Barbara Gordon:Oracle or Batgirl

[Multiverse]

Personally, I prefer Babs as Oracle, as the information hub of the superhero community.

The mantle of "Batgirl" should be handed back over the Stephanie Brown.

[MajorHoy]

Personally, I prefer Babs as Oracle, as the information hub of the superhero community.

The mantle of "Batgirl" should be handed back over the Stephanie Brown.

Much as I liked Stephanie's run as Batgirl, shouldn't Cass be ahead of her?
Besides, Stephanie's identity as "Spoiler" is still a lot better than what Cass seems to have available.

[Mutant God]

I say both

[Vakanai]

I think there's a problem - the "mantle" of Batgirl. Obviously mantles are meant to be passed on, so if you think it is a mantle then naturally you want to see her grow out of it and have her pass it on - mostly to the character you like better than her.

But I don't view it as a mantle. It's not a thing that's there to pass on to the next person. It was hers, it should have always been hers, and it was weird that someone else ever took it up at all. Let her have her thing.

[MajorHoy]

. . . But I don't view it as a mantle. It's not a thing that's there to pass on to the next person. It was hers, it should have always been hers, and it was weird that someone else ever took it up at all. Let her have her thing.

Once The Killing Joke was made canon and Barbara was crippled with no hope of recovery (at least back in the last century), it became a mantle for somebody else to take over.

However, as a result of the New52 giving Barbara an opportunity to resume being Batgirl, and the pasts of Cass and Steph in that role was removed from continuity, then we're back to the mantle still belonging to Barbara.

(And with the "Linearverse", that all becomes even more confusing . . . )

[Rac7d*]

I say both

Exactly she can have it all no matter the title

[KrustyKid]

I think there's a problem - the "mantle" of Batgirl. Obviously mantles are meant to be passed on, so if you think it is a mantle then naturally you want to see her grow out of it and have her pass it on - mostly to the character you like better than her.

But I don't view it as a mantle. It's not a thing that's there to pass on to the next person. It was hers, it should have always been hers, and it was weird that someone else ever took it up at all. Let her have her thing.

Technically Betty Kane was the first, Babs didn't take on the role of Batgirl until some years later

[MajorHoy]

Technically Betty Kane was the first, Babs didn't take on the role of Batgirl until some years later

Well, let's not forget, DC tried to forget about Kathy and Betty once they switched to the "New Look" Batman in 1964.

It wasn't until the 1970s that Kathy and Betty started showing up in new stories again.

[Vakanai]

Once The Killing Joke was made canon and Barbara was crippled with no hope of recovery (at least back in the last century), it became a mantle for somebody else to take over.

However, as a result of the New52 giving Barbara an opportunity to resume being Batgirl, and the pasts of Cass and Steph in that role was removed from continuity, then we're back to the mantle still belonging to Barbara.

(And with the "Linearverse", that all becomes even more confusing . . . )

Even then I don't think it should ever have been a mantle. Whether she was using it or not, it was always an identity she owned. Writers giving it to others was just, meh.

[MajorHoy]

For anybody who has not voted yet, . . . with 64 people having voted, we're currently at:

* Oracle = 31 votes
* Batgirl = 17 votes
* She can keep both = 11 votes
* Depends = 4 votes
* It doesn't matter = 1 vote

[MajorHoy]

NOTE: This thread/poll was started in January 2021.

------------------------------

With 70 people having voted,

* Oracle = 36 votes
* Batgirl = 17 votes
* She can keep both = 12 votes
* Depends = 4 votes
* It doesn't matter = 1 vote

[Powerboy]

With how long she been both. What do you guys think?

At the time, it was a good story though also for the shock value. I don't know if Moore knew they would do some good stuff with her or if she was just cannon fodder for that story. It really boosted her as a character, even made her a character of her own rather than derivative. If character after character can come back from the dead and more than once, she can walk again.

But I would prefer she be a team leader and more than she was before, sometimes leading the team and sometimes calling the plays remotely. I'd like this experience to make her Batman's equal in her own way.

[Powerboy]

I agree completely with you, MajorHoy.

She is my Batgirl too...and DC brutally pushed her aside for too long.



I might be able to accept this.

Barbara transitions from Batgirl to Oracle the way Richard transitioned from Robin to Nightwing; maturation not mutilation.

Thanks to DC, many people had a different Batgirl...and they want her back. I understand how they feel.

I also loved Cassandra Cain but, as has been said, she and others would still have worked without being Batgirl.

[John Venus]

Cassandra Cain is the first Batgirl to hold her own ongoing and if I've learned anything from trying to come up with an alternate code name for her in her own thread, it's that the only that fits her is Batgirl.

Steph as Batgirl was the Pepsi to Barbara Coca Cola. It's the truth. Turning Steph into Batgirl was DC going 'oh well, we couldn't do Babs as Batgirl again so we will just have someone who mirrors her the closest fill in the role'. It's not really fair to either to Steph who has her own unique identity or Cass who was the Batgirl cast aside by DC.

[MajorHoy]

With 83 people having voted,

* Oracle = 39 votes
* Batgirl = 22 votes
* She can keep both = 16 votes
* Depends = 4 votes
* It doesn't matter = 2 votes