Claire Clover is a metahuman operating in Gotham City who underwent experimental treatment with her older brother, Hank, that granted them superpowers. The two operated as superheroes under the aliases of Gotham and Gotham Girl. After Hank's death, Claire joined the Batfamily, though she fell under the influence of the Psycho Pirate and Bane.
Biography[]
Like her brother, Claire Clover was a fan of Batman, after her family were saved from a mugging by the vigilante. Hoping to help him in return for his deeds, the two bought experimental treatment that granted them similar powers to Superman. However, whilst using them, they would draw off their life span, meaning they could only live for two years with similar powers as the man of steel or an hour with the powers of a god. After undergoing the therapy, they began operating as superheroes under the aliases of "Gotham" and "Gotham Girl".
Debut in Gotham[]
Claire first met Batman when she and Hank, as their superhero identities, saved both him and a plane from crashing into the Gotham bay. Taken under the wing by the Dark Knight, they assisted him in a battle with Solomon Grundy, and the investigation of the confession and suicide of a man in the commissioner's office. After a month of operating and assisting in saving civilians off a falling bridge, they were drawn to an explosion within the city and were confronted by Professor Strange and Psycho Pirate.
Claire mourns Hank's death
Manipulating their feelings, Pirate made the two afraid, causing Hank to kill twenty-three of the criminals' followers and Claire to be paralyzed with fear. The surviving member would later kill their parents after discovering their identities. Taken to the Batcave to recuperate and inspired by a conversation between her and Duke Thomas, Claire would join Batman and the entire Justice League to battle an insane Hank, during which he died from overusing his powers.
The following week, Claire suffered a similar effect to her brother, talking herself as if she was conversing with him whilst continuing to operate as Gotham Girl. During this time, she battled some of Batman's lesser known enemies like Colonel Blimp, Captain Stingaree and Kite Man. Confronting her on a rooftop, Batman revealed his identity to her and offered her help dealing with the trauma. Claire accepted, breaking down in the vigilante's arms as she admitted how much she missed her brother. After the encounter, she helped Batman capture Strange and defeat his Monster Men.
Turn to Crime[]
Hoping to help restore her condition, Batman organized an assault on Peña Duro to take Psycho Pirate and restore her sanity. However, Psycho Pirate manipulated her into joining Bane, the two planning to use her in the latter's schemes. Aiming to destroy Batman on a personal level, they used the Medusa Mask's powers to push her to Bane's side, using them to manipulate Batman into proposing to Catwoman.
When Bane took over Gotham City, Gotham Girl was taken in by the Flashpoint Batman as his "Robin". Under his influence, she helped bring the city under the control of the supervillains and used as a deterrent for other superheroes, proving her potential by defeating Captain Atom. When minor super-criminal Doctor Double X's corpse was found by Joker and the Riddler, Gotham Girl and Batman hunted down the murderers. As it turned out, the killers were Solomon Grundy and Amygdala under the leadership of Two-Face who wished to dethrone Bane. Gotham-Girl and her Batman managed to stop the insurgence with Claire using her heat-vision to slice off Amygdala's arm during the fight.
The real Batman was eventually able to defeat both villains and restore Claire to her regular state. Some time after the battle's end, Claire was exposed to Platinum Kryptonite, which restored her lost lifespan.
Powers and Abilities[]
- Ultra Powers: Claire has "ultra" powers which let her tap into a vast array of abilities (typically resembling those of Superman) albeit with a great cost. The more of her powers she used, the more it drained her physical lifespan. Among these powers were flight, super-strength, superhuman stamina, invulnerability and endurance, and Ultra-Vision. Batman eventually negated Claire's condition by exposing her to Platinum Kryptonite, restoring her lifespan and giving her the powers permanently.