DC Comics Cancels "Batgirl" Joker Variant at Artist's Request

[ispacehead]

I started to fool around with the original cover and came up with this based on some of what a few fellow posters said. So I ask you now guys and gals, Does this change the perception you have with the effing cover?


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I ask in good faith. Trust me. And I know I said before I was leaving the thread for good, but I need to know.

I was fine with the original, but I like what you did here.

I wonder if any of the dissenters feel differently about this version of the image.

[batfan08]

I don't hate The Killing Joke.

But I dislike the effect it had on superhero comics. Arguably, killing supporting characters (particularly females) to make the hero "edgier" had become a cliche before TKJ, but I think TKJ is the one that upped the ante and made it so said deaths/maimings should be as graphic as possible.

After the last 12 years or so of DC never stopping wallowing in gore and shock value (Identity Crisis, etc.), TKJ has mutated from a classic comic book to a sort of original sin.

I can understand that thought process. At the same time, though, I think The Killing Joke is a poor example of "fridging," though. I could understand if Babs' existence post-TKJ was being resigned to being a victim, but, while it may have defined her physicality over the next few decades, it didn't define her, and I think the rise of Oracle kind of buffers out any semblance of "fridging." She didn't come out unscathed, but the event didn't break Babs, and some might even say, in some ways, it made her stronger.

I never really thought about the term "handicapable," but, if that word suited anyone, it was Babs. The loss of the use of her legs was an obstacle, but it's admirable that, throughout the entirety of her tenure as Oracle, she still retained the strength that she had when she was Batgirl. In that regard, I feel that TKJ created something great.

[ABH]

I started to fool around with the original cover and came up with this based on some of what a few fellow posters said. So I ask you now guys and gals, Does this change the perception you have with the effing cover?


Attachment 19461



I ask in good faith. Trust me. And I know I said before I was leaving the thread for good, but I need to know.

Honestly, that does make a big difference.

But that ship has sailed...

[Arvandor]

I started to fool around with the original cover and came up with this based on some of what a few fellow posters said. So I ask you now guys and gals, Does this change the perception you have with the effing cover?


Attachment 19461

I ask in good faith. Trust me. And I know I said before I was leaving the thread for good, but I need to know.

Nicely done. Can't even tell its been shopped. Good work.

But the change doesn't make it better. Joker is not just some common thug or b-list villain. He's The Joker! Metahumans fear him. Batman fears him. Batgirl being afraid of him doesn't weaken her. It just shows what a terrifying enemy he can be.

[nepenthes]

I started to fool around with the original cover and came up with this based on some of what a few fellow posters said. So I ask you now guys and gals, Does this change the perception you have with the effing cover?


Attachment 19461



I ask in good faith. Trust me. And I know I said before I was leaving the thread for good, but I need to know.

Nice work and many times better than the original. And I never had a problem with the cover in the first place. But this conveys far more of what Batgirl is about, and the direction they're intending to emphasise in her in the current run.

[The_Greatest_Username]

I can understand that thought process. At the same time, though, I think The Killing Joke is a poor example of "fridging," though. I could understand if Babs' existence post-TKJ was being resigned to being a victim, but, while it may have defined her physicality over the next few decades, it didn't define her, and I think the rise of Oracle kind of buffers out any semblance of "fridging." She didn't come out unscathed, but the event didn't break Babs, and some might even say, in some ways, it made her stronger.

I never really thought about the term "handicapable," but, if that word suited anyone, it was Babs. The loss of the use of her legs was an obstacle, but it's admirable that, throughout the entirety of her tenure as Oracle, she still retained the strength that she had when she was Batgirl. In that regard, I feel that TKJ created something great.

TKJ in itself was an example of fridging. Babs was brutally victimized to give Batman and Gordon motivation. The aftermath where other writers had to pick up the pieces certainly helped Babs's character, but that doesn't exactly strengthen the original story.

[macattack]

TKJ in itself was an example of fridging. Babs was brutally victimized to give Batman and Gordon motivation. The aftermath where other writers had to pick up the pieces certainly helped Babs's character, but that doesn't exactly strengthen the original story.

The original story basically depicted Barbara Gordon hitting rock bottom and then sequential books showed her rising in spite of being paralyzed waist down. In the long run I think it showed the strength of Barbara's character, but TKJ on its own is a non-lethal example of the "women in refrigerators" trope.

[ispacehead]

TKJ in itself was an example of fridging. Babs was brutally victimized to give Batman and Gordon motivation.

Actually, Gordon was victimized as well. Batman saved him, caged and naked. He did not succumb to the torture, as Barb did not succumb to her injury.

[Dispenser Of Truth]

I started to fool around with the original cover and came up with this based on some of what a few fellow posters said. So I ask you now guys and gals, Does this change the perception you have with the effing cover?


Attachment 19461



I ask in good faith. Trust me. And I know I said before I was leaving the thread for good, but I need to know.

Y'know, it is better. I can't say I wouldn't have almost all of the same problems with it were this what DC had been putting out in the first place, but it definitely mitigates a few of the worst elements. And like the others said, great job with the editing.

[Rakzo]

I started to fool around with the original cover and came up with this based on some of what a few fellow posters said. So I ask you now guys and gals, Does this change the perception you have with the effing cover?


Attachment 19461



I ask in good faith. Trust me. And I know I said before I was leaving the thread for good, but I need to know.

I'm not gonna lie, that looks pretty cool and probably much better in terms of artwork.

[gimpboy76]

Y'know, it is better. I can't say I wouldn't have almost all of the same problems with it were this what DC had been putting out in the first place, but it definitely mitigates a few of the worst elements. And like the others said, great job with the editing.

I like this as well, it shows Barbara as angry and defiant and ready to fight back, rather than scared. I'm one that understands the importance of TKJ but never liked it because it certainly implies that Joker sexually assaulted Barbara with all the nude pictures that Gordon is forced to see during the carnival ride. .

[Rakzo]

Actually, Gordon was victimized as well. Batman saved him, caged and naked. He did not succumb to the torture, as Barb did not succumb to her injury.

Yeah, that's true. Gordon was also naked in that story so I suppose he was also sexually assaulted.

Not that it makes the issue any better but at least it was equal.

[gimpboy76]

And wanted to add that the idea the TKJ made Barbara a stronger character might be true but wasn't due to that story but was created by John Ostrander in Suicide Squad

[macattack]

And wanted to add that the idea the TKJ made Barbara a stronger character might be true but wasn't due to that story but was created by John Ostrander in Suicide Squad

And he did a really good job with that.

[JBH3]

"I'm outraged by the depiction of women in wheel chairs as vengeance-seeking, gun-toting thugs! Don't ever reprint that cover!"

DC has set a bad precedent for themselves by caving so quickly to some online whining. Because people can find something to complain about every month if they're determined to look. Hell, how dare they even have a title like "Suicide Squad?" That's offensive to anyone who knows someone who committed suicide, right?

The irony is, the people who wanted the cover canceled have ensured that more people are going to actually see it because of the story. Had it just been another variant cover of another comic, it would have came and went without much fuss. I'd like to put it on a shirt and wear it at a con, just to see if anyone actually had the audacity to say something about it.

Very good point, the double standard is real and all kinds of frustrating.