Batgirl

Batgirl is a DC Comics superhero, a female crime-fighter modeled after and associated with Batman.

Although a mostly-forgotten Bat-Girl appeared in Batman comic books of the early 1960s, the most well-known Batgirl was a collaboration between DC editors and the producers of the Batman television series and debuted in both mediums in 1967. She was Barbara Gordon, the daughter of Gotham City Police Commissioner James Gordon.

In 1988, The Joker shot Barbara Gordon in the spine, leaving her paraplegic and she reinvented herself as Batman’s research assistant Oracle.

The current Batgirl, the martial arts prodigy Cassandra Cain, first appeared in 1999 and is the trainee of Oracle. She currently stars in an eponymous monthly series.

Batgirls

Betty Kane

Bat-Girl was Betty Kane (first appearance: Batman #139, 1961), the niece of Batwoman, Kathy Kane . Batwoman and Bat-Girl were created to be romantic interests for Batman and Robin as much as crime-fighting associates (possibly in response to Fredric Wertham's allegations about the true nature of the Dynamic Duo's relationship), but the characters never gained a following. Bat-Girl, like Batwoman, was retconned out of existence following the Crisis on Infinite Earths.

In Post-Crisis continuity Betty Kane has been revived as Bette Kane. She however is not Bat-Girl but a professional tennis player not related to Batman who is also the superhero Flamebird . She was a sometime member of the Teen Titans and like the old Bat-Girl she has a crush on Robin.

Barbara Gordon

The Silver Age Batgirl was librarian-by-day Barbara Gordon (first appearance: Detective Comics #359, 1967), daughter of Gotham City Police Commissioner James Gordon. On her way to a masquerade ball dressed as a female version of Batman, Barbara intervened in a kidnapping attempt on Bruce Wayne, attracting the attention of Batman and leading to a crime-fighting career.

Batgirl's original adventures depicted her as a spirited, if inexperienced, female copy of Batman. After a handful of guest appearances in Batman stories, she was gifted her own back-up strip in Detective Comics. This allowed the character to be fleshed out considerably, with the shy, mousey, bookworm version of Barbara Gordon quickly giving way to a more modern, confident, Barbara. Devoid of her plain-Jane glasses and hair bun, Barbara started to date what would be a succession of boyfriends.

Her adventures ran sporadically in Detective Comics until 1975, when she became a regular feature in the short-lived Batman Family comic book, before returning to Detective Comics for a fairly solid run from issues 481 (December 1979) to 519 (October 1982). During this time she left her life at the library behind to become a Congresswoman, and revealed her dual identity to her father.

Barbara continued to be Batgirl before she semi-retired in the 1980s. Barbara Gordon was, and still is, a love interest for Dick Grayson, the original Robin, currently known as Nightwing.

In The Killing Joke, a graphic novel by Alan Moore, The Joker shot Barbara through the spine, paralyzing her. Now wheelchair-bound, Barbara adopted the code-name Oracle, and she is a computer expert, providing informational, tactical, and security assistance to many superheroes, including Batman and the JLA. Barbara is the leader of the all-female superhero team Birds of Prey.

(Unlike Bat-Girl Betty Kane, Barbara Gordon made it through Crisis on Infinite Earths mostly intact, although her relationship with James Gordon was retconned to niece-and-adopted-daughter after Frank Miller depicted him as having only fathered a son in Batman: Year One.) However, later issues have Barbara discovering information that James Gordon is possibly her actual biological father.

Helena Bertinelli

During the late 1990s No Man's Land story arc, a new Batgirl emerged. She was revealed to be the Huntress, Helena Bertinelli. She resumed being the Huntress, soon after, as both Batman and Barbara Gordon were displeased with her methods.

Cassandra Cain

Cassandra Cain is the current Batgirl, having taken on the role with the approval of both Batman and Barbara Gordon. Trained by her father, assassin David Cain , to be the ultimate martial artist and assassin, Cassandra was not taught to speak. Instead, the parts of her brain normally used for speech were trained so she could read other people's movements and body language and predict, with uncanny accuracy, their next move. Although she has since learned to speak, Cassandra is still a gifted martial artist who managed to defeat Lady Shiva, the deadliest fighter of the DC Universe. In 2000, Cassandra became the first Batgirl to get her own ongoing self-titled comic book series (the Gordon Batgirl having been featured in a couple of one-shot releases).

