Interesting Interview With Gail Regarding Barbara Becoming Batgirl Again

[espanolbot]

It's pretty interesting, and although it doesn't really change my mind about the "curing Oracle" issue I can at least see where they're coming from. Also Gail says that Steph and Cass should have a place in the new DCU, and if they're not being used they'll appear in Babs' new series,
http://www.newsarama.com/comics/gail-simone-dicusses-batgirl-and-oracle-110609.html

Gail also kind of implied that Babs won't be deaged when she puts on the costume, which takes care of THAT continuity snarl anyways. Though that now means that either Steph is going to step down as Batgirl at what is argueably the height of her career so far, OR... and this is the more unlikely reason... Babs fires her and takes her place.

The final issue of Steph's series looked like it was a final issue even before they announced the new line-up, so we should have seen it coming, I guess.

For legality from Nightwing Annual 2,

Comments

[newnumber6]

No, Ms. Simone, I will not be giving Barbara Gordon as Batgirl a chance. You know why? Because I have before. Every time there's a new Batman cartoon series, who will inevitably show up? Barbara Gordon as Batgirl. If ever there's a mainstream movie with a Batgirl in it, chances are, who is it going to be? Barbara Gordon. And I give them a chance. I do it every time. And it's not that I'm disappointed when I do, it's that I have to do it so much that I'm just tired of it. If the Nolanverse ever decides to introduce Batgirl, you can bet who it's going to be: Barbara Gordon.

Because Batman gets rebooted all the time, and Batgirl tags along with him. Because they always like to start at the beginning, and Barbara is Batgirl in the beginning. I like Barbara, but she gets enough chances at Batgirl. For those who love Barbara as Batgirl, there are a myriad of opportunities to see her in action. She doesn't need to monopolize the chances in the comics, too. The comics are the places where we can MOVE PAST THE %!@%!ing beginning for once.

Tell you what, maybe I'll give her a chance in the comics, when WB gives a chance to a new Batman cartoon, one that starts out with Oracle in a wheelchair, Dick as Nightwing, Tim as Robin, Steph as Spoiler, and Cass as a girl with a troubled past that Oracle takes under her wing. Or when they decide to greenlight an animated movie that features Steph or Cass in _any_ significant way at all. That's not even a big commitment, just one movie. Then maybe I'll look into your comic... but until then, it's hard to shake the feeling that I've seen it all before.

You're a good writer, I'm sure you'll do well with it. But I don't care. It's Barbara Gordon as Batgirl. I've seen it before, and I can guarantee you, I'll see it again. So I'm going to pass this time. Because $2.99 a month is a lot to ask for something you've seen so many times before.

[greenmask]

Good comment!

[angelophile]

Yes, this, exactly.

[auggie18]

I wouldn't worry about Batgirl being a movie. They tried that with Batman and Robin and since that tanked, they're not gonna try it again. (Keep in mind that that Batgirl's name was Barbara, but she wasn't Barbara Gordon. She was Alfred's blonde niece.)


I feel like if Batman TAS felt comfortable skipping Jason and going to Tim, then the next cartoon should skip Babs and go for Cass or Steph. Don't even have to ignore her. Just set up her as Oracle from the get go.

[kenn_el]

Barbara Gordon as Batgirl has never been done well, and certainly not in the modern era. The Tooniverse Babs was readily accepted by the Batguys, and easily assimilated, never really working on her own. Comics Babs was an interesting premise, but technology wasn't at a point where her librarian skills could be as useful as they eventually became for Oracle, and her solo stories were often handled by lesser talents. Subsequent 'flashback' stories have always been told under a shadow of 'and we all know what happens to her, right?' atmosphere, making them less interesting than they might have been. This really IS the first opportunity to explore a modern Barbara Gordon as Batgirl.

[jetwolf]

But you think it'll be free of the "and we all know what really happens to her" shadow? Because I can't shake the feeling that is exactly what's going to happen. Maybe not with Gail, because I don't think she'd be that insensitive or cheap, but Gail won't be writing this forever. It seems to me that it's simply going to become a ghoulish watch for Barbara's violent yet inevitable return to the chair.

[kenn_el]

I'd hate to see that, but you're right. It could happen. Yet if DC is willing to go through the trouble to restart her, maybe they'd think twice about doing the same thing again.

[angelophile]

So the question becomes: A) What's going to be different this time? and B) If the character hasn't been "done well" as Batgirl in numerous different medium and stories before, why take her back to that? Didn't the character work better and have a stronger identity and purpose as Oracle?

[kenn_el]

Not in my opinion. Simply because Barbara as Batgirl was created in a different era than Oracle operated in. I would be interested in seeing a Batgirl with Barbara's skill level with modern technology.

[benicio127]

This comment is spot on.