DC Relaunch: Batgirl

Many times, we as people give up on the small things. Something simple that we become frustrated enough with that we throw our hands up in the air. It's not worth it, right? And at the same time, we see these stories of people with huge problems that it is totally okay to throw your hands up about, and yet they persevered. They overcome, they move on. Barbara Gordon has rode the high, had the lowest of lows, and brought herself up out of it all to overcome all the odds, all while not moving physically from the place she was brought to. And now she gets to stand once again where she started, as Batgirl.

Barbara Gordon started her career as Batgirl. There's something that's intriguing about the Batgirl persona, no matter who's behind that particular cowl. Many people have expressed their devotion for every incarnation of the character, the very first one being an exception. She is unique in that she is allowed to carry the title/mantle of "Bat," something Robin does not do. Additionally, Batgirl grabs us as a reader because of the types of adventures she finds herself in. We frequently find the character of Batgirl in over her head. Whereas the story may start off as something well within her control, some element in that reveals itself, a snake revealed to be the head of a gorgon, which presents Batgirl, whichever one she may be, with the new and unprecedented challenge.  And without assist, Batgirl does the job. She leaps in headfirst. I think it's a great quality for the character to have, and I think it makes the dynamic between her and Dick Grayson, former high wire act, all the better.

Now, Barbara has been through alot. She was Batgirl, stepped down of her own free will, was paralyzed by the Joker and forced into a wheelchair, not only became the super info-source/hacker Oracle, but became perfectly capable of defending herself without any help whatsoever. It's another Batgirl story, just told in a different fashion, and in long form. We see with her return as Batgirl yet another step in that journey, and thankfully one of Barbara's biggest fans is guiding us.


I've talked about Gail Simone before, and she is definitely a writer whose career I've followed since she began writing a favorite character of mine, Deadpool, back when I got back into comics. And she's a huge Barbara Gordon fan. She took her on as Oracle when she began writing Birds of Prey back in 2003, and she's done a marvelous job carrying the character to new heights and popularity. This is evident in the numerous blog posts and editorials when the decision for Barbara to stand up out of her wheelchair and walk again was more or less announced as part of the September relaunch solicitations for DC. People felt strongly about it. That's good, and I don't think that any writer could feel more strongly about the character than Gail does. I've tried to stay mostly objective in these, but I have to say that I think Gail will do the character justice still in this new direction.

Handling art is Ardian Syaf and Vicente Cifuentes. I can't speak for Cifuentes' creditials, but Syaf has been all over the place lately, doing work on Brightest Day, Birds of Prey's second story arc "The Death of Oracle" with Gail, and the Flashpoint mini-series Emperor Aquaman with writer Tony Bedard.

As far as Batgirl stories go, I've put aside my fondness for Cassandra Cain and focused on a couple of great Barbara stories, some of which are found in the Birds of Prey books I mentioned the other day. Of course, you can read The Killing Joke if you're really interested in her paralyzation, but I decided to focus elsewhere:

Batgirl: Year One by Chuck Dixon, Scott Beatty, Marcos Martin, & Alvaro Lopez
Birds of Prey: The Death of Oracle by Gail Simone & Ardian Syaf

Tomorrow we'll talk about the series I've been waiting on for some time now, Batwoman. And stay tuned for around 5pm CST as I'll be running another Look Around for today.