Batwoman

Kate Kane makes her first appearance in Week 7 of 52, DC comics’ yearlong, weekly event following Infinite Crisis, as the rich and beautiful heiress ex-girlfriend of Renee Montoya. The setting is Gotham, and the Kanes are throwing a lavish ball that Renee, currently on the search for information about the gun-running Intergang, has crashed the party to question Kate about the involvement of Kane property in a recent incident. Their relationship clearly ended badly, because after one remark about Kate’s attire has her punching Renee, a good punch if Renee’s rueful surprise is anything to go by. Renee remarks that she looks like she spends most of her time “getting mud baths and facials”, and despite Kate’s initial combativeness, she remains silent about how she lives her life, choosing to not debate about.
This becomes notable only in hindsight, when one remembers that pampered and rich socialite Kate Kane is, at that point, about to make her debut in the comic book world as Batwoman. She is shown in full costume in Week 9, spying on Renee as the other woman goes about her investigation, and continues for the rest of 52 to participate in Renee Montoya’s Intergang investigation. In fact, later on Kate Kane becomes an integral part of the investigation because it turns out that the weapons trading being run by Intergang turned out to be a front for a religious organization. This Religion of Crime had a prophecy that demands that Kate Kane be sacrificed, and they very nearly succeed in killing her, until Kate throws the dagger they used to stab her in the heart to kill the leader of the cult, allowing her and Renee Montoya to escape.
Much like Bruce Wayne’s millionaire playboy persona, Kate has her own cover, as the rich socialite diva that we first meet in 52. However, Kane’s family did not start out as a rich one. In the recent issues of Detective Comics, the longest running-Batman title and currently the property of Batwoman’s adventures, it is revealed that she was a military brat and both parents were part of the United States Army. She and her twin sister, Beth, lived a happy and simple life with their parents until both her Beth and their mother were kidnapped and killed before being recovered. Because of this incident Kate herself became a cadet in the army until she was discharged right before graduation for refusing to deny that she was a homosexual. It was also around this time that her father married the heir to the Hamilton family, elevating them in social status.
Following her discharge, she went to university and became involved with Renee Montoya, then a closeted officer in the Gotham Police Force. Despite both these stabilizing influences in her life, Kate ended up voluntarily dropping out of university, leading to a fight between her and Renee that led to their break-up. That evening, Kate first meets the Batman after defending herself from a mugging. He helps her up and she stares awestruck at him as he goes off into the night and the Bat-signal shines down at her from the sky. According to issue 860 of Detective Comics, Kate starts preparing for becoming Batwoman around five years before the current issues of Detective Comics. Her father discovers her working as a vigilante and while he is skeptical at first about her motives, he comes around and aids her in her training, as well as furnishing her home base and preparing her costume. Kate goes on a two-year training mission around the world before returning in time for the events of 52.
Since then, Kate Kane as Batwoman has been an integral character in the DC Universe. She has appeared in the recent series-spanning events such as Countdown and Final Crisis, as well as in miniseries such as Gotham Underground, Crime Bible: Five Lessons of Blood and Battle for the Cowl. Kate Kane is currently the main focus of Detective Comics and had recently defeated a villain named Alice, another member of the Religion of Crime, and her long thought dead twin sister, Beth.