DC Announces the Future of a Slew of Female Characters, Confirms Barbara Gordon as Batgirl

Intriguingly, Gail Simone herself retweeted this tweet.

http://twitter.com/#!/moonandserpent/status/77800629384380416

“Essentially, I live in hope that @GailSimone wouldn’t be writing it if it was a totally retconn’d Barbara.”

Wow, taking Oracle away is a bold move, but I agree with Ms. Polo in that not having Oracle is taking away from some much needed diversity in the DC pantheon.

I’ve always wondered why Barbara was stuck in the chair whereas pretty much anything that happens to anyone else can be undone with a bit of gadgetry or magic. Aside from Cyborg’s permanent disfigurement, Barbara’s paralysis, Mia Dearden’s HIV (what happened to her, anyway? Is she one of the Titans? She’s not in Green Arrow), and Roy Harper’s lost limb (*#$% everyone responsible for the Rise of Arsenal), pretty much everything seems curable, including death.

Barbara’s been wheeling around for decades, true, but maybe it’s time to do something new with the character. Something that hopefully doesn’t involve Dick Grayson because, oy.

When she was paralyzed it was instantly regarded as a very, very harsh fridging. Especially because Batman had his back broken and went through some therapy and hey! there’s a metahuman in this universe who can heal you. Hooray, you’re all better!

With Barbara, the editorial staff did not care about her at all. And it wasn’t until another writer (can’t remember his name but he also created Amanda Waller) came along and decided that she was still worth something that Oracle happened. Since then, Barbara has meant a lot more to the Batfamily, the DC Universe, and a lot of fans. She’s more than her wheelchair, yes, but having someone that awesome and that important be disabled is also a very big deal. When DC said they want more diversity, it didn’t make sense to take one of the only disabled superheroes in comics and make her suddenly better (especially when they’ve put up roadblocks about it so many times before). She moved on as a character, fans moved on and embraced other Batgirls. But there is no equivalent to Oracle. People are worried about if she’s going to continue filling the role or if she’s just going to kind of go back to being someone on the streets. 
And going back to that isn’t something new (unless something about the story comes out later). It’s going back to something that already happened and possibly taking out other female characters (there has been no word about what’s going to happen to Stephanie Brown and seeing that Proxy was also in Steph’s book, what’s going to happen to her?) to do it.

I don’t usually write that much in response comments and I don’t know how it came across. Please know that if at any point I started seeming harsh, it was unintentional and directed at DC and my own worries and not you. It’s the internet after all; everyone has the right to their opinion.

This is LONG overdue!  Barbara Gordon IS Batgirl, THAT is who she was originally designed to be!  The refrigeration done to her in TKJ was a sexist DISGRACE and a stain on DC Comics in general.  Where those younger may have found the character of Oracle inspiring, those older knew that this was a character who was made to “stay in her place” in a wheelchair as many fans of Batman resented her popularity as Batgirl.

Then the mess of Black Canary, Batgirl/Cass, & Batgirl/Steph ALL putting their continuity hooks into Barbara’s wheelchair, requiring for her to stay in a permanent support role to them so THEY could star in their own titles.  I am SO very glad this character is once again FINALLY back to who she is SUPPOSED to be, and not a consolation prize support character.

Long live at long last and once again the one true BATGIRL!  I intend to buy at least 2 of every issue in support!

Am I the only one who is contemplating how long it’s going to take Barbra Gordon to get shot again? Or maybe she’ll be hit by a truck. Stabbed. Fall off a building?

I doubt we’ve seen the last of Oracle. Professor X gets his legs back every other decade, after all, and he never keeps them for long. Different company, sure, but I think the concept still applies.

So being a unique and highly valued member of the superhero community who has the respect, trust, and friendship of all the big name heroes in the world is a consolation prize? Overcoming adversity isn’t something we should admire?

Barbra’s wound mind have been a sexist fridging at the time, but she’s grown so much beyond it that it’s silly to say that it’s some kind of continuing sexist disrespect to keep her in a wheelchair.

