Barbara Gordon: Batgirl, Oracle Appreciation 2020

[Godlike13]

Not in to action figures anymore, but man this look top quality.

https://www.bleedingcool.com/2020/03...t-toys-figure/

[kjn]

After 2 canceled orders I finally got my Oracle Code. It’s was ok, I don’t know. I still like whole when it comes to Oracle if you know what I mean. I also think her already being a hacker kind of skips part of the journey. Other then that it wasn’t bad. It was an interesting new perspective and the art was cool. Though shame no glasses.

Yup. In a way, this reminded me of "Catwoman: Under the Moon", in that the change to the characters becoming their "adult" persona in their teens meant the loss of some important aspects of their "full" personality. In Selina's case it was her sensuality and sexuality, in Babs's case it was her experience as Batgirl.

I think it's an unavoidable side effect, given the premises that these stories are told under. And as long as these are viewed as young Catwoman or young Oracle I'm not too bothered by it.

[Aahz]

For me it didn't really feel like Barbara Gordon, more like a completely original character. Her father felt also out of character.

But the Ink books are not really my cup of tea, to much teen angst and it often takes way to long until the action starts.

[Frontier]

Not in to action figures anymore, but man this look top quality.

https://www.bleedingcool.com/2020/03...t-toys-figure/

I love that Arkham Knight suit .

Yup. In a way, this reminded me of "Catwoman: Under the Moon", in that the change to the characters becoming their "adult" persona in their teens meant the loss of some important aspects of their "full" personality. In Selina's case it was her sensuality and sexuality, in Babs's case it was her experience as Batgirl.

I actually think teen Selina in Under the Moon did exhibit some of those traits, albeit toned down compared to adult Catwoman. She definitely had a fairly overt and strong femininity that I feel is a big part of Catwoman's character.

For me it didn't really feel like Barbara Gordon, more like a completely original character. Her father felt also out of character.

But the Ink books are not really my cup of tea, to much teen angst and it often takes way to long until the action starts.

Well, they are definitely not marketed as action books.

[kjn]

I actually think teen Selina in Under the Moon did exhibit some of those traits, albeit toned down compared to adult Catwoman. She definitely had a fairly overt and strong femininity that I feel is a big part of Catwoman's character.

Yeah, she is definitely feminine, but she's not particularly sexual or sensual. To me, these are rather different things.

Anyway, found an interview with Marieke Nijkamp over on the Disability Visibility Project about The Oracle Code:

The Oracle Code is an origin story in a lot of ways, but mostly in the sense that, in main continuity, we don’t really see the transition from Barbara to Oracle. A lot of it happens on the other side of a computer.

Here, the transition happens on the page. Babs is a young hacker who trails her father to an active crime scene and ends up being shot. She goes to the Arkham Center for Independence to adjust to life in her wheelchair. And as a result of that, she’s fighting to figure out who she is anymore. It isn’t until she finds hacks and puzzles and creepy mysteries in the Center around her that she begins to realize she’s still Babs. How she is has changed, but who she is hasn’t.

And another interview over on We Need Diverse Books:

For me, the defining aspect of Babs’s character is her insatiable curiosity and her desire to solve every puzzle around her. It’s how we first meet her: on a rooftop, with her best friend, hacking. It’s also how she finds herself again: through puzzles and mysteries.

In approaching Babs’s story, it was desperately important for me to have a clear understanding who she was and find that through-line, because—even as she learns to deal with the grief resulting from her trauma and her anger and her quest to find a new normal—that’s who she still is. How she is, how she approaches and interacts with the world, has changed (and vice versa), but who she is, hasn’t.

[Aahz]

Well, they are definitely not marketed as action books.

It is not only the lack of action, the pacing is just way to slow for my taste, it often takes untill half way to the book, before the crime fighting part starts or the villain pops up.

[sorboares]

Not in to action figures anymore, but man this look top quality.

https://www.bleedingcool.com/2020/03...t-toys-figure/

I have already pre ordered mine and I can't wait to receive her. This is the best and coolest costume for Batgirl.

[voidox]

so Oracle Code was a rather meh book, art was good, but ya... others have posted similar thoughts but I think the main issue is that this really wasn't Babs. The story was fine and all, but you could have replaced Babs with a random new character and the story would have worked the same. Mystery part wasn't all that good though.

but I'm with @Aahz on this: Ink books are also not my thing

[Gotham citizen]

I think this book could have been interesting, if they would have placed the story between "The killing joke" and the first apparition of Oracle, telling the Barbara's struggle with her paralysis and how she was able to reinvent her life and herself becoming Oracle. Instead the writer has written a story about a Jane Doe whatever, named Barbara Gordon without any real reason and moreover I feel in this book some kind of immaturity (maybe superficiality is a better word), like if the writer weren't able to understand that he isn't telling us the story he want to talk about: in this story we don't see this Barbara fight against her cruel destiny, we don't see her to deal with her new condition, we don't see what kind of person she will become, we see only a resentful girl who would bite the hands of those are trying to help her and then we see her to deal with a mystery which appear so late and so suddenly, to seem almost an foreign body in the story.

