Quote Originally Posted by Flash Gordon View Post
Hey, I wasn't even knocking the movie. Simply stating that Harley Quinn is now the star of the Birds of Prey.

Managing information and running superhero teams from a desktop is very 1995. It's also not really important that, that is Barbara Gordon. Could be a new character, could be anyone that Batman trusts.
Quote Originally Posted by Godlike13 View Post
Even if Harley: BoP doesn’t turn out well, they will probably just self the brand then. Notice how the first reaction is to retitle to movie. Make sure people know it’s a Harley movie first, as if the title was the problem. Anyway Harley will be fine, BoP will take the real hit. So either way it’s probably not good for Oracle and BoPs prospects going forward.
First of all I have to ask why you want Barbara to be separrated from the Birds of Prey alltogether, or for Harley to take over the franchise as their main character. There's no reason Barbara can't be their leader as Batgirl as she was in the Rebirth series. There are other better options for the Birds then being taken over by Harley or being shelved. Like just being a Black Canary/Huntress book or just having Babs on the team as Batgirl. Harley has the Suicide Squad, Gotham City Sirens, or they could even try giving her and her gang of friends from the DC streaming service show(so herself, Ivy, Clayface, King Shark, Kiteman and Dr Psycho) a team book. She doesn't need to be the Birds main character from now on in addition. If Batman can have the Justice league or the Outsiders, then Babs can and should have the Birds. It would seem to me that you just don't like reminders of Babs's time Oracle around, and her, as Batgirl, continuing to associate with and lead a superheroine team she created at a time when she couldn't be an active participant in their adventures is too uncomfortable for you.

And this argument that having a character as full time computer hacking, support, strategy, team coordination was becoming outdated, that just popped up in the last page, is ridiculous. It's like the anti-oracle sentiment people are looking for a new argument. I can respect and understand why you don't want Babs in that role and prefer her to be an active superheroine as Batgirl. But at least be direct with it instead of reaching for another excuse.

As noted Oracle wasn't just about being a computer person. But also a example of high profile disabled in comics. It isn't easy to replace. And it's not hard to see why. Disabling a preexisting character is highly problematic (and something I myself wouldn't want to do). Creating and introducing a new character with the intent to make them into Oracle would take a lot of real dedication to the concept, which it would seem that the creatives don't have. They probably could have had Frankie in the Oracle role by now for both Babs and the Birds of Prey by now if they did. It wouldn't have been the same but at least it would have been a legitimate attempt. But instead we have them repurposing it for a villainous AI. And if you like that AI as a character, well power to you, but its not "Oracle". The end result may just be this will have to let be as a problem as the DC universe can admitably get by without it. It's a shame, but there isn't a easy good fix, so we may be stuck.

This really goes to show how panicky and over protective the the Anti-Oracle people can be. I don't think that anybody has actually suggested that Barbara should become redisabled or any method by which it could possibly be accomplished. Many, if not all of us, are content to leave her as Batgirl. And we acknowledge that any attempt to do so probably wouldn't even work. But appreciating and acknowledging the positives of her being Oracle, or talking about the problems that were created when she was initially moved back to Batgirl (most of which have been since fixed) is somehow interpreted as a threat to her continued status as Batgirl.

Barbara isn't in any real danger of redisabled or even being removed permanently from the Batgirl mantle by any means in the main continuity from my point of view. If certain rumors about 5G featuring a mass age up of characters turns out to be true she might be temporarily aged out of the role, but I also have no doubt that such a mass age up will end up being rolled back. In which case she'll likely end up as Batgirl again. She's really protected by being the marketable iconic Batgirl, the way Bruce Wayne is Batman. Even when she was Oracle in the comics, most adaptations used her as Batgirl.