Betty Kane
Main article: Bette Kane
Following the accusations of homosexuality between Batman and Robin as described in Fredric Wertham's book Seduction of the Innocent (1954), a female character, Kathy Kane the Batwoman, was introduced in 1956 as a love interest for Batman.[1] In 1961, a second female character was introduced as a love interest for Robin.[1] Betty Kane as "Bat-Girl" was depicted as the niece of and Robin-like sidekick to Batwoman, first appearing in Batman #139 (1961).[2] The creation of the Batman Family, which included Batman and Batwoman depicted as parents, Robin and Bat-Girl depicted as their children, the extraterrestrial imp Bat-Mite and the "family pet" Ace the Bat-Hound, caused the Batman-related comic books to take "a wrong turn, switching from superheroes to situational comedy".[1]
These characters were abandoned in 1964 when newly appointed Batman editor Julius Schwartz concluded they were too silly and therefore inappropriate.[3] Schwartz had asserted that these characters should be removed, considering the Batman related comic books had steadily declined in sales, and restored the Batman mythology to its original conception of heroic vigilantism.[1] Bat-Girl, along with other characters in the Batman Family, were retconned out of existence following the 1985 limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths.[4]However, even though Bat-Girl did not exist in the post-Crisis continuity, a modified version of the character, Mary Elizabeth "Bette" Kane, was introduced as the superhero Flamebird, who continues to appear in DC Comics publications.[5]
[edit]Barbara Gordon
Main article: Barbara Gordon
A new, more independent Batgirl — Barbara "Babs" Gordon, the daughter of Batman supporting character Police Commissioner James Gordon — debuted in Detective Comics #359 (cover-dated January 1967, but released in November 1966).[6][7] In her debut, Barbara is on her way to a masquerade ball dressed as a female version of Batman when she disrupts a kidnapping attempt on Bruce Wayne by the villainous Killer Moth. This attracts the attention of Batman and leads to her establishing a crime-fighting career. This new character, jointly created by Editor Julius Schwartz, artist Carmine Infantino and author Gardner Fox, was a collaboration between DC Comics and the Batman television series of the late 1960s which aired on ABC. When television producer William Dozier sought to renew the Batman program for a third season, he asked Schwartz for a new female character to be introduced in the comic book medium, which could be adapted into the television series in order to attract a female audience.[1] The new version of Batgirl was written as an adult, having earned a doctorate in library science and maintaining a career as head of Gotham City Public Library.[8]
As Batgirl, Barbara Gordon proved to be more popular than the previous Bat-Girl and Batwoman duo, though she was not a sidekick, but an independent crime fighter. Barbara Gordon appeared as Batgirl in both Batman and Detective Comics, as well as other DC Comics publications unrelated to Batman. The character also received a starring role in the Batman Family comic book series which debuted in 1975, where she became part of the "Dynamite Duo: Batgirl & Robin" with Dick Grayson.[9] Described as one of the most popular characters to appear in publications during the Silver Age of Comic Books,[8] Barbara Gordon appeared as Batgirl regularly from 1966 to 1988, and she is frequently featured as Batgirl in "flashback" stories in current DC Comics publications. Famously, Barbara Gordon is shot through the spinal cord by the Joker in Batman: The Killing Joke.[10] The plot, which led to Gordon's paralysis, subsequently became a point of controversy among critics and commentators.[11] Editor Kim Yale and author John Ostrander revived the character in Suicide Squad #23 (1989) under the guise of Oracle, a freelance information broker and expert hacker.[12] As Oracle, Barbara Gordon is written as an ally to various DC Universe superheroes, but is most notable as the founder and leader of operations of the "Birds of Prey" superhero organization.
As part of DC Comics' 2011 line-wide title relaunch, The New 52, Barbara Gordon's paralysis, and her identity of Oracle, were retconned as lasting only a temporary span of time. In theBatgirl series (volume 4) that was launched in September 2011 as part of the retcon, Gordon has resumed her activities as Batgirl, though the trauma of the events of The Killing Jokestill manifests itself when confronted with an opponent who points a gun at her.[13] This new series takes a lighthearted approach to the Batgirl character that is offset with the protagonist struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder.
