Simone Revisits Oracle, Wonder Woman With "Sensation Comics"

[CBR News]

Gail Simone discusses her first story for the new digital-first "Sensation Comics" Wonder Woman anthology and returning to Barbara Gordon as Oracle.


Full article here.

[Crazy Diamond]

Haven't read anything by Simone since the reboot, but this comic sounds nice. Wonder what they'll do with Oracle...

[Deniz Camp]

Oracle is my personal favorite incarnation of Barbara Gordon, and a much more interesting/unique role for the character than 'female vigilante Batman'. Happy to see it revisited, even fleetingly.

I just felt that role had a lot more story potential.

[m.knight]

I can't wait for this. The only current WW I can't stand to read now is in Superman/Wonder Woman. I don't like how she's been written in JL or WW. This can't come soon enough.

[scary harpy]

Why does Oracle have to be a disabled Barbara? Why can't Babs be both Oracle and Batgirl?

Or why can't someone new be Oracle? Oracle is far less iconic than Batgirl.

[Deniz Camp]

Why does Oracle have to be a disabled Barbara? Why can't Babs be both Oracle and Batgirl?

The whole concept of a disabled individual still being a superhero - more effective and needed than ever - was part of the appeal.

Or why can't someone new be Oracle? Oracle is far less iconic than Batgirl.

It need not be Barbara. The reverse is true, too, of course; Batgirl need not be Barbara, either.

Certainly you're right about 'iconic', but for my tastes the whole Barbara-as-Oracle thing was particularly effective because it was a character that had a long career with the Bat-clan specifically and the superhero world in general. It made sense that someone like that would be the one who could coordinate everyone, could be trusted with all that information. That she was meant to be a genius made her particularly fitting, I thought.

And while this isn't a necessity, I always thought it made her relationship with Dick - which is, to me, the central relationship of both of those characters - a little bit more tragic. Because Dick, more than any character in the DCU, is all about freedom of motion, the joy of soaring. And here was the woman he loved, trapped in a wheelchair, who could no longer feel that joy.

You could put Dick in the Oracle chair, I suppose. Cripple him. He's got the connections to the superhero community, if not the technical genius. And there would be quite a bit of pathos there, removing his greatest strength and joy. Could show him to be resilient, to find new purpose. But there you're removing the central conceit of the character, and generally I think that's destructive for anything more than an arc or year.

Whoever is Oracle, I do think her being disabled should be a part of it.

[mathew101281]

The whole concept of a disabled individual still being a superhero - more effective and needed than ever - was part of the appeal.



It need not be Barbara. The reverse is true, too, of course; Batgirl need not be Barbara, either.

Certainly you're right about 'iconic', but for my tastes the whole Barbara-as-Oracle thing was particularly effective because it was a character that had a long career with the Bat-clan specifically and the superhero world in general. It made sense that someone like that would be the one who could coordinate everyone, could be trusted with all that information. That she was meant to be a genius made her particularly fitting, I thought.

And while this isn't a necessity, I always thought it made her relationship with Dick - which is, to me, the central relationship of both of those characters - a little bit more tragic. Because Dick, more than any character in the DCU, is all about freedom of motion, the joy of soaring. And here was the woman he loved, trapped in a wheelchair, who could no longer feel that joy.

You could put Dick in the Oracle chair, I suppose. Cripple him. He's got the connections to the superhero community, if not the technical genius. And there would be quite a bit of pathos there, removing his greatest strength and joy. Could show him to be resilient, to find new purpose. But there you're removing the central conceit of the character, and generally I think that's destructive for anything more than an arc or year.

Whoever is Oracle, I do think her being disabled should be a part of it.

To me the list of good Barbara Gordon stories is very Oracle heavy. Batgirl Babs is more iconic, but Oracle Babs has the better stories.

[Brave Sir Robin]

This is great news. I was ready to say good bye to Wonder Woman but now I get a new story by a good writer. The other incarnations currently out there make me cringe. It is almost embarassing that I like this character when the other versions are so different and really horrible. The new team appears to be ready to embrace the horrible version. I have great faith that Simone will do her justice. Simone's women are strong, thoughtful, and dynamic. They grow, don't see in black and white, and have actual human emotions that I can relate to. The other versions miss on all those counts.