As Susana points out, there just aren’t that many wheelchair bound heroes out there, but there are wheelchair bound fans who probably don’t like seeing attitudes like yours that being in a chair is somehow demeaning or makes a character less worthy. I know that if my own disabilities were reflected in a hero that I liked, a hero that overcame them and showed they were no barrier to being a great person, I’d be upset if those disabilities got taken away from them and it was treated like a promotion or restoration to a “better” state.

Your attitude is the very definition of ableism, where a walking Barbra Gordon is how she is “meant to be” and a chair-bound Barbra Gordon is a broken, suppressed woman who can only ever be a support to other people, and can never have any triumphs of her own. Heroes that can walk are complete persons: heroes that can’t aren’t heroes, they’re infrastructure.

I am truly going to miss Barbara Gordon as Batgirl (I said elsewhere that in the past two decades, she’s been the most pivotal character in the DCU–even ahead of Wonder Woman). I hope that if DC chooses to keep Barbara Gordon in the Batgirl role, that they at least have someone acting as Oracle, because she’s a character that DC needs desperately: a person who has overcome her disability to become a hero without nullifying that disability like Dr. Mid-Nite and others.

I have the very strong suspicion that if readers don’t take to Batgirl in the first year or so, they’ll put her back in the role of Oracle. In the past six years or so, when a familiar face took on a familiar mantle but didn’t gel with readers, DC was very quick to pull the plug and reinstate characters to their prior positions, saying that it was all part of the planned storyline.

Also, considering this is only, what, the second wave of new titles introduced, I’m betting that it won’t nearly the greatest of the shake-ups we see.

Barbara Gordon was always my favourite Batgirl, and Batgirl was always one of my favourite Bat-verse characters, so…I’m going to go right ahead and be excited about this, even if it messes with 20 years of canon and all but erases another very popular hero.

My biggest concern is DC trying to pull some “and the new Oracle is…” garbage. It makes zero sense to have a “new” Oracle, because even suggesting there was an “old” Oracle would mean Barbara had already been paralyzed/created that persona. Ideally, they’ll end up ‘re-telling’ the transition from Batgirl to Oracle, eventually, and are just starting off with Barbara as Batgirl to set up the drama.

Not this time.  The corporate bigs above DC in the corporate structure put their foots down (FINALLY) to Didio and his yes men editors to STOP creating their OWN fantasy world of Oracles & multiple Batgirls and get to the CORE characters that tie into merch and movies to make $$$.  There has been one very limited Oracle action figure VS untold Babs/Batgirl merch over the years that she wasn’t even Batgirl!  The concept of the Oracle character may resurface but I truly believe that Barbara Gordon has been rebranded back to being Batgirl and ONLY Batgirl again in the DC pantheon.

There is both Wendy/Proxy as well as Chloe Sullivan to take the Oracle concept but with a different moniker.

The writers and editors were hired specifically to create a fantasy world; I don’t know why you’d be offended that they did their jobs.

And therin lies the problem with TKJ and it’s aftermath.  Two completely different characters were created with the same name that inspires two different groups in differing ways.  I love the Yvonne Craig inspired version of Batgirl, a woman of class, pluck, & grit that showed she was the equal to any man.  But who was also an ACTIVE super-hero who actually competed against Batman himself in a friendly way to solve detective cases. 

Those inspired by Oracle was due to a tragic ending of her former career in the most monstrous of happenstances that led to a character that worked to overcome adversity by being handi-capable.  However this character was ALWAYS an “Alfred” support character to Dinah/Cassandra/Stephanie/Helena who had to ask these active heroes to do what she no longer could.  That is not being an active protagonist.

