User blog:ARTaylor/50 Years of Batgirl

This month marks the fiftieth anniversary of the debut of DC Comics' Barbara Gordon, better known as Batgirl, who appeared in the comic Detective Comics #359. Though not the first character to take the name she is undoubtedly the most famous. The first Bat-Girl had at the time faded into obscurity and the following Batgirls, while popular in their own right, were never able to attain the reception or legacy that Barbara has.

The character was created to give a female presence to the Batman live action series featuring Adam West with the character appearing in the comics around the same time. Rather than the previous Bat-Girl and Batwoman, she was created not as a romantic interest for Batman and/or Robin but as a capable female crimefighter. The character was a hit with fans and critics and began appearing regularly in Batman comics and numerous others as well. In the 1980s, DC essentially retired the character and allowed Alan Moore to infamously shoot and paralyze her as part of the supervillain Joker's plot. Though the story was not intended to be in-continuity it was eventually integrated and her paralysis became permanent. Afterwards she became Oracle and used her intelligence rather than brawn to fight crime and help others, including the subsequent Batgirls, save the day. While fans missed the exploits of her as Batgirl this move was praised as it allowed DC to prominently feature a disabled character in their comics. When DC rebooted the universe with the New 52, they gave Barbara back the use of her legs and returned her to the mantle of Batgirl. While the disabled community has expressed disappointment over this change, she has been positively received for returning to the version more people recognize and quality writing.

The character has been adapted numerous times including a live action film, live action series, and several animation series and movies. Mary Kay Bergman played the character in a central role in the DC Animated Universe film Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero. Tara Strong is perhaps the most iconic voice of the character having taken over the role for The New Batman Adventures and reprised the role for Gotham Girls, Batman: Vengeance, Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu , Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman, Beware the Batman, and Batman: The Killing Joke. Danielle Judovits played her on the series The Batman. Kate Higgins was Barbara in the motion comic series Batgirl: Year One. Kimberly Brooks was Oracle on the video game Batman: Arkham City.