I love Simone's Batgirl and I loved Oracle. I do feel the anger of some at Batgirl's miraculous recovery from her paralysis and hope that there is room for a handicapped hero like Oracle. It will be nice to have her back in this story.

[Deniz Camp]

I tend to think Batgirl is just a more generic role in a shared universe. She's just another primarily physical vigilante; Same as Nightwing, or Red Robin, or Batwoman or Batman himself.

Obviously it's all in the execution, but the Oracle identity just felt more distinct.

I suppose it's a harder situation to focus on primarily, though; so much of comics is action, and so much of that is limited in such a scenario, outside of the Internet 3.0 stuff (which was maybe Morrison's purpose in introducing it; giving Barbara a long term cyberpunk esque status quo to facilitate an ongoing series. I know the Kevin Van Hook mini tried to play with it too).

[ReverseReverseFlash]

Yeah, it's like making Dick into Robin again. It's regression. Oracle was Batgirl's graduating persona.

[Dr. Poison]

Yeah, it's like making Dick into Robin again. It's regression. Oracle was Batgirl's graduating persona.

I don't see that way. I saw Oracle as Barbara's way of turning lemons into lemonade. I'm thrilled that she's Batgirl again and I think it's kind of selfish not to want to see a handicapped person shed their disability and regain their ability to walk. Don't get me wrong, Oracle was fun while she was around but Batgirl is classic, iconic, and fun all rolled in one.

[Punisher007]

Not really, she's back to being just another generic costume bat-character. We've already got NW, or Red Hood, or Batwoman, or Bluebird, to fill that role. Oracle was not only much more interesting, but it was something that was uniquely hers. And the fact that her book has been so unrelentingly bleak and depressing just makes it feel even more like a generic bat-book. And isn't it more selfish to say to disabled people "hey that character that was uniquely yours and an inspiration to you, well sorry but she's going away now because we want Barbara to be like she was when WE grew up reading her, so tough cookies." Because that's what this is all about, how the higher ups a DC grew up reading these characters, that's what they're pushing. And the fact that they completely threw Cassandra and Stephanie under the bus in such a disrespectful way in order to push this "Barbara Gordon is the one true Batgirl" BS just makes it even worse. They're the ones being "selfish."

[Dr. Poison]

Not really, she's back to being just another generic costume bat-character. We've already got NW, or Red Hood, or Batwoman, or Bluebird, to fill that role. Oracle was not only much more interesting, but it was something that was uniquely hers. And the fact that her book has been so unrelentingly bleak and depressing just makes it feel even more like a generic bat-book. And isn't it more selfish to say to disabled people "hey that character that was uniquely yours and an inspiration to you, well sorry but she's going away now because we want Barbara to be like she was when WE grew up reading her, so tough cookies." Because that's what this is all about, how the higher ups a DC grew up reading these characters, that's what they're pushing. And the fact that they completely threw Cassandra and Stephanie under the bus in such a disrespectful way in order to push this "Barbara Gordon is the one true Batgirl" BS just makes it even worse. They're the ones being "selfish."

I don't really see Oracle as very unique since there are others who mimic her capabilities such as Chloee(from Smallville), Felicity(from Arrow), and Accountable(from Earth 2). Why would you think that Barbara is no longer an inspiration to handicapped people? She showed them to never stop believing that they can be healed or overcome their disability. I have a minor disability and I am thrilled that the mistake of the Killing Joke was rectified.

[mathew101281]

I don't really see Oracle as very unique since there are others who mimic her capabilities such as Chloee(from Smallville), Felicity(from Arrow), and Accountable(from Earth 2). Why would you think that Barbara is no longer an inspiration to handicapped people? She showed them to never stop believing that they can be healed or overcome their disability. I have a minor disability and I am thrilled that the mistake of the Killing Joke was rectified.

But Oracle predates all of those characters. That's like saying we don't need Superman anymore because people have made similar characters since his creation.

[The_Greatest_Username]

Barbara was Batgirl long before the Bat-family was comprised of large number of 16 to twenty-something year olds, and she was the only character associated with the role for a good 30 years.
Oracle had some great stories, but she was mostly just a supporting character to everyone else. She really only came about because DC decided to put the Killing Joke in continuity.

But Oracle predates all of those characters. That's like saying we don't need Superman anymore because people have made similar characters since his creation.

People are making the same argument as it pertains to Batgirl. Barbara was Batgirl long before Cass, Stephanie, Tim, and the others came into existence.