Your right in that if I have to choose over an active central protagonist Batgirl over a support character Oracle I will pick the former every time.  But that is not because one is “better” than the other as they are not, it is merely a matter of preference.

tinyurl.com/2a7usxg

But what’s going to happen to Wendy/Proxy? They haven’t said what’s going to happen to her or Steph now that their Batgirl title is gone. And if they get wiped out to make room for Barbara’s legs it’s going to cause even more controversy.

April, I wanted to say that pretty much everything you have said in these comments are spot on. Liking them isn’t enough.

What I mean is that they were so caught up in their own fanboy wish fullfillment they forgot their comic company is a business that has to tie into the merchandise, tv, & movie arms of the larger corporation, and that is why the upper execs put the foot on them.  I have read a few rumours that they have 6 months to turn sales better or there might be a mass purging of Didio and his editor staff.

The character of Barbara Gordon had already hung up the cape and retired by the time she got shot. There was no “tragic end” to her career only to her ability to walk.

And you are confused about in which role she was supporting. While Oracle she was a member of the JLA and the leader of the Birds of Prey. While Batgirl she was a supporting character.

And why the emphasis on ACTIVE. How can you possibly say she wasn’t active as Oracle? How horribly abelist for you to define the word on your terms. The ability to walk does not make a active protagonist. That’s like saying that FDR wasn’t an active president. Jeesh.

I think you’re being disingenuous. It seems clear to me that you very clearly do think that being an “active” protagonist (whatever that means) is superior to being someone who sits in a lair and talks over a radio. You assume that her career as Oracle is a tragic ending, followed by a supporting career that’s less impressive or important, which you condescendingly refer to as her being “handi-capable”, and in doing so you miss the point:

What we love about Barbra is that she *didn’t* let being paralyzed be a tragedy.

She soldiered on. She found a way to do more good as an information broker and hacker working from her lair than she ever could have as just another pair of fists on patrol. She took a devastating setback and turned it into a triumph. By refusing to accept defeat and give into despair even in the face of such a traumatic injury she showed that she was, in a way, even stronger than Batman. Putting aside the politics of representation, her story as Oracle, just
from a writing perspective, is far more interesting than it would be if
she was never shot.

Where I do agree with you is the tendency to put disabled characters in supporting roles because they can’t jump from rooftop to rooftop the way other superheroes can. This isn’t because you *can’t* tell an engaging story about a person who uses a wheelchair, but more likely, because people aren’t used to thinking of a story where the main character literally spends the whole time sitting down as exciting. It doesn’t have to be that way.

The more I think about this, the more I hope that their plans for the new Batgirl book are to have it be a long-form retelling of Oracle’s origin story, how she fought alongside Bruce and Dick for years until she was cut down, and then rose again to be stronger than she ever thought she could be. And then they rename the book Oracle and continue on with her still squarely in the protagonist slot.

That is an interesting problem. You’re right that it seems a little odd that in a world where there is literally magic and super science, that a woman who was a close personal friend of one of the founding members of the Justice League (whose day job is being a billionaire, no less) couldn’t get access to something that would let her walk again. Even if magic and super science is rare and expensive, you wonder what exactly keeps someone with her connections away from them.

Aside from the plot hole, I still like her better in the chair.

I’m not sure it’s *their* fanboy wish fulfillment that is relevant to this discussion. You speak as if your interpretation of events is the One True Way, you make blanket predictions about the future of the franchise based on conversations that I highly doubt you have first-hand knowledge of, and you insist that alternate interpretations of a character you care about are somehow disrespectful to that character.

I understand being so passionate about a character you like; I’d be crushed if Empowered had to end before Adam Warren is ready to finish it. But it’s also healthy to take a step back and understand that these are only that, characters. We love them, but we shouldn’t let them become objects of nigh-religious devotion.

When the Clone Saga fucked up Spider-Man, my friend, who is the biggest Spider-Man fan you will ever meet, simply decided that he didn’t care about the comics any more. *His* Spider-Man would always be dear to him, but he’d never worry about what the editors were doing with the book this year, because in the end it didn’t matter: the stories of his childhood would still be there, and the Clone Saga and the deal with the devil and those weird arm spikes he had for a while, they were just stories he didn’t care to pay attention to. The writers could never take what he loved about Spider-Man away from him, no matter what they wrote.

