Has Barbara ever talked about her mother?

[MajorHoy]

I can't give you the exact Post-Crisis issues but New 52 she is Barbara Sr. to Barbara's Jr.

For post-CoIE, Secret Origins #20 (November 1987) may help.

Can't remember how specific they were about Batgirl's backstory in Year One (Batman #404-407).

[Tzigone]

Post-Crisis, she is retconned into being Gordon's biological niece, adopted after the death of her parents. Any specific issue to check this out in? Or names for her bio-parents?

Roger and Thelma, usually. Mom's name was in Secret Origins (1986) #20. Batman Gotham Knights #6 suggests that Jim may actually be Barbara's father.

Lengend of the Dark Knight apparently called her mom "Jennifer" but I haven't read that one.

[Slimybug]

Just read Secret Origins #20. That clears things up!

So, was Gordons wife and/or Barbara's mother EVER referenced or named pre-Crisis?

[Tzigone]

Just read Secret Origins #20. That clears things up!

So, was Gordons wife and/or Barbara's mother EVER referenced or named pre-Crisis?

Gordon did have a wife back in the Golden Age, when his only child was a son, Tony. She was not named at the time, and only retroactively named much later, after the concept of "Earth Two" was developed.

I don't recall us ever learning the name of Mrs. Gordon/Barbara's mom in the silver or bronze ages, and the dc fandom site says we didn't. Apparently Who's Who #2 says Earth One her name was Thelma, according to the same.

[MajorHoy]

Gordon did have a wife back in the Golden Age, when his only child was a son, Tony. She was not named at the time, and only retroactively named much later, after the concept of "Earth Two" was developed.

And during the Bronze Age, it was revealed Barbara did have an older brother named Tony as well (in a $1.00-sized Detective Comics Batgirl story arc if I remember correctly).

[Tzigone]

And during the Bronze Age, it was revealed Barbara did have an older brother named Tony as well (in a $1.00-sized Detective Comics Batgirl story arc if I remember correctly).

He was in 'Tec. And a couple issues of The Batman Family. And he showed up again in an Adventure Comics (looking entirely different) where Superboy rescued a young Barbara Gordon. And then she got superpowers from a mystic crystal.

[MajorHoy]

He was in 'Tec. And a couple issues of The Batman Family. And he showed up again in an Adventure Comics (looking entirely different) where Superboy rescued a young Barbara Gordon. And then she got superpowers from a mystic crystal.

I thought by the time he showed up in Detective Comics that Batman Family had been cancelled and folded in to the $1.00-size Detective Comics?

[Triniking1234]

Lord, why the hell did make her James' niece in post-Crisis? That was a waste of time.

[Slimybug]

Lord, why the hell did make her James' niece in post-Crisis? That was a waste of time.

Absolutely agreed.

I think it came about because Frank Miller believed they were starting from scratch when he wrote Year One and made no mention of her. So when they decided they did afterall want to incorporate past continuity they had to think fast and came up with the niece angle. Nevermind that it would have been just as easy to make her Gordon's daughter from a past marriage or relationship who lived with her mother elsewhere up to a certain point! Jiminy Christmas!

[bat39]

Just read Secret Origins #20. That clears things up!

So, was Gordons wife and/or Barbara's mother EVER referenced or named pre-Crisis?

Yeah...in 'Tec # 500 ("To Kill a Legend"). Batman and Robin travel to a parallel earth to prevent the murder of the Waynes there, and they encounter Lieutenant Gordon's fiancee, who's named Barbara Kean. That's the first, and to my knowledge only, time Gordon's wife is named Pre-Crisis (yes, it's a parallel world, but one where it's strongly implied that most of the salient details are the same as on Earths One and Two).

Interestingly, back in 2014, when the Gotham show started airing, Alan Brenart tried to sue WB for not paying him royalties for the Barbara Kean character who appeared on that show, since he claimed to be the 'creator' of Barbara Kean because of her appearance in 'Tec # 500. But I don't think that went anywhere.

Absolutely agreed.

I think it came about because Frank Miller believed they were starting from scratch when he wrote Year One and made no mention of her. So when they decided they did afterall want to incorporate past continuity they had to think fast and came up with the niece angle. Nevermind that it would have been just as easy to make her Gordon's daughter from a past marriage or relationship who lived with her mother elsewhere up to a certain point! Jiminy Christmas!

I remember reading an interview with Frank Miller a while back where he said he was reluctant to do Year One because he didn't want to be constrained by continuity, only to be reassured by Dennis O'Neil that because of COIE he didn't need to bother about continuity and had a clean slate.

[Tzigone]

I thought by the time he showed up in Detective Comics that Batman Family had been cancelled and folded in to the $1.00-size Detective Comics?

He was in The Batman Family in 1977. #12 and #19. I've read both stories.