![]() But when it comes to her role in a future film, is there a scenario that would allow for both Oracle and Batgirl? There’s no easy answer when it comes to Barbara’s Gordon’s ableness, and the desire to see her as a wheelchair-bound hero and a fully mobile, costumed crime fighter both have their merits. Oracle has also been through several new iterations, as virtual tech support, and the alias of a new hacker, Gus Yale, who had an obsession with Batgirl but ultimately aided her and a modern iteration of the Birds of Prey in their fight against crime, but who hasn’t been utilized in years. ![]() Nine years later, and passed through the hands of numerous writers, and shifts in continuity, Barbara Gordon is still Batgirl. Gail Simone who wrote Batgirl at the time, saw Barbara’s newfound mobility as a means to addresses the affects of trauma and PTSD. The decision was controversial among longtime fans, who cited a decrease in diversity within DC’s publishing line because of the decision. Through an experimental surgery, and the emphasis that her spine had not been fully severed, she regained the use of her legs and resumed the mantle of Batgirl, which had since been passed on to Cassandra Cain and then Stephanie Brown. ![]() When DC’s relaunch, The New 52, came along in 2011, Barbara Gordon was no longer paralyzed, though The Killing Joke still happened. Where 'Birds of Prey' Could Go After That Ending Oracle was the glue that held the team together, and her moral decisions concerning hacking, blackmail and information, drove many of the character’s storylines, and became even more topical following 9/11 and wiretapping controversies. And while it’s typical to think of Oracle as the Birds of Prey asset handler, and a voice in an earpiece, she was also capable of fighter, who learned how to utilize marital arts skills with her upper body from martial arts master, Richard Dragon. ![]() After Yale and Ostrander, writer Chuck Dixon, and later Gail Simone, further added to her characterization, exploring her friendship with Black Canary, and later Huntress, her on-again, off-again relationship with Nightwing, and her bond with her father James Gordon. While the incident that led to Barbara Gordon becoming Oracle feels like something best left out of the DC films, there’s also no denying that Barbara Gordon, as a hero living with a disability, is meaningful to many fans. It was only later, upon the realization, that Gordon’s transformation into this new hero wasn’t planned by editorial back when The Killing Joke was published, that her treatment within that story became, for me, a distasteful element in an otherwise fantastic Joker story. Editor Kim Yale and her comic writer husband John Ostrander refused to let the character fade away and instead gave her new purpose as Oracle, a computer expert and information broker living with a disability, in the pages of Suicide Squad.įor those of who were first introduced to DC comics in the ’90s, Barbara Gordon’s paralysis in The Killing Joke always had the context of her living on as a hero as Oracle, an important asset to Batman and the Justice League. But it wasn’t just contemporary evaluations that saw an issue with Barbara Gordon’s treatment, and the idea that the character couldn’t be a hero then she was only good to serve as a tool for male pain. Alan Moore has reacted unfavorably to his work in hindsight. ![]() The violence and the sexual assault by the Joker hasn’t aged well, despite the surrounding story of the Joker and his relationship with Batman being an iconic, and frequently cited reference. The villain then proceeded to take pictures of her nude and bleeding body and use them in an attempt to drive Commissioner James Gordon insane. But it’s also the comic that saw Barbara Gordon, recently retired from the role of Batgirl due to an editorial mandate, shot through the stomach and paralyzed by the Joker. The 1988 graphic novel by Alan Moore and Brian Bolland is perhaps best remembered for giving a possible origin story for the Joker. It’s impossible to talk about Oracle in the comics without talking about The Killing Joke. ![]()
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