With the DC Universe Relaunch well underway, it has been announced that Gail Simone will be taking on the writing duties for the upcoming Batgirl series featuring Barbara Gordon under the cowl. This has a fair number of people upset, and though we don’t know how the story will be presented, if DC is undoing 20 years of continuity, or what the fate of the other Batgirl is, we want to know what YOU think of the change.
VOTE!
[poll id=”186″]
17 Comments
Batgirl, we have known for a few years now that her legs were getting better (around One Year Later if I’m not mistaken) so it makes sense for her to return to her original role specially given the “Death of Oracle” arc. Now how long will this last? That’s anyone’s guest… sure in the future we always see her as Commissioner Gordon and walking around, plus she already has a replacement in “Proxy” from the Batgirl comics, but it might end up as a Spider-Man unmasking kind of deal with limited stories attached to the story line. I just hope Stephanie Brown doesn’t get killed/removed from continuity, she was a good and fun Batgirl.
Many things bother me about the reboot: the possible loss of Secret Six, Misfit, Black Alice and other beloved characters, BoP not been written by Gail Simone (that one hurts), but any book written by Gail Simone can’t possibly be a bad one.
I voted for Oracle, who was featured in many solid stories, while I can’t remember too many solid Batgirl stories. Plus, Oracle is the rare character who can act simultaneously a mentor – as she did to Cassandra Cain and Stephanie Brown – as well as a superhero in her own right – as she did on Birds of Prey. Despite my anxiousness to find out what happens to Stephanie Brown, I’m not too worried about the Batgirl book, as I’m sure Simone and company will get Babs back on her feet (no pun intended).
I never was a fan of Oracle. But that mostly stemmed from the fact that Barbara’s perpetual disability never made any sense. You live in a world of the fantastic, where Superman has Kryptonian technology and magic can undo space time. But no one could heal her? Really? And I never understood the “backlash” from people who said it would be disrespectful to disabled people to have her overcome her disability. Isn’t that something any disabled person would want in a heartbeat?
The point isn’t that Barbara getting better isn’t a good thing, the point is she represents a capable, realistic disabled character in fiction, which we don’t see a lot of. Barbara is someone disabled people can look upon and feel represented in comic books.
“Proxy” is also in a wheelchair if it helps, she’s the daughter of Calculator and serves as Stephanie Brown’s personal Oracle.
Oracle seemed more interesting to me but if we get a good Batgirl book i will be happy
That’s not a very fair question, we don’t know how this new series is going to be. I always imagined that Barbara would eventually walk again but I don’t like tha idea of her being Batgirl again, a Batwoman would be less bad but still not good, it just feels like a step back.
Obviously this Batgirl thing is a done deal. I understand that Oracle’s origin, when you are doing a reboot and trying to hook in new readers, could sound slightly convoluted. I’m definitely behind DC with this whole reboot thing, and I’m going to take the bad with the good in stride. Nonetheless, I voted Oracle because I think the character is stronger than just another Bat-Person.
True, also keep in mind that the characters all seem younger then they are now, so the comic book may be about Batgirl before she becomes Oracle.
I voted for Batgirl. With Gail S on the script I know (hope) that it will be great. However, I am very surprised that Oracle is winning. I really thought nostalgia for her in a bat suit would win out over her in a wheel chair.
I voted Oracle.
I’ve never read any of Ms. Simone’s work yet, but I’ll take everyone’s word that she is good at what she does.
However, I really liked Barbara as Oracle. Her status as a “supporting cast” style character created an interesting tension between her and Dick Grayson in the old Nightwing series.
I’m afraid that putting her back on the front lines will water down some of her appeal.
Well, since Matthew told me that I hate change because of my species, I voted Batgirl. Because I am one of the few fans that started with Babs as Batgirl and Oracle was the change. This is a return to “normal” for me. I though I voted Batgirl because I thought Gail Simone would do her justice, but I was wrong.
Thanks Matthew; now I know. And knowing is half the battle…
BTW, this is a joke.
I voted Oracle. IMO, the character has much more meaning as a symbol and as a character, and the bat titles are diluted as is.
I vote Oracle…
There are dozens of “hot girl in tight costume” heroes running around and Batgirl doesn’t really offer anything you can’t see in a dozen other comics; especially if we’re also going to have batwoman book, who’s basically just the same character! same costume, same city, same allies, same abilities, even the same hair colour! What’s the point?
Oracle on the other hand was a genuinely original character, with a unique approach to crime fighting (i.e. manipulation rather than just punching in the face) – gonna miss her :(
Oracle is just a WAY more interesting development for a “Bat-character.”
Do we really need another Bat-knock-off swinging around Gotham?
Oracle for the win!
I’m curious what Simone will do with Babs in the bat costume again, and I’m not saying the stories with her returning as Batgirl won’t be good…Simone’s done great things with Barbara Gordon before.
I will say, however, that Oracle was a great creation. She filled a spot in the DC universe no one realized was needed until it was there. Until that point, every non-scientist character in the DCU needed some kind of techie side kick/secondary character in order to function. With Oracle around, she could fill the role of Deus ex Wikipedia.
John Ostrander and the late Kim Yale (speaking of Wikipedia) turned Gordon into Oracle and it was an awesome move for so many reasons: turning what could have just been another “women in refrigerators” moment (from Killing Joke) into a strong story about feminism and overcoming adversity. As Oracle, she was more than a character–she was a symbol of loss and re-creation.
While it’s absolutely true that a universe containing Cyborg and Robotman should logically be able to fix a paraplegic with either prosthetics or surgery, that’s not the point. Honestly, there are about a dozen areas where scientific “breakthroughs” should have logically had a larger impact on the DCU than they have (why isn’t everyone using cosmic energy by now instead of gasoline?). But the point of Babs as Oracle was that she enabled (directly or indirect) a whole host of stories that Batgirl didn’t. And I’m curious how they’ll address that now.
And I’m curious how they’ll address that now.
Bust Stephanie Brown’s legs?