If you like Barbra better as Batgirl, that’s great. Just love the stories where she’s not in a wheelchair. I got into Batman via the cartoon, so I was surprised to learn that she’d been written as using a wheelchair for almost my entire life. It took some adjustment and getting used to, that’s for sure. In the end, I came to like Oracle better than Barbra-as-Batgirl. But even if I hadn’t, that would be okay, because they can never take those first stories about her that I saw away from me. That’s also why I’m disappointed but not devastated that they’re eliminating her disability; because no matter what they do, they can’t take Oracle away from me. Just like they can’t take the stories you love away from you.

Batgirl did NOT retire.  This was retconned away in Booster Gold #5 that she ALMOST decided to retire but ultimately decided against it after the Batgirl Special but before The Killing Joke in terms of continuity.

Oh and FYI, Oracle had a mini (that was supposed to return her to being Batgirl but Didio chickened out at the last minute) and NEVER had an ongoing as the MAIN protagonist.  In Birds of Prey she has always been Black Canary and Huntresses SUPPORT character on a computer monitor, that’s all.  And an ACTIVE super-hero jumps, kicks, hits, summersaults, etc.  There’s just NO way and you know it that a large group of people would pay to read 25-30 comic book pages of a woman in front of a computer screen.  That’s just reality.

As to your last paragraph first, this is the wishful fanboy think I was accusing Didio and his cohorts of.  The people in charge over DC want MONEY and MORE of it, they DON’T CARE about Oracle because she doesn’t sell t-shirts, dolls, lunch boxes and action figures, and won’t tie in as easily for little girls who watch animation cartoons and movies.  They want characters that can be explained quickly and easily and THAT is why the DCU is being rebooted.  So they are kicking the die-hard 30-50 yr old fanboys to the curb who want their convoluted histories and who are a SMALL fiscal base to try to reach a larger and younger demographic.

And I have no problem with handi-capable characters if they are ACTIVE characters in a comic book.  Prof. X has his offensive telepathy, the Chief of Doom Patrol has his battle-chair, Daredevil is blind but can fight, Black Canary didn’t have her powers for some time but could also fight, etc.  But Oracle for the MOST part spent almost every scene at a computer terminal, that does NOT make for exciting comic book reading. 

I admit it, I am from the super-spandex & “clobber ‘em” school of preference for comics, and now Babs/Batgirl can FINALLY once again give a “BOP!” and a “BIFF!” on criminals heads with the best of ‘em again!

I would pay money for a 25 page book about a hacker. I imagine I’m not alone.

I’m confused: are you happy about this change, or do you think it counts as kicking you to the curb for no better reason than cold-blooded greed?

While I agree that the company wants to make money, it does not follow from that premise that having Barbra be Batgirl is necessarily a more lucrative story to tell than having Barbra be Oracle. If anything, it risks alienating some current readers, while simultaneously narrowing the appeal of the Batman line of books to new readers by making the cast more generic. (Oh look, it’s another cute white girl in tights…)

Your last paragraph is simply appalling, and you really need to get over your privileged assumptions about disabilities. You post a picture of Barbra in a wheelchair, as posit that is inherently tragic and she *must* be miserable, because, hey, look, she’s in a wheelchair. Nevermind that there’s anything in the picture to suggest misery. She looks pensive and thoughtful, which makes sense given the captions on the page. Your statement implies that we should like her better as Batgirl, because Batgirl can jump around and be acrobatic. You miss the fact that we can appreciate her as a whole and complete person even when she has a disability. You don’t seem to be able to, and the unspoken assumptions about the inferiority of people with disabilities (or, perhaps, of people with the wrong *kind* of disability) beneath your statements are becoming more and more clear. It’s pretty disgusting.

