In a city that isn't known for its luxuries, Bluebird is a hero that has risen above her misfortunes to become an important member of the Bat-Family.
Gotham City is a place that has twisted and changed many of its citizens, mostly for the worse. But, in some instances, there are those that come out the other side better off than they started. Such is the case for Bat-Family member, Bluebird, a sidekick of Batman’s that has more tricks up her sleeve than even the Dark Knight himself.
But who exactly is this Bluebird? And why is she a Bat-Family player that even the notoriously stubborn Batman eventually grew to care about and consider worthy enough to help carry out out his life-long mission?
Introduced by the legendary Batman creative team of Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo, Bluebird, aka Harper Row, is a Bat-Family vigilante unlike any other. Coming from a harsh childhood that saw her mother murdered and her abusive father take control of her upbringing, Harper took it upon herself to do whatever was necessary to help herself and her younger brother, Cullen, survivw. After being subjected to years of abuse and abandonment at the hands of their father and being raised in poverty, Harper started to find a niche in fixing the things around her that were just as broken as she was. Not only did she become efficient at finding ways to repair everyday items, but Harper soon realized that she was becoming adept at dealing with all things electronics, her passion for it turning into something that she enjoyed doing on a daily basis.
Once old enough to emancipate from her terrible living situation, Harper broke ties with her father and moved into the Narrows with her brother, a neighborhood in Gotham that isn’t exactly known for being the best part of town. Through her self-taught skills in electrical engineering, Harper was able to secure a job working on the electrical grid of the. But even with Harper doing her best to provide a somewhat stable and happy life for herself and her brother, Cullen was subject to a horrible act of assault by local bullies that targeted him for no other reason than the fact that he is gay. Shaving a homophobic slur into the back of his head, Harper, being bi-sexual herself, decided to shave a part of her own head into a style that would ultimately become her iconic look in support of her brother, and when another instance occurred when bullies tried to attack them, Harper did her best to fight them off until a dark shadow descended upon the scene to end the fight: the Bat had finally arrived.
After seeing firsthand the good that Batman could do for people like them, Harper decided to find small ways to assist Batman by secretly improving his security camera-blocking tech, dubbed “Batboxes,” helping him in a few of battles she happens across, and even jump-starting his heart after she found him flat-lined in the aftermath of his dustup with the Court of Owls. But Batman kept telling Harper to stop getting involved in his dealings, only for her to completely disobey his orders and develop her own suit of armor, complete with electric-based weapons like a rifle that shocked enemies and even a few EMP-enhanced devices. Thus, Bluebird was born, and in the maxiseries Batman Eternal, continued to help the Bat-Family in their mission, only to give up the mantle afterwards to pursue a career as an electrical engineer.
In a city where the odds of seeing a masked vigilante inspired by a flying rodent are a dime a dozen, Bluebird is a Bat-Family member that is primed for a big return to the group of heroes that inspired her in the first place. So don’t be surprised if Harper is spotted across the rooftops of Gotham sometime soon, electrified rifle and taser in hand, ready to fight the good fight one more time.
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