter v3 #2)

It was said that she had anger issues which she internalised. This was not a topic of discussion she had with others and reacted angrily to those that brought it up. (Manhunter v3 #5)

She was noted for being a smoker. (Manhunter v3 #1)

As a vigilante, Kate was not above killing villains and said that she did not feel guilt over their deaths. After killing Copperhead, she reasoned to herself that she would give a try at being a 'superhero' as she noted that there were many super-powered criminals out on the streets. (Manhunter v3 #2)

Her parents were said to had been big Western fans. (Manhunter v3 #5)

She was noted for having once been married with her ex-husband being Peter Robinson. (Manhunter v3 #3) She and her ex-husband often got into arguments regarding their son where he told her off for not being there for him. These moments often led to them insulting one another though they tried to not yell in front of their son. The two had joint custody of their child with set days assigned to Kate and others for her ex-husband Peter. (Manhunter v3 #2)

Kate struggled in knowing how to be a mother to her son. (Manhunter v3 #3)

Powers and abilities

In fact, she was noted for being a star Federal prosecutor who was a personal friend to every judge in the L.A. family courts. (Manhunter v3 #2) Some had regarded her as being the best federal prosecutor in America. (Manhunter v3 #5)

Whilst wearing the armour, Spencer was capable of surviving a great fall that would normally kill an ordinary human being. (Manhunter v3 #3) Dylan was noted to had help make alterations to the suit to make it better. He provided a tune-up to it to match it to Kate's specific bio-electric field. This allowed it to link directly to the wearer's nervous system. The effect of this was it created heightened reflexes, amped up strength and provided rudimentary psi-shielding. The suit was said to be specifically aligned for Spencers use. Upon wearing it, Kate felt the difference as she commented her suit felt like a second skin. (Manhunter v3 #5) It shown that her armor was programmed to attack a Reach Scarab who in turn responded aggressively to the Darkstar suit she was wearing on her. (Manhunter v3 #32)

The gauntlets had claws that were able to grab onto the surface which she could use to prevent herself from falling. (Manhunter v3 #3) Modifications by Dylan came to improve the gauntlets with special buttons designed that when pressed could shock targets within its grip. (Manhunter v3 #5)

A further feature of her suit was a tracking system. Targets particularly tagged led to a star glowing on the chest section indicating that she was closer to her quarry. (Manhunter v3 #5)

She had an energy dagger that was sheathed on her leg that she could pull out in a fight. (Manhunter v3 #5)

Notes

  • Kate Spencer was created by Marc Andreyko and Jesus Saiz where she made her first appearance in Manhunter v3 #1 (October, 2004).

In other media

Television

  • In Arrow, Kate Spencer made an appearance in the live-action series set in the Arrowverse where she was portrayed by actress Chelah Horsdal. In "Damaged", District Attorney Kate tries to get Oliver Queen convicted after he is accused of being the Starling City vigilante but Laurel Lance arrives at the last minute to save him by having him confined to his home. Later, Kate tries to get Oliver to plead insane rather than take a lie detector test but Oliver still goes through with the test and gets out of it, subsequently managing to clear his name by having his associate John Diggle appear as the vigilante while he is confined. In "State V. Queen" after A.D.A. Adam Donner is abducted by Count Vertigo during the trial of Moira Queen, she, despite the concerns of Sebastian Blood, assigns Laurel as head of the case. In "Birds of Prey" Kate has Adam Donner fired when he uses the arrest and trial of Frank Bertinelli to draw out his vigilante daughter Helena Bertinelli/The Huntress which results in a hostage situation. Laurel is also briefly reappointed to her job without Kate's approval which she apologizes for; she initially states that nothing had changed, but Laurel blackmails Kate into giving her job back. In "The Man Under The Hood" when Laurel's father Quentin Lance is arrested for assisting the Arrow, Laurel once again blackmails Kate and she has the charges against Quentin dropped. However, as she walks away she warns Laurel to be careful of her. In "Streets of Fire", she is killed by one of Slade Wilson's soldiers, forcing Sebastian Blood to recognize that Wilson has no intention of carrying out their original deal of damaging Starling City so that Blood could rebuild it in the aftermath. In "The Calm", after Slade Wilson's defeat, Laurel keeps working under the new district attorney, who in "Green Arrow" is revealed to be named Susanna.

Appearances

  • Manhunter v3: (2004)
  • Justice Society of America v3:
  • Green Arrow v7:
  • Event Leviathan v1:
  • Checkmate v3: (2021)

External Links

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