First of all (because who doesn’t love lists?), you didn’t seem harsh. I’m used to a certain level of snark when I write on fan-related websites and you did not meet the snark-quotient by a long shot.
Second, I haven’t ever considered the literary merits of most of my interests until very recently. I’m new to the site, even newer to the concept of Fridging (thank you, Feminist Frequency!), and I’ve measured that it’s up there with hanging ropes as symbolic of oppression, hate, and uniquely misogynistic. As a side note/question here, is someone going to tackle the merits/demerits of X-Men: First Class? I saw it last night and if you were looking for an X-movie about equality, this one ain’t it. I cannot wait to discuss it.

Anyway, being new to the concept, I opted not to bring up Fridging, especially since Barbara Gordon (as Oracle) has become an example of a Fridging leading to a decades-long-established and beloved identity.
I’m not a member of the camp that believes Barbara was always the best Batgirl because I honestly didn’t grow up with her AS Batgirl, excluding the Animated Series (though, hey, how can you? Now that I think about it, I guess I did…). Stephenie Brown has filled the role nicely, finally becoming an interesting character after several years of being an annoyance and forcing me to picture a car Spoiler whenever she appeared in costume. I only ever read Cassandra Cane: The Mute and Enigmatic Years, so I never cared for her, though I’ve been told that things picked up when she actually began to speak.
So, I like the status quo. My only issue is with the obvious plot hole. I realize that a certain suspension of disbelief is necessary, but in a world where Superman can be resurrected, Two-Face can have his face reconstructed from half man/half kitty litter to anything resembling normal, it seems unlikely that Barbara wouldn’t have been walking again eventually.

Exactly, though I shy away from saying whether she’s better off in the chair. If taking her out of the chair means that she’ll be less beloved, I have to question whether so-called fans are truly fans. Provided her personality, history, and Gail Simone’s snappy dialog remain, of course.

I’m curious is it because Barbara is a woman that you do not get behind the Chief of Doom Patrol as ardently a fan for handi-capable heroes?  I don’t see you going on about buying comics with HIM in them, or Dr. Light who also has a disability for that matter.

First of all, everyone loves lists. They really help to make things coherent.
Second, I would like to see a post on X-Men: First Class. Partly because I thought it covered not necessarily equality but the reasons why we need it (even though it did drop the ball a couple of times) and people here seem like a good group to go into a comment discussion about these things with.Back to the topic of this thread, I don’t think Barbara will be less beloved out of the chair. I do think she will mean less to some fans though. Namely, those fans who finally had someone like them in comics. I’ve said before that we don’t know what characters are going to suddenly disappear or get pushed aside to make way for this change and it’s a step back on the diversity front if Proxy goes away, Stephanie goes away, and Cassandra goes away (that’s three female characters, one of whom is also in a wheelchair, and one of whom is Asian). Yes, her not being able to walk is a major plot hole that was partly fueled by, you know, sexism. I can’t remember which site it was that said her getting shot was a terribly sexist act on the part of the editors and this would sort of undo that, but at the cost of undoing all the years of making her into a stronger female character and, once again, one of the only disabled characters in comics.Her personality will have to remain and now that we know Gail Simone is writing I at least know the book is going to be well written. Barbara Gordon is my Batgirl, but that’s because I saw the Animated Series at a time in my life when I was a little adventurous girl who was getting picked on for my red hair. The first time I heard about The Killing Joke, it made me very sad. But then I read stuff where she was Oracle and realized that it was okay because Oracle is still amazing and Batgirl is a title that can be passed to other people (like Robin and now Batman and so many other super-titles that seem to allow lots of guys to run around at once but only one girl, not woman, at a time).

I see that and I accept. Along with most things, especially fannish, there’s never a way to please everyone, but whereas in real life you can sort of sweep aside the opposition without a care (ex. abortion) because they’re a) idiots b) subscribing to outdated dogma or c) horrible people, arguments such as Bat Barbara V.S. Oracle Gordon are subject to scrutiny on both sides.

