Barbara Gordon: Batgirl/Oracle Appreciation 2021

[Frontier]

Burnside always makes her look too much like a cosplayer to me.

[Rac7d*]

Burnside always makes her look too much like a cosplayer to me.

she was a broke college student

[Rac7d*]

she is so excited to play batgirl I cant wait

[MajorHoy]

Pretty much that.

The Burnside Design is also one the would be great for a "Barbara at the beginning of her career" series, but for an older Batgirl it just doesn't fit.

Don't forget this "beginning of her career" outfit they had early in the New 52:

[John Venus]

I'll take the Burnside look over the domino mask. Never though I would hate something so much but here we are.

[Godlike13]

I really like the helmet. Gives Batgirl a bit more of a unique spin on her look.

[sorboares]

Don't forget this "beginning of her career" outfit they had early in the New 52:

I was not happy when they said she wore that silly domino mask and that costume for like a year or more. So in Gail Simones first Batgirl issue that is meant to be the first time in her history that she has worn a cowl, I did not agree with that.

[Frontier]

She definitely has enthusiasm .

she was a broke college student

Which, y'know, prototype costume...

[AmiMizuno]

I'm curious do you guys think we will ever get a BoP animated movie or Batgirl animated movie ? From my understanding Batman year one is linked to long Halloween is Batgirl year one linked to long Halloween universe

[Rac7d*]

I'm curious do you guys think we will ever get a BoP animated movie or Batgirl animated movie ? From my understanding Batman year one is linked to long Halloween is Batgirl year one linked to long Halloween universe

It would suprise me if somthing comes a couple months before the movie, but I hear DC considers the killing joke her movie

[Restingvoice]

https://www.polygon.com/comics/22679...s-oral-history
Brenden Fletcher
Writer on the New 52 titles Batgirl, Gotham Academy, the DCYou title Black Canary

I had just wrapped an Assassin’s Creed comic with Cameron Stewart who asked me to join him on the Batgirl series he’d been offered. Around the same time, Becky Cloonan was given the chance to pitch an original series to the new editor of the “Batman Group” at DC Comics. I was sharing a studio with Becky at the time and she asked me to join her on the project that would later become Gotham Academy. This was around February/March of 2014. The books we were pitching were meant to launch in October of that year.

This all came about because Mark Doyle, who’d come from Vertigo, had taken over the Bat Group and was looking to shake things up in that nebulous time period before the company moved out west from New York to Burbank. It seemed like there was little consequence to any potential failure of these new/updated titles, as DC intended to do a big relaunch once they were settled. It would’ve been easy to simply yank our books from the schedule at that time if they turned out to be stinkers, so the risk of trying out a new style of Batgirl story or a fresh IP involving an original set of characters in a Gotham City boarding school was minimal.

We had a lot of questions for Mark and then-Batgirl editor Katie Kubert about the status quo of Batgirl before we cracked into our pitch, chief among them was the canon age of the character in this New 52 continuity. When they told us she was meant to be 21, it informed just about every decision we made afterward: The series needed to reflect her actual age and the struggles young women encounter when they venture out into the larger world on their own for the very first time. I mean, Barbara was meant to have been a teenage Batgirl before her return to crimefighting in the first issue of the [New 52] series, but was always living at home with her dad, superheroing under the tutelage of Batman, etc. …

Wider Audience

We wanted the book to appeal to new readers and particularly to young women. Aside from the tone of the stories having a little slice-of-life peppered in to ground them and give them broad appeal, we wanted this Batgirl to be recognizable in style and execution to the versions of the character that potential fans would’ve seen on screen in Batman ‘66 and Batman: The Animated Series. That meant injecting some fun onto the page as well as dealing with Barbara’s trauma as honestly as we could.

I think we felt really validated. Not just my teams, but so many of our friends who work in comics and illustration ... so many people who’d been trying to make books like this for DC and Marvel for years! We’d been pushing the notion — along with executives in other departments of DC, I would come to find out later — that there were wider audiences out there for these characters, if only the company would create books for them. It took an editor coming in from Vertigo into the superhero editorial offices to make that a long-awaited reality.

The Oracle Ban

There was ultimately very little pushback from editorial to the way we all envisioned the character. They loved our take on Batgirl and adored the costume redesign. Our only struggles came in the way we saw the use of our supporting cast and the overarching plot. Turns out “Oracle” was a dirty word back in 2014/2015, and a lot of what we had planned ultimately had to be tossed to hold to the mandate that Barbara’s previous alter ego never be used or even mentioned in any context, no matter our intentions with it.

[sorboares]

Have you all been seeing the crazy tweets and stuff about how people are so upset Babs has suited up as Batgirl in the latest Nightwing issue?
Its ridiculous, they are even harassing Tom Taylor on Twitter because they are disgusted and hurt that Babs is not in the chair.
I am shocked, they are acting as if it's new. Babs has been Batgirl since the New 52.
I hope this doesn't cause Babs to be returned to the wheelchair after Fear State.

[Rac7d*]

Have you all been seeing the crazy tweets and stuff about how people are so upset Babs has suited up as Batgirl in the latest Nightwing issue?
Its ridiculous, they are even harassing Tom Taylor on Twitter because they are disgusted and hurt that Babs is not in the chair.
I am shocked, they are acting as if it's new. Babs has been Batgirl since the New 52.
I hope this doesn't cause Babs to be returned to the wheelchair after Fear State.

It’s getting bad, however I 1 feel like thease people are not buying the comics, 2, their avatars have Cass in it, so they may be hoping to shame/bully to get Babs out of the way as the definitive batgirl 3, their are also a lot of comments from fans who are enjoying the book and don’t understand why thease people kept their mouths shut until recent.

[AmiMizuno]

Wait really? What is wrong with people. I know many did like her has a symbol for disabilities but there still other comics and media with her in wheelchair. I mean I guess giving how more and more we are seeing her has oracle in a wheelchair they might have her be in a wheelchair in the comics

Yea generally people who complain about characters aren't knowledgeable on the characters. Like I don't hate her being Batgirl. I just want her and BoP to come back. We can't have nice things. I feel in many ways Oracle did symbolize disabilities but also there are people who would love to walk again. Not only that but many people in comics haven't stayed the same.

It would suprise me if somthing comes a couple months before the movie, but I hear DC considers the killing joke her movie

I mean would Killing Joke be considered her movie?

[Rac7d*]

Wait really? What is wrong with people. I know many did like her has a symbol for disabilities but there still other comics and media with her in wheelchair. I mean I guess giving how more and more we are seeing her has oracle in a wheelchair they might have her be in a wheelchair in the comics

Yea generally people who complain about characters aren't knowledgeable on the characters. Like I don't hate her being Batgirl. I just want her and BoP to come back. We can't have nice things. I feel in many ways Oracle did symbolize disabilities but also there are people who would love to walk again. Not only that but many people in comics haven't stayed the same.



I mean would Killing Joke be considered her movie?

No not at all, she more of a prop and that movie is about Gordon, Bruce and Joker

We’re in a real hard place right now with an Audience that want her to return to a form that was not of her own agency or control. I can’t see how Barbra could or would return to a wheel chair of her choosing.