Manhunter (Kate Spencer)

The June 2006 issue of Manhunter revealed that Kate's true grandfather was not the original Atom, but actually Iron Munro and that her grandmother was Sandra Knight (Phantom Lady). When Munro was apparently unwilling to deal with his girlfriend's pregnancy, she was taken by Pratt to a home for unwed mothers and Pratt was mistakenly listed as the father on Walter Pratt's birth certificate. This makes her a second cousin once removed to Jack Knight, as Phantom Lady pointed out in the issue.

Kate was hired to be Wonder Woman's defense lawyer for the murder of Maxwell Lord. The case has taken an unexpected turn however, upon the recent arrival of a supposedly alive Blue Beetle, who claims he has no memory of the last 18 months. Wonder Woman has called in Batman to run an investigation on Blue Beetle, to see if it is really him. Meanwhile, Kate received aid from Checkmate, which proved that Diana's actions were justifiable. The "Blue Beetle" turned out to be the shapeshifting cannibal Everyman from Lex Luthor's Infinity, Inc.

Following the events of Batman: RIP, Oracle disbanded the Birds of Prey.[6] Kate was not invited to rejoin the team when it was subsequently reestablished the following year.[7]

Since the cancellation of her ongoing series, it has been announced by Dan DiDio that Kate Spencer would be moving to Gotham to serve as their D.A. and will be appearing in Streets of Gotham alongside Huntress and Misfit, her fellow Birds of Prey, and Batgirl.[8] The series was eventually cancelled, and a planned collection was axed due to low pre-orders.

Kate was recently seen being recruited by Jay Garrick for a yet unknown purpose, alongside Mon-El, Miss Martian, Mister America, and the Sea Devils.[9] Despite her recruitment, Kate does not appear alongside the other heroes in the finale of Justice League: Cry for Justice. Following this, Manhunter briefly appears alongside Batgirl, Batwoman, the Question and a host of other female heroes when Wonder Woman leads them against Professor Ivo's robot sirens.[10]

In 2011, it was confirmed that Manhunter would begin appearing in Justice Society of America.[4] Kate makes her first appearance in issue #47, where she battles a group of gangbangers who are in the process of robbing a Gotham electronics store. After defeating the thugs, Kate sees a news report from the recently destroyed city of Monument Point, where Jay Garrick is shown telling reporters about the crime wave sweeping the remains of the city. Upon hearing about how there are not enough heroes and police officers to stem the tide of criminal activity, Kate is shown grinning, as if the statement has given her an idea. Shortly after this, Kate appears in Monument Point during a massive battle between the Justice Society and a villain named Doctor Chaos. She is shown leading a large team of superheroes including the JSA All-Stars, Jesse Quick, Liberty Belle and a new heroine resembling the Blue Beetle.[11] After Chaos is defeated, Kate and the other heroes choose to stay in Monument Point and join the JSA.[12]

Kate Spencer made her return in Green Arrow where she is currently acting as Oliver Queen's attorney.[13]

When Kate pursues Copperhead, she sneaks into an evidence room to steal some items she can use against him. Manhunter #15 tells the origin of each of the three items she takes:

• The Suit – The suit comes from a member of the Darkstars who died in battle and fell to Earth to rot. A drifter found it and used it to defend himself against a group of attackers. Successfully defeating them, he robbed them and left the suit in a dumpster. The Controllers apparently programmed an instinctive hatred of Reach scarabs into the suits including the one currently worn by Kate Spencer. Her suit reacts adversely to the scarab currently bonded to Blue Beetle Jaime Reyes.[14]
• The Gauntlets – A small-time crook found the gauntlets, originally worn by Azrael during his stint as Batman, in Gotham City. The crook used them in an unsuccessful burglary, but when the police arrived, the crook fell to his death, leaving the gauntlets embedded in the side of the building.
• The Staff – An attack on Eclipso ended with several heroes dead; among them was a man programmed to believe that he was Mark Shaw. The staff was recovered with the body and hidden in storage.

Other characters have remarked that Kate displays slightly elevated strength and resilience to injury. If these are actual meta-human powers as a result of her lineage from Iron Munro or if Kate is simply tougher than average has not been clarified.

• Kate Spencer made her first appearance in live action on The CW television series Arrow, played by 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.