I do see what you’re saying. This recent trend running rampant through DC, bringing back a slew of white male heroes from twenty years ago, has been rough on fans of the newer, more diverse breed of heroes. I, especially, am annoyed that they’re replacing conflicted characters and their interesting supporting casts with Superman cutouts that all represent Truth, Justice, etc. I’m looking at you, Wally West and Hal Jordan. The boyscout archetype is usually the worst written, the protagonist always seems whiny, and he always ends up helping out the disenfranchised which are always people of other ethnicities.

But while I do see the very blatant whitewashing that the DC (and Marvel) Universe has undergone, Cassandra Cane, at least, is still running around out there, and so will be Barbara Gordon. I realize that she may no longer be a representative of perseverance, triumph, and badassery despite her encumberance, and there’s not much hope that we’ll get to see her struggle and succeed to walk again (no doubt, it’ll be magic’d away or altogether retconned by the new #1), I do hold out hope that Gail Simone will treat her return to the rooftops with grace.

On a side note (or two), I have to eat a bit of crow. After mulling it over, I guess Barbara was my first Batgirl, too. You can’t help but count The Animated Series, and Stephanie is such a recent edition to the Bat-roster.

Speaking of the Bat-roster, I’m kind of tired of Bruce Wayne’s private army, and the whole Inc. story has barely found its footing. Does he really need five kids running around with his insignia, plus a UN-full of Bat-shaped heroes? Will Dick Grayson ever be allowed to keep his own identity? And again, I ask, doesn’t Barbara deserve to be a woman at this point? No offense to Kane fans. Since there’s been a bit of costume musical chairs lately, maybe she can put on another? Spoiler’s, maybe (ugh)? She could be the “new” Red Robin!

Too bad you can only post so many times in a thread on this board…
 

I see that and I accept. Along with most things, especially fannish, there’s never a way to please everyone, but whereas in real life you can sort of sweep aside the opposition without a care (ex. abortion) because they’re a) idiots b) subscribing to outdated dogma or c) horrible people, arguments such as Bat Barbara V.S. Oracle Gordon are subject to scrutiny on both sides.

I do see what you’re saying. This recent trend running rampant through DC, bringing back a slew of white male heroes from twenty years ago, has been rough on fans of the newer, more diverse breed of heroes. I, especially, am annoyed that they’re replacing conflicted characters and their interesting supporting casts with Superman cutouts that all represent Truth, Justice, etc. I’m looking at you, Wally West and Hal Jordan. The boyscout archetype is usually the worst written, the protagonist always seems whiny, and he always ends up helping out the disenfranchised which are always people of other ethnicities.

But while I do see the very blatant whitewashing that the DC (and Marvel) Universe has undergone, Cassandra Cane, at least, is still running around out there, and so will be Barbara Gordon. I realize that she may no longer be a representative of perseverance, triumph, and badassery despite her encumberance, and there’s not much hope that we’ll get to see her struggle and succeed to walk again (no doubt, it’ll be magic’d away or altogether retconned by the new #1), I do hold out hope that Gail Simone will treat her return to the rooftops with grace.

On a side note (or two), I have to eat a bit of crow. After mulling it over, I guess Barbara was my first Batgirl, too. You can’t help but count The Animated Series, and Stephanie is such a recent edition to the Bat-roster.

Speaking of the Bat-roster, I’m kind of tired of Bruce Wayne’s private army, and the whole Inc. story has barely found its footing. Does he really need five kids running around with his insignia, plus a UN-full of Bat-shaped heroes? Will Dick Grayson ever be allowed to keep his own identity? And again, I ask, doesn’t Barbara deserve to be a woman at this point? No offense to Kane fans. Since there’s been a bit of costume musical chairs lately, maybe she can put on another? Spoiler’s, maybe (ugh)? She could be the “new” Red Robin!