At least these are my humble opinions about this book.

[millernumber1]

I think this book could have been interesting, if they would have placed the story between "The killing joke" and the first apparition of Oracle, telling the Barbara's struggle with her paralysis and how she was able to reinvent her life and herself becoming Oracle. Instead the writer has written a story about a Jane Doe whatever, named Barbara Gordon without any real reason and moreover I feel in this book some kind of immaturity (maybe superficiality is a better word), like if the writer weren't able to understand that he isn't telling us the story he want to talk about: in this story we don't see this Barbara fight against her cruel destiny, we don't see her to deal with her new condition, we don't see what kind of person she will become, we see only a resentful girl who would bite the hands of those are trying to help her and then we see her to deal with a mystery which appear so late and so suddenly, to seem almost an foreign body in the story.

At least these are my humble opinions about this book.

I think this is a very solid analysis. It kinda fits with the "Oracle as evil robot" from Burnside and Year of the Villain that is so unfortunate. It is really a shame that we don't have an Ostrander and Yale to give us an Oracle again.

[AmiMizuno]

Batgirl in Harley Quinn animated series. Why are they still using New 52? They for a while changed her outfit. Nothing about outfit seems iconic. Her others were more famous.


Screenshot from 2020-03-19 16-42-54.jpg

[Restingvoice]

Batgirl in Harley Quinn animated series. Why are they still using New 52? TheScreenshot from 2020-03-19 16-42-54.jpg changed her outfit already. Nothing about this screams in the night. To bright. She generally matches her in colors with Batman. I wonder where Dick is then.

That costume was heavily promoted, in comics, DC Superhero Girls, the animated universe, and LEGO Batman, so it's more recognizable. Adaptations tend to be slower than comics too.

[kjn]

I think this book could have been interesting, if they would have placed the story between "The killing joke" and the first apparition of Oracle, telling the Barbara's struggle with her paralysis and how she was able to reinvent her life and herself becoming Oracle. Instead the writer has written a story about a Jane Doe whatever, named Barbara Gordon without any real reason and moreover I feel in this book some kind of immaturity (maybe superficiality is a better word), like if the writer weren't able to understand that he isn't telling us the story he want to talk about: in this story we don't see this Barbara fight against her cruel destiny, we don't see her to deal with her new condition, we don't see what kind of person she will become, we see only a resentful girl who would bite the hands of those are trying to help her and then we see her to deal with a mystery which appear so late and so suddenly, to seem almost an foreign body in the story.

I think you're being unfair to Marieke Nijkamp, and comparing the book you got with the book that you wanted, rather than reading the book that you got.

First, this is DC Ink. Having it set post-TKJ would require a far older Babs, rather than the protagonist aged 12–16 that we get in the other Ink titles. For myself, I'm very happy that writers gets to explore Oracle!Babs without the mess of misogyny and fridging that is TKJ. Basically every superhero is allowed to get variations on their origin stories, so why not Oracle?

The main theme of the book is Babs coming to terms with her changed body, and it arguably places it even more on-camera than any earlier Oracle story, perhaps because Nijkamp has a real background with these types of institutions and with disabilities. The psychological mechanism where Babs's denies help as a way to deny what has happened to her feels very real, and so does that the way out of that self-defeating pattern is to set out to help someone asking for help.

Frankly, to me it seems like you're so focusing on the book that you wanted to get that you miss half the book that you did get.

BTW, here is what Gail Simone says about The Oracle Code:

Also, I am reading an advance copy of The Oracle Code_ by @mariekeyn, with art by Manual Preitano, it's a YA graphic novel with a bit of a retelling of Oracle's story.

It's remarkable. HIGHLY recommended.

[AmiMizuno]

That costume was heavily promoted, in comics, DC Superhero Girls, the animated universe, and LEGO Batman, so it's more recognizable. Adaptations tend to be slower than comics too.

Even in those, they are more of a mix of her old outfit and new 52 colors. The colors are new 52 but the outfits are more like her original.


maxresdefault.jpg

Even in this one darker purple the yellow in darker. So I can't get why this is an issue with them changing it. Then again they did have the show in production for a bit and it takes 6 months to a year, So they probably didn't have time.

[sorboares]

That costume was heavily promoted, in comics, DC Superhero Girls, the animated universe, and LEGO Batman, so it's more recognizable. Adaptations tend to be slower than comics too.

I wish we had the New 52 version of her costume which was in Gail Simones series. This version is the Burnside version and I'm not a huge fan of it. I am happy she at least has her cowl. Maybe her costume will improve coz the image from the trailer she seems to not even have a cape and no bat symbol on her chest so maybe it's her first outing and we will eventually get a better costume I hope but we will probably just get the normal Burnside version.