[edit]Helena Bertinelli
Main articles: Huntress (Helena Bertinelli) and No Man's Land (comics)
Eleven years after the editorial retirement of Barbara Gordon as Batgirl, a new version of the character was introduced in Shadow of the Bat #83 during the maxiseries Batman: No Man's Land (1999).[14] In Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #120 (1999), the new Batgirl is revealed to be Helena Bertinelli, an established DC comics superhero alternatively known as the Huntress.[15] Bertinelli is eventually forced to abandon the mantle by Batman.[16] After reclaiming her identity as the Huntress, Bertinelli later joins Oracle's Birds of Prey, becoming the second former Batgirl to be on the team's roster.[17]
[edit]Cassandra Cain
Main article: Cassandra Cain
Depicted as a martial arts child prodigy, Cassandra Cain is written as a young woman of partly Asian descent who becomes the third in-continuity Batgirl, with the approval of both Batman and Oracle, following her introduction in Batman #567 (1999) as part of the Batman: No Man's Land crossover.[18] Cassandra Cain wears the same Batgirl costume worn by Helena Bertinelli. Raised by assassin David Cain, Cassandra Cain was not taught spoken language, but instead was taught to "read" physical movement. Subsequently, Cain's only form of communication was body language.[19] The parts of the character's brain normally used for speech were trained so Cain could read other people's body language and predict, with uncanny accuracy, their next move. This also caused her brain to develop learning functions different from most, a form of dyslexia that hampers her abilities to read and write.
Despite Cain's disability, author Andersen Gabrych describes the character's unique form of language as the key factor in what makes Cain an excellent detective; the ability to walk into a room and "know" something is wrong based on body language.[19] During the first arc of the Batgirl comic book series entitled Silent Running, Cassandra Cain encounters a psychic who "reprograms" her brain, enabling her to comprehend verbal language, while simultaneously losing the ability to predict movements.[20] This issue is resolved during the second arc of the series, Batgirl: A Knight Alone, when Batgirl encounters the assassin Lady Shiva who agrees to teach her how to predict movement once again.[21] Six years after its debut, DC Comics canceled the Batgirl comic book series with issue #73 (2006), ending with Cain relinquishing her role as Batgirl.[22]
When DC Comics continuity skipped forward one year after the events of the limited series Infinite Crisis, Cassandra Cain is revived as leader of the League of Assassins, having abandoned her previous characterization as an altruist. The character's progression from hero to villain angered some of her fans and was accompanied by heavy criticism.[23] Cain reprised her role as Batgirl in the "Titans East" (2007) storyline of Teen Titans,[24] where it was discovered that she had been influenced by a mind-altering drug administered bysupervillain Deathstroke the Terminator. Following the conclusion of the storyline, DC Comics has restored Cain's original characterization as a superhero and the character has been given a supporting role in the comic book series Batman and the Outsiders.
Following the events of Batman's disappearance, Cassandra, acting under her mentor's orders in the event of his death, handed over the Batgirl mantle to Stephanie Brown, the former Spoiler and Robin.[25] After decling an offer from Tim Drake to reclaim the Batgirl mantle from Stephanie,[26] Cassandra rejoined the Batman Family under the new identity of Blackbat.[27] She currently acts as the Hong Kong representative of Batman Inc.
[edit]Stephanie Brown
Main article: Stephanie Brown (comics)
Stephanie Brown, formerly the Spoiler and briefly the fourth Robin, takes up the mantle of Batgirl after Cassandra Cain gives Brown her costume under Batman's order.[25] Eventually, Barbara Gordon approves of Brown as her newest successor — and she gives Brown her own Batgirl costume and becomes her mentor for a period. Brown is the fourth in-continuity Batgirl and the second Batgirl to star in her own ongoing Batgirl comic book series.
[edit]Publication history
The first Batgirl ongoing comic book series was published in 2000 and featured Cassandra Cain as Batgirl. In 2009, a new Batgirl miniseries was created also featuring Cain, whom, by the end of the series, passes on her Batgirl identity to character Stephanie Brown. The third series features new characters, as well as Batman and Robin, who will monitor Brown's actions as Batgirl. The series is a direct sequel to Oracle: The Cure, part of the "Batman: Battle for the Cowl" story arc.[citation needed]
[edit]Volume one (2000–2006)
Cassandra Cain was DC Universe's Batgirl from 1999 until 2009. The Asian American daughter of two assassins, Cain herself grew up to be the greatest assassin in the world. She is featured in the comic book series No Man's Land, the eponymous Batgirl (2000 series and 2008 mini-series), the "One Year Later" storyline, 52: World War III, and Batman and the Outsiders (vol. 2).