Batgirl in other media

• The Barbara Gordon Batgirl appeared in the final season of the live-action Batman television series in 1967, the same year as her comic-book debut. In fact, she was created in co-operation with the show's producers, who wanted a female character who could be added to the show's regular cast.

Some uncertainty exists over who developed what aspects of the character, with one often cited (although almost certainly incorrect) version claiming that DC Comics simply took the idea wholesale from the TV show. However Julius Schwartz, editor of the Batman comic book at the time, has apparently claimed that he instigated Batgirl as a way of transferring some of the large female demographic of the TV show over to the comic. When the TV producers saw rough 'concept' artwork by artist Carmine Infantino during a visit to DC Comics offices, they optioned the character in a bid to help sell a third season to a skeptical ABC television network.

(Note: Batman series producers Bill Dozier and Howie Horowitz have variously claimed credit for aspects of Batman, for example the characters of Alfred the Butler and Aunt Harriet, which they clearly borrowed from elsewhere. It's unlikely that this is a deliberate attempt to mislead, merely a result of faulty memories coupled with loose story telling. With this in mind, and recalling that the show's own credits claim Batgirl as being the property of DC Comics, Schwartz's account is likely to be closer to the truth.)

In the Batman television series, Batgirl was played by Yvonne Craig. A seven minute pilot reel was created to try out the new character. The reel starts in the Gotham City Library, where librarian Barbara Gordon is dealing with Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson. The Killer Moth and his henchmen attack the library, locking Barbara in an office. Bruce and Dick leave, to return as Batman and Robin, while Barbara opens a secret door to reveal her Batgirl closet, and transforms her dowdy librarian attire into a Batgirl costume (the skirt becomes a cape, etc). (This transformation, borrowed from the comic book, was dropped in the series proper as it meant Barbara would always wear the same outfit.)

It has been suggested that the original intent of this pilot reel was to sell Batgirl in her own half hour show, early in the evening, while the Batman show would screen later that night to conclude the storyline. At the end of the reel there is indeed a brief Batgirl theme tune and a caption featuring a Batgirl logo. However, given the mediocre ratings of the previous Batman season, the notion that the reel was to pitch a spin-off show seem unlikely.

• Batgirl also turned up in a handful of animated episodes of the Filmation series The Batman/Superman Hour (1969), voiced by Jane Webb , then later in the sequel series entitled The New Adventures of Batman (1977) voiced by Melendy Britt . Between these two appearances Yvonne Craig reprised her role for a 1972 live action TV commercial promoting equal pay for women.

• More recently Barbara Gordon has been a recurring character in Batman: The Animated Series, voiced by Melissa Gilbert and then by Tara Strong. In the animated series, she originally adopted the Batgirl identity to help her father when he was framed by Two-Face. She also appeared in Batman & Mr. Freeze: Sub-Zero, Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker, and Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman; all of these are direct-to-video movies based on the series.

• A more elderly version of the character, voiced by Stockard Channing, appeared in the futuristic spin-off, Batman Beyond. Here she had given up on ("grown out of", she insisted) costumed crime-fighting and followed her father into the police force, eventually becoming Police Commissioner herself. (The animated series contained no version of The Killing Joke, so Barbara Gordon kept the use of her legs and never became Oracle.) She also appeared in Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker.

• The 1997 movie Batman and Robin included a new Batgirl. Barbara Wilson, played by Alicia Silverstone, was the niece of Bruce Wayne's butler, Alfred Pennyworth. This Batgirl was similar in many ways to Barbara Gordon, but James Gordon's relatively small role in the films contributed to the differences. This version of the character is widely despised by fans, as it holds no similarity to the source material outside of the name "Batgirl".

• The short-lived Birds of Prey television series (2002) featured a paralyzed Barbara Gordon (Dina Meyer) donning her Batgirl costume both in flashback sequences and in the present, thanks to a device that allows her to walk. Although based loosely upon the continuity established by The Killing Joke, elements of the Cassandra Cain Batgirl were also incorporated as one episode saw Gordon/Batgirl fighting Lady Shiva, Cain's nemesis.

External links

• The Batgirl/Oracle Site, mostly focusing on Barbara Gordon
• TVObscurities.com - Batgirl Promotional Short