Geek Syndicate
concerned with the mess her dad was making. Later Alan Moore would go on to admit that he regretted the way she was used. Two creators who were also disgusted with Barbara’s treatment were the husband and wife team Kim Yale and John Ostrander. They decided to revive the character and not allow her to be a victim of her disability. In 1989 she appeared in Suicide Squad #23, merely as a computer message announcing the presence of “Oracle” into the superhero community. It wasn’t until issue 38 of that that Oracle was revealed to be Barbara Gordon. In 1996 Chuck Dixon wrote a one shot comic, Black Canary/ Oracle: Birds of Prey. Off the back of the popularity of this one shot came several mini-series which finally led to the Birds of Prey ongoing series, which ran for over 10 years. The premise of Birds of Prey was simple: an all-female superhero team led by Oracle. Birds of Prey gave Barbara storylines that allowed her to be integral to the plot without needing to be out in a cape. One of my favourite issues from the Chuck Dixon run was issue #25 where Barbara shares her geeky side with Scientist Ted Kord, better known in the superhero community as Blue Beetle. Gail Simone took over the writing Birds of Prey from issue 56 and in my opinion it was here where we saw Barbara develop further. In this run Barbara faces not only other hackers such as The Calculator but also Superman’s nemesis, the intelligence gathering alien construct known as Brainiac. It’s during Simone’s run that we also see Barbara and the Birds of Prey leaving Gotham for Metropolis – finally Barbara is freed from the shadow of The Batman. During the late twothousands we saw the Birds of Prey team change regularly, however Barbara remained the one constant, sending her team to fight all over the world. During Batman R.I.P and Battle for the Cowl Barbara summoned the disbanded Birds of Prey back to Gotham to help Robin and Nightwing get a grip on the crime in Gotham. This showed the comic book world that she was still integral to the Batman family. Most recently, Barbara Gordon has caused controversy again. In 2011, DC Comics’ new “52” rebooted comic line saw Barbara coming out of the wheelchair and becoming Batgirl once more. Many people, including myself, regarded this as an insult to the strong character she had become. However, writer Gail Simone in this most recent Batgirl series has dealt with the issue carefully, not writing out the tragedy of The Killing Joke but instead making Barbara a recent “miraculous recovery” with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). In my opinion a very smart move as this condition is not covered enough in any media.
Suicide Squad #38, Feb 1990
Oracle was an information powerhouse providing intelligence to superheroes across the DC universe. She was now Batman’s intellectual equal and he would come to rely on her over the years rather than using his own resources on many occasions.
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Batgirl #1. Sep 2010