Too bad you can only post so many times in a thread on this board…
 

I like the sound of Bat Barbara vs Oracle Gordon. Both of those names just sound cool.

Everything you said about the white washing and the cut outs are things I agree with, so there’s no reason for me to do a write up rehashing why. I will say that I have always disliked Superman. Even as a child his certain sort of morality didn’t mesh with how I saw the world. It all seemed too easy and, to be honest, a little arrogant.

Just because you saw her first doesn’t mean she has to be your first. I count her as my first because well, I did see her first, but because I also connected with her and saw her as this idea or person that I wanted to be. She’s still tied for my favorite comic/cartoon character after all these years. 

I lost interest with Batman Inc about three issues in. Kane called dibs on Batwoman, so Barbara can’t have that title I guess but I think it’s funny that their origin stories share very core things. If you go by Batgirl: Year One, she couldn’t be a cop so she eventually decided to be a bat, regardless of what Batman had to say about it. She has a strong relationship with her father and she’s willing to risk her life to help people out, even though her training is coming from running patrols. Kate Kane couldn’t be in the army anymore, so she decides to be a bat. Blah, blah, same thing. 
I feel like Barbara deserves to not be called ‘girl’ anymore. It fits someone like Stephanie who just started college and still has some growing up to do. But Barbara has grown up. She’s a maternal figure to a lot of people now, not to mention one of the people in group situations who tends to be more mature. Maybe she can pick up another name, like how Cassandra Cain said she will be ‘The Black Bat’. The editors probably won’t let that happen because Batgirl is a recognizable title, but it would be nice if it were brought up at least.

I like the sound of Bat Barbara vs Oracle Gordon. Both of those names just sound cool.

Everything you said about the white washing and the cut outs are things I agree with, so there’s no reason for me to do a write up rehashing why. I will say that I have always disliked Superman. Even as a child his certain sort of morality didn’t mesh with how I saw the world. It all seemed too easy and, to be honest, a little arrogant.

Just because you saw her first doesn’t mean she has to be your first. I count her as my first because well, I did see her first, but because I also connected with her and saw her as this idea or person that I wanted to be. She’s still tied for my favorite comic/cartoon character after all these years. 

I lost interest with Batman Inc about three issues in. Kane called dibs on Batwoman, so Barbara can’t have that title I guess but I think it’s funny that their origin stories share very core things. If you go by Batgirl: Year One, she couldn’t be a cop so she eventually decided to be a bat, regardless of what Batman had to say about it. She has a strong relationship with her father and she’s willing to risk her life to help people out, even though her training is coming from running patrols. Kate Kane couldn’t be in the army anymore, so she decides to be a bat. Blah, blah, same thing. 
I feel like Barbara deserves to not be called ‘girl’ anymore. It fits someone like Stephanie who just started college and still has some growing up to do. But Barbara has grown up. She’s a maternal figure to a lot of people now, not to mention one of the people in group situations who tends to be more mature. Maybe she can pick up another name, like how Cassandra Cain said she will be ‘The Black Bat’. The editors probably won’t let that happen because Batgirl is a recognizable title, but it would be nice if it were brought up at least.

There is a certain amount of retconning that is supposed to happen here, right? So, it’s entirely possible that what you’re describing is exactly what we’ll get. As I mentioned in a post to cherrydahl, I wouldn’t mind being shown TKJ one more time, this time from Barbara’s perspective, with all of the frustration, anguish, determination, and triumph that could come from a story like that.

Responding to the comment below by Ian, sidestepping the sex card you’ve thrown out rather desperately, perhaps my memory is wrong, but isn’t the Chief from Doom Patrol a manipulative and unlikeable ass, and nothing at all like Barbara Gordon in manner, approach, or philosophy? I may be wrong, I’ve only read a bit of Grant Morrison’s run, and I will admit error if I have made one, but even barring all of that, saying that Barbara and the Chief should be as well liked isn’t any different from saying that all of the female characters in comics represent all women, that the men represent all men, that it’s okay to have a Token character because whatever checklist box they fit will fulfill the fantasy of every single fan that also happens to check that particular box? If so, no sir. Bad, bad argument. Where’s my rolled up newspaper?