[edit]Volume two (2008-2009)
In this six-issue miniseries, Cassandra searches for her father and Deathstroke the Terminator. She eventually finds her father and faces him. Her father falls off a building when Cain is unable to save him. Batman saves him and lets Batgirl move into Wayne Manor again. Batgirl soon realizes that Deathstroke has opened up an academy where he is training her siblings.
[edit]Volume three (2009–2011)
Taking place after Oracle: The Cure, Stephanie Brown is given the Batgirl mantle by a disillusioned Cassandra Cain. Stephanie hides her identity from her mother, who does not approve of it and wants her to be an ordinary girl.
Barbara Gordon meets with Leslie Thompkins, who has taken in the crippled daughter of the villain Calculator known as Wendy. Barbara later has lunch with her father (James Gordon), who tries to set her up with a new officer. She gets a call from Batman, who has deduced that the new Batgirl is Stephanie Brown.
After 24 issues, Batgirl was cancelled in August 2011 as part of a company-wide relaunch in the wake of the Flashpoint crossover.[28]
[edit]Volume four (2011–present)
Immediately following the cancellation of the Stephanie Brown Batgirl series, a new title starring Barbara Gordon, again able to walk, launched September 7, 2011.[29] It is written by Gail Simone and drawn by Ardian Syaf.[30]
Betty Kane's Bat-Girl was primarily interested in vigilantism in order to develop a relationship with the original Robin, Dick Grayson, as her introduction into publication was a deliberate attempt to avoid further allegations of homosexuality that Seduction of the Innocent presented to the public.[15] Depicted as the niece of Batwoman, Bat-Girl had developed a crush on Robin after arriving in Gotham City and decided to fashion her own superhero persona based on Robin's costume. Her appearance in comic books primarily displayed her character attempting to develop a romantic relationship with Robin, despite his embarrassment or lack of interest.[1] Unlike later Batgirl characters, Bat-Girl was not a female version of Batman but rather a female version of Robin.
When Julius Schwartz asked Carmine Infantino for a redesign of the Bat-Girl character, Infantino recalled Betty Kane's character as a "pesky girl version of Robin", and decided to come up with something more original.[31] Gardner Fox and Carmine Infantino's new "Batgirl" was written as an adult and as a career woman working as head of Gotham City Public Library. Though the Barbara Gordon character saw Batman as her inspiration and idol, fashioning her crime-fighting persona after him, her primary concern was solving cases and often worked independently from Batman and Robin. Batgirl was primarily featured in Detective Comics in stories separate from the Dynamic Duo.[8]
[edit]In other media
Main article: Barbara Gordon in other media
A pop culture icon, the Barbara Gordon version of Batgirl has been adapted into all media relating to the Batman franchise includingmerchandise, television, animation, video game,[32] and feature film. The Barbara Gordon Batgirl, jointly inspired by producer William Dozier and DC Comics editor Julius Schwartz,[15] appeared in the final season of the live-action Batman television series in 1967, promptly following the character's comic book debut.[33] Actress Yvonne Craig was featured in a promotional short, which was shown to ABC executives in order not only to add Batgirl to the cast, but also to ensure a third season for the television series.[34] As Barbara Gordon, Craig was a replica of her comic book counterpart, working as a librarian for Gotham City Public Library; she led a double life as Batgirl, helping Batman, Robin and the Gotham City police department to solve an array of cases.[34] Although Craig's addition to the cast was able to renew the program for a third season, it did not save the series from cancellation;[35] Batman was officially canceled in March 1968.[36]
Barbara Gordon's Batgirl made her first animated appearance in The Adventures of Batman[37] in 1968 and was also adapted into its successor animated program The New Adventures of Batman in 1977.[38] During the 1990s and 2000s, Barbara Gordon appears as Batgirl in the series of animated programs and animated films which comprise the DC Animated Universe; these include Batman: The Animated Series,[39] Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero, The New Batman Adventures,[40] and Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker. A younger version of the Barbara Gordon character also played a recurring role in the animated series entitled The Batman.[41]
In Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Batgirl's costume somewhat resembles the design worn by her DC animated universe incarnation. In her first appearance on the series in the episode "The Last Patrol!", an in-joke reference to the 1960s television series is made, with Batman being unaware of Batgirl's identity. Barbara Gordon and Bette Kane have also appeared in Young Justice. In 2012, Batgirl will star alongsideSupergirl and Wonder Girl in Super Best Friends Forever, a series of shorts developed by Lauren Faust for the DC Nation block on Cartoon Network.[42]
In addition to animated adaptations, the Barbara Gordon version of Batgirl served as the inspiration for the character Barbara Wilson in the 1997 feature film Batman & Robin. Departing from the comic book character's history, the alternate version of Barbara is portrayed by Alicia Silverstone as the niece of Alfred Pennyworth, Bruce Wayne's butler and Batman's loyal assistant.[43] The short-lived Birds of Prey television series, which aired on The WB network in 2002, features a paralyzed Barbara Gordon donning her Batgirl costume after creating a device that allows her to walk.[44] The series featuredDina Meyer as Barbara Gordon, in a future where she has been paralyzed by the Joker and operates as Oracle.[43]
[edit]Cultural impact
The depiction of the Barbara Gordon incarnation of Batgirl as a career-oriented woman, coupled with her alter-ego as a crimefighter, is considered to be symbolic of the women's empowerment movement of the 1960s according to critic and historian Peter Sanderson.[45] Gordon's career as a librarian also represented a "valued and honored profession" within mainstream American comics, despite the fact that comic books were not considered to be a respectable pastime by library professionals.[8]
...likely explanations for why Batgirl's alter ego was a librarian are (a) librarianship was at the time an established and acceptable occupation for a(n) (unmarried) young woman, and (b) Barbara Gordon's job as a seemingly meek and passive librarian had to be considered an ideal contrast to her truly significant (and exciting) work as Batgirl.[8]
Actress Yvonne Craig, who was cast as Batgirl during the final season of the Batman television series, also portrayed the character in the 1972 public service announcement for theUnited States Department of Labor advocating equal pay.[46] Craig has stated her portrayal of Batgirl remains a symbol of women's empowerment.[47] Despite this, the Batgirl character has often been criticized for being a distaff variation of Batman.[48] Compared to Wonder Woman, described as "the principal icon of superheroines", Batgirl has been disregarded as a derivative of her male counterpart.[49] When Yvonne Craig portrayed Batgirl in the Batman television series, she was not allowed to engage in hand-to-hand combat; her fight scenes were all based on choreographed dance routines of Broadway showgirls, leading some to claim this made her appear as an inferior version of Batman.[50]
[edit]See also
Collected editions
| Title | Material collected | Publication date | ISBN |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barbara Gordon | |||
| Batgirl: Year One | Batgirl: Year One #1–9 (2003 mini-series) | February 2003 | 978-1-4012-0080-0 |
| Batman: Batgirl | one-shot special | July 1997 | 978-1-5638-9305-6 |
| Showcase Presents: Batgirl | various titles | July 2007 | 978-1-4012-1367-1 |
| Batgirl: The Greatest Stories Ever Told | various titles | December 2010 | 978-1401229245 |
| Batgirl: The Darkest Reflection | Batgirl (vol. 4) #1-6 | July 2012 | 978-1401234751 |
| Cassandra Cain | |||
| Batgirl: Silent Running | Batgirl #1–6 | March 2001 | 978-1-8402-3266-0 |
| Batgirl: A Knight Alone | Batgirl #7–11, #13–14 | November 2001 | 978-1-5638-9852-5 |
| Batgirl: Death Wish | Batgirl #17–20, #22–23, #25 | August 2003 | 978-1-8402-3707-8 |
| Batgirl: Fists of Fury | Batgirl #15–16, #21, #26–28 | May 2004 | 978-1-4012-0205-7 |
| Robin/Batgirl: Fresh Blood | Robin #132–133; Batgirl #58–59 | October 2005 | 978-1-4012-0433-4 |
| Batgirl: Kicking Assassins | Batgirl #60–64 | January 2006 | 978-1-4012-0439-6 |
| Batgirl: Destruction's Daughter | Batgirl #65–73 | September 2006 | 978-1-4012-0896-7 |
| Batgirl: Redemption | Batgirl #1–6 (2008 miniseries) | June 2009 | 978-1-4012-2275-8 |
| Stephanie Brown | |||
| Batgirl: Batgirl Rising | Batgirl (vol. 3) #1–7 | September 2010 | 978-1-4012-2723-4 |
| Batgirl: The Flood | Batgirl (vol. 3) #9–14 | May 2011 | 978-1-4012-3142-2 |
| Batgirl: The Lesson | Batgirl (vol. 3) #15-24 | November 2011 | 978-1-4012-3270-2 |
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