NEW YORK, NY (KNX)  -- A long-dead DC Comics heroine is coming back to life.

Batwoman, who was killed by the League of Assassins and the Bronze Tiger in 1979 after a 23-year run, is making a comeback with some startling changes to her persona.

Batwoman...real name Kathy Kane...is scheduled to appear in 52, a year-long DC Comics publication that made its debut this month.

In her new incarnation, Batwoman is a "lipstick lesbian," a rich socialite who has a romantic history with another 52 character, former police detective Renee Montoya.

The 52 series is set in a world in which established superheroes like Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman are no longer a factor.

Batwoman has been given a whole new look and just part of several ethnically and sexually diverse characters who are entering the DC world.

Others include Mexican teenager Blue Beetle - who replaces the character's previous white incarnation - and the Great Ten, a government-sponsored team of Chinese superheroes.

Regular characters The Atom and Firestorm, meanwhile, have been reinvented as Asian and black heroes respectively.

The characters are part of a wider effort to broaden the make-up of comic-book creations in line with society as a whole.