After reading and discussing all of this at length, I’ve come to the conclusion that it probably (thankfully) will not matter in the long run. DC is going to do what they did with One Year Later, shake things up, see what sticks, then retroactively carve out a niche in established canon for all of the stuff that people like. They’re already giving themselves various opening to do just that, by incorporating Swamp Thing, Batwoman, and Batman, Inc. into the initial launch. They’ve left themselves several loopholes and switchbacks, so they can continue on with established history whenever it’s demanded or they take a chance that doesn’t pan out. For example, obviously, this whole Batgirl thing is a mess, and the Superman/Wonder Woman romance just reeks. It’s the same thing they did for One Year Later, the same thing that Quesada did with One More Day, throw some new ideas out there, then backpedal when the groundlings start throwing rotten vegetables…we’re the groundlings in this scenario, of course.

Re: Adam
Ah I see, so you then admit you want a female, young, and pretty handi-capable protagonist over a male, middle aged, and gruff looking one?  Talk about pot meet kettle, someone else called me ableist but I see people wanting the “perky & pretty” character showing sexism, ageism, & vanity all in one toss.

Re: Adam
Ah I see, so you then admit you want a female, young, and pretty handi-capable protagonist over a male, middle aged, and gruff looking one?  Talk about pot meet kettle, someone else called me ableist but I see people wanting the “perky & pretty” character showing sexism, ageism, & vanity all in one toss.

@wizeman4ever:disqus “… saying that all of the female characters in comics represent all women,
that the men represent all men, that it’s okay to have a Token
character because whatever checklist box they fit will fulfill the
fantasy of every single fan that also happens to check that particular
box?”

I said nothing of the sort. I don’t know where on earth you’d get that.

@wizeman4ever:disqus “… saying that all of the female characters in comics represent all women,
that the men represent all men, that it’s okay to have a Token
character because whatever checklist box they fit will fulfill the
fantasy of every single fan that also happens to check that particular
box?”

I said nothing of the sort. I don’t know where on earth you’d get that.

Ian: “I’m curious is it because Barbara is a woman that you do not get behind
the Chief of Doom Patrol as ardently a fan for handi-capable heroes?”

I have no idea who that is. I’ve never read a Doom Patrol comic.

Ian: “I’m curious is it because Barbara is a woman that you do not get behind
the Chief of Doom Patrol as ardently a fan for handi-capable heroes?”

I have no idea who that is. I’ve never read a Doom Patrol comic.

I don’t think it will make her less beloved, but I do think it might disappoint a lot of fans. In the end, I’m more curious than alarmed or upset by this. I kinda want to see her become Oracle again simply because I think that’s a more interesting story than The Girl Who Became a Vigilante and Everything Worked Out Fine.

Well, I grew up reading Barbara Gordon as Batgirl, yes, in real comics – in fact, the animated series passed me by – and diversity aside, I have always been pissed that she was replaced, in the same way I get annoyed when they replace any hero. Y’know, not everyone can be Batman – or the Flash – or Green Arrow – get your own freakin’ super identity, pretenders! 

So hurray for the return of Barbara (perhaps they’ll get a new Oracle, that I would be cool with), and hurray for the return of the real Catwoman, who is interesting because she just plain enjoys being bad, and the lovely tension this creates between her and YES Bruce Wayne, the least-convincing-to-replace superhero of all (coz let’s face it, the others just don’t have the motivation to make good Batmen), because YES, they are both kind of addicted to each other. 

(And while we’re at it, will Helena Wayne be Huntress? Please?)

I think that deserves a head-slap. I didn’t realize that was what you meant at all, nor have I bothered to look at it from what is probably the only perspective that matters, whether a decent story is told. Gosh. Agreed.