"Batgirl and the Birds of Prey" Solidifies "Killing Joke" In Rebirth Continuity

[BG_Batgirl]

DC can't seem to stop making the same mistakes over and over again. They seem to be destine to step in the same pile of manure every time they do a Birds of Prey comic and that is putting Huntress on the team. She doesn't belong and never will be.

[Cmbmool]

So even if they didn't remove it from Babs overall history they still removed what was Babs most iconic character beyond Batgirl in Oracle and have her become Batgirl again.

I mean it was stated in the issue that once Babs had the surgery the Birds of Prey ended.

[Godlike13]

Oracle existed.

[Cmbmool]

Oracle existed.

The real questions should be If Oracle existed, then for how long and did she make an impact like she did in her previous life ?

I mean it seems to me that she became Oracle in the new 52, but she didn't make the impact she had before.

[Godlike13]

She existed for a couple of years, we don't need an exact number (exact numbers rarely work out well in comics), and she obviously made some sort of impact with Black Canary. To what extent, i don't know, but again we don't need to know exactly. Oracle was originally an in the shadows type of operation anyway.

[Cmbmool]

She existed for a couple of years, we don't need an exact number (exact numbers rarely work out well in comics), and she obviously made some sort of impact with Black Canary. To what extent, i don't know, but again we don't need to know exactly. Oracle was originally an in the shadows type of operation anyway.

Yet in the old timeline she made much more of an impact given how long she lasted and thanks to the writings of John Ostrander and Gail Simone that helped shaped the character. We didn't have that this time around.

[Atlanta96]

Joker: 1
Attempted Killing Joke retcon: 0

As a fan of Barbara's development into Oracle after the events of the Killing Joke, I'm glad it's officially still in continuity. The paralysis may have been disturbing in the original story, but I feel like the development she received in later stories helped the character way more than the original story supposedly harmed her. And hey, who doesn't love TKJ?

[Badou]

I'm pretty indifferent about the story itself. I honestly think it has run its course in terms of being a good thing for Barbara. Her character has circled this one story for such a long time now where it seems like she can't do anything without everyone rushing to question how it impacts TKJ. It was a clever change in direction to have her become Oracle and made a popular Batman story canon to give it more importance, but you ran into a problem when Oracle as a character became stagnant and Barbara was losing relevance. So I was fine with her becoming Batgirl again and becoming a featured character, but keeping TKJ in continuity sort of defeats part of the reason to make her Batgirl again. DC should have just had the balls to say TKJ didn't happen or didn't happen yet in the New 52 because she was so young, but DC didn't want to lessen the importance of one of their most popular stories. To me it is the same as keeping the Death of Superman story in continuity just because it some seminal story even if it doesn't make any sense in the reboot to still be around.

[Cmbmool]

My problem with this is what is the point of having Oracle in the new 52 and DCU now if she's back in action as Batgirl ?

I mean before Oracle became something beyond Batgirl and that is an important character impact for Babara Gordon and for many disable people everywhere, but now it seems to be a phase for her and it didn't make that much of an impact as it was before.

I mean she's Batgirl again and out of the chair. So what's the point of reminiscing the past within the chair ?

[Kirby Krackle]

This is fantastic news. Glad things are being set right.

[Agent Z]

I'll never understand objection to what is Barbara's defining character and easily one of the best in comics. Oracle was/is saying "I'm not going to be a forgotten victim" and it's one of the most empowering messages ever.

Oracle was about her not becoming a forgotten victim. The Killing Joke was about her being a victim. People don't have an issue with her being Oracle so much as how she got to that point and her becoming Oracle wasn't the point of The Killing Joke.

[Agent Z]

DC can't seem to stop making the same mistakes over and over again. They seem to be destine to step in the same pile of manure every time they do a Birds of Prey comic and that is putting Huntress on the team. She doesn't belong and never will be.

Why doesn't she belong there?

[Stormcrow]

I don't really get why this is "news"? Did anyone really believe that ambiguous panel from the previous Batgirl to be an official retcon?

The real headline should've been that Barbara's past as Oracle is back in continuity, as it should always have been. Having TKJ happen without her becoming Oracle was a disservice to the character, this way she's much more interesting.

[HsssH]

I find it rather sad that Barbara appeared like for 2 pages in The Killing Joke and it still is her most important story, EVER.

[TheCollector]

I find it rather sad that Barbara appeared like for 2 pages in The Killing Joke and it still is her most important story, EVER.

But it had the biggest impact on her character, that's why.

Something doesn't have to be long to be important. I mean different circumstances, but Boba Fett was in Empire Strikes Back for like 30 seconds and had one line and immediately after he was like one of the most beloved Star Wars characters.

Also as for Barbara being able to walk again, they actually are developing tech like that, just last September some kind of brain wave system gave a paralyzed man the ability to walk. I mean it's no where near as there as what Barbara has but it is being made. And as for the representation part, I agree with those who are even still upset that she's batgirl again and is no longer Oracle.

But at the same time, they never once dropped the fact that she was paralyzed, it's been one of the more often referenced defining parts of Barbara's life ever since the new 52 began. So it's still there, and here she is with this tech in her allowing her to walk again, and maybe I'm not one to say anything, I'm not paralyzed so I can literally never understand those who are's feelings on this.

But if the tech did exist, worked perfectly and was easily acquired, can anyone say they wouldn't take the chance?

I mean here's a character who was basically dealt the shittiest hand in The Killing Joke, and yet came back stronger then ever as Oracle. Then here she is, undergoing an experimental surgery, followed by months of rehab, and she can walk again. Once again I can't say anything on how others would feel so maybe I'm completely wrong, but seeing that, and knowing the tech is in development wouldn't it give people hope? I dunno, ignore me.