Manhunter #1

History

Marc Andreyko and artist Jesús Saíz co-created Kate Spencer and launched the series with DC in 2004, with Andreyko drawing explicit inspiration from Helen Mirren's performance as the deeply flawed DCI Jane Tennison in the British drama Prime Suspect — he later stated in interviews that his goal was to give superhero comics a female protagonist as complicated and 'unlikable' by conventional standards as any male antihero. The issue shipped August 18, 2004, with a cover date of October 2004, and DC promoted it as relevant to the concurrent Identity Crisis limited series, giving it a marketing hook in a crowded event season. Despite earning strong critical notices throughout its run, the series struggled commercially and was nearly cancelled at issue #25 in 2006 before an organized fan campaign, along with backing from DC executive editor Dan DiDio, secured two additional reprieves that allowed the book to reach issue #38 in January 2009.

Trivia · 8 facts

• First appearance of Kate Spencer (Manhunter): She is the eighth DC character to bear the Manhunter name and the first woman to do so, debuting in this issue (cover date October 2004; on-sale August 18, 2004).
• First appearance of Damon Matthews: Kate's gay co-counsel and closest confidant, introduced here as a supporting character whose identity card Kate steals to access the evidence locker that sets the plot in motion.
• First appearance of Leslie Carter: Copperhead's defense attorney, who successfully argues a 'not guilty by reason of genetic anomaly' verdict at trial — the inciting legal failure that drives Kate to vigilantism.
• Story title for this issue is 'Shedding Skin'; the plot centers on Copperhead's acquittal, his subsequent escape from a metahuman transport vehicle, and Kate's first outing as the armored Manhunter, which ends with Copperhead's death in the sewers.
• Created by writer Marc Andreyko and artist Jesús Saíz; Jimmy Palmiotti is credited as additional inker, with coloring by Steve Buccellato and lettering by Jared K. Fletcher and Todd Klein.
• Kate's improvised arsenal — a Darkstar exo-mantle, Azrael's bat-gauntlets (from his stint as Batman), and Mark Shaw's power baton — is assembled from confiscated supervillain equipment, tying her origin directly into decades of existing DC continuity.
• The series ran for 38 issues (October 2004 – March 2009) and was collected in five trade paperbacks: Street Justice (#1–5), Trial by Fire (#6–14), Origins (#15–23), Unleashed (#24–30), and Forgotten (#31–38).
• Kate Spencer appeared in live-action as her civilian identity — Los Angeles/Starling City district attorney — in Season 2 of the CW's Arrow, portrayed by Chelah Horsdal, though that version never became a vigilante.

Cast · 5 characters

Full credits